[Hyperryd]

When I bought my1997 Mariah it was a bank repo from a boat dealership that went belly up. It had been a trade in and I low balled the bank and they took it. It was from a town about 50 miles from me and I didn't know anything about the previous owners or how many there had been. It was in great mechanical shape and you could tell that it had sat uncovered at the dealership, but overall it just needed some TLC. I cleaned it all up, buffed it out and just finished the new interior. It looks almost like new again and I am planning on having a blast with my two young daughters at the lake.

Today at my local boat shop I had the boat hooked up to my truck out front and a lady with four daughters came up to me and asked if it was my boat. She proceeded to tell me that it had been their boat that they had traded in on a new Mastercraft. They had purchased the boat brand new from the same dealership they traded it back to almost 12 years later. She loved the boat the whole time they had it. She said her girls grew up on that boat and she will always have great memories from it. She also said her husband had the boat winterized and summerized every year and always kept the service up religiously. She was depressed when she would drive by the dealership and they just had it out back uncovered and she had no idea what happened to it after the dealership closed. She couldn't believe how good the boat looked now and she said if it had looked like this she never would have let her husband trade it in. Her family had wanted a wakeboard boat with a tower, but she still loved her Mariah.

It was great to find out that I am the second owner and that the first owner took good mechanical care of the boat. It was also great to see how much that boat meant to her and her family. I told her that even though her daughters are getting older, that mine at 3 and 6 are just getting started and this boat is going to have a new couple of girls to grow up on her. It was just a cool moment that I thought I would share.

[Paul F]

Great Story. My first boat was a Glastron SSV167. I traded it in for my Mariah. A few years back I was at my parent's house and I saw my old boat head up the road. I jumped in my car and followed them into town. I stopped and talked to the new owner and told him all about me buying the boat brand new. Don't know if he cared, but there's something a boat that has a special attachment to it.

[ShabahZ280]

That's a great story!

[Dredd]

+1 Thanks for sharing.

[mikeyt]

+2....always great to hear a story like that!

[jjk61083]

Thanks for sharing the story. I think it goes to show that's why most of us love boating. The great family memories and times we will never forget. Your girls are lucky to have a dad who can show them a whole new world of spending time together on a lake!