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Boat Recommendations for First Time Owner?

3K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  Saltwater1975 
#1 ·
Ok, so I finally get an approval from the spouse on a boat and I?m looking for all the advice I can get. Basically I?m asking what you would do if?

1.It was your first boat.
2.The boat needs to be trailered.
3.The max tow rating (boat, motor, fuel, gear, and trailer) is 5000lbs and tongue weight of 500lbs.
4.Used or New around $15K
5.Needs some dual functionality (In other words besides fishing I?ll need to tow some nieces and nephew around on some inflatable ?tube?)
6.Fishing for 3 or 4 adults
7.Should I buy in the fall or spring? (when would I get the better deal?)
8.What brands of equipment should I ignore? (Hull, Trailer, Motor)

I?ll be sticking to the Piscataqua and Great Bay mostly, but I?d also like to venture up and down the shoreline. I look forward to your responses and thank you all in advance.

SW75
 
#2 ·
#3 ·
Hey SW, I just bought my 1st boat.

If you've got a kid on the water having a toilet is a must. My boys
would have a hard time standing on a bucket to get it over the side.
My daughter would be out of luck.....

This guy that runs this website (Broke boats) has some words of wisdom

http://www.brokeboats.com/newowners.html

Great website I might add.

I got a 23' 4winns. Its a cruiser style with a cuddy cabin (Portapoti). MercCruiser 260HP ( 350 Chevy) Merc alpha 1 outdrive. I then
drilled holes in the gunnels for rod holders.. Works great...30 in rear,
then 15 then straight. In other words I put in 6 rod holders. A good
do-it-yourself project.

Now I picked up the boat for $2300 and spent $1850 on repairs, tuneup,
de-winterization... New belts just installed too.

My horn was broken, navigation lights needed fuses, just changed the
beerings in the trailer, got a couple of fenders cause the crash brothers in
the next stall smashed or popped one. They also broke the dock too.
th_icon_loll.gif

Bought a new sounder fishfinder...yadda yadda. $400

All was going great when I tried to go out last Thursday evening. Bought
a dozen worms, a few beers and some ice...Off we went. Half
way out the bay the engine overheated. Went back in to the dock and
tied off at the slip and drank a few beers. Oh, make sure you keep your
keys to your car in your pocket if you car pool.

Well I changed the thermostat...Good small do-it-yourself task. Went
according to plan...reasonable anyway. Now boat still overheats.
Well had to take the boat onto the trailer and need to have water pump
service in the outdrive.

I spent most of my day yesterday changing the beering in all 4 tires on
the trailer.

The best money I've spent:

$280 -- So far that's what I've paid for the slip at the marina. When
I leave...the boat stays there! I leave in the time it take to gather
my crap together.

$109 -- 2 sets of belts when my first set snaps, I'll have another set.

$400 -- A color Fish finder. So when it gets dark I can still see the depth
of the water!

$230 -- replaced all 4 sets of beering...Instead of just repacking and
stuffing in the old ones. (the thought did cross my mind!)

The boat doesn't meet all my needs...That'll be my next boat. While I have
this one, I won't mind hitting the dock a few times and spilling sh*t all
over the place. Oh yeah, I can drill as many holes as I want (just nothing
below the water line)!

My next purchase...GPS (yup still on the list). A big cooler that
seconds as a bench chair (I want to remove the other set on the boat
it just gets in the way. I still have to bring on a cooler).

I'd love to have shore power... It sucks having to ask someone for a plug
to plug in my extension cord.

Now, the weight of the boat. Light boats will go faster...Mine's heavy!
its got an inboard/outboard...

It seems my boat can handle the smacking of the chop pretty well.
But it won't go that fast.

My next boat will have 2 Outboards, and the works for electronics. I'm
getting the electronics along the way and they're all coming with me
when I get rid of this boat. My ultimate boat is a really nice Grady white.
However, I've recently seen a few other boats that are far less $$$$$.

In one case, it was a decent hull (Manufacturer??) but had a brand
spanking new 2006 Merc Outboard. New electronics radar arch
set up for fishin...

Low transom...hardly any really. My kids would be scared to go back there. Not such a bad thing. Still it had a walk-around like a grady but
could've used a few more inches on the beam... The moral here is to
search around and keep searching...

My search took me a full year to take the plunge. I'm broke....My wife
was dead set against it. She comes on the boat last weekend and says
Qoute

"Can't you buy a better boat...Put some money aside each week etc etc."

I nearly died right there! That's likely to be the 1st and last time she'll
step foot on the boat! Course my kids were dumping chips all over place.
I had just vacuumed the boat...Carpet floor, yuk!

I'm no where done spending money, but as the Marina owner stated.
I got a trailer with a boat on it. Course the trailer was a piece shit but
the boat aint half bad. I got all the PFDs I need in case it sinks.

My VHF works great in case I need to call for help. The harbor master
already knows me for helping out some other knucklehead when
his boat caught on fire...

So far the experience hasn't been too bad...Maybe I'm lucky...I think
a little has to do with having a half a brain.... The other half is toast!

--cal...Rock on!

:cheers:
 
#6 ·
No problem Jim, I aim to please!

I left a few other qoutes out... Like

"this isn't the same boat you showed me...."

Yeah, cause the other one was $14000.... And the guy wanted and
even trade for my skidsteer for $17K.

Funny she saw the other ads I was looking at on BoatTraderOnline...

They were all grady's. 28-30' Grady While Marlin... $35K and >.

2 SX 225/250 Yamaha's... Sweet!

Until I learn the area...I don't think I want expensive props

I already ran aground once. No damage, but that's once to many.

Sorry for the tangent...A first boat it is!

--cal
 
#7 ·
Sounds like you're interested in a center console (or maybe a dual console - more seating) probably in the 20-21 foot range. the good news is that there's a lot of boats in this category. Cabin boats in the 21' range will probably come close to or exceed your towing capacity fully loaded. BTW, if your vehicle has a 5000 lb. towing capacity, you should probably not exceed 4000 lbs., as a general rule of thumb, if you're planning on driving long distances.

There are a few CC's that you can get with a port ta pee in the console. Seaswirl, Sea Hunt, and Polar come to mind as fitting that criteria. I guess I'd rank them in that order too. These are not top tier boats. IMO, Seaswirl and Sea Hunt would be mid tier and Polar lower. But, there are a lot of happy Polar owners out there and you surely get a lot for your money with that brand. Even still, with a $15,000 budget you're looking at a boat that's about 5-7 years old.

Contender is probably looked at as the #1/top-tier boat in the CC market. But it's a hard-core fishing machine, lacks seating. Robalo is another high-end CC, with much better seating arrangements than the Contender. In both cases however, you're probably looking at 10+ y/o used boat.

Best advice I can give is if you're planning on spending a decent amount of money on a used boat, use some of your money to get the boat marine surveyed before purchasing.
 
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