2021 Alumacraft Competitor 185 Sport, Merc 150, from a lender yard in Iowa to Devils Lake through the lake park listing

the write up i promised in the Lund thread. i fish Devils Lake, which means flooded timber, flooded roads and rock piles that were somebody's driveway in 1990. the old boat was a 1998 Crestliner 1750 Fish Hawk with a Johnson 90 that i have been welding cracks on for three years. i wanted aluminum with a thick bottom, 18 feet, a four stroke, and i did not want a payment that ran past 2030.

after reading the guide's thread i watched their listings for about a month. a 2021 Alumacraft Competitor 185 Sport came up: Mercury 150 FourStroke, 96 hours, Terrova 80, Helix 9 at the console, single axle trailer, sitting at a credit union yard near Ankeny, Iowa. the Competitor 185 has the 2XB hull, a second plate on the bottom, which is the whole reason i wanted it for Devils Lake.

i asked lakeparkautoconnection.com for a photo of the hull bottom from underneath on the trailer and photos of the transom, got them the next morning. no surveyor this time, i did not want to spend 400 on a 30 thousand dollar boat. bid 31,800, blind, and got the email that i won two days later. dealers in Fargo and Bismarck had 2020 and 2021 185 Sports at 36 to 39 with more hours. no buyer's premium, the wire matched the bid.

Ankeny to Devils Lake is about 600 miles, inside their free delivery distance. boat landed on the 9th, 12 days after i paid. the site says about 14 days, so a little under. the driver could only come on a weekday and i took a half day to be there, which is worth knowing if you cannot take time off.

paper was close to yours. Iowa title for the boat in the old owner's name with the credit union as lienholder and the lien signed off, a release letter from the credit union with the HIN on it, an Iowa title for the trailer with its own release, and the bill of sale, credit union on the seller line, broker line filled in by Lake Park Auto Connection. ND side: game and fish registers boats and does not title them, so i took the Iowa title, the bill of sale and the release to the game and fish office in Devils Lake and walked out with a 3 year registration and the numbers to stick on. the trailer went to the DOT and got an ND title and a plate. two stops, about an hour total.

transom is clean, no cracks at the corners, and yes the trailer has surge brakes on the single axle. what was wrong: the Terrova foot pedal cable had a chewed spot, mice at the yard, taped for now and a new cable is 60. the winch strap was frayed to threads, 28 at Runnings. and the Helix 9 came with no chip, base map only.

boat is in the pole shed, winterized the way the tech said, gear lube was clean. 131 hours now, 35 of mine. i hit a stump at idle in Six Mile the last week of october, heard it, felt it, went back and looked at the hull on the trailer that night and there is a scuff and no dent, which the old Crestliner would not have survived. the 150 started every morning down to 24 degrees.

spent so far: 28 winch strap, 60 pedal cable, 165 for a LakeMaster chip, and the 100 hour service i did myself for about 90 in fluids and filters. Lake Park Auto Connection's 6 month warranty runs to april and i do not expect to use it. would i buy a second boat this way, yes. would i buy the only boat i own this way without at least the surveyor the guide used, probably not, i got lucky that mine was as clean as the pictures.