First boat ever - Eeek!
 

So we've been boat hunting after a fairly rough spring; we had decided we would name it Mayflowers as it would come after our April showers

Well boats are hot here and hard to find. Sell fast. Total buyers market. We also have harsh winters and there's tons of cracks blocks, rotten floors and destroyed vinyl.

Well yesterday I saw a Mariah for sale. 2001 Diablo 180 in beautiful condition. The last boat we looked at (Bayliner) the owner not only lied about the size of the boat but the pictures he posted and sent us were from when he bought it 6 years ago. The boat we looked at before that the dealer refused to start bc it was still winterized...they'd never seen it run themselves...

I don't think we had high hopes but off we went. 1 hour drive. And there she was in the driveway. Immaculate.

I'm starting to think Mariah owners are a little different. For a 20 year old boat, it was so well looked after. And he was totally open and honest in his touring of the boat. Needless to say we put a deposit down (banks closed Sundays here) and tomorrow return to become mariah owners.

So excited. I've never even driven a boat. But so excited to spend time with husband and kids experiencing this new adventure in our beautiful diablo.

Re: First boat ever - Eeek!
 

Congrats! I myself have been boating for over 10 years and have never saw a Mariah on my lake nor have I ever even heard of one. I saw one come for sale last summer and missed out on it. It looked so cool so I started researching them... needless to say I was missing out on these beautiful boats for the last 10 years. Fast forward to now I am an owner and love it. You made a good choice. Mariah is the Lexus of the boating industry back in the day and you are correct with saying the owners are different! There is lots of info on this forum but it is not as popular as the facebook mariah owners group, lots of people are on that daily. Enjoy!

Re: First boat ever - Eeek!
 

Hi mayflower how much did you pay for the Diablo if you don't mind me asking?

Re: First boat ever - Eeek!
 

Miaba , Hello, this is my first day as member. I just bought a 22' 93' Mariah "ski boat" (as listed on Marketplace) . Seems the previous owner knew very little about his own boat. I found just enough info to persuade me to buy it , on another boat forum, the guy said if your trying to compare a Mariah to a Searay it does not matter , condition is king on old boats. I paid 6500 for mine 305 mercruiser 592 hours, for its age and despite lots of vinyl covering flaws its still a beauty. Me and my wife will recover seats and all the Blue trim vinyl is still very good. I think this boat could bring in 10 k with a little elbow grease. Already fixed about ten things , the right way, I hope to find out more about this boat on here...I don't even know where the fuses are yet.

Re: First boat ever - Eeek!
 

Welcome. Sorry that this forum is quite slow but its that time of year when most forget about their boats for the winter months. There are 2 Mariah Owners groups on Facebook that are more active if you are interested.

As for the fuse panel, you will likely find it up underneath the dash against the hull.

Re: First boat ever - Eeek!
 

well thank You for replying. I had already found them while repairing a poor radio installation. The DUAL radio is new and the speakers are old, took them out. I will add to my next 1/2 off garage sale ,since at least half of the speakers rotted away, LOL. Every thing i look at turns into a project Not disappointed though We may take it out today for first time if all goes well I will be happy. Boating season here in Louisianna never really ends

Re: First boat ever - Eeek!
 

Yes, unfortunately if the prior owner(s) didn't stay on top of the maintenance you'll end up with a few 'projects'. Overall the Mariah is a very well built boat but when a nearly 30 yr old boat spends most of its time out in the weather, there are bound to be a few issues to deal with. :yes_grin: