Good small beginner boat?
 

Starting to seriously think about what I want in a boat. Mostly would be used in NJ, ICW side, occasional trips outside in very good weather. Looking for single engine, trailerable, 19-23'; small cuddy room for 4-6 people. Performance of mid 30's cruise to 45-50 top end. Doesn't need to be the meanest boat on the water, but something with a little grunt to it would be nice.

Something in need of work I am OK with; don't want to rebuild a boat from scratch though. Don't really want to go older than mid 1980's....less than 10k money wise. What is a good beginner boat in this sector? Most of the use would be to get to an anchorage or beach and hang out all day; dinner cruising, etc.....

You will not find a 4-6 person cuddy in that size. I would look for an older wellcraft nova, or baja force if I were you

Not going to have much cuddy room but it's hard to beat a nice 24x7 boat for cruising around in that size range. Should be able to find a few 24 Superboats up there. A nice 22 Donzi classic would do the trick too.

Correct the cuddy in My 2750 (28ft) is cramped with 4, but can be done for a limited time-

You could theoretically shelter 6 from a hailstorm for 20 minutes, but in no way would you ever want to hang out with 6 people "down there".

Maybe that isnt what you meant though...please describe what you mean by - "room for 4-6 people" in the cuddy or in the seats.

UD

Room for 4-6 people to take a 2-4 hour dinner cruise. Cuddy only has to have a porta-potti and enough room for 1 or 2 people for those days anchored out when you need to get out of the sun.

Kicking around the pro's and cons of a small cuddy (with a Bimni top) with an I/O vs a small walkaround fishboat (with a hardtop/Bimini) with an outboard. I like big open deck space vs built in seating (lots of cushions and vinyl to replace). I have considered the Nova; others are good suggestions as well.

23' Wellcraft Eclipse, IMO, is probably about the best boat for the size you're looking at...

also 22-23 chris craft concept with 460 cobra nice boat huge wrap around seating in rear that has a center cushion that turn into a bed.

What about some of the older fishing boats based on performance hulls? The more and more 15-25 year old sport boats I look at I see a bit too much soft goods going bad and lack of deck space.

Pick up a Velocity 22 O/B and call it a day.............

Garage-kept 1990 Velocity 22 OB. The boat was originally put into service in 1992 with a 2.5 EFI 260, but re-rigged with a new 3.0 L 250 EFI in 2004. Trailer is a tandem steel drive-on with spare and brakes.

The boat is flawless with original gelcoat graphics and original interior - white with teal and silver. Cuddy cabin has only been used for light storage.

Full gauges, Land and Sea hydraulic jackplate, Hotfoot, trim and jack buttons on the wheel, 24 and 26 Trophy props, new Topgun cockpit cover, new Topgun trailering cover to waterline, Torquemaster lower unit with low water pick-ups (factory), relieved exhaust (factory also), swim platform with telescoping ladder, 3 gallon oil reservoir, 50 gallon aluminum tank, misc. accessories.

I get low 60's with four to five people on board and the 24 Trophy, and 68.4 GPS has been the best with one person and the 26 Trophy. The motor has about 140 hours on the meter and has spent most of it's life at 3800 - 4000 rpm. The rev limiter on the EFI is set at 5800. I've done no mods.

This is an amazing rough water boat and a beautiful rig. I've enjoyed and cared for it since 2003. It will make anyone a proud owner.

$19,900.00 Calll Tim Murphy at 864-723-3458 or email [email protected] for more pictures. PM's are fine, but I'm not on-line that much so the phone and email are best. I'm located at Lake Keowee in Seneca, SC.

a mid 90's 22' scarab would do the trick...350/alpha goes high 50's, seats 5, low/low maintenance...some came with a thin pad in the v...now-a-days, $10ish, on a trailer....and they sound cool....V8 sounds...