2018 Nautique Super Air G23, bought blind, and the first surf set behind it

followed the Wakesetter thread for a month before i did my own, so here is mine with the numbers up front like reed wants, because the detail in these buy threads is why i pulled the trigger.

2018 Super Air G23, PCM ZZ8, the Nautique Surf System with the hard tanks, 389 hours, on its matching trailer, bought through conaway's auto sales out of a lender yard north of Atlanta. these are a hundred thousand dollar boat new and the clean used ones around central Florida were 88 to 105 all last season. i was never getting there. the G23 is the boat half the chain lakes here want and almost nobody sells.

how it went. they shot it, 58 photos and a cold start clip, and i asked for the surf tabs working, the ballast tanks, the trailer brakes and the heat exchanger. all four came back in a couple days. sealed bid, so you never see another number. i actually lost the first G23 i went after, a 2017, which closed above my 68 by some amount i will never learn, since a blind bid keeps that hidden. stung for a week. then this 2018 came up, i bid 71,250 the night it closed, and won it. winning bid is the price, no buyer's premium on the invoice.

Atlanta yard to Clermont was 442 road miles, under the first 1,000 that are free, so delivery was zero. wired it on a wednesday, boat showed up the next Tuesday on its trailer with the paperwork and both keys in the tube. the one real annoyance was on my end, the Florida title and registration took a little over two weeks and a trip to the tax collector, which is Florida being Florida, not the broker. listing style is at conawaysautosales.com if you want to see what they put in one. the surf questions are coming in my next post once i have run it a few times.

commissioning report and first surf set. impeller was actually recent, soft and whole, so i put the cover back and noted the date. V-drive fluid was clean, no cream. so the mechanical side was better than i feared.

the one thing that was wrong: the subwoofer was dead. no amp protect light, just nothing from the sub while the tower speakers worked. traced it to a blown inline fuse on the sub amp power lead, corroded holder, and the previous owner had clearly been chasing it with the wrong size fuse because there were two melted ones in the glovebox. 60 dollars for a proper waterproof fuse holder and a 40 amp fuse and the sub is back. that is the whole repair list, a 60 dollar stereo fuse on a 71,000 dollar boat, and the conaway people never claimed the stereo was perfect, the listing said cold start runs and the photos showed the helm, not a sound check.

first surf set, i did exactly what reed said, full hard tanks, stock surf setting, started at 11.3. the wave was immediately good, which after reading the Wakesetter saga felt like cheating. my daughter rode it ropeless her second try. nudged to 11.5 and it got a touch longer. the G23 is a lot of boat and i see why they hold their price.

month in and no regrets. the lift rating note is a good one, i checked and mine is fine but i drain before i load it anyway now. final tally for anybody weighing this: 71,250 for a 2018 G23 with the surf system and the trailer, a 60 dollar stereo fuse, and about two weeks of Florida title patience. the six month limited warranty is in the folder and i have not needed it.

the honest part, since the buy board is honest. i lost a bid before i won this one and that is just the deal with sealed bids, you put your number in and live with not knowing. and the money has to be ready, there was no financing through conaway's, the title carries the lender's lien until it is paid, so i wired cash i had saved. if you cannot do that, line up a credit union first, because the bid closes whether your money is ready or not. would do it again, and the Wakesetter thread plus this board is why i knew what to check.