1988 Invader 18' Boat

We made it out to check out some fall colors today. Very nice day on the Big Muddy:

Update, and change of ownership.

Clem's not on the forum much anymore, but he's still busy horsetrading. The other day he picked up a nice late 70's aluminum 18' Starcraft I/O, in very functional condition. This left him with two functional boats, and me with none. Thus, I traded him a rusty Integra and another Starcraft that had had not one, but two encounters with falling trees for the Invader.

This is the maiden cruise under my control. Couldn't get the sterndrive to drop down, and Clem had cut me loose from the trailer without me knowing. I was 25 yards out into the creek before I looked up and realized I was drifting.

Tilt still doesn't work, had to hot-swap a battery to get the boat to run, and the floor is now so soft in the back that I'm worried I'll go through it, but it runs great, the transom and stringers are actually surprisingly solid, and aside from the floor and the upholstery it's proven itself very reliable for a $500 boat. Next spring I'm going to replace the other bellows that has a hole in it, fix the floor and the seat bases that have rotted, and do some very basic upholstery. Should have a nice little runabout for $1k or so.

Did the Starcraft ever try and sink on you? It sure did on my a few times when I was a lad.

Here's a video of the Invaderboat on the water with Psteav at the helm:

http://vid123.photobucket.com/albums/o313/clemsparks/1988%20Invader%20Boat/IMG_0289_zpsdnzvgzdp.mp4