The Saga of Buying Our Boat

For several years Darrell and I have been fishing out of a 12ft aluminum boat that we affectionately call “Luma” (she’s an Alumacraft). We were so lucky to find this boat and she has served us well in so many situations on hundreds of fishing trips. But she’s a small boat which puts a lot of limitations on her operation. You have to be a lot more careful about the weather, especially on big water. There’s not a lot of room so you’re always having to limit your tackle selection. And you can’t easily take more than one dog out in it at a time. We used to take two dogs but found it a struggle. Once we got up to three dogs there was no way to take them all.

We’ve worked around the limitations for years, just being thankful for the time we did get on the water. But eventually, we found ourselves thinking about how much easier it would be to have a larger boat. Not so much larger, but something that had rod lockers and storage so we weren’t always having to pack tackle and safety gear on each trip. Something that could safely handle rougher water and have a big enough motor to get us back to the ramp quickly if needed. And something we could easily bring the dogs out in. We don’t have kids. The dogs are our family and it’s nice to take them with us instead of leaving them at home. And we also thought it would be nice to take the nieces and nephews out fishing.

Darrell started toying with the idea of rebuilding the old Sylvan his dad and him had shared. The boat was in rough shape after years of use, but the 50hp Honda motor was newer than the boat and still working great. He started taking everything out of the boat. Floors, console, seats, all of ended up in our driveshed and soon he had an empty shell. Of course, once he had gone that far and looked at things closer, it became obvious that fixing the hull, replacing rivets, and rebuilding the interior of the boat was going to take a lot more time than either of us had.

Darrell started looking at new boats he could put the existing motor on. We weren’t in a position to afford a new boat, but a ridiculously generous offer from his family made it possible.

We found ourselves heading to the Toronto Boat Show last year with the goal of actually buying a boat. Darrell had done his research, and had told me everything he found (several times), and had narrowed it down to three boats. He wanted something that would be maxed out with the 50hp motor, have rod and tackle storage, and fit the different types of fishing we like to do. We’re not talking about a big or fancy boat, just something basic that would fit our needs better.

It was so much fun to walk around the boat show and see all the different boats. We looked at boats we could never afford, checked out designs we had never seen, and fell in love with a few that are now our “goal” boats. The ones that we may eventually be able to afford if we’re good with our money.

After talking to a few different dealers, we found out that it was hard to find a boat without a motor, and most places weren’t keen on taking them off (understandable). We walked away with two boats on our short list. An Alumacraft Escape and a Lund Rebel. We were looking at boats that were in existing inventory, because ordering a new one from factory was going to add a lot to the cost.

We took the night to think about it and decided to go with the Alumcraft, in part because the dealer was much closer to home. Darrell called them, made arrangements, and gave them a deposit. Yay, we had a boat!

Or so we thought. The dealer called a week later to tell us that the boat he had was actually a tiller and the price was different than we had been quoted.

Back to square one.

We called around to see if any local dealers had what we were looking for, but got nowhere. So eventually Darrell called the dealer that had the Rebel and made arrangements to buy it. He put down the deposit, arranged that we would drop off the motor (it would take a whole day to drive there and back), and asked if we could pick it up at in April (it was the beginning of February and we wanted to go out for spring browns). “No problem,” we were told.

This is where the saga truly began.

We got into April, had already dropped off the motor, and didn’t hear anything from the dealer. Darrell called and left messages and got no reply. He texted the sales person. Nothing. The person answering the phone would promise a call back from the sales person to tell us when the boat would be ready, but nothing ever came. We were getting pissed off. Yes, they were busy. Insanely busy, from the looks of things. And yes, this boat wasn’t a huge amount of money to them. But we were still customers that wanted our boat.

Eventually Darrell left a message saying we would down there on a certain date to pick up the boat and to have it ready. This time we got a return message saying “great, everything will be ready.”

We really couldn’t have imagined what we were going to find.

A few hours on the highway got us to the dealer. The place was a beehive of activity. We sat down to finish the paperwork and pay the balance on the boat. I couldn’t help but be excited. We were getting a new boat!

The sales person took us out to look at the boat and was explaining that the console had a slight crack it in, but not to worry he had ordered a new one and would have it shipped to us (since we were not driving down again to have it dealt with). I was looking at the console with him when Darrell said, “That’s not my motor.”

If this was a manga this is part that would have “DOOM” drawn in huge letters.

He was right. That was definitely not his motor. It was a 40hp Mercury instead.

The sales person was confused. “Did you order an Evin…oh, you brought the Honda.”

Back inside we all went.

“Not a problem we can get that switched out for you and have it ready next week. You’re not far away, right?”

At this point, I decided to take over the conversation. It takes a lot for me to get really worked up and let it out when I’m talking, but I had reached that point. I explained that we lived 3 hours away and to his credit, he suggested they could have someone deliver it to us. But really, I was so frustrated. This was the second trip we had made. We had planned to have the boat weeks ago. We had experienced terrible customer service. So I asked him to do the motor switch that day, while we waited.

To his credit, he didn’t say no. He got up and went to talk to the service department to see if they could do it.

“A couple of hours,” we were told.

We’ve been through some ridiculous moments together, so Darrell and I just broke out laughing when we walked to the car. What were the chances that this mess-up would happen to us? Pretty good, we figured. (Read about the time we brought our trolling boat home. We don’t use her anymore as she needs a lot of work, which the hazard of buying older used boats.) It was such a silly situation.

The nearest McDonalds served as our base station for the next hour or so while we had lunch and updated family and some friends on what was going on. Sure, in the grand scheme of things, this is pretty insignificant, but at that moment, it was a big deal for us. Life hadn’t been easy at that time and this boat was such a positive thing we were looking forward to.

Canadian Tire was our next stop, just to walk around and browse. Remember those days? When you could just walk around a store and browse? Those pre-covid days were great.

A couple of hours to us meant two hours, but we thought we’d give them a little longer so we stopped at a park and walked along the water. It was a gusty day and there was a good chop on the water. We knew we wouldn’t be water testing the boat anyway, so it didn’t matter.

We headed back to the dealership and were told that it would be a little longer. Did we want some rod holders? They would throw those in for free. Did we have tackle in the car? We were picking up a boat, of course we had tackle. Oh, then we should go down to the dock and fish for a bit.

So we went to fish, which was definitely the best part of the day. I hooked into some fish and even got a beautiful bass that I released as quickly as possible since it was out of season. Lost a lure to a pike. It was great.

Finally, about 4:30pm, the boat was ready! We were so ready to go home. We had a quick look and thanked everyone (because even though it was a screw-up, they worked hard to fix it) while the sales person walked around and did the safety check. Then we drove away.

Always do your own safety check.

We were about 5 minutes from the dealership and went over some train tracks when I asked Darrell, “Did they put tie downs on?”

What do you think?

Back we went.

There was a lot of laughing and exasperated sighs and apologies, and we finally drove away with the boat safely secured.

What. A. Day.

It was late when we got home and the dogs weren’t impressed, but Jack (the old dog) was happy to see a new boat.

I never imagined that getting a new boat would be such an ordeal. Even now, a year and a half later, I still remember the absolute craziness of that time. We had been so excited to get this boat, but the process of actually getting it home was a nightmare. Even worse, the first few trips in it were a nightmare. We felt like the boat was cursed. Fortunately, we’ve worked the kinks out and this boat is my favourite place to be. It was all worth it and I look forward to all the adventures we’ll continue to have in it.