who (still) has a boat???

[Monza_dh]

I am actually looking for a used power boat here in NE and the brokers have many a story to tell of desperate folks dumping nice boats.

I live a mile from the ocean and can pick a slip or mooring for cheap so i thought it was time to look seriously into a purchase and take advantage of my location.

A few folks here I know either have serious fishing boats or the party-time family cruisers and it seems like the industry only goes one way or the other.

Doesnt someone make a decent hull for salt water ocean fishing that's nice enought to sleep onand have it be comfortable for a family just out for the day?

I'm thinking of 25', 30" max

What do you guys have, what do you use it for and will you be keeping it through our troubled times???

[VincentVega]

Great time to buy if you have the cash. I sail and know practically nothing about powerboats. However, make sure you check into storage fees, summer and winter. Also, keep in mind fuel costs, a 30' powerboat loves fuel.

[911Rob]

[JeremyD]

I have a 28 Bertram and 19' Pursuit and a 9' Boston Whaler

I guess it really depends on what you want to do with it. If it's just for boating/family - then tough to beat a nice IO Sea Ray, Wellcraft, etc.

if you want to fish out to the canyons - then I'd recommend a Bertram, Rampage, Something dual engines and a nice deep V (but gas mileage will suffer).

Always nice to get on the water

[911boost]

My uncle has had a couple of Shamrock's. He lives off the inland waterway in North Carolina. They are super nice boats.

Bill

[Dueller]

Originally Posted by 911Rob

Ga$ $hortage?
What stinking gas shortage?

[Monza_dh]

Originally Posted by Chris Martin

Great time to buy if you have the cash. I sail and know practically nothing about powerboats. However, make sure you check into storage fees, summer and winter. Also, keep in mind fuel costs, a 30' powerboat loves fuel.

Thanks Chris. I actually sailed as a kid and will eventually pick a small sail boat in time but there's no way my wife is doing sail boat at this point with the kids. I went to t alocal in water boatr show this weekend and my wallet hurt each time the boats got bigger and nicer. Gas is an obvious concern.

[gprsh924]

2003 Crownline 180BR and 2003 Yamaha GP1300R





Both get used all day every weekend in the summer and are paid for, so things would have to get really bad to get rid of them, especially because they aren't worth all that much money. I would rather sell a car than see the waverunner go. My dad put it in the water last weekend, now it is just sitting on the lift waiting for me on Saturday. I can't wait for the first ride of the season.

And Rob, I love the pic of the Hummer towing the boat. It's perfect.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Carvers are really nice.

[Monza_dh]

Many Grady Whites, Pursuits, for sale along with the typical Sea Ray sundancers as well .I really liked the Wellcraft at the show this weekend.

I really like the dual outboards and the size is not too crazy. as I understand it, outboards cheaper but need to be serviced more frequenly than an inboard??

[JeremyD]

Pursuit makes a nice boat with Outboards 2850.

You'll fine the inboard boats tend to have a much wider beam = The outboard boats tend to have a narrow beam - a little less room, but get a little better gas mileage.

My boat gets about 1.1 - 1.3 MPG - it has twin 5.7 mercruisers.

Take the wife - make sure you have your intentions set before going - Pursuit makes a quality boat - the Bertram is nice because of the cabin and the HUGE cockpit.

Lots of deals out there. I would not go too old if you look at the Grady Whites. I'd also look at the Scout Abaco - The Edgewater 265 Express.

The trick with boats, sports cars and women - they don't like to be ignored. Find one that's been used and has maintenance and you're golden. Find one that's been used and ignored and you are just asking for trouble.

[cbush]

Have a Crownline 220 EX that we love. It is a deckboat so it has lots of room for the family. It has a head with a small shower, onboard freshwater with sinks, and portable table. Great for taking the boat out for picnics. We use it mostly for waterskiing and sightseeing. The 5.0L Mercruiser sucks gas, but I suppose I have it easy compared to larger boats.

[fingpilot]

I never thought I would admit to it.

A year ago, the youngest grandkids started wanting more than the lake beach. I ended up with a 18' pontoon. A Merc 4-stroke 25hp. Fridge, BBQ, stereo, big bimini, and Whiskeytown Lake. Will do 20 knots with 6 people and two dogs. Trailer it there and back, no storage, dock fees. Doesn't get better than that.

Last August I sold my 43' Hunter, and have not really missed all that entails.

[rouxroux]

We've still got a 15 year old VIP Vision bowrider hull w/ Chevy engine. (About the largest thing we can use in some of the local lake/bayou systems and still keep garaged)...Would love a nice airboat however. (have a nice Corvair engine just beggin' for something to do).

[Hard-Deck]

I've still got mine. 26' O'day sailboat, 10' Avon RIB, 3 canoes, and a Walker Bay 8. I'm not into powerboating per se' but I would like to have a trawler to work my rounds in Puget Sound and north to Alaska during retirement years.

It's ALWAYS a buyer's market, but now is best I've seen. Good luck in your hunting.

[Brian 162]

A co-worker has a Donzi (not sure of the spelling) that he's selling.

[JeremyD]

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2000-Pursuit-DENALI--2860-93649389

[VINMAN]

Buy mine... Please....

[charleskieffner]

i have been for some time looking for another boat. really its a timing thing for me. right now there are some insane deals going down.

i purchased my k-3500 a coupla years ago strictly for towing. over time we have towed alot of heavy trailers and worked out all the bugs on the tow vehicle. reason being is im not gonna hassle with slipping a boat in any of the lakes here in az due to overabundance of algae which makes for a HUGE PITA to clean each and everytime you you use it. plus im about 45 minutes away from 2 lakes, which makes for less than severe towing.

my evil plan for world boat domination has been carefully planned out over bazzilions of cold barley pops over quite a few sweltering summers in my swimming pool.

today after work i ran across a formula fastech 382 with twin 600SC with genset and air cond. the guy is from tucson and clicked every damn paint and option button when he went down the build sheet. seriously it has everything. i went down same build sheet and it cost NEW $454,000 USD!!! YIKES!

this is a HEAVY DAMN BOAT. if correct around 13000# which is not gonna be nice pulling on hills for my k-3500. its the verrrrrrrrrry limit and everyman has to know his limits. im looking at 2005 and above 353 fastechs. about 9500-10000# weight with twin 525EFI's and genset and air cond. a little lighter in tow mode.

this guy has only 54 hours on it! not even broke in. wants $250K w/ warranty for hull being 10 years and running gear 5 years parts and labor from factory. and is willing to deal. gonna take fiance to look at layout on it this week. she hasnt been on one yet. this would obviously qualify for my 2nd home write off and i have room to store it at my house in my backyard plugged in with shorepower. yeehaw! drydock parties every fri sat sun while getting it rigged for its shakedown cruise.

i just had to speak to the guy who bought my old 25 ft cruiser 2 weeks ago re: a trailer title he never got from me. had to get notary sign for DMV. asked him about my old boat and he stated "he hasnt had one problem with it in all these years." kinda made me proud how i rigged out the last one i owned and how seaworthy she was and has remained.

so anyway the deals are out there and will be there for quite some time. being a boat owner takes a special attention to detail, an ability to read weather spot on, good knot tying ability, good sea state awareness, and general ability to fix minor problems before they get really out of control.

and a HELL OF ALOT OF BEER WHILE IN DRY DOCK.............and i like that!

oh yeah............and a woman who likes boats helps immensely!

racing porsches with 42 other nutcases pinned WFO................can very well be fun, i would just rather go hauling ass up escalante canyon from wahweep and not see anyjuan FOR DAYS if not a week. and have canyons all to my self on off months. my goal is to get that sucker up to powell, drain drives and blocks and winter store it there and go up for new years and check out all the frozen waterfalls in the back canyons and fish my brains out!

[charleskieffner]

i have been for some time looking for another boat. really its a timing thing for me. right now there are some insane deals going down.

i purchased my k-3500 a coupla years ago strictly for towing. over time we have towed alot of heavy trailers and worked out all the bugs on the tow vehicle. reason being is im not gonna hassle with slipping a boat in any of the lakes here in az due to overabundance of algae which makes for a HUGE PITA to clean each and everytime you you use it. plus im about 45 minutes away from 2 lakes, which makes for less than severe towing.

my evil plan for world boat domination has been carefully planned out over bazzilions of cold barley pops over quite a few sweltering summers in my swimming pool.

today after work i ran across a formula fastech 382 with twin 600SC with genset and air cond. the guy is from tucson and clicked every damn paint and option button when he went down the build sheet. seriously it has everything. i went down same build sheet and it cost NEW $454,000 USD!!! YIKES!

this is a HEAVY DAMN BOAT. if correct around 13000# which is not gonna be nice pulling on hills for my k-3500. its the verrrrrrrrrry limit and everyman has to know his limits. im looking at 2005 and above 353 fastechs. about 9500-10000# weight with twin 525EFI's and genset and air cond. a little lighter in tow mode.

this guy has only 54 hours on it! not even broke in. wants $250K w/ warranty for hull being 10 years and running gear 5 years parts and labor from factory. and is willing to deal. gonna take fiance to look at layout on it this week. she hasnt been on one yet. this would obviously qualify for my 2nd home write off and i have room to store it at my house in my backyard plugged in with shorepower. yeehaw! drydock parties every fri sat sun while getting it rigged for its shakedown cruise.

i just had to speak to the guy who bought my old 25 ft cruiser 2 weeks ago re: a trailer title he never got from me. had to get notary sign for DMV. asked him about my old boat and he stated "he hasnt had one problem with it in all these years." kinda made me proud how i rigged out the last one i owned and how seaworthy she was and has remained.

so anyway the deals are out there and will be there for quite some time. being a boat owner takes a special attention to detail, an ability to read weather spot on, good knot tying ability, good sea state awareness, and general ability to fix minor problems before they get really out of control.

and a HELL OF ALOT OF BEER WHILE IN DRY DOCK.............and i like that!

oh yeah............and a woman who likes boats helps immensely!

racing porsches with 42 other nutcases pinned WFO................can very well be fun, i would just rather go hauling ass up escalante canyon from wahweep and not see anyjuan FOR DAYS if not a week. and have canyons all to my self on off months. my goal is to get that sucker up to powell, drain drives and blocks and winter store it there and go up for new years and check out all the frozen waterfalls in the back canyons and fish my brains out!