Hey guys! New member here. With the wife and myself planning on a move to Florida in the next few years after the kids are out of school, I will be looking for a good all around entry level performance boat that will allow us to travel to just about anywhere. Keys, Bahamas, Nassau, Inland lakes, and possibly Havana if its not restricted. With us wanting to keep our budget under 50k, and still have the boat easily trailer able we were thinking of either a 29 or a 30 outlaw sst. How is the ride in them? Are their any structural issues that Baja has had over the years? Any years to avoid? We are wanting to get one newer than 2000 with a bit more power than the stock 454. How common were these with 500's, the 525's, or event the 575's? Since it will be my first offshore and salt water boat, Im wanting to keep maintenance as low as possible. How important is a closed cooling system in a boat used in the salt? Being from the fresh everyone avoids the words salt water like it is the plague, but working on the owners personal boat (06 Chris Craft 28 with closed cooling) that is kept in San Diego, I see that as long as you actually maintain you boat their really isn't much to worry about. Sorry if this is hard to read, writing it between boats at work. Thanks for the input.

go 33 and Stay away from 575's if you want Low maintenance lol

A 30 OL for under $50k is going to be nearly impossible, I think most are going for around $60k right now. There are some significant differences in the cuddy, if you plan to overnight in the boat at all the 30 is better (separate head, galley, etc.) The 29 is a stringer boat, the 30 is a liner boat. There are quite a few discussions here comparing the two. You may want to add a 302 into the mix, if you do not plan to stay on the boat ever, a 292 Islander is nice, although even more rare with big power twins.

The occasional overnight will probably happen. Besides the obvious what is the difference between the stringer and liner boats? I would assume the stringer boats are a bit stronger for bigger waves, but contain wood.

Only thing is dislike about the 302 is the small- useless- swim platform. IMO the aluminum platforms are the best.
I did see a 302 w and extended one before tho.