Kids love boating. I make a few "mom and kids" trips every year. They love ridng in my Bullet.

Bottom line.... Get a boat that YOU love! The kids will love it too.

Lake Michigan is tough on little ones. I bought a 28 ft checkmate when my boy was 1. A little to rough and loud unless its a glassy flat day. I bought a 30ft cruiser and the kids and the wife enjoy more often. I have never been on a 38ft cig so I wouldnt know how that would be. Good luck!!

I have a 6 month old son and I have taken him out on my 28 ft checkmate a couple of times on Lake michigan. I would love to have a 35 Cig cafe so there was more room for him and his toys, nothing to do with me. I have been boating since I was less than a year old on a large cabin crusier. My folks always had something to keep my brother and I busy. No matter what kind of boat you have, as long as the kids have something to do they will have fun. With that said, get the cig some sand toys and take your kids to one of the many beatiful beaches on the Big Pond.

I'll second the mid-cabin open bow. The cabin offers shelter for the little ones, and older kids like to ride up front making the cockpit less crowded. Ours is a 32'er. It's the best of both worlds. Offshore performance and family fun. We tube and ski the kids all the time. Here's my youngest on a board:

Check-out the Monterey 298SS....22deg. bottom, Twin EFI smallblocks, Merc BIII or Volvo DP. 55-60 mph performance with great hole-shot for tow-sports.
Hugh

Instead of getting a 38'..... Back down a bit and get a 28' performance boat with a single engine and then you'll have enough money left over to get a small ski boat as well. Now everyone's happy

My daugthter dosen't like going out in my 19' bow rider because "it's not cool enough". But on the other hand I won't tow a tube or skiers behind my Checkmate.

I've got a slightly different take on the family boating/38' offshore question. My whole gang (wife, kids,friends, kid's friends,parents, etc.) have a blast out on the Scarab. We cruise, fish, anchor, swim, waterski, tube, camp, hang out at the dock, and have even had meetings and trainings aboard the boat. People,(6-8) love to hang out on the deck (not on plane, of course),4-5 people will layout on the sun lounge, 3-4 can relax on the rear bench seat, 3 or 4 will always stand around in the cockpit when underway and of course there's room for 7-8 of us in the cabin - the younger ones love the coziness of the vee berth. The most we've had out at once is 19 people for a leisurely midnight cruise. What I've come to appreciate most about this type of boat is its versatilily; it's safe, fast (if 68mph is fast anymore), has accommodations, and easy to trailer. It's the least amount of compromises that I've ever had in all the boats that I've owned. -Jeff

The old man is right...

19!

Sea Ray 290 Sun Sport

http://www.searay.com/sport_boats.as...modelyear=2007