I bought a low hour (139) 2006 Cobalt 220 a couple of months ago. She had a few minor issues but with some concerted effort and lots of elbow grease she looks and runs great. I also rebuilt much of the aluminum trailer. It is a Tidewater. It now has new tandem axles, winch, custom bunks, and new coupler assembly with new Folsom winch and lifting crank wheel assembly. I also replaced the bow roller and added stern boat buckles for tie-downs. Also put one up front which I use to snug down the bow eye. Of course new cast aluminum painted wheels to add to the bling. I removed the garish Tidewater logos, polished the entire trailer and installed all new LED lights and coupler. A pretty boat on an unsafe trailer is a disaster waiting to happen.
I don't want to sound like an advertisement for Starbrite marine cleaning products, but dang those products work and work well. I buffed out the paint with cleaner wax then followed it up with polishing wax. It has PTFE in it and all I can say it is voodoo because even super hard dock rashes rub off with a wet finger in most cases. A damp cotton towel will remove anything stubborn. Amazing stuff. I was so impressed by the waxes I also bought the vinyl cleaner, which worked great too. I used the vinyl protector as well. All of these products have UV protection in them, which is super necessary here in the Valley of the Sun and our high temperatures. Starbrite also makes a great deck cleaner which worked wonders on the textured swim step and the walk over on the engine hatch. I have owned two large ocean going boats in the past, so I am familiar with many marine cleaning products. Not sure why I didn't previously try Starbrite products, but I am a customer for life now.
Seems I am the third or fourth owner of this boat. The first was on the east coast, Virginia I think, where it probably saw some salt water use - hence the aluminum trailer. I bought the boat from a guy in San Diego who also had a larger ocean capable fishing boat. He decided hauling the Cobalt to the bay was more work than just stepping on to your boar moored in a slip. Anyway, I am well impressed with the quality of this boat. I have crawled all over it more than a few times and even in places where most never look, I found good quality connectors, and well finished fiberglass. Even the cleats are back plated and through bolted. Impressive.
My boat has the Volvo Penta 8.1 Gi engine. What a stonking beast that is. Seems like too mush scoot for a 22ft boat, but I'm not complaining. The boat handles very well and the deep V hull makes for a nice dry ride.
I only have one irritating problem - the damn fuel cap is a fidgety thing. I put the two pin key in, turn it counter clockwise until it releases tension and "should" pop up to unscrew it to remove it, but.... it won't release. It rattles a little, I can get it to turn a tiny bit left or right but it just won't pop up. Aggravating. I was headed to the lake this morning but when I got to the gas station to fill up the tow rig and boat, I couldn't get the fuel cap off. I spent 30 mins fidgeting with it. Two guys came over who said they have boats with similar fill caps. They couldn't get it to release. Ugh. I post this in an appropriate thread but thought I'd share a lot of what is great about the boat and a little about what is not
My name is Dan. I will create a signature file soon.
See you on the water.
