posted 02-26-2011 01:54 PM ET (US)        

In an effort to get something that was more family friendly. We were mainly looking at Pursuits after ruling out the classic 27' Whalers and the 25 Walkaround Whaler Drive Whalers and due to the width and subsequent trailering hassles. We had thought about the 23 Whaler Walkarounds but, finding well cared for ones seemed next to impossible. Then one morning I was doing doing my daily Whaler Meta search of craigslist when I came across what looked like a promising lead on a 23' Walkaround Whaler Drive in Southern Florida. It's location certainly increased the likelihood in my mind that is was suffering the typical Florida abuse from salt and sun. After a phone conversion and some detailed photos were sent it became clear that what the seller was being honest with his "One owner, well cared for lift kept (and always under cover)" description. After deciding to really pursue the boat we had a friend down in that area who is a long time boater and senior automotive engineer at GM inspect the boat and sea-trial it. After passing with flying colors came to agreement on a price he decided to have the trailer axles rebuilt and all new brakes installed before transport back to Michigan.

The boat itself was bought by it's owner at the 1993 Miami Boatshow. It was in the Boston Whaler booth at the show and he just had to have it. As far as options go the boat was relatively stripped down. It did not have a hard top nor a head with a holding tank when purchased and it is powered with a pair of Yamaha 150's. The owner recently had a hard top custom made that I think is far better than the OEM offered and installed on the boat.

I am looking forward to getting home and having a look at it in person. I personally have never see nor been on one but have always loved this somewhat rare model. More than looking at it I am looking forward to running it.

My father was able to actually go and view the boat in person yesterday before departing on a cruise vacation and sent along some images. I have put them together here along with photos from the inspection:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v427/jeff_rohlfing/ 1993%2023%20Walkaround%20inspection/?start=all

The boat was picked up by the hauling service morning and it should be back up here by Friday next week. As always I plan on doing a large amount of photo documentation once we get the boat up here so look for more photos soon.

posted 02-26-2011 02:19 PM ET (US)            

The proportions look better than the 21. You can see in this image the cabin looks to be almost in the center of the boat. While it is a nice boat, it was difficult to fish more than 2 people off the back at the same time.

posted 02-26-2011 03:32 PM ET (US)            

Also, the guardian was not as fast as you might think. With a full 128 gallon tank, the added weight of the extra glass and all of the heavy duty parts on the boat it would top out just over 50mph. That said though it would accelerate effortlessly to WOT from any speed with the same G load experience you get from some sports cars if you slammed the throttles. It also would run in the mid - upper 30's in 3+ footers with ease.

posted 02-26-2011 04:28 PM ET (US)            

Very nice! I am jealous.

Congratulations to you and your father.

posted 02-27-2011 08:37 PM ET (US)            

Thanks Jack! Surprised to hear you are even thinking of selling off that great Revenge.

posted 02-27-2011 09:56 PM ET (US)            

If it were mine, I'd sleep in it until Spring and beyond.

I am glad for those guys, it's a great addition.

posted 02-28-2011 01:11 PM ET (US)            

It looks like a wonderful set up. It is now my favorite of the larger Whalers with cabins.

posted 02-28-2011 01:22 PM ET (US)            

Thanks. I hope to see you and the Guardian out on the St Clair River soon!

Pete,

Yes the hull is a post classic. It is uses the same hull as the first post classic 24 Outrage.

John,

posted 02-28-2011 03:07 PM ET (US)            

I am so envious.

posted 03-01-2011 04:44 PM ET (US)            

As of lastnight at 8:30 pm while heading north bound on I95 there has been a large problem with the trailer and a major failure. So much so the boat has had to put on a commercial flatbed and hauled back 60 miles to West Palm Beach for repair. It's a huge bummer as we had all new axles, brakes, etc, etc installed so transport back to Michigan would go smoothly. I am still trying sort things out but, it looks like right now it is going to be a couple weeks before it is back on it's way home to Michigan.

This whole experience has certainly has been a learning experience around the goods and the bads around shippers, uship, trailering vs flatbed shipping and planning for the worst case scenario....

Once I get things sorted out I will write a detailed update.

posted 03-01-2011 07:28 PM ET (US)            

I had to laugh when you mentioned the enclosed plumbed head option, that your's doesn't have, At the Isle royale trip last year we all anchored out at Chippewa Harbor the last night and in the morning Jon allowed us the use of facilities aboard Holly Marie, I think if you were to poll both myself and Jimh independently the word "Contortionist" might come to mind...LOL

posted 03-04-2011 10:36 AM ET (US)            

Yes Pat, it does take some "talent" to use.

Jeff when I bought my 23 I had never actually seen one until I was standing in the old owners driveway in Maryland. I saw the boat in the 1993 Boston Whaler catalog (I still have that catalog) it was love a first sight. It took 11 years for me to get one.

I hope we get a chance to run them together sometime.

posted 03-05-2011 09:12 PM ET (US)            

John, I hope too that we can run them together sometime this summer.

So, the story on what happened goes like this.

When we bought the boat we had talked to the owner about getting the trailer in top running order to be brought home to Michigan. He recommended a shop called Rayside Truck and Trailer in West Palm beach that he had always used for service to the trailer. He offered to take it up there to have the work done which was a great help. Upon inspection it was agreed that the right thing to do was to replace the axles, bearings, hubs, brakes on both axles and a new actuator to ensure there was no weak links in the running gear of the trailer for the long trip. So, the work was started on the trailer and we worked to secure a hauler on uship.com.

On uship we received all kinds of bids from the ridiculously cheap to some that were in the $1600 - $1800 range. We ended up accepting an offer in the $750 - $1000 range with a user who has had a perfect rating. For that price it was much cheaper than if we did the trip ourselves. After accepting the bid we found out that the bidder was just a broker and they would not be hauling the boat. I guess this is the case for most of the bidders on uship. Being a little unsure about how we felt about that, some due diligence was done to make sure we had a fully licensed and insured carrier. It turned out to be a local hauling company in St Clair shores who we were able to talk directly with, set up a schedule and finalize details with. There was a bit of confusion in the bid as it was listed as a haul-away so the service was expecting to be putting the boat and trailer on a tractor trailer to bring the boat home. Not wanting to trouble the owner original owner of the boat anymore than we had to, it was agreed upon to do a pick/tow-away with the boats trailer. Had we gone the haul-away route the owner would have had to take the boat and trailer to a marina, have it slung with a travel lift up and on to the semi trailer.

With the trailer service complete, the boat back at the original owner's house and the transport set we just waited until the owner of the hauling service made his trip to Florida and picked up the boat on his way home. This was going to take a little extra time but, since the water is still hard around here there was no big rush.

The hauler picked up the boat this past Monday evening and began heading back to Detroit. The boat was in Boynton Beach Florida so, the hauler got on 95 heading north expecting a easy trip home. Well just before Port St Lucie the driver experienced a violent blow out which caused him to immediately pull over. It was dark by this time but, it did not take much for the hauler to realize there was a much bigger problem than just a blown out tire. Rear axle was completely missing the wheel and tire and the brake rotor was sitting there mangled holding up the axle. This started aflurry of calls from the hauler to me, the previous owner and the trailer shop. This guy was SOL as there was no way he could repair this at all and it was now 8:30 in the evening. With some working of the phones the owner of Rayside was able to be reached and they REALLY stepped up to make things right. After we all worked out a plan and with little left that I could do I let the hauler go around 10:30 to wait for the flatbed.

Sometime over the night a commercial construction equipment hauler showed up with a 50 something foot flatbed trailer. They loaded the boat and the trailer onto the flatbed trailer and hauled it to their yard until the morning. From there the commercial haulers brought the boat and trailer the 80 or so miles back to Rayside's shop where Rayside covered the complete cost of that haul. They got the boat and trailer unloaded, up on a lift and began looking for a reason for the failure. It seems upon inspection they determined that 3 of the wheel studs had not been pressed into the hub all the way. Those eventually allowed the wheel to wobble and caused them to fail. All of those studs were completely missing. The remaining studs all failed at that point as well and they were found still pressed into the hub. Once the wheel left the trailer all of the weight then was transferred to the wheel on the forward axle causing the tire to blow out. The hauler was not able to find the wheel and tire from the rear axle on site as it likely ended up an untold distance from where the trailer finally came to rest.

It was clear that they were not going to be able to fix the trailer in time for the hauler to take delivery of the boat again and make ti back to Michigan by this past Friday. He had to be home for other business affairs so I cut him loss to head for home. He is still going to complete this haul but it will be in the coming weeks.

Like I stated above Rayside really has been great to work with and they are honoring their work and covering all repairs, parts, tires, hauling expenses and other miscellaneous items at their expense. They have also offered to store the boat and trailer at their facility at no cost until we are able to get the hauler back down there in 10 - 14 days from now. As it sits right now the needed parts for the trailer are finally in....again....and it looks like the repairs should be made by end of day Monday. So, now we have to get the hauler lined back up to pick up the boat.

Here are some important things I have learned through this ordeal:
#1 Nothing ever goes as planned no matter how much effort you put into taking out the oblivious variables.

#2 You get lots of enticing cheap offers on uship but, you need to make sure the person doing the hauling is a reputable operator who is fully licensed and insured. A lot of bidders on there are not. Also, be sure to go beyond their uship rating and check their background as a hauler as well. If we had ended up choosing one of those bidders that were not licensed nor insured and a had this failure happen, I doubt I would have gotten a call let alone had the hauler stay with the boat for untold hours in the dark until it was picked up. They would have very likely unhooked the truck and drove off. If they were kind enough to call, it would be to inform me that the trailer was sitting on the side of the road and it was now my problem.

#3 From now on I would ONLY recommend that if you are shipping a boat to have it put on the hauling company's tractor trailer flatbed. I would not have a hauler bring a boat back on it's own tires again.

posted 03-05-2011 10:18 PM ET (US)            

Me and Len will just pick it up and use it at Homossossas so no hurry, no worries. We can take it down to Longboat and try it out for ya and run it over to Beer Can. OR you can go down there and hang with us and your new boat. We'll be glad to give you a thorough report.

posted 03-06-2011 06:43 AM ET (US)            

Cautionary tale for sure and one that is hitting close to home for me. My Outrage V-22 starts its journey south to Alabama from Wisconsin on Tuesday with a Uship hauler- on its own trailer. My shipper checks out but the trailer is an old one. My stomach is starting to churn.

posted 03-06-2011 01:13 PM ET (US)            

I towed a little wooden rowboat with a very shaky trailer from SE Michigan to SE Wisconsin for a fellow forum member, and lost one of the trailer tire fenders on the Skyway bridge - it just blew right off.

I also towed a 16'9" Whaler down to Orlando for another forum member and didn't have any problems other than an electrical ground problem with the trailer lights. A few hours in a WalMart parking lot fixed that problem well enough for the remainder of the trip.

But I must say that I was happy to have a brand new trailer under my boat when I towed her up from Florida last April.

I'm surprised, with the steps you took, that the trailer had such problems. Sounds like the repair shop was at fault - but they stood up and made it right by fixing it for you.

Sorry you'll have to wait even longer to see your new boat!

posted 03-06-2011 03:38 PM ET (US)            

The first boat was a 15-footer that lived on its trailer. It towed home 100-miles with zero problems.

The second boat was a 20-footer which spent most of its time in a boat slip at a lake, and the trailer was only used to haul it out and go across the street into storage for the winter. The seller represented the trailer as having been thoroughly checked out and prepared for the highway, but the 170-mile trip home was dicey. The bearings ran hot, and I had to stop often to let them cool down and add more grease.

The third boat was also a trailer queen. It towed home 250-miles without a hitch, but the trailer lamp wiring was intermittent. I had to make a haywire repair on the way to get the trailer lamps working.

From plenty of highway trailer towing I have learned to stop after the initial 30-miles or so to check everything on the trailer for signs of problems. However, things can change along the way. On one 3,000-mile trailer trip we made 2,800-miles with zero problems, then a brake actuator stuck and burned the brake pads and wheel bearing. That was not fun.

posted 03-15-2011 12:47 PM ET (US)            

To clear up your speculation of the series of events that lead to the failure, here is what I know. It was clear that the studs were not pressed into the hub completely because the inside of the stud holes did not have the knurled marks from the teeth of the stud all the way through the holes as the others did. Even tightening the lugs to torque spec would not be enough force to draw them the rest of the way through. So, once the boat was loaded on the trailer after the work was done and it began it's journey home, the load of the boat was enough to deflect the wheel enough that over time and untold numbers of revolutions to the it caused a failure....

posted 04-04-2011 09:29 PM ET (US)            

It made it's trip home this time on a flatbed semi trailer as the hauler just did not want to take any chances. I can understand why now after seeing it in person. At least it had good company on the trip as it rode home to Michigan on along with a 21 Outrage Ribside...which belongs to on another CW member (who will remain unmentioned at this time). I knew they had got the boat but, neither of us knew they were finding their way home together.

posted 05-04-2011 09:36 PM ET (US)            

I finally got a full evening to make it over and check out the boat and the new trailer.

The new trailer is a huge improvement over the old one. It is much wider pushing the wheels out past the outer chine of the hull. The torsion axles really work much better than the leaf springs on the old trailer as the boat and trailer bounce far less running down the road with them. The trailer also has bunks perfectly set to hold the bow over a greater area and the outer rear bunks hold the hull perfectly on it's lifting strakes instead on the flat of the hull. Boat Wheels, who manufactured the trailer, created a twin winch post set up so that the pulpit will NEVER hit the winch post while launching and retrieving. Overall we could not be happier with the trailer.

I spent a bit of time looking over the boat and taking photos this evening while my father sorted out some fuel line problems. I honestly am still surprised that this boat spent almost 20 years down in the Florida sun and salt. The paint on the motors are really the only sign of it's former life but, I hope to paint them here soon.

The boat is filthy after sitting uncovered for 3 months now and making the trip up from Florida, back to central Ohio to have the trailer made and back to Michigan. Also all the cushions are out and being cleaned but, none the less here are some photos.

posted 06-05-2011 09:25 PM ET (US)            

The first problem was the motors would not prime nor get fuel up to the carburetors. After digging around and finding nothing out of the ordinary, the fuel lines were disconnected and we blew air into the. There did not seem to be any back pressure so, we though well maybe the fuel gauge is not reading correctly and the tank could have been siphoned out while it was still in the yard waiting to be brought back up to Michigan. Upon filling the boat it would only take 40 gallons so, that ruled the tank being empty. After replacing the primer bulbs, filter and other fuel line hardware we had fuel pressure and got the motors fired off.

The starboard one lit off in a hurry and ran smooth. The port had some trouble and once started ran horribly. This began a long journey of my father chasing the gremlin down. First thing were the obvious one, Plugs then plug wires. After that my father took it over the Lands End over in Harrison Twp as free time was getting tough to find. Land End was considered the place to take it as up until a few years ago they were a full Whaler and Yamaha only dealer. After wanting to stay Yamaha exclusive they dropped or were dropped by Brunswick. After taking the boat out there have having it sit there for week it became clean they were just guessing at what was going wrong. The only solid info we got from them was that the motor still had strong compression. Not wanting to pay someone to just keep guessing, something could do for free, the boat was brought home and the motor gone through. The complete electrical system was swapped from the starboard motor over to the port with out success. Next came the carburetors. The port ones were removed and rebuilt. Still no change. Next the flywheel was removed and all the electrical pick-ups and system was cleaned without change. Running out of avenues to turn to, it was looking like the season was going to have to be put on hold until a new powerhead could be bought and installed. This was not in the plan, nor the budget. So, after thinking about my father decided to take one more look over everything on Friday afternoon. While digging back through the carb's my dad noticed that the bottom set of butterflys were not closing all the way. With a little deeper digging he figured out how to adjust them closed on their own without effecting the others. Got everything back together and boom, off she went and idled right along. Perfect!

Saturday Morning (yesterday) we where out bright and early on the boat. Everything went perfect. The new trailer was a breeze to launch off of. The boat started and ran perfect and we where off. All in all the boat really is one of the best Whalers I have been on. It is huge for a supposed 23' boat and the cabin is truly awesome for storage, bio breaks, napping and entertaining a 3.5 year old. The amenities this boat holds over other Whalers of it's time is leaps and bounds ahead of the classics.

Once clear of the break walls, the boat performed well with the twin Yamaha 150's. It comes up on plane fast and with seemingly little effort. It does take 2800 - 3000 RPM and full down tabs to keep it on plane though. It is turning the standard 3 blade stainless Yamaha props so we will likely move to 4 blade turbos again to help over come that situation. Once up and running I found it to run best at 3600 which fetched 28 - 30 mph depending on trim, tabs and wave conditions. I ran it up to WOT and saw 5100-5200 RPMS and 41 mph running against a current with the motor trimmed all the way out but full down tabs.

This Deep-V hull and high bow really handles the waves well. Though we never encountered any huge wave action it was clear what it was capable off. The Deep-V though does make it sensitive to any trim tab input and does want to steer a bit when motoring through quartering following seas / breaking through another large cruisers wake from behind. I would say it might be a bit worse than a classic Whaler but, no worse than other modern Deep-V offshore fishing boats.

Our run lasted just over four hours and we traveled from the DNR Ramp at South River Road, across the lake to the South Channel of the St Clair river, up to Marine City where we rounded an up-bound Laker made our way down-bound through the North Channel of the St Clair river and back to the ramp.

After that I was sold. Though not a classic by definition, the 23 Walkaround Whaler Drive is one that will likely stand as one of the greater models ever produced by Whaler...at least in my mind.

posted 06-06-2011 04:09 PM ET (US)            

Sounds like a great boat.

It is one of my favorite post classic models, and I have looked at a few over the years.

They have great, classic lines.

Best of luck with her.

posted 06-06-2011 10:26 PM ET (US)            

Jasper, The best info I can give is we left with a full tank and had burned just just under about 1/4 tank (45 gallons) in 4 hours of running at cruise with a little WOT running thrown in for fun and about 30 minutes of idle time..

Photos, ya that would have been great I know....at about the time I was walking to the ramp after parking the truck and admiring how the boat sits in the water I remembered I forgot my camera. Next time.

posted 06-16-2011 09:31 PM ET (US)            

The color options are in order of preference:
Gold over Black
Red over Black
Silver over Black