Ahhhhh.....the Boat House of Anaheim. Bought and sold a couple boats there. Tell Tim that Stan Nowak said "Hi".
That boat has been on that lot for a while now. Make sure you have it thoroughly inspected by your own mechanic and surveyor. Don't be afraid to go in LOW on the price.
If you like the Cabo (I do too), sniff around some. I think theres a couple listed on allcoast that you might want to compare to.
They have dual 20 gal. built-in bait tanks in the transom. That's one of the design flaws that you need to know about and do some minor mods to fix the potential danger of tanks leaking into the bilge. Something about the tank being below the waterline. From what I have read from other owners, there's an easy fix.
They have dual 20 gal. built-in bait tanks in the transom. That's one of the design flaws that you need to know about and do some minor mods to fix the potential danger of tanks leaking into the bilge. Something about the tank being below the waterline. From what I have read from other owners, there's an easy fix.
ok what's the fix ?
the only problem i've got right now is that the bait some how gets into the drain and plugs up the hole and if you don't find then , than you keep looking for a nasty smell............
Let me take you thru the plumbing as I remember it then I'll show you some improvements i did.
1. There are 5 transom thru hulls below the waterline. Starting from left to right facing the boat from the back: port fish hold drain, port bait tank drain, bilge drain, starboard bait tank drain and starboard fish hold drain. I could have these reversed in order. Neither one of these thru hulls came with a shutoff valve.
2. Inside the motor splashwell there are two additional thru hulls (no shutoff) on each side for the port and starboard deck and bait tank overflows. You can not get to either of these thru hulls because the hoses go into the foamed bulkheads on the way to the thru hull fittings. Mine do not leak but someday this will need to be addressed if they leak or you wanted to add a shutoff valve.
As stated above the bait tanks are approx. 1/3 below the water line. Consequently if there is a leak anywhere in the bait tank or fish hold drain system (fitting, hose) it will leak into the bilge. That's is what sank a Cabo being moored in BOLA about 10 years ago. There was a leak at the drain fitting, which leaked into the bilge, the bilge pump had shitty wiring and did not work so the boat filled with water.
Since i moor my boat here's what i did to get around these shortcommings.
1. Plugged with epoxy the two transom thru hulls for the fish holds. Fish holds now drain into the bilge.
2. Installed a brass shutoff valve on each bait tank drain hose way in the back on the inside of the transom bulkhead. I keep these in the shutoff position at all times.
3. Torqued down a plug on the bilge drain so it will not come out.
4. I replumbed the bait tanks so that both tanks fill up using either bait pump or both bait pumps at the same time. i added a shutoff valve at a low point on this fill line so that at the end of the day I drain both bait tanks into the bilge thru the fill intakes.
Now i only have 4 thru hulls each with a shutoff valve plus the bilge drain. I added a 2nd 2000 gph bilge pump and wired it to the original high-water alarm float switch. I plumbed its outlet thru the former battery compartment. I'm fishing tomorrow so I'll takes some pics to help explain all this. i have zero water leaks and all water drains into the bilge except the deck and bait tank overflow drains which drain into the splashwell.
UPDATE: One pic shows the two bilge pump automatic control panels and the other shows emptying both bait tanks into the bilge. The two float switches in the middle are wired in parallel and control the main bilge pump. The other float switch to the right is a few inches above the others and controls the high water bilge pump.
If you did not know, the original Cabo was designed by a marine architech who died about 6 months before it was introduced in 1987. I met the builder at the 1987 Del Mar Boat Show and he told me this tragic story of his best friend. This boat was the architech's dream for many years. He was an avid fisherman and the two of them teamed up to build it. The builder was a motorhome/trailer guy and knew nothing about boats. Consequently the Cabo is only a beta version boat that was never improved apon by the builder. In fact its fit-finish declined in later years as financial problems beset the builder. I visited the manfacturing plant in the s. LA area in 1988. After a few successful lawsuits, the builder went bankrupt and sold the hulls to Harvey boats and the name to the high end boat manufacturer today. You can still get a Cabo today from Harvey boats but its nowhere near the quality of the original.
cool thanks for the info.
the only problem i have with the bait tank is that it seams to empty by it self while driving the boat and that the sardines plug up the drain .
but the fish holds don't seam to drain very quickly , think i have to replumb and replace all the drain hoses.
all the fish finder and the gps look like there from 1987 and will pull them out soon to replace them with more updates equiptment as soon as i sell my sea ray .
I have enjoyed mine for the last five years .... Great job on the your bilge Howie !! Seems like you made some very needed improvments. One more issue with the Cabo 216 is placement of the batteries .... I know some have moved them to the center counsel .... Just some food for thought. Mine is for sale as well ... not listed yet, but she will be posted in the usual places in the coming weeks.
The bottom of each bait tank is the drain fitting/hose to one of the thru hulls below the transom waterline. For this to happen your bait tank drain plug is not plugging. I'd install one of those $3 homedepot plastic shutoff valves (like you see in my pics) inside the bilge area directly under the drain outlet or get a better plugging system inside the tanks. Just give me a call if you need some assistance with your new project or come down south to fish off my Cabo in SD. I'm not a mechanical/motor guy (that's my I bought a yamaha F150) but an expert on electrical wiring. i just bought an Offshore 65 gal 4-scoop, lited bait tank from Tapout which i pick up tomorrow. I plan on cutting out the back half of the center seating area about 3" back from the rodholders. Thus removing the back seat and below cooler/storage area. One thing you will love about these older Cabos is reconfiguring them to your fishing needs. The workmanship and high quality materials makes for easy improvements. if the designer was still alive I'm sure he would have done these improvements himself. As an engineer by trade and a tinkerer by avocation I sure love my cabo. I'd really be surprized if anyone by himself put more fish and different species of fish on his boat over the last 5 years than mine. Attached is a pic of my next project. I plan on insulating the two built-in 20 gal transom bait tanks and using them instead to ice down filets or beverages. Oh by the way the motor splashwell is used to cut and bleed your fish before you filet them.
FarmerD,
i did relocate the 2 batteries from the transom hatch into the cuddy and added 2 more. two gp29 batteries on battery switch position1 and two on 2. i use an electrical trolling motor for halibut which equates to a gazillion miles per gallon or as an emergency backup. I use the former transom battery hatch compartment to store 20' of washdown hose.
Howie, quick question for you.
i believe that the cabo has a 116 gallon fuel tank , how many gallons on the main tank before you have swith the valve over to the reserve .
how many gallons of reserve ?
igot an old yamaha 225 oil injected , how did you pay for your new engine?
how is the performance compare to the old one ?
thanks,
I'm not positive but I believe the 1987 Cabo216s came with 105 gal fuel tanks. The later models had up to 120 gal tanks. The fuel switch you are talking about "main/reserve" is a little confusing but makes perfect sense once you understand its reasoning. Again another great design from the designer. There are NOT two tanks but one large tank with two pickup tubes. The Main pickup tube extends less than half way down into the tank. The Reserve tube goes to within 1/4" of the bottom. That way if you run out on Main and run out of gas and switch to Reserve you still have 60% of the gas remaining in the tank to get you home. Brilliant! I always leave the switch in the Reserve position and thus do not use this function anymore. I suggest you get someone to polish your fuel tank and replace/calibrate the sending unit. Just take bad fuel and debris out of the equation. A mobile guy should do it for about $350. it's worth the peace of mind and potential damage to your engine. I replaced the fuel tank sending unit's 6" circular inspection plate just in front of the back seat with a 9x11" inspection plate. That makes for an easier access to the fuel lines and sending unit.
I bought a new 2005 Yamaha F150 from Boat Depot in San Diego. The total cost out the door with new gauges, steering cables, taxes, prep was $14000. That's more than I paid for my cabo 5 years ago. I look at it as end-stating my boat. You want to see how it performs just come on down. Cruise @30mph, WOT 39 mph. I got another prop which I believe will get me a few mph but have not taken the time to try it out. Am very, very happy with the performance of the F150 plus zero maintenance other than routine. Did I say quiet. I had a 175 suzuki on it before. Downsized cuz 50 mph IMO is just too fast to run this boat in the ocean plus at over 4 mpg vs 2.2 is a real bonus today. That equates to a 450 mile range. I've had 5 adults on board once with two of them sitting across from each other on the bow gunnels and the boat performed just fine only a few mph less. i was really surprised by this performance considering it was a F150. I heard that the F150 is more powerful than a usual 150hp motor cuz they plan on using this model for their 175 & 200 small block motors in the future. Just hearsay however. I fish by myself 90% of the time. So that and catching my own bait makes for inexpensive fishing trip. when i go fishing i carry two 5 gal jerry cans to my moored boat. With that i can get to the coronado islands and back and fish all day no problem.
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