Hey there, new guy here. I live in Central Va and am in my late 50s. I've been an auto mechanic for almost 35 years. I had to give up bass fishing due to severe back and knee issues 25 years ago. 3 years ago I had my knees replaced but still deal with the back but started looking for a jon boat and trailer. I have never had a boat and always depended on friends to go fishing that had boats. Being a family man with your normal family bill's I have a limited budget for hobbies but found a 1973 Desoto 14 ft jon boat with a homemade trailer last year and my journey as a boat owner began. The boat came with a Minn Kota 3HP and some nice raised seats. I do little things here and there as I can afford them. Some things I have done is raised the seats higher because of my back. I got a Minn Kota trolling motor as a spare and good thing cause the 3HP gave out in the middle of a reservoir so I now have 2 Endura Minn Kotas because I just bought a new one to replace the 3HP. I have 2 marine batteries in the front where the seat was, installed a Garmin Striker 4, cupholders, paddles, a cover behind the last seat for storage. Got me a good life jacket, first aid kit, horn, whistle, little tool kit, battery gauge. The trailer had to have the bearings replaced and installed buddies, I upgraded the 8 inch tires to 12 because they were dry rotted. The lights were standard trailer and I put on submersible after breaking one loading the boat. I joined the forum to hopefully get some ideas and some dos and donts of boating. Thanks for taking me aboard.
