Just Bought a Project 1997 Ski Nautique

[NautiqueJeff]

I just bought a '97 Ski Nautique project, and I am pumped!

Some guy dropped this boat off of his trailer, so it needs most of the underwater gear replaced, a little fiberglass/gelcoat work, a rubrail, some work on the platform bracket on one side, and a windshield, but other than that it is complete. Looks to have been garage-kept, and except for the mishap, it looks to be in great shape. It has a GT40 and a dual-axle Zieman trailer. And get this -- only 89 hours!

Tying to decide if I should fix it up and sell it, or just keep it. Kinda leaning toward keeping it, at least for a little while.

Anyone got a windshield for a Ski Nautique of this era sitting around?

[obd666]

nice, no doubt that thing will be sharp when you're done with it

[hondaprlud]

Cool!

[NCH2oSki]

I've got many passes through our slalom course behind one almost identical. Super sweet slalom boat!

[gome123]

YES!! I love projects. Show us some pics of the damage underneath. and keep this thread going with your updates.

[NautiqueJeff]

Will do!

[swc5150]

Great color combo too! I'm trying to picture what happened to crush the windshield. Did it roll off the trailer in high speed turn or something? My first thought was it just slid backwards at a landing, when reading the description, but that windshield pic has me perplexed

[NautiqueJeff]

It hit on the other side and rolled onto its side, from what I can tell. I don't have any details, just what I have observed from some pictures. It popped the platform itself part way off of the bracket and caused some fiberglass and gel damage on the other side. It shouldn't be too big of a job to fix though. Prop is pretty mangled, but the shaft and strut might be ok. Fins are probably toast. Rudder is gone.

[NautiqueJeff]

The boat just arrived about an hour ago. Spent the last hour or so checking it over. The fiberglass damage is worse than I thought. It is going to my fiberglass guy on Monday, and we'll determine what to do with it at that point. Assuming we fix it, it's going to need a rudder, one tracking fin, a new prop (or possibly the existing one can be reworked), a new platform bracket on the port side, a port side windshield glass, a rubrail, and an extensive cleaning.

Other than the fiberglass work, my biggest concern was the engine. I pulled the spark plugs (just in case there was water in the engine - - you never know), threw a battery in it, and cranked it over. At first, it didn't spin, and I thought oh great, it is locked up. I tried it a couple more times, and then it started spinning! Sounded decent, too. No water came out of the plug holes either.

I popped the plugs back in, and it fired right up and sounded great! So happy to at least have a good 89-hour GT-40 out of this deal!

[Double D]

Good luck on the windshield. That same brother with the 99 SN had to replace half his windshield from a lose boat mishap. Pretty sure just half cost over $800.

Good luck with the boat.

[NautiqueJeff]

Yeah, that price is right in line with what I have found too.

[NautiqueJeff]

Ok, fiberglass damage is confirmed worse than I was led to believe, so I am selling the whole package. Anyone who needs a super-low-hour GT-40 or other mechanical parts, or interior parts, or a trailer should check out the auction!

1997 Ski Nautique eBay Auction

[seachicken27]

Jeff, I was hoping to watch you work some magic on this boat, but I can see that fiberglass damage looks to be a pretty sizable undertaking for someone. Other than that everything else looks pretty straightforward. Hope someone on here picks it up and returns it to its former glory!

[NautiqueJeff]

I hope so too! I REALLY wanted to fix it, but the fiberglass damage is quite a bit worse than I expected. It is certainly fixable, if someone is willing to put in the time and effort. If the fiberglass wasn't so bad, this would be a no-brainer fixer-upper for sure.

By the way, seachicken, I got a chance to spend some time around your old 2001 this past week. That is such a nice boat!!

[seachicken27]

I regret not holding on to that one, but I know it's in good hands right now, and hopefully I get the chance to buy it back in the future.