First boat purchase - 1993 Ski Nautique 2001

[Kinn12]

I've been lurking at these old ski boats for awhile since they are an affordable way to get into water sports. This is my first boat. The engine has 425 hours and the owner took me out on the water where he demonstrated it running well without issue, even towing his son on skis. I wanted to get your opinion on some of these cracks in the gel. The one on the back of the boat is really the only one I can see fiberglass. Does that need immediate repair, or can I use it for the rest of this season and repair it another time? Also, I'm not too sure what's going on with the peeling of a large portion of gel coat near the windshield. It's almost like someone didnt install the windshield properly, or some impact happened. The front of the boat where it contacts the winch/roller on the front of the trailer did a number on the hull with scratches too. Hopefully I didnt get taken to the cleaner, it wasnt cheap... Everywhere I was looking these were 5k to 13k with most of the hours around 1000. Trailer says under 600lbs plus im guessing the boat is around 2600 with fuel. My tow capacity is 3500 but AWD. How bad is it going to be trying to launch and pull her out?

[Kmayotte]

Fiberglass is beat up but nothing unusable here.
My buddy regularly tows his '99 ski nautique on a single axle with his Subaru Outback without issue.
'93 is the first year of fiberglass stringers so should be a good boat in the long term if you get on some fiberglass repairs and the engine is strong.

No sense in Monday morning quarterbacking what you paid. It's yours now so go out and enjoy it!

[Kinn12]

Thanks for the encouraging reply. That's good to hear about the outback. CVT and towing seem like a sketchy combination. I have an older outback with the 5 speed automatic, but im sure the tow capacity is much less on mine. For the chip in the back of the boat that exposes the fiberglass, should I do a quick fix of marinetex now to seal it up or wait to fix it properly when I have time?

[Kmayotte]

Yeah marinetex or west system for quick and easy fiberglass repair. Below the waterline so pretty isn't totally the goal here.

[Kinn12]

Great thank you. Just out of curiosity, was the 11k I paid way too much for this boat? Engine seems to be running great with only 425 hours which was one of my main concerns. I guess I cant say its running great until doing a compression test though. I was only out on the water with him for about 30 minutes or so.