A boat to suit your needs

[ThumbsUp]

When choosing a boat, you need to figure out what you want to do with it. Do you want to fish? Do you want to tube or wake board? Do you want to impress the Ladies with a Go Fast Boat? Do you want to cruise and sleep on it? Do you want to travel long distances and explore? Do you want to work on it yourself or pay big money to have someone do the maintenance?

All of these decisions to make and what point in life you are at makes most of us multi boat owners. Boats are very expensive. Part of the decision is "Can I afford it" Buying a brand new boat versus a used boat can depend on the original owners maintenance. Boats need a lot of TLC and upkeep.

What is your flavor? Please feel free to pipe in and discuss. We all have opinions and they are all good. Hopefully it helps someone out!

Looking forward to your replies! Especially Iggy who feels left out!

 

[Phillbo]

I never buy new.. 3-5 years old. Let some one else take the depreciating hit and work out all the QC issues.

Current boat is a 27' pocket cruiser slipped on Lake Powell.

Next boat (5- 8 years out) will be a 32- 36' Trawler for the purpose of spending a couple years doing the Great Loop.

Next boat will be a 42+ foot sailboat to sail the islands...

Go Fast are fun but just a toy (penis extension ). Been on many but never owned one.

 

[ThumbsUp]

We started out boating with:

1983 245 Searay Sundancer. Had a blast but the 245 was too small so we bought a

1987 Sea Ray 300 Sedan Bridge. I had a lot of engine problems with the flybridge but loved the roominess with an 11 foot beam. It was very expensive on gas. 2 (71) gallon tanks always needed topping. Joined a boat club on an island and drove it 8 miles each way every weekend. See picture...

My wife wanted a dinghy or a run about so she bought:

2016 130 Boston Whaler Super Sport. Great boat for rivers and canals but it was just a tender not suited for big waters.

So we sold the Baby Whaler and bought :

2017 Rockwood RV and a 2016 180 Robalo Center Console. The Robalo was great but we needed shelter in rough Lake Huron waters...

So we sold the Robalo and bought:

2013 Chaparral 270 Signature and trailer. We currently spend our summers commuting 2 hours to a Marina Campground with our RV & 270 on Saginaw Bay. For now it's the best of both worlds of camping and boating with great friends. We trailer the 270 once a year to Indian River or Upper Peninsula for an annual boat trip.

I'm like Philbo, I want a 34-40' Nordic Tug or similar that I can do the loop with and Bahamas. I love sailboats but never learned to sail so that dream hasn't come up yet.

 

[ThumbsUp]

We started out boating with:

1983 245 Searay Sundancer. Had a blast but the 245 was too small so we bought a

1987 Sea Ray 300 Sedan Bridge. I had a lot of engine problems with the flybridge but loved the roominess with an 11 foot beam. It was very expensive on gas. 2 (71) gallon tanks always needed topping. Joined a boat club on an island and drove it 8 miles each way every weekend. See picture...

My wife wanted a dinghy or a run about so she bought:

2016 130 Boston Whaler Super Sport. Great boat for rivers and canals but it was just a tender not suited for big waters.

So we sold the Baby Whaler and bought :

2017 Rockwood RV and a 2016 180 Robalo Center Console. The Robalo was great but we needed shelter in rough Lake Huron waters...

So we sold the Robalo and bought:

2013 Chaparral 270 Signature and trailer. We currently spend our summers commuting 2 hours to a Marina Campground with our RV & 270 on Saginaw Bay. For now it's the best of both worlds of camping and boating with great friends. We trailer the 270 once a year to Indian River or Upper Peninsula for an annual boat trip.

I'm like Philbo, I want a 34-40' Nordic Tug or similar that I can do the loop with and Bahamas. I love sailboats but never learned to sail so that dream hasn't come up yet.

 

[Denny]

When choosing a boat, you need to figure out what you want to do with it. Do you want to fish? Do you want to tube or wake/water ski? Do you want to cruise and sleep on it? Do you want to travel long distances and explore? Do you want to work on it yourself or pay big money to have someone do the maintenance?

I do or have done all of the above with my girl.
Only pay for help with things that are above my pay grade.
I can't remember the last time I tried to impress someone.

 

[ThumbsUp]

Thanks for your reply Denny! Hope you summer is going well! Randy

 

[Denny]

Can't anchor or land on Canadian shores, but I can run their waters again.