New boater, new to me '99 1800.

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dmbrill

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Hi everyone. I've been reading this forum for a few months now and find it very informative! A bit about me: I live in the Raleigh area and we have a family place in Oriental. The truth is boating/fishing is not one of my primary hobbies as I'm a big golfer and griller/smoker. My parents bought the Oriental place in '08 and while they used it some early on, it has been very sparingly used the past 6 years or so, and realistically, I'm not sure how much more they're going to go. I essentially decided to take over maintenance of the place and am making it a point to use it more often.

They bought the Parker in '08 from the original owner who I believe took good care of the boat. In '08 the engine (Honda 4 stroke 90) had I think appx 135 hours and I dont think even 50 hours have been put on since then.

Due to some hurricane damage, health issues, general life, etc, the boat had not been in the water since I think 2015 until last month. During this time it had been in for service a few times. Anyway, as of this fall we have a working boat, a functioning boat lift, a safe trailer and a vehicle capable of towing the boat. This is the first time in a long time all 4 of these have been working/available in years.

If I'm being honest, this boat will primarily be used for family fun for my wife, me, and my risk adverse 8 year old daughter. My vision is using it for rides over to the Beaufort area for 1/2 days of anchoring at the area islands for sun and fun in the water, going into town for lunch, etc. With this boat I believe I have a pretty low maintenance, reliable and safe boat. Just not the most comfortable of boats (but what CC is?).

I'm also by no means an expert boater. I didn't grow up on the water and I lived in other parts of the country most of the time my parents have had this place. I've taken the NC boat safety class, watched hours of towboat.us youtube videos, but this is all very new to me. I've emailed a bit with the Morehead City area Power Squardron commander, and will likely get together with him for a boat overview and some on the water help. If anyone else has sources for on-the-water instruction, I'm all ears.

I've attached a few pics of the boat, plus a few areas of concern. Most of this is still a foreign language to me, so I'm sure some of the terms I'm going to use are wrong. I'd like to clean up some of the unused older items at the helm, add a toe board where the gunnel lower rod holders were, remove the front swivel seat, replace non-working gauges (only rpm gauge works currently). Currently I don't believe the vhf radio or the navigation lights work either. I want to get the bilge cleaned out and replace pie plates if they're leaking. There's a significant piece of the floor peeling up (not sure if this can be epoxied down or needs to be cut out and replaced). I included a pic of the transom, where it appears cracks to the gel coat are common. Just hitting it with a screwdriver handle, all seems solid, but long term, I'd think gel coat repair should be done.

Unfortunately due to HOA, I can't bring the boat back to Raleigh to store it and work on it over the winter. At a bare minimum, I'll try to get down every 4-6 weeks to run the engine a bit.

Anyways, there's my intro. I look forward to adding this to my daily read forums to go along with golfwrx and the weber kettle club.

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Hi everyone. I've been reading this forum for a few months now and find it very informative! A bit about me: I live in the Raleigh area and we have a family place in Oriental. The truth is boating/fishing is not one of my primary hobbies as I'm a big golfer and griller/smoker. My parents bought the Oriental place in '08 and while they used it some early on, it has been very sparingly used the past 6 years or so, and realistically, I'm not sure how much more they're going to go. I essentially decided to take over maintenance of the place and am making it a point to use it more often.

They bought the Parker in '08 from the original owner who I believe took good care of the boat. In '08 the engine (Honda 4 stroke 90) had I think appx 135 hours and I dont think even 50 hours have been put on since then.

Due to some hurricane damage, health issues, general life, etc, the boat had not been in the water since I think 2015 until last month. During this time it had been in for service a few times. Anyway, as of this fall we have a working boat, a functioning boat lift, a safe trailer and a vehicle capable of towing the boat. This is the first time in a long time all 4 of these have been working/available in years.

If I'm being honest, this boat will primarily be used for family fun for my wife, me, and my risk adverse 8 year old daughter. My vision is using it for rides over to the Beaufort area for 1/2 days of anchoring at the area islands for sun and fun in the water, going into town for lunch, etc. With this boat I believe I have a pretty low maintenance, reliable and safe boat. Just not the most comfortable of boats (but what CC is?).

I'm also by no means an expert boater. I didn't grow up on the water and I lived in other parts of the country most of the time my parents have had this place. I've taken the NC boat safety class, watched hours of towboat.us youtube videos, but this is all very new to me. I've emailed a bit with the Morehead City area Power Squardron commander, and will likely get together with him for a boat overview and some on the water help. If anyone else has sources for on-the-water instruction, I'm all ears.

I've attached a few pics of the boat, plus a few areas of concern. Most of this is still a foreign language to me, so I'm sure some of the terms I'm going to use are wrong. I'd like to clean up some of the unused older items at the helm, add a toe board where the gunnel lower rod holders were, remove the front swivel seat, replace non-working gauges (only rpm gauge works currently). Currently I don't believe the vhf radio or the navigation lights work either. I want to get the bilge cleaned out and replace pie plates if they're leaking. There's a significant piece of the floor peeling up (not sure if this can be epoxied down or needs to be cut out and replaced). I included a pic of the transom, where it appears cracks to the gel coat are common. Just hitting it with a screwdriver handle, all seems solid, but long term, I'd think gel coat repair should be done.

Unfortunately due to HOA, I can't bring the boat back to Raleigh to store it and work on it over the winter. At a bare minimum, I'll try to get down every 4-6 weeks to run the engine a bit.

Anyways, there's my intro. I look forward to adding this to my daily read forums to go along with golfwrx and the weber kettle club.

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Hi dmbrill, Welcome to CP.... No worries on being new to boating; every boater was new to boating at some point in their lives! At first glance in the photos I'd recommend getting some experienced help evaluating the cracks in the fiberglass. It looks like they've been there a long time; water-intrusion and likely some rot has occurred.... I'd also recommend super-cleaning the bilge area. The debris could clog the pump. Keeping the boats bilge clean is more than just cosmetic..... There are a lot of experienced boat-repair people here on CP that will likely chime in with ideas and solutions for the damage/cracks.
 
Last edited:
Hi everyone. I've been reading this forum for a few months now and find it very informative! A bit about me: I live in the Raleigh area and we have a family place in Oriental. The truth is boating/fishing is not one of my primary hobbies as I'm a big golfer and griller/smoker. My parents bought the Oriental place in '08 and while they used it some early on, it has been very sparingly used the past 6 years or so, and realistically, I'm not sure how much more they're going to go. I essentially decided to take over maintenance of the place and am making it a point to use it more often.

They bought the Parker in '08 from the original owner who I believe took good care of the boat. In '08 the engine (Honda 4 stroke 90) had I think appx 135 hours and I dont think even 50 hours have been put on since then.

Due to some hurricane damage, health issues, general life, etc, the boat had not been in the water since I think 2015 until last month. During this time it had been in for service a few times. Anyway, as of this fall we have a working boat, a functioning boat lift, a safe trailer and a vehicle capable of towing the boat. This is the first time in a long time all 4 of these have been working/available in years.

If I'm being honest, this boat will primarily be used for family fun for my wife, me, and my risk adverse 8 year old daughter. My vision is using it for rides over to the Beaufort area for 1/2 days of anchoring at the area islands for sun and fun in the water, going into town for lunch, etc. With this boat I believe I have a pretty low maintenance, reliable and safe boat. Just not the most comfortable of boats (but what CC is?).

I'm also by no means an expert boater. I didn't grow up on the water and I lived in other parts of the country most of the time my parents have had this place. I've taken the NC boat safety class, watched hours of towboat.us youtube videos, but this is all very new to me. I've emailed a bit with the Morehead City area Power Squardron commander, and will likely get together with him for a boat overview and some on the water help. If anyone else has sources for on-the-water instruction, I'm all ears.

I've attached a few pics of the boat, plus a few areas of concern. Most of this is still a foreign language to me, so I'm sure some of the terms I'm going to use are wrong. I'd like to clean up some of the unused older items at the helm, add a toe board where the gunnel lower rod holders were, remove the front swivel seat, replace non-working gauges (only rpm gauge works currently). Currently I don't believe the vhf radio or the navigation lights work either. I want to get the bilge cleaned out and replace pie plates if they're leaking. There's a significant piece of the floor peeling up (not sure if this can be epoxied down or needs to be cut out and replaced). I included a pic of the transom, where it appears cracks to the gel coat are common. Just hitting it with a screwdriver handle, all seems solid, but long term, I'd think gel coat repair should be done.

Unfortunately due to HOA, I can't bring the boat back to Raleigh to store it and work on it over the winter. At a bare minimum, I'll try to get down every 4-6 weeks to run the engine a bit.

Anyways, there's my intro. I look forward to adding this to my daily read forums to go along with golfwrx and the weber kettle club.

View attachment 31372View attachment 31373View attachment 31374View attachment 31375View attachment 31376View attachment 31377

Welcome dmbrill! That’s a great little boat you have there, with plenty of potential. It’ll be perfect for what you want to use it for, and is an excellent platform for learning about boating.

To address a few of your concern areas:

-Unused/non working helm items: from your description, it sounds like you probably have some electrical system gremlins based on the diversity of systems that are having issues. A lot of times, this is caused by corrosion at the fuse block behind the helm, or by bad wiring or bad connections throughout the system. The good news is that, if you know anything about 12VDC systems, the electrical systems on these boats are extremely simple. Oftentimes, the hardest part is accessing the components inside the console. If you have the chance, try to get some pictures of the inside electrical wiring, fuse panel, etc. as well as a detailed description of what equipment is malfunctioning and what exactly it’s doing/not doing.

-Floor fix/seat removal/transom repair: that seat definitely doesn’t look stock, and unless it was installed by a very detail-oriented individual could end up being a source of deck issues. Parkers have a plywood deck that is encapsulated with fiberglass, and if water is introduced into the plywood layer, as tends to happen with old or poorly sealed fasteners, rotted out decks are common. Carefully examine the deck area around the seat to see if you have any soft spots, which indicate plywood rot. Regardless, you’ll have some significant holes to fix, which there’s plenty of information on here to help you out with if you decide to tackle it on your own. Same with the chip in the deck; you can epoxy it back down as long as the deck is sound beneath it, but if it’s rotted you’ll likely have a bigger issue. Same with the transom; that crack being where it is, along with the slightly “sunken” appearance of the mounting bolt, suggests some water intrusion and at least some limited rot. As a stopgap, I would make sure to seal that crack ASAP to prevent any further water intrusion. Overall, in your situation with limited time/access to the boat, I would recommend trying to find a good fiberglass shop over the winter, and letting them diagnose and fix the issues you’re seeing. That way, come next season, you’ll have a healthy boat ready to hit the water.

Pie plate replacement: excellent idea! Prevent water intrusion beneath the deck and onto the tank at all costs. Make sure to properly seal the fastener holes and deck opening, and check for rot. Plenty of info on here about that as well.

Bilge cleanup: if the boat lives on a lift, I would suggest trying to install a plug that can be removed from the inside if it’s not accessible while on the lift. This will help keep the bilge free from any water that accumulates. Also, a good cover will not only keep the boat clean from seagull droppings and general dirt, but will minimize the amount of rainwater and UV exposure. Both of which will keep the boat looking better and reduce maintenance.

Shameless plug: I recently “finished” (it’s never done) a complete overhaul of a 1700, which is a similar hull to yours. The thread is here: 1997 1700 Overhaul Project It might have the answers to some questions that may pop up.

Again, welcome to the community! I don’t think there’s anywhere else on the internet with an accumulated knowledge of Parker boats that can equal this site. We’re happy to help with any questions you may have, and we look forward to seeing your progress and your adventures with the boat!
 
@pelagic2530 I've read your entire thread and will likely review and reference it many more times. Quite a boat you now have!
 
Here's my 3 cents. You have a great platform that needs attention. Anything you fix now will make you and your boat happier. Anything you do....do it right.
That Honda is a nice fit for your boat and its intended use. If you have access to non ethenol fuel use it. I would change the timing belt (and water pump) as a preventative measure as soon as you can. I know the hours are low but its 13 years old (1000hrs or 10 years, which ever comes first) and if it goes it will most likely do a lot of damage to the motor.
Welcome and good luck.
 
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