Boat Shopping?

Doc

Doc

Liquid Addiction
Staff member
If you are boat shopping be sure to post in this forum. We'll help all we can. We've all been there. It's exciting for sure, share some of the excitement with your buddies here on NBT.
 
I googled 120' Burger and got burger recipies and Burger King info, but no boat. What the heck is a 120 Burger?

If it's a boat I suppose it's much like me looking at the 38 ft Cigs at the boat shows. I know I'm not going to buy one, but I love looking. :D
 
http://www.burgerboat.com

Right here in Manitowoc

Their last two boats were 120 footers, a pair, built for a Russian gazillionaire.

One for the Med, one for the Carribean.

So it's unique to own a pair of yachts. But these were special. They were identical in every way. The fanaticism included using a laser to ensure each doorway was identical to its twin.

I wish I had that kind of money to be fanatical with.
 
WOW! Those are nice.
Lets pretend you were able to get one. How would you use it? Were you wanting it to travel the world or just your Lake Michgan?

(I changed the sig file allotments so you have an extra couple of lines to play with.)
 
Oh ya, all the Great Lakes first, then up the St Lawrence all the way, then down the east coast, islands, Mexico, Canal, up the west coast, ship it to te Med, then to Australia. I'd just keep going until I ran outa money. I don't need a house or a home, other than a boat.

The best part is, my wife feels the same way. We could boat 24/7 x 365 x forever.
 
waybomb said:
Oh ya, all the Great Lakes first, then up the St Lawrence all the way, then down the east coast, islands, Mexico, Canal, up the west coast, ship it to te Med, then to Australia. I'd just keep going until I ran outa money. I don't need a house or a home, other than a boat.

The best part is, my wife feels the same way. We could boat 24/7 x 365 x forever.
Click to expand...
:applause: :applause: Good answer. I would love to cruise the North American continent. I had not considered Australia or the Med. Both would be awesome though. My wife also feels the same. :thumb: Sounds like we found the right women for us. :D :thumb:

I've sailed the Med, went through the Panama canal, and crossed both the Atlantic and Pacific but all that was with the US Navy. On my own yacht I'm sure it would be even more fun. :thumb:
 
I blew it a few years ago. A very wealthy guy I knew bought a surplus military boat of some sort. Something in the 175' range. He was taking it from San Diego to Florida for refitting into personal yacht.

I get a call from John one day. I had no idea he had bought this boat or was even looking. He had a 55 Carver and a an older 85' Broward at the time.

This is about how the conversation went:

Fred, ya gotta come to Panama?
Um, uh, who is this?
John xxxxx, ya gotta hi-tail it to Panama
Hi John, why?
Just get Mary and get on a plane and get down here. One way tickets.
Um, what's up?
Jeez, I'll fly you down here, Midway or Ohare?
John, slow down, tell me what the problem is.
No problem, I just bought this boat and will be heading through the Panama Canal in a day or two and you mguys can come with the rest of the way to Florida.


Anywayz, I was so swamped just then at work that I just couldn't go. Would have been fun though.
 
Ahhh, that's to bad. What a trip that would have been. To bad he didn't give you a little notice.....but sometimes spur of the moment things can be the most fun of all.

Going through the canal the 1st time was awesome. I had a buddy stationed there, and he knew the ship I was on. He contacted me and I caught a ride over on our supply helo. Got to visit for an hour or so and then flew back to the ship. I took pics of the locking through process. It was really cool getting through the canel and getting into the Pacific. The water was different than the Atlantic, at least it appeared that way to us. We sailed up to Hawaii and even had a bunch of dolphins escort us to the Islands. Then off to the Philippines. We also did stops in Hong Kong and Singapore. We tried for Australia, but they did not wast US ships there at the time. It took us 30 days to cross the Pacific coming back from the Philippines. We went directly to Seal Beach CA. (between LA & San Diego). Sure was nice to get back to the states. We did LA, then we went to Tijuana :pat:
 
I never knew you locked through the Panama canal, that's something I've always wanted to do. I've seen it on tv a bunch of times, but I bet it's incredible to go through in person. Do you have any pics?
 
Yep, I had pics. I think they are in one of a few shoe boxes of pics stashed in the basement. :hide:
 
Actually, we are boat shopping. Right now we are thinking about a 45 foot trawler single diesel type. This would be for vacations on Lake Michigan and beyond. We plan on a loop trip in a few years. A single diesel trawler would be perfect. If we bought a decent used boat now, we could have her all set up for the big trip by then.
 
Fred, I'm afraid you would have speed withdrawals after very long on the trawler....or would you tow plain vanilla behind you?
 
When it's time for the loop, I'll probably sell PV. We plan on taking at least 12 months for the loop trip.
 
We are looking for a small bowrider, 175 -18. We have went to all the boat shows, and now our real problem arises. We went home and measured our garage door opening and our garage is only 7'11"wide. My husband found that Bayliner has a boatw/trailer that will give an inch on each side, but not sure about Bayliners...help
 
Bayliners don't hold their value for some reason, so you'll find those cheaper than others.
Some Bayliners were underpowered. Stay away from those. Nothing worse than getting a few folks out boating with you and not being able to plane off without moving folks to the front. It's not safe either.
My first run about was a four winns. Great boats if you can find one in your price range.
Most boat trailers will not fit in a garage opening of 7'11". You might have to store it somewhere else for easy access. You can rent a spot for it, but that sure does add to the cost of ownership.
Look at a lot of different boats before you buy. You'll be glad you did. :thumb:
 
I'll second Doc's advice about Bayliners, there's a reason they're inexpensive! I know multiple people who didn't listen to the advice of avoiding the bayliner, one friend of mine had to replace the motor the first season. The dealer replaced that boat and the replacement had outdrive issues. I've heard they have exhaust manifold issues as well. Four winns, chris craft, and searay have good reputations. Look at used boats if this is your first and have it checked by a mechanic before puchasing (my opinion).
 
Maybe this is off topic, or just reminiscing, but my dad always talked about one of these as his ultimate goal.

I grew up boating the upper Mississippi river out of LaCrosse (in a 1977 27' Bayliner [Victoria, I think?])
 
Sure all boats count Av9tr. :D
Bluewater is a GREAT boat. We had a 48' one in our boat club last year. Beautiful boat. I finally saw it cruising at night with the blue lights it was quite a site. The owners have retired and moved (with the Bluewater) to FL last fall so it won't be this season darnit.
 
On Bayliner - they are now vacuum forming all the smaller boats in Mexico. That's something most don't offer. The quality of the hull should be greatly improved. But yes, Bayliner does build a cheap and inexpensive boat.

If you are on a small inland lake, why buy something for Lake Michigan? A Bayliner fills the bill. But I would always, without a doubt, make sure you get it with biggest power available. If you buy used, even a small boat, pay a professional surveyor for both a hull and an engine survey. It'll cost a few hundred bucks, and is no guarantee you'll get a great boat, but a pro will point out problems.

It is a buyers market. Don't buy something with surveyor-found issues. Run away.
 
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