Interesting since I will have the wife and 3 kids along.

If you have an opportunity you really need to get on both boats to see what Im getting at, your boat choice also depends on your tow rig, unless its gonna sit on a lift

It will most likely be a trailer queen, but have plenty of equipment to address that. Any certain Fountain models to take a look at? I glanced at P57 website and see a couple listed there from cheap to $$$. I would presume not so much the model but the engines??

do you plan to over night on the boat

Negative.

where are you located

South Central Pennsylvania

Here is a friend of mine's Fountain . One of the nicest around and Would come in under your budget and still leave money for plenty of gas . http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o61193-en.html

I like this boat http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o60856-en.html

I think you will be happy with Baja. I still have my 25 OL. I had an Outerlimits go fast ( and miss it dearly) but always loved my Baja. I have a closed cooling system in mine and I don't know when that was changed from the older ones but that might be a concern. I was told that if you buy a Fountain you might have a hard time selling it because of there is a lot on the market. But that being said the folks that own them swear by them.