New to me 2013 XP20 CC

[cnette01]

After 13 years I finally upgraded my fishing ride. Part of the reason was that my family is pretty much grown now and my old boat just wouldn't plane anymore with all of us in it. Plus my wife is not as young as she once was and she will be more comfortable in the newer boat with more room and less chance of falling.

The newer boat is a 2013 Xpress 20 foot center console with a 150hp Yamaha on the back. This is a big step up from the 25hp tiller and 16 footer that we had previously. I picked it up last Friday and of course there are a lot of things I need to do to it before it will be setup the way I want it. Oddly enough, this CC boat has a hotfoot installed in it. I think I'm going to want to have that replaced with a standard throttle, but I'm going to check into how much that will cost before making a final decision. The electric trolling motor's got to go, it is a 70lb 24 volt Minn Kota Maxxum model and just can't compare with an iPilot for trolling the way we like to. I ordered a 70lb 24 volt Minn Kota iPilot from BBG Marine electronics and it should be here tomorrow.

There weren't any rod holders on the boat either. I pulled 4 of my rod holders off of my old boat and installed them yesterday. I have 4 more rod holders on the way, plus a couple of HiTek rod holders in case we indulge in some spider rigging later on. The problem is I'm going to have to change how the running lights are stored so we can install rod holders where we want them. And then there is the problem of transporting all of those rods to the lake. I don't like the idea of real tall rod racks and would prefer under gunnel storage for rod transport. I ordered a couple of rod racks that I think will work out ok, but we will see.

I'll miss the old boat, but a good friend did buy it from me. I didn't want just anyone to buy my old boat...too many memories.

Once I get it set up, I'll post a picture of it.

[brucec]

Congratulations, sounds good.

[blueball]

congrats on the new boat

[crp4570]

Congrats on the new boat. Now you have new memories awaiting.

[cnette01]

The new iPilot 70lb 24 volt trolling motor arrived yesterday. I pulled the old Maxxum trolling motor off of the boat last night. It looks like whoever installed it used rivnuts as there is no good way to get to the underside of the deck up by the bow. I may have to do the same to install the quick release bracket for the iPilot, but I'm not sure where my rivnut tool is - I last used it 13 years ago. Of course the existing holes don't match the quick release bracket, so I'll have to patch those.

The foot pedal of the Maxxum was screwed down to the deck. I have not seen that before, but there were molded holes in the base so I guess that is not uncommon.

I am taking the boat back to the dealer today to have the hotfoot removed and a standard throttle installed. I would prefer to run the boat while standing up. I will probably ask what he will charge to install the quick release bracket for the iPilot since it will already be in the shop. I should get the boat back on Friday.

Here's a couple of pics of the work in progress.

[M R Dux]

Congrats on the new rig.

I looked at the Xpress bay boat but my local dealer acted like he wasn't interested in even ordering me one that wasn't pre-rigged. I do my own rigging.

[skeetbum]

Good looking boat. One I have had my eye on for a while but other things first and so on. Looks real comfortable.

[cnette01]

It is one of those off and on rain days here today with a fair chance of thunderstorms, so I'm working on the boat instead of fishing. I have additional rod holders and rod transportation racks installed, and I relocated the running light storage clips. I also finished up with the iPilot installation. I'm still trying to figure out where to store my paddle and boat hook. I could put the boat hook under the rod transportation racks on one side, but not the paddle. I may put the paddle on the side of the deck, but I'm wondering if that may be a trip hazard so I'm going to think about that for a while.

Here are some pics of the progress so far.

[Cane Pole]

Looks good. It don't matter where u mount something on a boat. Sooner or later you will wish you had done it differently.

[DaveB40]

Good lookin' ride. Hope you have as many good memories with this one, as you
had with the old one. Tight Lines! Dave