Howdy,
I've been a lurker here for several months doing my boat searching while waiting for a tract of land to sell. I'm very close to joining y'alls frat house.
I've wanted to move up from a walk through ski boat to a full size sport/express style cruiser for a while now. I've never wanted to finance while raising 4 kids through school, and have decided I'm to old to take a note now.
Due to my budget I've narrowed my selections down to 3 boats from the early to late 90's.
Fountain 38 sport cruiser
Baja 38 special
Baja 420
I'm looking for the largest reasonably trailerable weekender with a gen-set, A/C, galley, head, and a salon with 6' minimum headroom at the entry/galley that'll cruise in the mid 40's and hit 60 to 70 at top end. I've pretty much written off the 420 due to the triple big blocks. Fuel consumption is more important than sheer top speed.
There are some AWESOME deals out there right now with the depressed economy and I'm hoping that if I find I don't really like the boat I should be able to get my money back on a resell.
I'd be deeply grateful if any of you boat owners would share with me your likes and dislikes of the Baja/Fountain models. If you know of any other Mfg's boats that may fit the bill please let me in on them, and equally, if you know of any units for sale I'm interested in hearing about them.
Also, if any member around Houston/Lake Conroe, TX knows of a seller who may be interested in making a partial trade towards 15 commercial acres on FM 1097 I'd be open to them. I've had a couple of individuals contracts fall through due to lenders setting the bar to high on raw land and developers won't make offers 'cause it's 2 miles from the Interstate.
Thanks in advance.

See ya,
Kelly


Mod's
I hope this is OK to post in different forums, if not please leave the thread in General Boating.

personally I would look at 38 formula 38 sonic and 37 active thunder and keep in mind to legally tow any of the boats in this range you're going to need a dually

Thanks for the alternate boats to preview, I'm going to check them out.
I've got plenty of towing abilty with my truck, my biggest concern is turning on some of the tighter roads around our lakes and launching at the boat ramps.
I really like a Fountain 47 SC but the size and fuel consumption scare me.

See ya,
Kelly

What's the budget?

Don't forget 37 Outerlimits, there are a few nice ones in the classifieds.