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Is that my unicorn!? No one's named it yet!
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Originally Posted by HerdOfTurtles
(Post 4657105)
Hello all, I'm HerdOfTurtles and my user name is born from growing up sailing in the Gulfport/MS gulf coast area.
In my 30's now(age), got a place with a 30' long boathouse on the water and I think I want to fill it with a go-fast boat. So, I've been doing a whole lot of research over the past couple months into what boat I think I'm after. Here are some thoughts: 1. Range. I want a boat I can cruise in at about 45 mph. I'd like to do the Tickfaw 200 which is in my backyard and it looks like 150 miles the first day. For that, approaching 4 hrs at speed is about the limit of my endurance these days. Also, getting to clear(er) water at Cat/Ship Island at 50-60 miles away it makes sense to me to go fast getting there and back. So I have arbitrarily chosen a 45 mph cruise as my goal. 2. Shush. While I want to go fast, I have to also acknowledge a large percent of my time on the boat is going to be around my neighborhood canals. It's 18 minutes of no wake through canals to the lake before I can open up and there's a couple late night bars on the canals worth visiting so I really need a silent exhaust option, not to mention bringing babies/toddlers for short rides occasionally. 3. Upholstery. It seems there's many boats that claim "nice vinyl" or whatever but really it's very tired vinyl that happens to not have any cracks and no matter how much scrubbing you do it will never actually feel nice. Yeah, the 10 ft away picture looks great, but actually sitting in it feels mealy. No one seems to have agglomerated what it actually costs to have the "typical" vinyl redone. Best I can figure through searching is maybe $5k to redo a full cockpit but I could never really figure out a cost/quality anything from searching. It also seems to be a total crap shoot whether or not you have a place in your area can do any reasonable work. 4. Engine. It seems to me a 502 is what I need, and when I want more gogo juice, I need to build up the 502 I have over a winter. Outboards are... antithecal to my being. Not sure that's a word but if you're sacrificing the entire transom of your boat for a bit more reliability, yuck. Yeah, full swim platform is a must. 5. I figure while I'm at it I may as well invest $1500 into an air conditioner and install it myself for the occasional overnighter. Nope, won't ever be practical, but I do like the idea of being able to either hook up to shore power and spend a night or hit a dead calm anchorage and put a silent honda 2000 on the swim platform and sleep in the AC. 6. 70's, 80's, 90's boats are worth almost nothing to me. They were built to look good and sell asap, not to last. , All said, leaning towards a Velocity 280 for the time being. Bring on the discussion! |
On the survey front... I called SAMS looking for a marine surveyor around here and they said most of them do commercial and there's only two within an hour drive that do recreational. So I got one of them on the line and he basically told me it was unlikely to be worth it to hire him to look at a go-fast boat. He said I'd be much better off getting a mechanic from a performance shop to do a ride along and engine/drive fluids/compression tests. He said on a go-fast boat a lot of the stuff he'd be surveying for are inaccessible. I'm inclined to agree.
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..I thought you were looking for a 30’ boat with a 502 , year 2000 or newer that cruses 45 with perfect upholstery for 30K. It will be very difficult to check all of those boxes. There are few boats that big that you can motivate with a single unless it’s had some expensive additions made under the hatch. This boat for $30,000 will likely have a issue or two, but deals happen. I hope you find one.Honestly |
Originally Posted by ph1971
(Post 4657430)
..I thought you were looking for a 30’ boat with a 502 , year 2000 or newer that cruses 45 with perfect upholstery for 30K. It will be very difficult to check all of those boxes. There are few boats that big that you can motivate with a single unless it’s had some expensive additions made under the hatch. This boat for $30,000 will likely have a issue or two, but deals happen. I hope you find one.Honestly |
FYI.. I picked up our '05 Velocity 290sc with a 496 mag HO for $27,000..
Relatively fuel efficient, Cruised at 45 MPH easily. 72 MPH top speed Decent size cabin and an Enclosed head.. :) https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...47cf6ff564.jpg Unicorns DO exist.. ;) |
Yes indeed Boatally Insane, very much digging your boat.
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Originally Posted by Smarty
(Post 4657410)
If you like the Velocity go for it, start searching what is out there. Go look at it in person, get a survey, Sea Trial the boat, then tow home to enjoy. Go for it! Oh, you have to pay for it too!
https://www.offshoreonly.com/classif...ed-o73625.html posted today |
Originally Posted by t500hps
(Post 4657159)
Late 80's/90's Formulas are built awesome....but yes, alot of them from back then I wouldn't own today.
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Originally Posted by Boatally Insane
(Post 4657439)
FYI.. I picked up our '05 Velocity 290sc with a 496 mag HO for $27,000..
Relatively fuel efficient, Cruised at 45 MPH easily. 72 MPH top speed Decent size cabin and an Enclosed head.. :) https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...47cf6ff564.jpg Unicorns DO exist.. ;) I'll take one of those, at that price please! What year did you make purchase? Was it a "recession buy"? |
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