Bozeman Bob

More of a cosmetic thing . You have solid glass under the gel coat so water intrusion into a core is not a issue. Pretty much have to do what MCF mentioned . Those little blisters may grow in numbers over time. Depends on how much time ,effort and money you want to put into a 26 soon to be 27 year old hull. Either open up the big one and have a auto paint shop blend it in and they probably could repair it at a reasonable cost or live with it , can't see it from inside the boat ! The small ones would be a bigger PITA than I would want to deal with.

Drive shaft grounding strap which should be lubricated with a petroleum based jelly or you will end up with a groove in your shaft over time. What is wrong with the one in the picture ?

Might be a bit bigger than your looking for ,but you wont lose money on it and bigger is better on O. 1987 27 Tiara Open , 600 hours on rebuilt 350 crusaders ,1400 hours on hull. New Simrad GO 7 extra props ,new risers, exhaust manifolds. Soft top with Radar arch and launchers , asking 16,500. Friends boat , not listed anywhere else ,yet.

Phone number is listed at bottom of ad.

Screamer Atommic on FB may be your best way to contact seller.

I would rather own a older decently built boat with some character marks than a newer cookie cutter boat that can't handle the rough stuff . I have fished on a newer 23' fiberglass boat that if the seas are over 2' your heading for the docks ,looks all pretty back at the dock and that's the problem it's docked, not out on O. It's a fishing boat ,not a show boat. But that's me , good luck with your search.

Bigger is better on O . I see a 1988 Wellcraft 25 on Craigslist [ Cape Vincent ] w/trailer ,reliable easy to work on Mercruiser 350/260hp V8. Asking 7300 , this time of year you might get it for 6 to 6500. Not going to be any harder to handle than a 23' and will hit the rough stuff a lot better than a 21-23' . You get used to the size after 1 or two outings. Leaves you a lot of room considering your budget ,to outfit her with new equipment. Fished out of one for years and was a great hull ,always felt safe and easy to land fish in.

Bean bag on the foredeck and your styling at nap time fo sure !

From what I read it's been a freshwater boat its entire life .Not sure what low hours mean but those engines should run 4 -6,000 hours with no problem. Dropping another engine in is about as easy as it can be on that boat That does add to the value compared to what you probably saw online which are saltwater boats. If that's the case you have to add in your time and money to look at one ,have it surveyed then pay to have it transported back. That alone may set you back 4-7,000 . What electronics ,as in up to date and fishing gear are on it and if you buy a boat not equipped what are you dropping $ on that ? Is the boat worth it ? Only you can answer that . I think you would be best served by setting up a time and date to get on it ,look under every nook and cranny you can to see if it everything is in order. Turn off and on everything that has a switch to make sure all systems work. Then take it for a sea trial , drop it down to trolling speed out in the lake and see how she handles the ditch and waves from every direction ,think you will be pleasantly surprised. Then make your offer based on all the info you can gather ,good luck !

Without knowing what years your looking at it may be hard to answer. From the 80's to mid 90's they are cored as most boats in that size range are ,including Tiara., Owned a 28' 1987 for 5 - 6 years and had a moisture meter on it before I sold it ,was dry as a bone and that was done while it was in the water..Unless someone started drilling holes in them and without properly sealing them you should be good to go , A survey in most cases will tell you the condition of the core. They run great in a following sea and plant themselves in the ditch like know other boat , do to the modest 11* deadrise . Now the trade off is in 3-4 waves and running into them , even with there deep bow they have a tendency to pound a bit over 20 mph. Usually dropping the trim tabs down will dampen that quite a bit. As far as design and layout it is the best I have ever seen. Every hatch is designed to make whatever your working on easy to get at. Slight crown in the deck and deep gutters around everything has water rolling off and nothing hitting the bilge. The hull itself is built like a tank and all hardware is oversized and top of the line. Only reason it was sold was the need for more room under the hardtop when running bigger charters . Fighting deck was plenty big enough for that .

What year and length Rampage are you looking at? The boat decoy hound posted I believe was made at a different facility. The original company was bought out. So you may be comparing apples to oranges.

I would try Laing's Outboard Motors. You can google it for number and exact location. I think its Ward Rd off River Rd in North Tonawanda. Specializes in older motors.