Kingscraft owners and fans

[JTAlberts]

KC55,
I can understand your angst, and I second JTAlberts reply: if I had known of the pitting on my boat before I bought it, I probably would of walked away. Honestly, though, I think it would be difficult to find any Kingscraft without some pitting - these boat are getting pretty old and have probably encountered galvanic corrosion at some point in their lifetime.

I'm not too worried about my hull though. I figure if it starts leaking, it will be pretty minor and I'll just fix it - as I've been fixing everything else on this blessed thing...;-)

I am in the same mindset. If I start getting issues with my hull leaking, I will get it repaired.

[42gibson]

kc55 i understand your problem with the survey amounts. we have had 4 surveys for 3 different boats we've bought in the last 5 years all of which we had to pay the full cost. i would "never" buy any boat without a out of water survey.before you sign on the dotted line,check for insurance. one had 290 hours on it and a ton of blisters. we fixed them and bought it anyway( at a reduced price), another reason for the out of water, most insurance companys wont give you full covereage with out one.it just pays to be safe and spend the money.try to get the marina or broker to pull it for free, mine did on the last one.good luck

[KC55]

Well, we are pretty bummed, but who knows he might still call.

Thanks for the replys, I know we did the right thing, but I still want to just buy it. We won't of course, without the out of water survey. I still think the boat is OK, just can't take that big of a gamble.

We had the insurance lined up with an in water survey, the financing is in place and we had done our homework on expenses (slip, gas, maint. etc) so we are nubes but we did a little homework. We are now actively searching for something else. I looked at the pics Fish put up and it made me want a KC just that much more! Great job on that, I like what you have done.

I will let you know what happens, we are already houseboaters in our minds.

KC55 (still just a fan)

[fisheatingbagel]

The rear door is the one I put the piece of aluminum in to essentially extend the top of the channel - so it doesn't overflow before it has a chance to drain. So far it's been working...

[KC55]

This may be the last post in this thread for a while. We are going down tomorrow to look at a non-KC houseboat. I know, it makes me a little sadtoo, but we think we are looking at a real potential candidate. Its aluminum hulled but its no KC

I will start a new thread here in Vintage Houseboats if it looks like this one is the real deal. So yes it is an old boat, we can't afford the new fancy stuff, but I am not complaining. I'll let you all know how it goes.

KC55 (gonna make my name seem kind of odd if I get this other boat)

[ShoreBound]

KC55, you are like the guy who tatoos his girlfriends name on his chest, then looks for another girlfriend! Hope you find one with the same name! Enjoy your search!

[fisheatingbagel]

ha, ha...good luck - hope this one works out!

[KC55]

Too funny. You can't hate on true love... shore do like me some Kingscraft.

Thanks for the well wishing guys.

KC55

[KC55]

Well, looks like that one didn't make it. I am a little vague about the boats I am looking at because I don't want to affect the different owners ability to market their boats. The reasons a different boat doesn't work for me doesn't mean it wouldn't be a good boat for someone else. Enough said about that.

I hope anybody that knows of a Kingscraft (44' or longer) will let me know. We will consider trashed to treasure.

By the way, this weekend I heard of a device (cant remember the name) that monitors the condition of stray currents in the water near your boat. If this rings a bell with anyone I would like to know what they are called or who manufacturers. I have tried several google searches and cant come up with anything.

Later
KC55

[KC55]

We have looked at one other boat, a Kingscraft of course, and are going to look at a different one Thursday. I tlll you, when we have purchased a boat, I will have a bunch of things to tell about all of the neat and different things I have seen on the various boats we have been on. One of the best things in all this is the people we are meeting. The KC owners, former Kingscraft employees, Harbor Masters, and all of the various boat owners on the many docks/marinas we have mentioned are all great folks. If you want to meet nice people, just walk on to a dock (with permission of owner/manager of course) and start telling people you are looking to buy a certain type of boat. Everyone knows someone who has a boat to sell and wants to know your boating experience, where you are from, and what you have looked at. We have been offered tours of boats from complete strangers, been offered cokes and beers, and been given phone numbers and recommendations for many different boats. Boat owners are friendly, open, fun and most of them seem to own dogs!

I will give some updates when we have looked at the these last ones, I am truly hopeful one of these will be our boat. My wife is at the point she doesn't want to get her hopes up because we have come so close and then have to spend another weekend OFF the water. She is being a trooper and we are figuring this out together.

Again, please let me know if you know of a KC for sale (44' or longer). I dont have anything against the shorter KC's, I love looking at them. We drive around to marinas and marine service centers just to see if we can find old KC's (and Marinette houseboats) just to look at them and compare the differences.

Best wishes and fair sailing,

KC55

PS can you believe we had a weak moment and actually looked at something besides a Kingscraft? I hope you like your boat as much as we plan on liking ours.