'03 20' Outlaw
 

Would you by one for your first boat?

Having never lived close to a body of water to justify a boat all i have ever had were rafts and canoes. Well now i am 30 min from a good lake and the wife and i are considering a boat. Originally looking for a nice runabout in the 21' range with a V8 but i guess they are worth gold around here. We have a low budget seeing a how we don't know if boating is for us.

Have a friend of a coworker who had this outlaw and it below our price point. Great shape low hours 5.0mpi.

Typical use would be drive to lake play(swim, tube, ski etc.) for a bit go home. Have a 4 and 6 year old and 90% of the time it would be the 4 of us. Plan is by a decent cheap used boat and see if we like it and use it then decide to upgrade or sell.

Thoughts?

Thanks

How big is the lake? How much chop does it get? You will outgrow that boat VERY fast. If you want to tube, ski, etc, the Baja is not the correct choice for you. There is no room in the boat for those accessories. The only way it would work is if you have a "homebase" dock to start/end from; on somewhat of a private cove to do your playing in.

I think depending on the lake you are going to want something in the islander range, or maybe something more like a 240/24OL. A 260 is also a great family boat, has a ton of room, easy to drive, can over night on it, great for pulling tubes, decent on gas and can be had for little money for the size of boat it is.

With your kids the age they are, there will be times they want to get out of the sun so a cuddy is nice to have. You will want room with kids as well. You would be suprised how much stuff you end up bringing with kids. Start bringing things like a tube, rafts, toys, ski's, coolers and food and a 20OL will be full. I have a 280 and the kids can fill that thing up, then they want to bring friends.

Not sure what your budget is, but I would be looking at the 240, 250, 260, 270 type boat. Or look for islanders in the 23, 24 and 25' range. Unless it is a really small lake then you may get by with something like a 180/190.

Really depends on how big of water you are going to be on, and your budget. I will say once you get into boating there is nothing better.

My first boat was a 20 outlaw and we loved it . But I dont think it is the right choice for you , you probably want to look at the islander .

Thanks for the honest responses. After looking at the boat I had the same feelings as what you are all saying. I thought it might get us by but think for now we will keep looking. Probably end up with walleye boat since they are cheap and plentiful up here and we can see just how often we will use it. And to answer I am up in ND near Lake Sakakawea. Ice just came off the lake last week so I still have time to find something for the season :lolhit:

Thanks

What's your budget? Lots of great deals out there right now! Might have to take a little road trip, but once your on the water, sun shinning,music playing,kids splashing around, you and the wife enjoying one another, you will never be without a boat again! Its not the cheapest form of fun, but it sure will give you lots of memories that will make it priceless!

Current budget is $15k or less. Got an unexpected bonus and we decided to use it for a boat. Don't want a payment on a first boat and honestly I work so much and with our short boating season I just cant justify a payment right now. Mainly want a low maintenance easily usable boat.

If life ever leads me to a warmer location with a longer boating season trust me we will be looking at more options. I have been eying an older Chris Craft with twin 502's for the last 2 years but for right now I just cant get the wife on board. Ive been trolling boating forums for the last 6 years and I probably know more than I should about a sport that for right now I could only dream of being involved with so I guess you could call me a "BB Boater".

Gotcha, I had a 20outlaw, was a fun boat, but in rough water it turned into a air show! I think if your just wanting to check out the boating scene to see if it is something you will enjoy with the family and you can pick it up at good price, go for it! Those boats seem to stay in the 12-18k range, so you could probably get out of it ok when ready to move up or out! Like said above, you will deff outgrow pretty quick!

It's a easy boat to tow and launch, decent on fuel, speeds in the low 60's, has a decent cabin for storage. I used mine for tubing, skiing, wake boarding ect, did fine, not the ideal wake for wake boarding but still fun! Just enter into it knowing it's nothing like its bigger brothers!

Good luck!

I recently sold my 02 20' Outlaw...I liked the boat a lot it was easy on gas easy to drive easy to launch and load. Not sure its the best for a lot of kids and water sports because of the limited "easily accessible" storage space. But its a great boat....I sold mine for $11,000 with only 56 hours on it and a full custom vinyl wrap...they can be had for pretty cheap.

You have a picture of your old 20ol, I saw a 20ol with the coolest wrap just wondering if it was yours....