pullmytrigger

So what are the two boats going for??.....the Donzi's usually go for a lot more than anything else in the class and it doesnt matter how good they are in rough water or how cool they are or blah blah blah if they're not in your budget.

do either of these boats have any kind of a cabin??.....can come in very handy after a night of partying on the dock.

did anyone tell you to make sure a survey is in your budget??

Panther

How did your conversation go with Ron?

If you need a surveyor for the Apache and one that specifically knows performance boats let me know.... I know one in our area and he recently did a survey on a friends boat and did a very thorough job.

Frank

Panther

Crawling around in the Apache last weekend I noticed the boat is laid up in Biaxial cloth which was fairly "uncommon" in the mid 1980's.. I thought that was kinda cool... There is also bulkheads and stringers every couple of feet, just like my 36'. You'll also notice the boat has an aggressive X Dimension for a boat of vintages 1980's... I would estimate the propshaft is roughly 4 inches below the bottom. This can/will come in handy if you ever upgrade power... The ultimate upgrade would be a bravo transom conversion, mated to a Blackhawk drive!

The boat was originally built to be a raceboat but Ron bought it from MRD and used it as a pleasureboat from day one.

I worked on the boat a few times back in the late 1990's when it had the 383' in it.. It has been used on and off over the years and has been sitting for a long time. It definitely needs a good dose of TLC but from what I could tell going thru it myself it appears to be a solid boat. (I was thinking of buying it myself with my sister), so if the survey checks out and the sea trial goes ok, I would pick the Apache hands down.

Here are the rest of the pics I took; http://s706.photobucket.com/albums/w...view=slideshow

pachanga

That answer reminds me of when I entered a Pokerrun online. 5 minutes later I get a call from the organizer questioning why I wanted to leave with the faster boats and not with the cruisers!

IMO the reason the Pachanga was a flop was because it cost nearly double what the competition did at the time. They are very well built and solid.

I would not hesitate to run with any of the boats mentioned...might even smoke em!

Planetwarmer

There are usually some nice 22Cs between 12-25k, depending on the year. Their price point is roughly the same as the Apache 22.

The cool thing about the closed bow 22 foot sport boats is, they have a huge space under the deck. What some have done is lay a floor and carpet the floor in case of inclement weather, changing clothes, etc. Some have installed lights and fans in there as well. You could sleep in there, but it could get pretty hot.

Planetwarmer

That would be a great boat if you could buy it right! Youre right, it does need some TLC. I wonder how the stringers and transom are since there is a little water in the bilge.

Baja555

Good luck with whatever you buy... watch the Avanti they really arent built well.. A neighbor had a 27 with Kaama's and it cracked down the starboard side. He bought a 33 and it fell apart around him.. I am in NJ and lie not far from where they were made..Dennis is a shady guy,.. I also saw a 27 roll in front of me. ( do to driver error.)

Too Stroked

In addition to my original reply - and since everybody else is putting in plugs for their favorite 22' boats - I might as well put in a plug for a 22' Progression. I drive one (a 1992) and can attest that it's the next best thing to bullet proof. It's also light, fast, loves rough water (mine spent several years on Lake George) and seems to hold up very well in terms of both construction and resale value.

Planetwarmer

I saw a 28 Progression with 2 Merc 2.5/280s running in some seriously rough water. I was very impressed. I later checked the boat out, it seemed to be very well built.

HIGH LIFE

There is a Cigarette 21' O/B on the DONZI site if your into O/B. "HIGH LIFE"