mattie

I would think you would get a lot more interest with reelboater thongs, then we would have a reason to stare.

Too late for the poll since you announced the results allready. I too would stick with reelboating.com, but in your spare time you could fire up another forum, I'm sure there are things you would want to do a little different.

I put both batterys in the console on my cc and extended the leads from the starter. Nice clean installation, and it got my center of gravity forward a few feet which I prefer.

I have to agree with you about spending the nights on board, I like my creature comforts. Afternoon naps-ok, or maybe one night I could do, but a cabin would be much better. We bought a slide-in pickup camper last fall to put in the back of our truck and take our cabin with us and tow the boat behind. My wife retires later this year and we hope to make good use of them both. If you get an islander, you will really be able tell the difference vs. your old boat when you tow in hilly country, just look out for low overpasses. Saw a picture of a cuddy once that didn't make it. lol.

What river? The 3.0 pushs my boat well, but one time I had four adults plus myself[the majority were porkers]and it struggled to get up on plane, aside from that it's usually my wife and I and our two dogs plus gear and it does fine. If I had that engine on a 22', I would probably put a hydrofoil on the drive which would help it get on top more easily. It's a light boat as you said, and because of this can be a little skittish at speed on light chop with strong wind, easing the throttle pretty much cures that problem. Nice deep interior on the rear deck, so you don't have any fear of someone falling out. I've had many positive comments from other boaters about the looks of the boat while dockside and the thing most liked was the low weight of the boat vs. fiberglass as almost all had much larger engines to push their heavier boats. Bottom cleaning is easy if you keep up with it, otherwise use muratic acid at the end of the year, or a product called slimey grimey which used with hot water removes all the crud on the bottom very well. My engine is carbed, don't know if the new ones went over to fuel injection yet or not. Starts easily and has a nice low idle for trolling. I had side and rear curtains made for mine, along with a hanging drop behind the convertible top with the plastic window material in it so we can get out in inclement weather. If I still have it next year, I'm going to have a cover made along the lines of a shower cap for it, loose fitting, with an elastic band to cover the gunnels and above, keeping out the spider webs and bird poop which accumulates at an unbeleiveable rate, along with fish flys in season. The islanders are quite popular on the great lakes for salmon and trout fishing, easy to add downriggers and rodholders to the tracks that come factory mounted on the boat. If you buy one, the 1st thing you want to do is recaulk your windshield bases, every one I've seen came leaky, and starcraft doesn't seem to address it, though they pay the dealer to do it as warranty work. It's not a glitzy boat, but it is comfortable and far cheaper than many, I like the aluminum hull, which was a major factor in buying it. The interior is comfortable to lie down in for two, plain but useable. We use the fishwell for a cooler, it is under passenger seat in mine and carry a cooler in the back for fish. If you have specific questions about the islander, I will try to answer them.

I have a 2007 3.0 liter 19' islander. Fuel efficient, you probably would want to upsize the motor one step for the 22' model. How do you plan to use it?

sorry for your loss.

I prefer a seperate forum for electronics.

I went with two rubbermaid sheds, both the same size. They just allow my lawn tractor to drive in, and on a good day, I can get out without bruising myself. The roof is in two sections, the rear fixed and the front laps it and slides back so the tractor can be driven in. The second shed holds my push mower and other lawn crud, just bought it to match the other. I could have gotten one larger shed, but figured that I would have to take the mower out to get at the other stuff, so this works out pretty well.

one of the local marinas on the river uses it for end of year bottom cleaning of it's customers boats, they get it by the barrel, mix with hot water and pressure wash. a much safer product than the usual muratic acid most marinas use. they don't have any negative views about it. i use it for cleaning my triumph cc, it was reccomended by the company i purchased it from.

dittoes from illinois

wiley, are these easily removable so I could move it from boat to boat or to remove to prevent theft, or is it permanently mounted?

wiley, I'm no guru as computers go, but you should have the ability to set up an on site e-mail service that we could use as an alternate e-mail service. then I could for instance be mattie at reelboating .com. If all the members used this service, it would be advertised everytime someone communicated with another. The possibilitys would seem endless. The site would be advertised every time that someone sent an e-mail. You could also enclose a select advertisement with each one sent, and have the sender see one advertisement too which would bring in revenue. Maybe this wouldn't fly, but I thought it worth mentioning.

found a reference to it on tht awhile back, and finally got around to checking it out. today is first time to wander through the forums and get a feel for how it is run. see a lot of familiar user names, and it appears that wiley has another venture done right.