Time for a Different Style Boat?
 

I have a 32’ Fountain and I love it. It’s in great condition and I have it the way I want it BUT it is starting to feel like a hassle to use. I trailer it to the lake and my wife isn’t the best help, so basically I do everything.

Thought about downsizing but I did that once. 29’ fountain to a 19’ jet boat. Fun for a while but i bought a 27’ fountain a year or two later, now my 32. I’m 34 now and looking for a way to make boating easier and more convenient. So I thought about going to a cruiser. 32’-38’ Searay Sundancer or similar. Something that I can leave at the lake during the summer and move to dry storage during the winter. Maybe even change lakes. This way all I would need to do is drive a car to the lake and start boating.
Terrible idea?

I'm going cruiser, probably 34' Formula PC. Looked at 7 so far. Looking at another this weekend or next week. Not sure how much less of a hassle it'll be, boats in general are massive PIAs...massive.

JTBooten

Why is the wife "not much help"....? Honestly, if it weren't for my wife accepting and embracing her role, we wouldn't be boaters. It's too much work for one person. We have a routine that begins at the house and ends at the house, with the loading/unloading process in-between. I have my responsibilities; she has hers. Hell, even the kids have theirs whenever they are with us (which is becoming more and more rare these days). I don't mean to knock your arrangement, but I don't think the boat is the problem.

Just one dick's opinion.

Thanks. Brad.
(937)545-8991

My wife is half in at best, this is my thing not hers, she likes going out but she's perfectly fine not having a boat, actually prefers it. So if I want one it's pretty much on me, and I'm fine with that. I'm a water hog for 50 years, the only thing that will stop that is age, and I figure I have 5 years with the bigger boats then onto a little Whaler.

lmao at the bold.!
Yeh, your old and at the age hard to do stuff for sure.
Laughing elbowing style btw. :wink

I've done rack storage, towing the boat and a in water boat well all with the same 32' boat. I'd take rack storage over the others. Obviously all three situations have their pros and cons. In a perfect world my guess would be on a lift in the back yard.

Only 34 and sick of the hassle? I'm 66 and just down sized to a 27 single from a 32 with twins but not because of the hassle but because I no longer live on the coast and won't be ocean boating. Even with bigger boats, I don't mind launching and retrieving by myself. Been doing it for quite some time and have it down pretty well. Maybe you could use some tips from someone with more experience? It really shouldn't be much of a hassle.

Going from a 32' Fountain to a 38' cruiser is like going from a Corvette to a 3/4 ton Suburban hoping it will be more maneuverable! :eek::D I don't think a cruise is going to be any less hassle and will be cumbersome around the docks. You may also get bored with it after a while. Why not look into dry stack storage? You call them and by the time you get to the marina they have it in the water ready for you to enjoy. You get done and they put it away for you.

She has issues backing a car with a camera…

By myself I can load and unload faster than a lot of people with pontoons or fishing boats. I know what I’m doing but it’s still a hassle.
I know I’m young so if I feel this way now, I can’t imagine 20 years from now.

My thinking with the cruiser is it will be already at the lake.

Dry stack storage would be awesome but I live in the middle of nowhere KY.

We are going down to a 25' from a 35' to make life easier.

since we tow still qnd I refuse to store again away from home we are going go a loaded up Sea Hunt Ultra. Make our boating life much easier and enjoyable for us.