I sold my cruiser at the end of last year and really miss the convenience of being out on the water all day, (party barge) putting it back in the slip, hit the town on the waterfront then go back and crash on it. Also the after hours dock parties. It wasn't anything special 1987 340 Gran Sport with a 12'.5" beam. It was mechanically good, a little rough on the exterior, but nice interior. I had under $15K into it, but it allowed me to be able to keep my Scarab and Active Thunder and still have a place on the water. I'll probably start looking for another cruiser after I sell my Scarab. It is a different type of boating.
Pic of my cruiser and a pic of the cruiser and Panther, cruiser in back.

Many years ago a coworker had a old cruiser that never left the boat well, there were no engines in it ! He lived on it all summer and would use a shower in the workshop we had.

Roll the slip fee into a mortgage payment and just move to a house on the water!! At least you’d be investing in an asset as opposed to just tossing monthly cash you’re not getting back.....

im not sure we would use the boat much if it wasn’t so easy. My kids just don’t want to be out that long. They get bored and want to be able to run around, be kids, ride bikes, play soccer in the backyard. I don’t feel like a good parent asking them spend their day on the water just because my wife and I would like to....

good luck with your decision!!!

We couldn't have been more different as a kids, they couldn't get us off or out of the water. Been a life long obsession I guess.

it’s not that they are inside playing Nintendo, they just don’t want to camp out on my Cig. They want to go tubing, waterski, jet ski, swim off the dock, play with the neighborhood kids, kayak, etc. they just don’t want to anchor out all day while I survey the bikini scene and my wife has her trulys and I don’t blame them......

they love when we do a destination overnight - that’s an adventure for them, theY just want activity.....

Made the switch from speed to comfort. Better for the wife and kids. If you buy something trailerable you can slip when you want, like just summer, you can pull the boat wherever for maintenance and cleaning, You needn’t have the boat in the elements all the time trying to eat your boat, and you don’t have to worry about wind storms breaking your boat free.
I bought a Limestone Express with a 9’4” beam and a full Stand-Up head. Plenty confortable for 6 on the water (not too many which is good) and 2 overnight. Fish, wakeboard, tube, party. Its all good but def slower pace. Good luck.

Looks super clean!

That's my dream, but only a dream at this point. Lakeside houses on my lake are $$$ (assuming you want to be out of the flood plane). Just the prop taxes are at least twice what a slip fee would be. With the lake levels changing so drastically, dock access is a challenge. Would need a trolly just to get the cooler down to the boat.

I was searching for year 2000 & up so didn't see any of those. I do my own maint but I really hate doing major wood work. I'm sure there are some gems out there but they're tough to find.

Told the state I would be towing an over-sized boat but did specify how much over-wide it was. Seems like most of the ones I looked at were in the 9.25' to 10' range.

I built a shop next to the house just so I could store and repair my vehicles so paying someone else for storage and maint would be grossly counterproductive for me.