Ok so I sold the Baja 260 on Monday. So I need a new ride.

What I am looking for is something that will ride well in Lake Michigan. Alot of the time it is 2 - 4 footers so I need something that has a pretty smooth ride. I would like to be as close to 30' as possible so anything from 27 - 32 will work as long as it's under 9000 pulling.

I need room, I have a wife and 2 kids, plus we like to have friends on the boat. I have to have silent choice, and drop down bolsters. Would like to have atleast a 454 mag if it is a single screw. Speed is not the biggest factor, but I wanna do atleast 60 if at all possible.

I have been looking at Baja, Fountain, Checkmate, Donzi, Powerquest, Scarab, and Velocity (but I really don't know much about older Velocity boats).

What other brands are good to look at for a smooth ride?

Now I don't have an unlimited supply of money. I am just a working stiff with a family. So I gotta stay under 30K. I know this means I am gonna be looking at older boats, but I would like to stay 90 or newer if I can. Older than 90 and it better have some low hours or newer motors.

So what I need is a boat with room, a smooth ride, and low noise for the wife., and something that still get the blood pumping for me. All for under 30K.

Am I asking to much?

Base on what I said above. what one out of these would you choose.

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http://www.offshoreonly.com/esvon/page-9420.html

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Most of the boats that you listed are not much of an upgrade from your old 260 Baja in terms of room, comfort, and ruff water capability. I think that the Powerquest above will best fit your needs if you are ready to move to a twin engine application. The best advantage about the twins is a the safety factor, if one goes down you can limp home on the other. Being stranded on the Big Pond is no fun. The obvious disadvantages is maintaining two motors and increased gas consumption. Be patient that 27' and above catergory is hard to due for under 30K. Make sure that you are looking for boats with a 24 degree dead rise for ruff water capability.

My .02

I agree with Majic Medicine....the Powerquest is very roomy and the twin engine piece of mind doesn't hurt any as well....I have had to come back on one engine myself.....good luck on your search.....if you contact Great Lakes Marina ask for Ed in the sales dept....tell him Fred sent you.....Fred

I would look for a clean 311 Formula, they ride great, look good, and are well built. The 312 Chris doesn't look bad, remeber Bigger is better on lake michigan you would need a 29'+ fountain to have the same size boat you just sold.

Look in the cig section lakeluvr has his bullet for sale, very clean boat.

The baja 260 was a great boat for the room and comforts. It will be hard to beat. The cig that offshore was talking about would be a good bet.

I would get a hold of Shagnasty here on the board,, tell him he has his Scarab over priced and you are a cash buyer,,, its a 1991`,, 34ft excell model ,,, it has air and stock exaust, with 365s ( 454 ) with bravos,,, lots of room and easy to trailor,,, its one of my all time favorite boats,,, (for the money)

RHC

Ok my 260 was a 26' OAL 21 degree deadrise with no tabs. You all don't feel that even going to a 27' 24 degree deadrise with tabs will make much difference in ride.

I really don't want to waste someones time price wise. I can't really expect someone who is asking 40K+ to take me serious when I can only spend a max of 30K. I would also think that the Formula is way over my pulling range of 9000, I thought they were a pretty heavy boat.

Thanks for the help guys maybe I really blew it getting out of this boat. I thought I could getting into something with a much better ride than what I had.

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