Become a community organizer, promise the world to become a senator, and then the world seems the limit.

You just have to be an extremely good liar and believe yourself.

If you become great with that, not only will you make a ton of money but no matter what you do, you will not go to jail, and millions of people will praise you.

Maybe even enough to become Secretary of State and maybe even the President !

Being able to do the work yourself is mission critical in my mind.......

Being a slave to a marina at 100-125/hour can make or break you.....

Out here that question more pertains to real estate holdings than boats , even though it does apply .
Everywhere I look I see guys who dropped out of school at 16 , never had a single legitimate job in their lives and made babies with every willing whore who would drop her panties. But they have paid for houses all over the place . Of course they like to try and keep it quiet and are still hateful towards people who did it the old fashioned way through honest hard work and sacrifice .
The drugs trade was very good to a lot of people from the 70s through the 90s !

not sure how others do it, but I work on my own boat and I make sacrifices that I think are worth it to have a nicer boat. Another big thing for us is not having payments. We owe money on our house and that is it. We have one credit card for emergencies that probably always has less than $500 balance on it.

Good credit no kids!!!

If you think a 35' is good for your needs I would look at the 35 Fountain and Donzi models that came with 496 motors. Run high 70's easily and the 496Mag HO is a solid motor with a long shelf life.

They have fallen to a reasonable price point that probably isn't a stretch given your situation. Easy to tow and easy to store. Capable of the type events you described and have enough of a following you could sell again later to move up the ladder.

All of what others have said is on point, but what hasn't been said is that you don't need to break the bank to have your 'dream boat.' Like Cash Bar said, get a twin 496 boat. It isn't that expensive to fix them when they break, they're easier to sell than big power, are pretty reliable, and run a long time before rebuilds. A couple of good incomes should have a problem with this type of boat in most circumstances.

Some people think that a 'dream boat' by definition is a 46 Cig Rough Rider (or 52 OL, or {fill in the blank}) with big blower motors. Not necessarily. The key is being content with whatever will fit in your budget. You'll be happier not stretching yourself in the long run anyway.

I always said I was fortunate enough to be able to afford to buy a dream boat, then smart enough to get rid of it. Problem is once you taste that honey...that never goes away.

If it's any consolation procharged, I've pondered stealing CashBar's boat and riding off into the sunset toward Cuba, where I would use my prowess and rugged good looks to convince beautiful local women to become a guerrilla army and do my bidding.... But the logistics aren't right at the moment, so I'm stuck in my 24ft'er.

But just to clarify, that thing's insured, right Greg?!


(Dear NSA, please disregard this post, it is not a form of collusion or conspiring)

Research the hell out of boats that meet your needs while saving for that down payment. Once you have a short list, watch all available web sites almost daily to see if something goes up for sale. Be willing to travel out of state and buy the biggest boat with the highest STOCK HP engines/drives you can find. Interest rates on used boats under 10 years old are awesome. Good luck.