Downsizing....Am I nuts?
 

I am really close to making a move from my Fountain to a smaller cruiser weekender. I love my Fountain, it is a museum piece, but just never use it as much as we should. The trailer sailor routine has become an excuse not to go out.

Those of you that got out of the sport boats, do you regret it? There is a lot of appeal to making the move I am contemplating, but I will never be able to replace the Fountain once it is gone.

If trailering is the only downside, why not get a slip and lift?

Looked into that...lifts and marina's around here just aren't a thing or cost prohibitive.

Went from a PP to a Pursuit, no regrets in the slightest. Not much smaller though, could have gone to the 26 and been happy.

I'm curious about this also, currently have 32' sunny and have been sniffing pretty hard at concept CC

Have to go for what your life style is
I'm selling my Formula 27PC (Eddie Young motor) and getting a Chaparral 280 OSX with outboards. We just don't stay out on it anymore so Gen, AC, Heat hasn't been used in years. Gen only has 91 hours on it lol

Eventually everyone downsizes or leaves the game completely. You just need to figure out in your head if you can enjoy going to the sandbar slower and smaller or are you hooked on the elements of high performance boating.. The worse thing is to continue doing something that's no longer fun.

Just curious, what will a different boat change if you still have to trailer?

We purchased a 37PC Formula, and a easier to tend to GF boat with OB’s….hard to let the speed, adrenaline go…certainly enjoy the chill lifestyle of the cruiser.

The cruiser will eventually go away and we will get settled into a smaller simpler CC. Wish you the best as you move forward. Ultimately stay on the water and enjoy the time with friends and family.

I still like the performance boat but we bought a small Key west dual console with a Yamaha OB.

Use it a lot but its nice to have the other when we want to run. I am lucky though, place on the water and pretty much year round boating.
It would be different if I had to tow every time, that sucks.
when we lived in the midwest we did and would stay on the boat so we at least would get a fee days.

rented a covered slip for a couple years, that sold us.

screw ramp follies. Didn’t help that I had to back down, get boat off, tie up and then park. Wife wasn’t able to.


but


if you are thinking of selling, yours is a twin 496HO boat right? How many hours and what year?

Most boat owners are a bit nuts, but holding on to a boat you’re not getting enough enjoyment from is plain stupid. If there’s something else you can comfortably own that will give you more pleasure, go ahead and make the change.

RR

Thanks for everyone's feedback. A new boat will be bottom painted and on a mooring or in a slip. I want to be able to get to the water 24X7 if the mood strikes. Yes, I will have a trailer for the occasional lake trips and cleaning, but no boater commuter duties!

The Fountain is question is a 2006 496HO 35 Lightning twin step. Ours since new and it has....wait for it....160 hours.

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Life changes and so does boating styles. I am going to downsize this year as well. We aren't weekending in a marina anymore and have a lake house. Our old boating friends now have families and aren't out as often, and many went to pontoons.

I absolutely love my 380, it really is my dream boat, but as you said, trailer boating seems to be a lot of trouble some days, especially when I hardly have the time to wax that much hull. It really is overkill for a day boat river-runner which is how I have used it the past couple years.

I will be replacing it with two boats though, one fishing boat in the water all the time, and a 28'-ish single engine rocket at home in the garage that can be pulled out on a whim for a river run and cleaned quickly.

If I can swing it I would be interested,,,,, 160 hour 496HO's,,,, and a trailer that works in salt. Yup

I went through this dilemma.

Grew up on bass-boats, my first boats were cabin cruisers, then bought a ski boat. Found my way to a 31, then 38 Formula.

I sold the 98 mph 38 and bought a 21 ft CC with a 150 yamaha 12 years ago. Loved the switch and still have that boat. Had been trailering for 15 years at the time so that did not impacted boating.

A couple years ago I wanted a "big" boat again and bought a Formula 400ss kept in a slip. All summer I leave work on Fridays (sometimes Thursdays) and head straight to the bay (75 miles away). I spend 60+ night a year on the boat and have put 400 hours on it in 3 summers. It's one of the best decisions I've made!

So........Different boats are made to do different things WELL. As our boating desires change, buy a boat that does THAT well. Sure, I miss a fast cigarette boat once/twice a year.....but I LOVE this boat the other 50 weeks a year! (actually, I wish I could bring it home in the winter to tinker with but the advantages outweigh that negative)

If you no longer have fun, sell the boat.

I have been in a different situation: I was sport boat-less for more than 10 years after rolling a small cat, taking a helicopter ride to the hospital and selling the wreck to someone who was good with fiberglass repairs. When the time was right and the right boat crossed my path, I got back into a bigger cat. But I missed having a fast boat of my own the whole time.

In your case, it does not seem that you get that much pleasure out of the Fountain any more.

A big bowrider with the largest engine available is sometimes a nice compromise. For me, with kids it made more sense to have the space and a full head compartment. But I still have a big block & thru hull exhaust. It's not fast by any means but it's not bad for a family boat. I keep it in a slip and pull it every month to clean the bottom (freshwater). Performance CCs are the wave of the future. However, for me, I can't seen not having the roar of a big block!

Sold the Skater 15 yrs ago when to a center console, getting tired of that now, just can't decide whats next. Have a small house on the lake so I would rater sleep in my own bed so. Cuddy cabin is a hard pass. I trailer always and the boats live in a barn 24/7. I think change is good, but not sure what that is.

Good luck with your change.

If you're gonna have toys, they oughta be toys you like playing with.

this is deceptive, You never owned a cigarette. You were a Formula guy!!!!:champs:

You arent crazy at all. Got a 30 ft center console with a single egg beater a year ago and have had the best time ive ever had on a boat in 20 years. The funniest part is that I rarely even get on plane because I dont need to really go anywhere.... When I drove the faster boat I always wanted to go somewhere, now, it takes too long lol, so I just anchor and snorkel, eat, drink, and paddleboard.

Not crazy. Cater to your lifestyle whenever it changes.

Im curious what you would sell your boat for it you do decide to downsize. Im not in the market, but a 1 owner 35... Id atleast want to know. Just not sure it would fit int my 10x40 storage unit I have today...

I went through this dilemma a few years ago as well. I had a really nice 39 top gun that I wasn’t using much anymore. We have a 52 searay that is parked out in front of our house and were using that a ton. I thought I was done with go fast boats. Even had a 42 huntress that I owned for about 8 months, didn’t like that either. 3 years later I really started to miss go fast boats. I ended up buying another 39 top gun last fall that isn’t nearly as nice as the one I had. Probably paid too much for it because of the crazy market, hindsight I should have just kept what I had. My wife even told me I would be sorry if I sold my original one and she was right. We’re fortunate to still have the searay and will continue to use that most weekends with the kids. For me, there’s just something about go fast boats that brought me back. I thought I was done but I was wrong. Good luck with your decision.

You are only nuts if you do what you don’t want to do and don’t have to do.

Hey hey now,,,,,easy. LOL

I have did a little research and the big issue is that I think Techman may have the only twin step 35 side by side with a 496HO. All had blue motors, they were using the single step design for the lower cost boat and they had a ton of 496 powered ones of those.

A good issue or bad issue?

There are a LOT of 35 twin steps of my vintage that have 496's. The dealership that mine came from built at least 5 out of the 8 he sold that year alone.

That is something, I have never seen one for sale.

So fountain sends boats out of the manufacturing plant without engines, and there dealer installed ?

Factory option, installed by Fountain. Most of the 496 boats came with B1X's with 1.36 ratio's but I optioned XR's with 1.50's.

From the factory brochure in 2005. There was about a $30K delta between the 496 and 525 pricing at the time.

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We stayed on our 38PQ every weekend that we could for years. Enjoyed the hell out of it, but our lives changed too. Trailering and maintenance/down time got old and we sold the big boat, bought a lake house and now have a 27' Tri-toon with twin 400's and two jet skis. So I still get my speed fix when needed, but we can haul 15 people to the sandbar and I don't have to freak out about everyone's coolers wrecking my seats :) Instead of wiping down the boat and cleaning while everyone else enjoyed the water, I now get to enjoy my time on the water as well. And it sits on a lift 100ft from the house, so we can be on the water in minutes instead of hours. The big boats are a blast and when my boys are older I plan to have a small o/b cat, but they are also stressful and time consuming. Good luck whatever you decide!

I bought a 19' yamaha jet boat and loved it. So relieable, easy to tow, launch etc etc .
$120 in gas got me all weekend and then some, instead of spending money on gas and staying at a marina in the boat we would get a room instead. Worked out just fine. Very stress free boating year and we still went all over and had a blast
but I liked it so much i sold it and bought a 24'... so I think Im doing this downsizing thing wrong..:D

Dan,

Nah. You just overshot your end goal. :angry-smiley-038:

Thanks. Brad.
(937)545-8991

Been there. Had a 42 triple engine Fountain. Got a small little cruiser type boat but wasn't big enough, so we jumped up to a 32 Carver to "live on" in the summer. Missed going fast so I bought a second boat and built my 28 Checkmate. Carver got too small for me, wife, and our 120# yellow lab so we bought an even bigger cruiser, a 40 Silverton AC/MY. Now we have the best of both worlds. Good luck!
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I bought a 1998 290 sea ray to use since my go fast was/is still a little while before it will be back on the water. We did enjoy it. We stayed overnight on it a little bit, but it wasn't very comfortable for more than 1 night.

It was nice to hang out on at the beach and cruise to dinner but I just never got into it. We are on lake erie and for me over an hour boat ride to go 25 miles was painful. It also did not ride all that well for a 10k lb boat.

But my biggest b!tch was how dirty it would get sitting in the water. I am not one of those super clean freaks but it was a pain on the ass spending a couple hrs each time just to make it presentable. All of the bugs, dust, dirt and sea gull poop got really old really quick.

I loved having it at the dock to just jump in and go but that never seemed to happen. I think I spent more time cleaning than I did my old go fast on a trailer.

I think if I went back to a cruiser it would have to be a 40ss or a sunseeker....with a dock boy to clean it....I'm just not in that tax bracket yet.

But I do agree if you dont like your boat try something new. You can always sell and buy something else....

Good luck.

There are a LOT of 35 twin steps of my vintage that have 496's. The dealership that mine came from built at least 5 out of the 8 he sold that year alone.

well you made sound as if the dealership was installing the engines,

Why yes, you are nuts. haha

Been there too!! We downsized from our Formula 353 to a SeaRay 290SDX outboard. It was time to go tubing and water skiing with the grand kids instead of just going fast and looking good. I do miss the rumble of the big V-8's, but the Mercury twin outboards are so easy to to keep clean and maintain. Add in the additional bow rider space and it was a good decision.

It may not be “downsizing” depending on what you get.

My 27PC was a lot bigger boat than my 353. I always enjoyed driving the cruiser and miss it some days. If you are keeping it in the water make sure you get something with some reasonable space in it.