Re: Is it worth sinking money into???
I look at it this way. If I wanted a new boat, I could take out a loan and pay for it for the next 10-15 years and pay upwards of $25,000 by the time it's paid back.<br /><br />Or, I can rebuild and refurbish an older hull - making it virtually new when I'm done (and likely better than it ever was new) with new interior, new seats, new transom, floor, stringers, wiring, etc. and when I'm done I've got a boat that I've put $1500-$2000 or so into and it's PAID FOR. And, like I said, it's virtually new by most measures, so it'll last at least as long as the other boat, and probably be worth about the same at the end of what would have been the loan term for the first boat. Plus, I enjoy the process of rebuilding the boat. The hours I spend working on restoring a boat would have to be spent "working" to pay for the "new" boat, which won't be anywhere near new when I'm STILL paying for it 10 years from now.<br /><br />Another factor I take into account is there are simply VERY few family runabouts being made right now that I would ever consider owning. Too funky looking for my tastes. I'm more of a clean, sharp, traditional lines kinda guy. And, at 6'4", I can customize placement of seats, throttle, etc. to suit my frame.<br /><br />And, finally, my wife is a fairly new boater, still learning the ropes on docking, etc. A rebuilt older hull will probably have the odd "beauty mark" or two built-in already so you don't have that shock over the first ding in your brand new boat. She is improving though...<br /><br />- Scott
