1000 islander

I agree. I have been redoing my trip engine 42' Fountain for almost two years. In that time two things have happened......I bought a 19' CC and put a 200 Merc Opti on it just to bomb around in and I have slowly lost my enthusiasm for my Fountain. I have burned a whopping $190 in fuel since mid April and have bought one gallon of injection oil. I rinse the thing out with a hose and it goes everywhere my Fountain went, all but at 58 mph. Don't get me wrong, I love my Fountain, except for this past Sunday when I spent 6 hours in the bilge hooking up all of the hoses, wires, and battery cables. It will be done in the next few weeks and I can honestly see myself selling it next spring and buying myself a used 30' CC with twin 300 clamp ons. I have had my fun with multiple big block I/O powered boats ranging from many 25 footers, to a few 31 footers, and now the 42'. It's time to scale back, not to mention never having to contort myself into a pretzel and bleed all over my bilge trying to replace a raw water pump impeller on a 90 degree day.

Nate5.0

The day my impeller went out it was 100 degrees out I felt and also had to bend and twist and bang knuckles to change it out in the sweltering heat.....pass on doing that again.

rak rua

Isn't it funny how we all hate the idea of the ever diminishing go fast boat population but many of us are sick and tired of the work/maintenance and $$ that it takes to keep them running well?

After spending my life mucking around with boats, my boats are getting smaller, my next boat will be a big step down, I'm slowly going back to where it all started, nice and simple, reliability and appreciating the fun in boating without having the biggest and the best, just enjoying something really nice for what it is.

I'll always love the big boats with big power but I'm happy to love them from a distance.

RR

1000 islander

It basically took me 51 years to realize that a triple engine 42' boat that is generally a giant pain in the asss didn't make me cool, I am just as cool in my 19' Bayliner and I have a ton more money in my pocket. I was never a snob to begin with, so maybe that's why I have just as much fun in my little boat.

Nate5.0

Granted the 24 we just got is a bit too small and I do want to go up a bit and back to twins. The easy of use of that boat is just sooo nice and refreshing.

tommymonza

Thing is today's boats are running hardware that was state of the art racing equipment 20 years ago.

Soo running around in what is pretty much a racing boat and expecting it to not break or need heavy maintenance and bucks thrown at it is a pipe dream.

BUP

iTrader: (9)

alot of the hard to get to parts could be avoided if the manus and the boat builders would really care about after the fact. Baja was one of the worst for access room. Anyone ever change twin impellers Gen VII pumps - 496 later model years in baja 29 outlaw. and a 23 outlaw is not fun either no room for anything. Can not even stick a pencil down in front of the engine. Stupid builders,

tommymonza

Good article in the July issue of Power and Motor Yacht on Paul Mann and his latest 60 foot Carolina Custom Sportfishing boat he builds.

The one thing he expressed in the article is ease of accessibility to everything that would need service or eventaul repair or replacement.

I did a brief stint working for him 20 years ago. Being he was a competitive Sportfishing captain 1st he knew how he wanted a boat to handle and how it needed to be maintained.

He is very practical with very little leeway to lack of accessibility.

I have wrenched on a few large boats in my day that I just beat my head against the bulkhead going what the hell were they thinking when they mounted this equipment.

bikercrze1

Great post brother I almost made a similar thread two years ago when I sold my Nordic, I am from Long Island and it is that exact mentality on the water that got me into boating in the first place. We used to go to my grandparents house in Smithtown every Sunday when I was a kid and the old timers would all be outside playing cards in their garage. The guy across the streets son had a nice solid black performance boat and it was loud, and he was always there washing it after a good days run with his girlfriend. He was just a cool guy I looked up to and I always said someday I am gonna have a boat like that.

Sure enough at 26 years old after owning two smaller boats I was able to drop 50k on the Rage' with a 500 EFI. I have noticed that our sport is diminishing not just in NY but everywhere. I was lucky to have met maybe 2 people in their mid 20's with anything close to what I had. Even on Poker Runs although I was an underdog in a 25' most of the guys were well into their 30's. It was fun owning it for two years and having the entire island with 300 people stop and stare whenever I pulled up because the other boats were small cc fishing rigs or pontoons. After a while though its like damn it would be nice to have someone else to go tear through the Gulf with.

I just turned 30 and most of my buddies in NY I grew up with are just now getting married and getting on their feet. It doesn't help that the Police state we live in makes it difficult to do anything that is not walking in a straight line. Hell I had a State Trooper in NC unholster his weapon after I refused to lower my passenger side window which had just been tinted that morning.

I have spent my whole life as an enthusiast and boating has always been my #1 sport. The tides have changed for me temporarily but I am the same way every time I go over the bridge and see the boats cruising I get excited for the day I buy my next one. I think it has a lot to do with what someone told me a few months back. A person born in poverty will never know anything other then that unless they are taught.

Interceptor

I once owned a twin outboard Mako. Wish I still had it.