Thanks Gordon & NCBF. Com !! The boat is AWSOME!

Dom · Post by **Dom** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 2:41 pm

I am a new owner of a Stratos 285 Pro SE I found it on the NCBF.COM Classifieds (thanks again NCBF!)and Gordon (the seller) was just about giving this thing away I can't believe no one else jumped on it sooner but lucky for me they did not. The boat is beautiful!! and fully loaded already!!!

I am still a CHAMPION BOATS man but I could not find what I was looking for in a used Champion and this was just to good a deal to pass up and all my friends are telling me Stratos is a great boat what do yall think? Gonna take it over to Lyle's next week and have him go thru the motor and check everything out for me then its off for a week to Lake Berryessa!! Tight Lines Dom

Gator · Post by **Gator** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 3:22 pm

Good lookin boat.....

catn2004 · Post by **catn2004** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 8:18 pm

I had a 1992 285 pro XL, had it for 12 years, great boat. only got ride of to go to a 20 footer. however still in family, passed it on to my son.

Dave Mayo · Post by **Dave Mayo** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 7:36 pm

alright!! hope to c-ya soon and tell Rhonda Hi for me

Dom · Post by **Dom** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 2:52 pm

Yea yall can bet you will see me on the water real soon , I cant believe the condition this boat is in granted the motor needs work but with the best machanic (Lyle Gosset) around doing the work you can bet I will be up and running soon.

So far I am totally impressed I charged the batteries and tested everything out and it all works great not to metion this thing came with so much stuff, way more then my Champion (I had to intall all the goodies on my champ.) This thing has Dual Bilge pumps , Lowarnce flashers front and consol, Eagle fish finders front and console,Sea Star Hydraulic steering,Hot foot, Hi jacker Jack plate,SS Prop, on board charger, Pro Aireiation system, I can even pump out my live wells while on the water!!! Dang you name it, it has it and the Gel coat is like New!!!!! Transom Perfect !! Sorry just got alittle excited lol lol lol

Only thing I can see that I am alittle concerned about is this boat is 19'1" and my champion was 21' and just woundering how it will handle the rough stuff like running thru the narrows at Clear lake in May when the wind is howling.
Or the "BREAK" in 20-30 mph winds? Granted this Stratus is much wider then my Champion so it should be fine.

Tight Lines Dom

See yall soon
Tight Lines Dom

Tm Customs · Post by **Tm Customs** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 5:32 pm

Dom what is Lyle doing to your motor? And how much is it gonna cost ya?

I also have a stratos 86' got it for 500 w/ flasher 2 finders 74lb minn kota and everything minus batteries. Yet the motor is gonna cosy me 3g's to fix, still a deal though

Dom · Post by **Dom** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 6:10 pm

Gonna have Lyle rebuild it. Lyle does awsome work and he is more then fair on his prices. He has done alot of work for me in the past and on my friends boats and even my families boat.And every time I am always satisfied. One time Lyle had somthing to do and I wanted my bilge pump replaced and a trolling motor transducer installed also power to front graph kept cutting out (it was a fuse connection) so becuase I was impatient I called up a local shop and took it in after the run of round of when it would be done I finally get the call go pick it up and they hit me for almost $500.00!!! They charged me top dollar for the bilge pump which I could have installed in less then an hour and the trolling motor transducer I brought them and they still charged me almost 2 hours to install, come on!!!! screw the clamp on run the wire up the trolling motor thru plastic sleeves and put the loop in it DONE!

I know why did I not do it myself? I was to busy. Anyway they forgot to check the fish finder power so while showing me the Bilge pump I mention it and he gets a screw driver pulls the panel and moves the fuse around and bam on, it took a whole 5 min and they still charged me an hour!!!!! I will not name names becuase I have out grown that but it left an awful taste in my mouth and now I WAIT for LYLE, LESSON LEARNED lol lol lol.

I am not sponsored by Lyle he is a good friend who I have known for years we fished the same club. He is just a real good, honest, guy who has always been more then fair with me. And I respect that more then anything. So yea I tell everyone about his skills becuase the way I see it the more work I can get him the more money he can make the longer he will want to stay in the repair biz and fix my head aches LOL LOL LOL

Check him out he is fishing today but call him tomorrow you just might be surprized.

Tight Lines Dom

Tight Lines Dom

Tm Customs · Post by **Tm Customs** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 6:14 pm

Dom Lyle is rebuilding my engine the reason it is gonna cost 3000 is becuase of the machine work involved. Anyhow I am happy I did not take it to a shop!