School me on boats.

13bullets

13bullets

Chris
Joined
Dec 14, 2008
Location
Lincolnton
I know, a boat is a hole in the water you throw money in to. Still, the wife wants one, and I kind of do too. She won't go for a bass boat, so...

A pontoon? Maybe a center console? Some other boat?
 
Boat = Bust Out Another Thousand

Having in and been around boats of all sorts for almost 50 years, salt and freshwater, power and sail, if I were to buy one today, I'd probably look at a 21 to 23 foot center console. Small enough to trailer, big enough to take offshore. Center consoles are versatile enough for most anything you'd fish for, plus skiing, etc.

That said, my current boat is a kayak. Cheap to buy, own, and maintain.
 
I assume your looking at Lake Norman if your location is really Lincolnton? Id just go with the pontoon if you're looking for something to relax on for the day on the lake. I wouldn't think there is too much maintenance with those you couldn't do yourself. If you need to move it around though, I would guess those are a PITA to transport, with how wide they are.
 
Much cheaper to rent a boat 2 or 3 times a year than own one. Nothing to maintain and it is in the water and waiting on u.
 
Just know that whatever you buy, no matter what condition or price, you are going to have to spend more money on it. Check the hull for cracks in the gel coat. Walk the floor and check for soft spots that will have to be fixed. Allow no less than a complete lake test. ALL controls should be easy and smooth to operate. Don't think you can buy one that doesn't have a trailer and be able to pick one up cheap.
A 100 HP outboard has the power of an old 4 cylinder car at best. 150 or up is better. An inboard/outboard or Stern drive has the motor in the boat and an outdrive with the prop on it. again, A 4 cylinder is too small, a V6 or V8 is best.
Until you know what to do, PAY TO HAVE IT WINTERIZED!
Call Couick Marine in Waxhaw and see what they have to sell. They are the nicest and best boat people I have ever dealt with. If you buy one and need service, use them, it will be worth the drive.
You are buying at the absolute worst time if you are looking to get one soon.
Good luck! you're gonna need it! lol
 
I've worked at a marina in the past. To me, boats get a bad rap usually because of a lack of maintenance and poor storage conditions. Ideally, you'd want to trailer the boat to and from the lake every trip and store it indoors. It would last about forever like that. Most boats are either kept in the water and hardly ever used, or stored outside. They quickly deteriorate and have issues, just like if you left a convertible car outside all the time with the top down.

That said, a pontoon (with a mid-sized outboard) or a ski boat would be my choices. I'd stay away from the typical open bow I/O mercruiser style boats. They are fine but have rubber bellows that do deteriorate and need replacing (about every 5-7 years). Lower units are expensive on those as well as they are on outboards. A ski boat with an inboard setup is the best IMHO as far as dependability goes. Water pumps on the inboards are easy to replace. On an outboard or I/O you'd need to remove the lower unit to do it. Not too hard if you know what you are doing. Biggest form of maintenance really comes down to winterizing the boat (changing fluids, removing the battery, draining the water) each fall.

I can't imagine your wife getting all excited to bring people over to use a center console boat.
 
Also, decide what you want out of it. Skiing, wakeboarding, fishing, partying, there's a boat for every purpose. If she wants to lounge in the sun on the boat then a pleasure/ski boat is what you should look for. If you want to fish, look at a fish and ski.
 
broncosbybart said:
I've worked at a marina in the past. To me, boats get a bad rap usually because of a lack of maintenance and poor storage conditions. Ideally, you'd want to trailer the boat to and from the lake every trip and store it indoors. It would last about forever like that. Most boats are either kept in the water and hardly ever used, or stored outside. They quickly deteriorate and have issues, just like if you left a convertible car outside all the time with the top down.

That said, a pontoon (with a mid-sized outboard) or a ski boat would be my choices. I'd stay away from the typical open bow I/O mercruiser style boats. They are fine but have rubber bellows that do deteriorate and need replacing (about every 5-7 years). Lower units are expensive on those as well as they are on outboards. A ski boat with an inboard setup is the best IMHO as far as dependability goes. Water pumps on the inboards are easy to replace. On an outboard or I/O you'd need to remove the lower unit to do it. Not too hard if you know what you are doing. Biggest form of maintenance really comes down to winterizing the boat (changing fluids, removing the battery, draining the water) each fall.

I can't imagine your wife getting all excited to bring people over to use a center console boat.
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Yep x2
 
Another thing to know is WHERE you plan on using the boat. If it is Lake Norman, I would go for something bigger with a deeper V hull to cut through the chop caused by all the tards with more money than sense out there that think their cabin cruiser is a race boat. My personal preference for that lake is nothing less than a 23ft boat. Busy weekends on that lake have just become absurd from what it was like when I was growing up watching my parents in regattas on the lake.

Dont be afraid of an older hull that has been taken care of, but the most important thing in the buying process would probably be to pay for a marine appraiser to assess the boat for you. Most cost $2-500 and IMO it will potentially save you thousands. Excess squealing/noise coming from the transom as you turn the wheel back and forth and more than likely youre about to be a couple hundred into a gimble bearing replacement. Making sure the impeller that brings the water into the cooling system is in operating order is key too. These usually do not give much warning as to when they are going to fail so it goes back to the proper maintenence routine and cleaning the boat on a regular basis. If the boat has been kept in the water around here its even more important to check the impeller just because of the clay in the lakes can leave residue from sitting in the water and affect its performance.

IMO for what people charge around here to dry store boats these days, the added cost of a trailer would pay for itself in the first year. Plus you have the ability to pull the boat and do all the maintenence and cleaning you want on a regular basis but the biggest thing...off water fuel prices. Boating is an expensive hobby but you are charged a premium for fuel on the water. Being able to fill up before you get to the lake can save you hundreds or thousands over the year depending on how much you go out on the water.

FUEL STABILIZER...use it. Typically the fuel tanks in most "lake boats" and all center consoles are under the deck and hard a hell to access to clean without tearing stuff up. A quality fuel stabilizer (Marine grade StaBil or StarTron) will help keep the fuel fresh while you are not using the boat and hopefully prevent you from having fuel issues. Most fuel can go only 30 days now before breaking down.
 
GotWood said:
Much cheaper to rent a boat 2 or 3 times a year than own one. Nothing to maintain and it is in the water and waiting on u.
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Great idea, and you could try out different types of boats to see what you'd like, if you decide to puchase........If you like tinkering w 4x4s, you'll probably like messin w boats too!!
 
GotWood said:
Much cheaper to rent a boat 2 or 3 times a year than own one. Nothing to maintain and it is in the water and waiting on u.
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We've been to lake Powell twice and rented boats both times. Also rented a pontoon on Lake Douglas in Tennessee. This is the best way to "own a boat for a day", no matter what it costs!
 
BUST OUT ANOTHER THOUSAND............. boat........ we have 2 "family" boats. Myself and my brother keep up the 86 dixie ski boat and dad keeps up the 99 tracker basstracker jet boat. We all split the insurance and upkeep, it works for us...but still cost us around a $1000 a year each by the time we keep up on what needs to be replaced year in and year out. We maintain them and replace stuff before its needed sometimes(bilge pumps and water pumps, blowers etc etc)
 
ive always been told the best boat to have is a buddies boat....its the cheapest with no up keep at all
 
Two happiest days in a boat owners life....the days he buys it and the day he sells it.

:D
 
I'm on my second wakeboard boat now and have learned that most people who tell you- that you should rent not buy, that the best days for a boat owner are the day you buy and the day you sell- are not current boat owners. Boat ownership comes with responsibility and the education that it cost money every year to maintain. Usually people who have bad experiences either bought a piece of crap with high expectations, or let their nice boat turn to a piece of crap by not maintaining it or leaving it unused in the water year round.


What is your budget? You can spend $15k to $115k on a decent 20 to 23' boat, just depends on what you want.

Buy a pontoon boat for least amount of worry/work/upkeep. Does chilling on the lake great, nothing else good.
Buy a wakeboard boat for most amount of fun. Does wakeboarding great, hanging out good, not very good for on the water BBQs.
Buy a bow rider for the best hybrd of the two. Does everything good, nothing great.
 
REDLYNER said:
Usually people who have bad experiences either bought a piece of crap with high expectations, or let their nice boat turn to a piece of crap by not maintaining it or leaving it unused in the water year round.
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This. We had a ski boat growing up. It was a lot of work, but it was hundreds of hours spent on the lake, too.
 
I love riding on other people's boats. I keep the beer flowing and always throw in gas money. It's nice to have all the fun and nearly none of the responsibility.
But I wouldn't have any of my boating buddies if I didn't have a boat.
Catch 22.

I'll hold my recommendations until the OP tells us what he wants to do. I'm a fan of nearly all of them, but some are better than others depending on what you want to do and how much time you can spend on it. Spent time on a Boston Whaler 180 Dauntless, Carolina Skiff JV15, Malibu Wakesetter, Supra Launch, C4 Avalanche, Nautique Excel, and a busted old pontoon boat in the past month and a half. Had a lot of fun on all of them and think they all have their place.

Yes, boats can be expensive. If you're wrenching yourself and willing to maintain them properly I don't think the old "Break Out Another Thousand" thing is always true. They're a whole lot easier to work on than a modern car IMO and most of the 4x4 crowd will be just fine as long as they keep an open mind to learning something new.

There are plenty of boating forums and huge amounts of knowledge online to help you with anything you might buy. If you're not sure how to do something ask. Doesn't matter if you're online, at the ramp, or on the water...Most people will be more than glad to help. Better to tell people you're a noob and ask for advice than to wreck a boat trying to act like an old pro. I learn something new just about every time I venture into something new (new areas, different types of boats, new conditions etc.)
 
We have 2 kids that are right now 3 and 5. We won't be doing any tubing or anything at the moment, just mainly going out, dropping anchor, and lounging around, maybe some fishing. I'm thinking a pontoon would suit us nicely, but moving it to and from the water may be a pain, as well as storing it as our garage is only 22' deep. Lake Norman would likely see most of its use, maybe some trips to Wylie.

Some good reading so far here, keep it coming.

I haven't really thought much about a budget, 15-25k with payments would be the high end of what I'd want to buy, and that'd be for a used boat. I know with pontoons 20k+ is new boat pricing, but I won't be buying a new boat. This won't be a purchase I'll be making this summer, maybe next year, depending on how things go between now and then. I don't want to buy a boat on a whim, I need to do some researching and financial planning first.
 
At five they can wake board. Just gave a mini lesson to a friends boy and got him up on his own board for the first time.

Boating is one of the best ways to spend time with the whole family. If i thought I could get enough out of my jeep I'd have sold it already and bought one.

Do your homework and demo everything possible before you pull the trigger!

Redlyner.. what do you have for a wake board boat and where do you ride? I'm always looking for a pull!
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
 
A rule my dad taught me...buy your toys (boat,jeep,whatever) with cash up front, after you save it up. Your "monthly payment" is the fuel, storage, maintenance, etc. Seen to many people who put all their money into the payment and dry storage and then don't have cash fr fuel.
 
If your in no hurry, go to a few boat shows or dealers w the wife and get onboard some different styles ( but don't let them pressure you to buy ), or rent them as said before to see what youall would like. Also winter and spring are better times to purchase I believe. You can find good deals on CL sometimes but you need to carefully check out the boat/motor before buying a hole in the water you throw money into!! good/well maintained used boat = smaller hole to fill :)
 
mommucked said:
carefully check out the boat/motor before buying a hole in the water you throw money into!! good/well maintained used boat = smaller hole to fill :)
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This is true, no matter what, it is a hole. :)
 
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