Quote:
Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy
Thanks for the feedback, that's exactly what I'm looking for. I am a bit curious about your comments regarding size. Our 5 people would be my wife and I along with kids ages 2, 5, and 8. I don't think I've ever been on a friend's boat bigger than 22' except for a pontoon, and I've never felt cramped. Yesterday we had 8-10 kids and several adults on a Mastercraft taking turns tubing and it never felt too small. Obviously you can't just go walk around, but I don't expect to. The deck boats above look great but would be well outside of my price range.
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Being cramped is only part of the equation. Why be cramped and unable to move around freely if you don't have to. The cost difference between a 20' boat and a 24' boat is negigable. I'm talking hull not engine. If you are buying used the cost diffenrce is even less. Buy a 24' hull 1 or 2 years older than a 20' hull and the cost differnece disapears. Unless the boats are coming from a tropical area where boating is 24/7 365 the time on the water difference of two boats with a two year age diffenrece is going to be about 100 hrs. In Nortnern climates probably less as the boating season is shorter. The difference in length has more to do with safety and stability. Comfort is a by-product as well as ride quality. A longer boat has a better ride. But again the issue is more of safety. On the water you need to be able to move from one place to another freely with as few obstancles as possible. Again a 20' boat with 5 people, skis, coolers, tow ropes, coolers, etc. is a cramped boat. Lots of trip and fall possiblities. If you are in the Bow (front) and have an issue in the Stern (back) and need to get there in a hurry the last thing you want to be doing is climbing over your three kids, the cooler, skis untangling your ankle from the tow rope, etc. You need to be able to get where you need to be.
So this year your kids are 2, 5 and 8 but they get a year old every year and bigger cramping the boat even more. Add 1 friend per child as a guest. Now you have 8 people in a 20' boat. I am confident you will exceed the boats maximum per person capacity and probably weight limit. Excessive weight is going to drastically effect the performance of the boat in a negative way. If you are at speed and a few kids on one side decide they want to go to the other in a hurry it could upset the balance of the boat. This problem would be exacerbated if you are in a turn and/or have a skier in tow. That problem diminishes as the boat gets larger. Sorry to say that many people on the Mastercraft was unsafe for the reasons above and then some.
The deck boats I posted were just to give you an idea of what they looked like. You can probably find some nice deck boast about 10 years in your price range.