“Brand New” 1977 Cobalt 18BR
Hello, I am the proud new owner of a brand new 1977 Cobalt 18BR bowrider, with an incredible 150 total hours of use since new! I purchased this magnificent boat from the original owner last week in Illinois. I won’t tell you the price because you’d cry. Quite literally, this boat is about as close to perfect in every way as a 31-year old boat could possibly be. Even the gel coat on the hull shines like new.
Can you also provide me information on joining the Cobalt Owner’s Club.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
John R. Smith, Division Vice Commander, US Coast Guard (Aux), Akron, OH
To meet the best Cobalt Boats dealer in the U.S., visit Naples Boat Mart in Naples, FL. The best Cobalt 343 boat in the world is of course, Land Yo!
Potential Cobalt Owner in New Zealand Needs Help!
Beauty & The Beast
I have been the proud owner of ‘Joy Ride’, a red and white 1978 19′ 6″ Cobalt Classic bow rider, for 25 years. I purchased her from the original owner with only 12 hours when she was five years old. My family and I enjoyed her for 22 years without mechanical failure at my alpine lake cabin in California as well as at various other lakes on the west coast before lightly restoring her 3 years ago. The sundeck seating over the engine well was removed, which opened up the cockpit for fishing and skiing. A new highly varnished engine hatch cover was fabricated and new carpeting installed along with custom canvass. She retains her beautiful original vinyl upholstery on the side bolsters, bow, and swivel captain seats, and the original teak still appears excellent, including the full-width swim platform. Needless to say, her quality construction stands out after 30 years and I remain proud to own her. Her Jim Wynne designed hull provides an ultra- smooth and dry ride in choppy water and the original 351 ci/240 hp Ford Cleveland HO engine pushes her to a top speed of 52 mph with the original 21″ aluminum propeller, although she also has 19″ and 17″ Stiletto SS performance propellers. A few years ago the OMC’ 800 out drive lower unit was replaced and several new components were added to the engine, including a new starter and Holly 600 cfm carburetor, but most everything else is original and in excellent working condition, including exhaust system, gauges, lights, and switches!
Since I am now retired, I equipped her for sport fishing by adding two Hummingbird fish finders, 12 pole holders, live circulating bait well, vhf-fm radiotelephone with 6′ antennae, am/fm/cd, CB radio, GPS, 24V 70 lb. thrust electric motor, rear swivel seat, raw water wash down, live circulating bait well, 4-place onboard battery charger, and two more 12V Optima batteries. Her 1978 EZ Loader tandem trailer with rollers was completely restored by Shadow Trailers in Cypress, California and repainted in red imron to match her hull trim color. Disc brakes, new axles, actuator, and lights were added along with 5 Penman 6-ply tires. She remains a standout at the docks and always gets admiring glances and comments. Last month she turned 340 original hours and looks like she just rolled off the assembly line, minus a few light nicks and scratches. I can’t imagine a more perfect boat under 25 feet for fishing in choppy west coast waters as well as in shallow lakes and reservoirs. She is easy to tow, launch, and retrieve and can be handled by one person with no problem; and she will remain in my family for another generation of fishermen to enjoy because she is in my Will & Last Testament along with her fully restored 1990 Bronco tow vehicle.
Cobalt Enthusiast Seeks Model
Hello,
Welcome John O’Brien, Cobalt Enthusiast
Please welcome John O’Brien, our newest sign-up member of MyCobalt.net. John wrote me this note last week and with his permisson, I am posting it here. Welcome aboard John and we look forward to seeing pictures of your new 302!
Hi… I am a 63 yr old “Philadelpia lawyer” (wait! don’t delete me yet.) who has had a Cobalt 282 for the last four years. I have to admit to being a “boat junkie”. I owned my first boat at the age of 15 (an MFG 16′ w/ 40 HP Johnson). My latest new boat ( a March ’08 delivery of a 302- loaded) will be my 14th boat. I’ve been thru—not in chronological order—Sea Ray (42′), Albemarle(31′), Tiara (31′) ,Whaler ( 28′), Intrepid (31) and others. My “sickness” is fairly evident by now, correct? Irrespective of that record of ownership, I finally matured sufficiently enough to recognize and stick with a boat manufacturer that I truly enjoyed and which was the “right boat at the right time” for me, my family (6 total),my boating habits on Cape Cod—specifically, transiting from my marina in Falmouth to Woods Hole,or Buzzards Bay, or thru the Canal, very frequently to Martha’s Vineyard (a 9 nm trip from my marina) and fairly often to Nantucket with various visiting friends from Philly who, sadly, have only the “Jersey Shore” as a basis of comparison. The Cobalt 282 was fun, a great performer, BUT–as a bowrider– not the ideal boat to return from Nantucket in at twilight (it blows pretty hard out of the west/southwest around that time and “wet” is a consistent penance for having a borderline vessel for that trip.)
Thus it is that I have a 302 (again, a bowrider…they’re unbeatable party boats)…BUT … this model has a foot more beam, a 3′ increase in LOA, and a lot heavier hull plus twin 425 HP Merc counterprops; a newly designed Garmin hardtop on ss arch, a Garmin GPS/RADAR in dash w/ 24″Hi-Def Radome, ICOM VHF w DSC, remote spot & hailer on top, underwater stern light…if I missed anything, could you please let me know! Obviously this boat will hopefully be my last for quite awhile…maybe it’ll be part of my “estate” , ya’ never can tell !
Despite all these boats over all the years (as well as a long time “six-pack license” ) I still look forward to learning more about Cobalts from other owners regardless of the model they own. I also look forward to the sharing of info from other “Cobalters” which can only come from owning and driving a Cobalt.
John F. O’Brien, III
