I remember it doing 122 one year

That's incredible! Was thinking how cool it would be to get that one with the 500's and pull one to put in my Nordic then build a twin to the blower motor I have in it now....1000 a side in a 33 outlaw...would be a fun ride!

The cockpit in the 33 is huge!!
I installed an AC and we overnighted in it too with 2 kids.
The guy I bought it from had the 502`s warmed over ... 600hp I believe .. it went 80mph.


looking at pics it brings me back. The kids were so little and I had no gray hair!!!:D
Really good memories on that boat .

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Thats awesome Dan! Good to know it'll take 600ish a side to run 80...I've heard that boxes and shorties help as the pre 02 33's have a really deep X....man I'm seriously getting more and more interested in one hahaha

Love the excursion too!!

That sounds about right for power vs speed. A friend of mine bought one new with 496's and it ran 71-72 range. I don't remember if they were HO's or mags.

Still one of my fav. snaps of it at idle lol
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He used to run mufflers but not that night


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Here’s our Baja. Little 24 with a warmed 525SC in it. Ran about 80. Ran that thing in the Pacific Ocean for 7 years. Ordered it new from factory and waited for them to build it. Great boat. Lotta fun. Pic of it tied up at lunch in our harbor, pic of us running the Long Beach to Catalina island poker run and a pic of the day I took delivery. I was 22!! lol. Last new boat I ever bought.

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My only complaint is the bilge is 5 pounds of $hit in a 2 Pound bag .
I didn`t know the back seat came out .. that would have made things easier, replacing the sea pump was a major PITA!

I love my 35 OL with 525s, had a 30 OL prior. I could have bought any number of boats, looked at Donzi and Cig, and honestly at 6'2" 265lbs, I couldn't fit through the Donzi cabin door! I really like the 8' 6" beam on the Baja vs more narrow on the others.

Totally agree with the PIA changing impellers, I think Merc should have designed the engine differently for a part that needs regular attention. Maybe top mounted, bolts facing forward. It is a bear!

imartin,
I really appreciate your post. We had a 2005 30 Outlaw with 496 ho’s. We decided to get something bigger for going to LOTO 3 to 5 times a year. We lived on a very small lake in southern WI. Everything we looked at. Donzi 38 ZR / 38 Top Gun for more speed also. The room in the cuddy was sooo disappointing. I’m your size 6’4” 250. I couldn’t fit worth a darn. Even my wife a 5’4” said we would be going backwards. That’s why we purchased a 2014 Active Thunder Evolution. Great headroom heat and air when on shore power. The Mercury 565s didn’t disappoint my decision also. For the price point if feel the 30 & 35 Baja’s are great options. I didn’t have any liner issues.

I too had a 2005 30 OL with HOs, was a fun boat. You didnt buy my old one did you lol. I sold mine through GSC in Chicago. White with black, yellow, purple graphics. The crosshairs type graphics. Picked up my 35 off Lake Michigan back in 2014 from a private seller who bought new from GSC, that's why I did the whole deal with GSC.....

Former Baja owner here also and they were great boats for me. My father had a buddy that we hung out with that bought new Bajas every few years so that's why I went searching for them when it was time to hang up my drag/street racing hat when my kids were born. I'd bet Bajas got a lot of young guys started in performance boats over the years.

First one was an almost new 2006 20 Outlaw with the 5.0 MPI. Paid $16k for it with about 10hrs on it. Ran 58ish with a 21p M+ prop and 63ish with a 23p LaserII prop. With a 21 degree deadrise and a pad bottom, it was an absolute blast. Wish I'd kept it just for a fun lake/river boat.
Second one was a 2002 292 Islander with a 496H0/B1X. Ran 50mph with a 22p B1 prop but it rode nice for being fairly light, the family was happier with it, and it had a cabin for kids to get out of the sun. Spent many days cruising LOTO at 30-35mph from my place at the 21MM. Put a big W&W stereo system in it for when it was a no kids weekend at the lake. It wasn't fast but it was fun and very convenient with the big block rumble.

Nowadays with two teenagers, I've got a 2010 Dominator SSR in the garage that we trailer to local lakes and poker runs. If/when the time comes that the kids get tired of the "cool boat", I'll be replacing it with a new Manitou 25LX with twin 300 Verados for family stuff and a new 23 Trick with twin 300 ProXS for fun days on the lakes/river.

My dislike for them purely goes down to bad build quality. I currently have a 1996 baja sitting in my driveway, it needed a transom done when I got it and have owned a handful of them over the year. They have great layouts and looks. They did a absolutely horrible job on build quality, transoms and stringers particularly. I have never owned one that did not need wood replaced. And before everyone comes out and says all boats have rot issues, sure they absolutely can. But I have owned and been around allot of boats and baja is the only one that I have seen that used construction adhesive between sheets of wood in the transom and are among the few I have heard of that used dimensional lumber for stringers. You heard that right, go to lowes and buy a 2x12, that is what most of their stringers were. If you do not understand why that is bad, I suggest doing some research on building boats. Easy experiment, take a piece of marine grade plywood and a 2x12 and throw it outside for awhile, pay attention to what happens when they are exposed to water. The result is the 2x12 will curl and begin to rot, water also travels right through it. glass will not stay stuck to a 2xX that curls. To make matters worse, baja did not seal any of the holes in areas like where the fuel line goes through the stringers or the drains in the engine compartment stringers. It takes 1 mishap before you have a bilge full of water 1 time and those stringers are wet. If you have never had water in your bilge, you likely have not been boating long or I guess maybe you are perfect and lucky. One hose coming off, 1 time forgetting a drainplug, heavy rain storm.... Your bilge can't keep up with most of those instances. I don't hate them, I just hate how they were built and would be leery and extremely cautious buying one.

Just to be fair, you have a 30 year old boat. I am curious how much you know about the past owners and how they took care of it? I am sure EVERY manufacturer in the production power boat manufacturing line(s) has had stringer issues if they were stored outside the majority of their life. Not defending anything, but just expressing being realistic on what you have is important.

Show me another manufacturer that used dimensional lumber for stringers... or construction adhesive between layers on the transom with non marine grade plywood. the first one I encountered was a 98 25 outlaw that had a absolutely gone transom and rotted stringers around 2007. So that wasn't even 10 years old at the time. That boat was also a pampered garage kept boat that looked brand new in every way possible. Yet, rotted bad. You could poke a screw driver right through the transom and hit glass on the back side. My friend group has had at least 6 or 7 25 outlaws over the years including one currently getting done, one done last summer, every one we have had was rotted badly. The good thing is the resale on bajas is high, so guys like us repairing them means making cash off of them. I own 2 1988 chris crafts as my personal boats, both have original solid transoms and never had a rot repair done on them.

I've saw more fountain rotted out, than I have Baja's over the years. I've owned many and never had an issue, as well as many friends. You do your homework first before buying and remember if its cheap then there is a reason for it. Also many people removed the factory exhaust tips or swim platform, then they never poperly sealed those ares back when reinstalling. This has caused more issues than most think about.

You can research all your want, im giving real world experience here. Believe what you want. The 98 baja I mentioned above was a very low hour 100% original boat. Literally nothing had been changed on that boat. When you tear a transom out and find construction adhesive and staples in your transom, you know it is a quality issue. Just because you and your friends have not found rot, doesn't mean it isn't there. Let's do a experiment, go out to your baja, climb into the bilge and find the drains in the stringers, stick your finger in there and feel around. Let me know what your result is.

As someone who has replaced more rotted transom and stringers than I care to remember, I will add to the thread.

95% of rotted floors are due to previous owners replacing seats etc, w/o properly sealing new mounting holes and old ones.

Not the mfgs fault.

On rotted OB transoms, 95% of the time it’s from previous owners replacing motors in similar fashion to the seats.

Not the mfgs (or the woods) fault.

On stringers, especially in IOs and inboards, they rot at motor mounts/bolts.

If the motors are orig, it’s the mfgs fault.

Had a bro in-law buying a 10 yr old, 39’ Searay and was paying cash so didn’t need a survey.

I talked him into one.

All 4 stringers were rotted at motor bolts!
It was a $6k repair (paid buy seller), 30 yrs ago!

The above poster is correct on unfinished stringer drain/scupper holes as well.

Had a friend, yrs ago, looking to order a new Egg Harbor cruiser. Really wanted one.

He toured the factory and caught that they did not seal those holes.

He passed accordingly.

Yrs ago I replaced stringers in a mid ‘80’s 24’ Wellcraft Nova.

It was the 4th time it had been done!!

1st time would be on mfg, 2nd/3rd would be on shop that did them.

It was a great example of additional effort required to do it right.

Four stringers but a bazillion bulkheads tying them all together in a grid system.
Great way to build a race boat.

On a production boat, to make that structure drain and seal all the scupper holes, yikes!

Boat would be so expensive, Wellcraft would have sold zero of them.

Bellow floor is always the worst I see.

Mfg installs the floor, everything is hidden (so you only see the pretty interior and 19 speakers!) and an absolute turd will still make it through warranty.

As far as dimensional lumber, that is bottom of the barrel and may not make it through warranty!

Same on construction adhesive.

I redid a Supra ski boat that had 2 x 4 stringers, assembled with 16 penny framing nails!
And it looked orig!

Buyer beware, especially on used!

On my ‘86 25’ Checkmate that I just rerigged and powered, I kept core samples of everything, for use at resale.

Transom, stringers, floor and deck!

At 38 yrs old, All rock solid.

The way I see it, any half ass crew can lay up a nice/solid deck and hull, assuming a proper laminate package and good molds.

It’s what happens next that determines the final package and it’s life cycle.

And yeah, the stories of the Fountains appear similar.

If you’re a project guy……, I’d have no issue buying one and going to town.

I looked at several Bajas for IO to OB conversions.

My first offshore “performance” boat was a 1990 226 ES. Single 454 with a bravo. I was very young and had zero chance of buying anything better. First loan I ever took out in my life was to buy that boat. I loved it. I knew nothing about performance boating. Hell I still know nothing about performance boating, but I beat that boat unmercifully and it never broke down. I learned a lot while running that boat. The guy I sold it to continued to enjoy it for years as far as I know.
my second performance boat was a 1995 32 caliber. Had four standup bolsters powered by a pair of chief 600s on bravos. Boat ran 86 on GPS, which was pretty fast for the time. I think I bought that boat in 1997 or 98. Just like my first one I beat that boat like I hated it. It ran in rough water level and turned very nicely. Overall, an incredible boat for the money. When I bought it, it had one engine blown up. I think I paid 30 grand for it. That’s the one I would like to have back. I still look on the Internet occasionally searching for it. I loved that boat. I made money on both of those boats even after I used them for years. The thing about entry-level cars and boats is by nature the cheaper price tag does bring all types of people into the market. And a lot of them cannot afford to keep up with the equipment. Which allows for really good deals on these things when they develop problems which allowed a young person, such as myself to experience the fun of offshore boating.
The point to my rambling is are there better built boats out there? Opinions vary but I am sure there are. Are there Bajas out there with rotten wood? Of course there are. However, for some people that is their only option. And it can help people get out there boating and having fun. Did I want a fountain outer limits cigarette, etc.? of course I did. Did owners of those boats usually look down on me at poker runs? Most of them did although I did enjoy dusting a few of them with my junk. I never noticed any horrible build issues or even stress cracks with either boat and I can assure you that if there was any rotten parts of that 32 I would have definitely found them as hard as I ran. Don’t judge anyone on the brand of their boat the cheaper stuff can be just as fun and the people running them just might be good people.

I've owned probably way more Baja's than you have and never had an isssue. All of mine were 2001 up to 2009 and no issues ever. Most of them are still within a few hundred mles of me and have no issues to this day. Sorry but my boat is composite floor, stringers and transom so no experiments to do here. Sorry you've had poor luck on you boats, but there are thousands who have had no issues ever.

I doubt you have owned more than me, but whatever. I have probably taken more to the dump than you have owned. My side hustle is buying/selling or parting boats. You are comparing apples to oranges now. Composit vs wood.... You call it bad luck, I call it making money, all but 1 of my bajas I purchased knowing what I was getting. I obviously hit a nerve with you, my bad. I am just stating real world experiences. Have a fantastic day, sir.

No worries here and I myself have made a side hustle on buying an selling boats. Thank you for clearing up that you are looking for wet Baja's, in which respect if I were to pick another company and look for wet boats of theirs I'm sure I would have the same results as you. It's the same in Cigs, Fountains and so forth. Thank you for saving some of them you buy for others to enjoy down the road. I wasn't comparing composite to wood by the way, If it hadn't been for us wanting to go faster, then I would probably still have one of the many 30 Outlaws we have owned.

I definitely am not looking for wet boats, bajas have great resale which is why we buy so many of them. We buy all brands, it just happens to be that almost every baja we get has at minimum a bad transom. The question was asked, why the hate, I explained it and you don't like the answer.

There is a guy at my marina that has a 33 outlaw, very nice boat. I gave him a heads up on the issues, he got upset with me the same way you are and wouldn't talk to me the rest of the season. Said it was 100% dry. Last summer he was parked next to me on the sand bar and his boat was dumping water every 5 minutes. Long story short, he learned. Bad transom letting water in.

I've cut more Formulas and Fountains apart than Bajas, but they are a get what you pay for boat. They don't hold up well to any sort of abuse or neglect. That said they do offer a lot of value and if you can find one that's been taken care of you'll probably be fine. They get a bad rap because there are a lot of them and guess who often buys a Baja... First time boat owners. And they leave the drain plug in the boat all the time because they heard a story about someone almost sinking.. Or they think it's normal that the wife is crying when your out there in 3' waves trying to run 50 mph to get home before dark.

So I’m not a fan of Baja for completely different reason
in the 90s I bought a west coast jet boat built by Commander
it was cheaper than a lot of the competitors so had to expect stuff not being as well built
little did I know how poorly the boat was actually built
on one trip we started smelling gas
open the hatch and the entire engine compartment was full of fuel
my 6 mo old daughter was in the boat
I don’t dare start the motor
we wave down a jet skier and hand him my daughter
every one else swims to shore
by The time we get the boat on the trailer the whole interior is full of gas
when we leave the river we take it directly back to commander
I could not figure out where the leak was coming from
the tech there said yeah we know the problem
the gas tanks are secured with wood screws not thru bolted like they do now
the screws back out
fall down behind the tanks and wear holes in the tanks
I asked well why not fix it sense I bring the boat in every year for service
owner said yeah it doesn’t happen to everybody
plus it just got nasty trying to get it fixed

well when I went to buy a new boat I was more concerned with build quality than anything so from talking to people Baja was not high on the list
gettng a Cigarette was the best decision I think I have ever made

WHY THE HATE???? how about finding your motor mounts loose at the stringer and removing the lag screws and finding plastic wire loom in the holes to take up the space from stripping the holes out. OR.... the cabin walls that were nothing more than 1/2 plywood covered with fabric held in place by six #8 screws. first wave, deck flexes, walls fall down

Just for fun, why don't you look at a couple of the "high end" performance boats and see how their interiors are put together? I Think you are going to be surprised as to how less costly materials are used along with Velcro. But they certainly are faster.....

Rather than go down the rabbit hole of cheapness, I would like to add a reason why Baja's are so popular: They handle the rough water very well. Say what you want, but I never had people crying in my boat (in my 33 or 40) due to being scared they were going to die in the rough. And for EVERY poker run, we always had dignitaries and media ride with us. I would like to take credit for my awesome driving, but it was because the boat when driven properly was one of the most comfortable/stable rides on the water compared to those around us. Sure we got passed in the smooth, but when it got rougher, the stable hull held it's own.

Hate all you want, If I could figure out how to get Iconic to release a couple of the molds (30,35 and especially the 40) and had the financial backing to build them, I would be first in line to bring them back with vigor.

Understanding the Baja buyer is what ALL the haters are missing. Bang for the buck and great look. One can hate, but knowing where they stand makes the difference.

My 2000 model Baja is built better than my 1992 was, but even the '92 was built really well. Wire runs were clamped every couple of feet, labels on the wires, very clean installation. My 2000 is better in that they did away with most of the wood issues that plagued earlier model boats that weren't taken care of, e.g. left out uncovered and poorly maintained. While I am sure there were some pooly built Baja boats, there are/were poorly built 'higher end' boats as well. Haters will hate, people with bad experiences will not get over them...much like cars/trucks. I despise RAM trucks for probably many of the same reasons people dislike Baja boats...and frankly most if not all of my dislike of RAM trucks and Mopar products in general is not based on actual experience, but rather anecdotal evidence from others.
I say we all just go boat and have some fun!

Solution to that is get the wife to drive it!!!

Ram trucks...likely have their issues, just like all trucks do.
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I preferred Chevy trucks until 2000. Borrowed a friend's 1990 Dodge Ram, towed my 20ft lake boat with a full loaded camper to Kamloops on the Coq. Really pulled well.Cummins is hard to beat.

My 2003 Ram 6spd manual has 490k miles on it, still getting 18mpg.

2012+ Rams have a 30k lbs GCVW with the right setup.

I do wish Ram went the way of Ford with the 450-550 with an actual truck box on them. Really like those, but not sure if I want to bounce over. I'm all setup for Cummins engines.

OffshoreOnly Classifieds - Boat Classifieds - Boat Parts

OOOOOFFFF :hitit:

No, I didn't. Our boat was a demo out of Hastings MN.

I put AC in my 33' .. I thought the construction was excellent, I ruined a few hole saws that`s for sure. It was tough to get thru the stringers.
Home depot 2x4`s and wood glue?:bong: I think you`re smoking some good $hit buddy. .. also never had a wet anything and the wiring was in the baja was 100% better than my Cig.. and the cig came with a new transom when I bought it and needed another one within 10 years but that was unsealed exhaust hole by the previous owner so I cant blame Cig.
Turns out silicone is not a great hole sealer.. who knew.:mad:

I would have never posted on here if I knew some many grown men would have their panties up in a wad. Holy cow.

Lets see a core sample of that stringer. Prove me wrong. If it is anything besides a piece of dimensional lumber, I will paypal you 500 bucks for your time and tell you I am wrong. Video tape it so we know you are being straight up. Assuming it is original. depending on the year, I would do the same on the transom, that they used construction adhesive and staples, not wood glue. The earlier to mid 90s models were done with glass between the layers from my experience, but still not sealed well, the 96 i have right now was glassed. We have probably done 10 97+ models that are glued and stapled.

You say I'm smoking good ****, you just compared the build quailty of a baja to a cigarette. I have never dug into a cigarette, but i have friends with them and have not heard of the issues like baja. Sure they can have rot, I can't imagine it's for build quality over neglect.

like I said before, I don't hate them, I don't like the build quality. I have owned a bunch, repaired every one I have had plus some. How many have you dug into, like really dug into and pulled apart?

I think I am done posting on here, too many people upset over facts. Go figure, internet....

Seems to me the only one with his panties in a bunch is you , everyone else is just having a discussion.
Sorry not everyone agrees with your opinion?
Not sorry.
Have a super day!

I was going to raise the point that Baja was in business long enough to have been through many eras and phases of management, construction methods, etc.

Ive seen that w/my different Checkmates.

My ‘86 Convincor is rock solid and 100% OEM constructed other than me filling the transom opening for the IO.

But the molding is sub par compared to my ‘95 Convincor which was as straight as any boat I’ve ever seen!

In fact, Jason Kunkel who is one of the top Checkmate gurus on the planet, and he and his dad have been dealers/go fast guys from day one, told me that he thought that was their best era for quality.

You would expect all the companies products quality would improve over time w/advancements in methods and materials but if the ownership of the company has a board to answer to then cost vs profit surfaces.

Study Chris Craft through the mid ‘80’s to see examples of that!

So maybe there’s been better eras than others for Baja too?

I do know that during the late ‘80’s Baja was selling factory blems out the back door to a dealer east of Cols Ohio.

I know that because I was selling new Checkmates during the same time and couldn’t compete w/their deeply discounted prices.

I think that is a pretty good statement there. I swear it seems old Fountains were better then those built in the 2000's (At least build quality or consistency).

As I think I mentioned earlier, you know exactly what you’re buying when you purchase a Baja and you adjust your driving habits and maintenance routine accordingly. It’s not a cig or similar, so I don’t beat up my Baja and drive it based on water conditions. Only go in the ocean when there’s 2 or 3’s. It works for me. I bought my first used Baja as an entry level performance boat, expecting to move up to something a little nicer. I liked it so much, I’m on my third one now. Also went partners with a buddy of mine on a larger Baja, kept mine in storage. He moved to Florida and bought me out. Point being, had 4 of them and they were fine. And I do agree with dedppl, everyone else is having a discussion except for one person. And that one person keeps on buying used Baja’s, fixing them up, selling them and I’m assuming making a profit. Not bad for a boat with poor build quality.

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I am a first time Baja owner and I do love the boat but I have to say the construction of it kinda sucks!! Engine on my 96 252 took a dump and when I pulled it the port stringer was MUSH, I dug it all out with a flatblade. The engine mount is simply lagged into the stringer, the fuel cooler was dripping and got around the lag wiping out the stringer. I replaced the stringer and made motor plates so this cant happen again! Baja motto, its got rot and it is doesnt yet it will!!!!!! I don't think there is a dry one out there!