I looked at a boat and a van.

"ImmoralMinority" (araimondo) 07/31/2017 at 22:01 • Filed to: None

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The guy is a retired auto shop teacher, and took great care of these machines. But I am not sure if I want to jump into boat ownership with a 35 year old boat. I am just finally getting close to success with the Sunchaser, the Vespa completion is within reach, and we are working on the 47 year old T Bird. There is a limit to even my poor decisions.

The boat looked cool, and sounded great. I was less excited by the big oil stain in the floor of the garage, as well as the metal catch tray sitting on the grass next to the driveway, like it had recently been moved from under something and hosed off. Did I mention that the van is cool as hell?

In the end, we are going to pass. The boat was too small with not enough seating. It is really a dedicated ski boat with only 2 real seats, and we would want more of a cruise around-space to sit-room for the cooler-room for the dog kind of boat.

On the plus side, my wife has told me to start shopping for a boat. She wants a boat more than a new refrigerator.

Did I mention that this is a good woman?

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > ImmoralMinority 07/31/2017 at 22:10

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Ahh the PCM 351 good engine of the era, I understand why you passed ski boats are like sport bikes useful for one thing.

CB > ImmoralMinority 07/31/2017 at 22:12

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Not really the best for cruising, but if you want a boat you won’t die in, a Boston Whaler is a good bet.

HammerheadFistpunch > ImmoralMinority 07/31/2017 at 22:13

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Thing is, a 35 year old boat is hardly a liability compared to a 10 year old one. Maybe less. Less to break

MM54 > ImmoralMinority 07/31/2017 at 22:14

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Bummer it didn’t work out, that van/boat combo is NEAT!

HammerheadFistpunch > ImmoralMinority 07/31/2017 at 22:14

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A dedicated slalom boat is a terrible boat for anything but slalom, so not a great all rounder

promoted by the color red > ImmoralMinority 07/31/2017 at 22:14

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Does this mean the white linen jacket and pastel shirt go back into the closet?

Your boy, BJR > ImmoralMinority 07/31/2017 at 22:24

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What you want is a pontoon.

shop-teacher > ImmoralMinority 07/31/2017 at 22:52

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I’m sorry to hear that logic prevailed.

LastFirstMI is my name > ImmoralMinority 07/31/2017 at 23:38

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Is it weird that I am desiring this boat named “Hot Fudge” with a matching brown van? I would grow a big mustache, put on CHiPs sunglasses and just pull the boat around town listening to the Eagles on the 8-track player. Classy.

EngineerWithTools > Your boy, BJR 08/01/2017 at 10:03

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As a long time boat owner, I’ll jump on board this discussion! (Pun intended.)

I agree that a ski boat like this makes a terrible day boat - not enough seating, rides very rough, sits low in the water. Upside: These things handle like go carts (don’t try it while pulling a skier).

I’ve told younger friends that their first boat should be old, cheap and maintenance intensive - that way they get a feel for what’s important to them when they go spend serious money on their second.

That said, a pontoon is a good first boat. Typically (not always) outboard powered, lots and lots of space, and you can get a newish one with more than enough power to pull a tube or wakeboard (although the pontoon wake sorta sucks for boards). They can be a little rough in waves, and tend to have an uncomfortable (rapid acceleration) roll rate in a beam sea. A large middle sponson helps, and improves the handling too, although now you’re getting into a higher-range boat.

Or...if more is better, then too much is just right:

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > ImmoralMinority 08/01/2017 at 11:02

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I would bleach the crap (or other bodily substances, for that matter) out of these benchseats though

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > ImmoralMinority 08/01/2017 at 15:44

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Passing on a 35 year-old boat is a probably a very good call. Having been around boats my entire life, I’d probably recommend a first-time buyer to look for a small bowrider in the 18-20ft range, from a mid-level manufacture (read, not a Bayliner), preferably with an outboard, and not really much older than the late 90s or early 00s.

Something like these: https://fresno.craigslist.org/boa/d/reinell-bowrider-runabout/6232831721.html

https://fresno.craigslist.org/boa/d/tahoe/6225496750.html

https://fresno.craigslist.org/boa/d/sea-ray-signature/6233618068.html

https://fresno.craigslist.org/boa/d/larson/6203795242.html

The theory here being things that can comfortably take a some people out on the water and do some stuff, are small and light enough to be easy to handle for folks without lots of experience, can be competently towed with less than a 1/2 ton truck, are cheap enough to not feel like taking out a second mortgage to purchase, should be new enough to not usually have to worry about rotted floors/stringers/transoms yet(if they’ve been taken care of and treated reasonably well), and are also modern enough that any boat shop can work on them and parts will be easily available.

The other thing is that whatever you buy as a first boat will not be your last boat. Folks tend to buy their second boat after a couple of seasons once they’ve really discovered how often they’ll actually go out, where they want to go out what they’ll actually do on the water and how big of a tow vehicle they can live with. And if you’re not going to go the lake on really regular basis (like 10-20+ days per year), renting a boat three or four weekends a year is a fantastically better investment than owning one, because the purchase price is only the down payment on the boat ownership experience.

That said, happy boat hunting!

(...and another benefit can be that boating is something you can do with your kids well into adulthood. In our case, the lake happens to be about halfway between ABQ and El Paso, so we meet in the middle and still go out 2-3 days per month from early March through early November/late October. The result is that my parents have gotten to see us far more often and spend far more time with their adult children than would’ve happened without the boat. I would have a boat of some type no matter where I lived, but the lake being in middle made becoming a co-owner of the family boat an attractive proposition. It also probably the main reason we still have it, because I don’t think my parents would do on their own at this point.)