Offshoreonly.com - New Member/Boater needs advice

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If he is considering io's then a sunsation mid cabin might work good.

Just my 2 cents worth.........

I've owned a wide range of boats from runabouts to. Ski race boats, cruisers and currently a centre console. Most of my boating has been in water that get quite rough, very quickly.

For a first time boater, outboards are very simple to operate and maintenance is even easier. A bit of servicing and flush them out (10 minute job) as often as possible. The centre consoles are very roomy, handle the rough stuff well, have big fuel tanks, plenty of speed and difficult to get into trouble.

If you go with a stern drive, I used to own a Sea Ray 270 SLX with a 6.2 liter and it was a good boat with speed a little over 40 mph. Only problem was the rough seas. From my experience, the larger 290 SLX would have been a much better boat. If you want a well built family boat, certainly worth a look. They offer the single engine for economical and simple boating and still perform well. If you want a bit more speed,the twin engine option is also available.

Just a few ideas and remember, new boats depreciate very quickly so if. You buy a brand new boat and you're not satisfied, you will likely drop a lot of money in the first year.

Good luck whatever you decide and welcome to boating!

"Life's better with a boat"

RR

Edit: Just correcting, my 270 was in 2008. The current models are 270 and 300 (not 290). Have a look at searay.com and Im guessing there's plenty of 2 year old boats available too

From what I've seen on OSO for a decade or so,

is your supposed to end your bosating career with a CC, not start it.

LOL.

Lots of great advice. My 2 cents is go a bit bigger and a little older maybe 2010-2012. A decent chunk of the depreciation has taken place and WHEN you start looking for your next boat, your in a better position. There are a ton of boats in those years will minimal hours and are basically brand new. Enjoy the search because that's one of the greatest times being a boater. Welcome and good luck.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Figjam (Post 4298083)

First of all, nice to meet you all. Looks like a lively forum. I love it. So let me breakdown my situation. Hopefully i won't get too many mocking posts as I know my questions might seem rather amateur.. but that is exactly what they are. So for those that like to help, I ask you to read on :)

I have a family of 4 humans and 2 dogs. 3 year old, 13 year old and my wife. We also have a standard poodle and a terrier mix.
7
I have never driven a boat. I have never owned a boat. I consider myself a pretty smart guy so I am sure I will pick up on it with the proper classes and training (which I already have setup)....

My family is pretty mellow. No crazy wake boarding or skiing. Might happen once in a while but certainly not frequently. What we are looking for is a boat the family can get onto with the dogs and maybe a few more people and just cruise around the bay. We are moving to Belleair Beach, FL (33786) and are moving into a house with a seawall and dock w/ lift. We aren't looking to go 80MPH although we would like to get up and move when needed. Would like a potty on the boat if possible. Definitely want Biminis and stuff to cover the boat or most of it. I have heard where we are living it isn't practical to get an inboard type of motor and to stick with outboard only. They said some of the areas at low tide are much harder with inboards and can be a little dangerous. Any feedback on that?

I just don't know what to buy. Been looking at Harris FloteBote 250 Crowne and Grand Mariner 250SL, both Pontoons. They look great and would work well for what we want to do, but talking to 3 people that live in the area they are saying that if the water gets rough at all we will hate the pontoon (although it has rough water package). and they says 25' may be too small for where I am. They each recommended 27-29" at least. I also looked at the Four Winns Horizon 290. We really liked it but it was inboard and because of what the 3 people said that concerns us.

Budget is up to $130k if I have to. Would like to do less but can spend that much. I don't want a 10 year old boat.. I own 2 tech companies so I would like it fairly modern as I am a total dork techie. Preferably a 2014/2015 boat if possible.

We plan on boating quite frequently and functionality is huge since the entire family will be on. We would like to be able to cook and stuff like that as well. So there ya go.. I hope that is all you need to know.If not ask me anything. Hopefully I didn't violate some policy with this post and this is the beginning of a long term mutually beneficial relationship!

Thx M8's

P.S. Is there a site like cars.com for boats? I went to boats.com, is that the best one for new and used?

You said the magic words... rough water! The 41 apache would be the prefect starter boat, allez vite i believe is still for sale. Install a potty for the wife and kids and pull one plug wire off each of the fresh 980hp gellner engines so your whole family including dogs dont chit themselves the first time you hit the throttles and let her eat, you should start off running in some 5/6s to get a good feel for the boat prior to running wfo in the really big stuff... have fun and safe boating... rm