No boat in the class your are looking is going to be all fiberglass. All will have a coring material of some sort. Corings come in various materials plywood, balsa, foam and others. It all has to do with cost.

Bayliner is an entry level boat and will be the low end of the spectrum in your list. Thin wall chopper gun fiberglass construction with a ply wood core and floor. Usually regular plywood not marine grade. Cleats and fasteners do not have backer plates and are mounted with washers to back up the cleat. Minimal use of bedding compounds (caulk). MDF furniture construction. Low end coverings. Due to low initial purchase there are a lot of them out there.

Four Winns, Sea Ray, Chaparral and Chris Craft are going to be the upper end of the spectrum. Generally hand laid fiberglass matt. On newer boats the coring will be marine ply or a synthetic material to reduce rot. Cleats and fasteners will have backer plates and liberal use of bedding compound. Better quality furniture materials.

All the others will fit in the middle with a mix of materials.
Many of the boats you name are owned by conglomerates they build one boat and sell them under different names.

All of the boats you named will fit what you are looking to do including the Bayliner. You will just want to take your time and look for the best. Do your own version of a PPI.

Look for rot in the stern. Take a large screwdriver. Use the back of the handle and tap on the stern all over you want to hear a solid whack. If you hear a thud there is rot and delamination.

Look around the cleats and fasteners for compression of the fiberglass and a brown ooze sort of looks like rust coming out from behind the part. This will be most notable around the mounting points of the outboard and the interior of the stern eyes. This is where water has gotten in and begun rotting the core.

Feel for soft spots in the floor. Take the boat for a test ride listen that all sounds solid no excessive flex or rattles. Excessive flex could be a sign of a broken or damaged stringer system. This will be a little more difficult on a lake due to lack of wave action but try and go out on a day when a storm is moving in or cross the wake of another boat.

Look for excessive spydering of the gel coat. All boats will have this spydering especially around the corners of openings. But if they are deeper than the gel coat this could be a sign of a bigger issue. They should only be surface cracks.

Look to see how life jackets, lines, fishing rods are all stored. If everything is clean and tidy lines are wrapped and stored at each cleat location the fishing rods are removed of hooks and gear and stored in proper holders these are good signs. If the lines are a ball in the bilge and fishing rods a tangled mess this isn't a good sign for the overall maintenance of the boat.

Look at aftermarket electronics installation. Are the wires bundled and proper fasteners connections used? Look for a nice tidy installation.

If you will be looking for a boat motor package get the service records and visit the mechanic. Ask to see his service records.

I've seen a number of boats, mostly Four Wins, that have a full length fiberglass interior floor. Are those just a fiberglass skin backed with plywood or are they an all fiberglass boat?

Around here a lot of boats are aluminium. It doesn't corode and if someone leaps into the boat from the jetty they don't crack the hull. And not as fragile. But not as nice looking.

It's a fiberglass skin with a backing (core). Most likely in the class of boats that you are looking at it will be plywood.

The areas of concern would be where fatseners have penetrated the skin or where there are cracks in the skin. This allows water to get to the baker causing rot. Look to see that screws and bolts have been bedded in caulk to prevent water infiltration.

Every boat no matter how good the construction is going to allow water in. They all have holes in them. Bolts to fasten cleats, screws to hold the windshiled, drains, screws to attach running lights and rails, scuppers, through hull fittings for pumps, windows, hatches, etc. What you are looking for whetehr from the manufacturer (that's the best time) or by a diligent owner that steps have been taken to minimize water infiltration. You will never stop it all you can do is try and slow it down. Kind of like rust on our cars.

Four Winn is top of the line. Bayliner is entry level. I've got two boats down at our cabin at the Lake and enjoy them both. Boats are scary until you own one and then you discover they are not that hard to work on . For you I would suggest a 19-20 foot bowrider with at least a 6 cylinder engine. Here is the Pelican Parts of the boating world: iboats Boating Forums

Good luck in your search. You dont have to spend a ton of $$ to have a great time on a safe, fun boat. I picked up a moisture meter when I was shopping, saved me a ton. Well worth the purchase.

I chuckled at your comment about boats not liking to be outside. My boat is either at the slip, sailing or in the storage yard so never under cover. Keep it clean and maintained and there's no issue. Being able to keep a boat on a trailer would be nice but you still need to flush the engine/drive, clean the bottom....

The work never ends but you cant beat being on the water.

http://muvvachicken.com/images/Boat_...e027_small.jpg

Great thread. Just bought a boat after 2 years of looking. It was a painful process but I finally got the right boat at a decent price. Cobalt 23 LS, we love it. I would suggest the same rules apply for buying a boat as buying a PCar. Get the best boat you can afford. Get the boat you want, do not settle for something too small or of poor quality. They are very hard to sell, so get what you want the first time. Also, a bigger motor running at 50% uses less gas than a small motor running at 100%. Keep that in mind and do not be afraid of a boat that appears to be overpowered. Get a boat with Fuel Injection, (Mercruiser or Volvo are could choices as stated previously)big difference in reliability and fuel costs. Finally take it for a ride and let a mechanic have a look at it. Enjoy

Cheers

Kurt, where is your cabin? We have friends with a cabin at Lake of the Ozarks, it would be a likely destination for us.

Maybe I'm a bit off with that comment, but I was thinking of the many boats that I've seen with faded paint and cracking interiors from years baking in the sun.

+1

Nice pic, V^2. :)

You're both right imo! Bigger sailboats are an ongoing, never ending, hands on endeavor and require someone able/willing/local to devote the time (and worth it :)), whereas a smaller boat kept inside can avoid many of the hassles from the git-go. If you intend to do any fishing, etc. along with the typical family fun stuff, you might want to seriously consider a center console as has been mentioned earlier. All boats are a compromise of sorts. I've seen firsthand what FL sun can do to boats in just a few short years...I don't let my boats/cars bake in the sun if I have an alternative.

We are at the 60 mile marker. So pretty far up the lake your way. Let me know what kind of questions you might have about getting the boat. Our boat is a 17 footer which is manageable way up at our end of the lake, but no way I would have a boat that small farther down the lake. Those 40 foot cigarette boats would make riding in a small boat an interesting experience.

And you are right about the sun. At least around here. You do not want a boat that was stored outside without a cover!

Different strokes and with boats everyone can have fun. Nothing wrong with spending real $$, keeping the boat indoors and using it all the time. However, plenty of folks I know have boats they keep in the water or on a trailer outside and use them when they can. Everyone can have fun. Just depends what you want to do. Some wax and a some decent fabric (sunbrella for one) go a long way to keep the boat happy. If you have the room keep it inside, of course it's a great idea. Dont miss out on boating because you can keep it covered though.

A friend just bought a ~10 yr old Searay in the 6-7k range. Nice boat! A few hours changing fluids, plugs, zincs... and it should be good to go for the season. They can, but dont have to be maintenance intensive.

Pretty much sums it up :)....

So here are a few boats that caught my eye, tell me what you think pros/cons.

1999 Glastron GS 205 Bowrider - Boats.com
1998 Chris-Craft 185 - Boats.com
1997 - Marada Boats - MX-2 Executive for Sale - iboats.com 1152344
2002 GLASTRON SX-175
2000 Monterey LS Bowrider

I'm just sampling the waters right now (no pun intended), but I'm still learning what to look for.

Matt this is one of those times you should check out Craigslist. Tons of boats to choose from and for some reason not to much BS. Got both of my boats off of CL.

I've been looking there pretty hard Kurt, right now the ads seem to be coming down pretty quick so they must be selling. I suspect this is about the worst time of the year to buy a boat, so I'll just keep looking.

All look relatively decent from the pics. Except the Glastron 205. It's been run up on a beach a lot. All the gel coat has been worn off the bottom. Water has probably started entering the laminate. That's not good. Can't tell from the pics about any of the others.

I was curious about that. I don't have much practical fiberglass experience, once the glossy outer gel coat has worn off is the fiberglass underneath porous?

Matt, what ever you decide on, if you are seriously considering that boat, before you hand the cash over, spend some money on a survey. its will save you a lot of headaches.

Once the gel coat, has been compromised, you have a chance of water entering the laminate. another weak spot is any hull penetration, such as thru-hull connectors, the cutout for the outdrive and the surrounding bolt holes. Also the deck to hull joint under the rub rail.

Yes, that's correct. It is not irreversible but not something you need to tackle. Unless they want to give you the boat. Just skip over that one. If you look closely inside the circle you can see a dark streak. It's hard to tell from such as small pic but it looks like the laminate may have separated. I can't quite tell, for sure it is wet. The dark streak is water in the laminate.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1338386162.jpg