19 ft Galaxy Cuddy with a 3.0 Volvo

[akwalker]

I am looking at a 1989 Galaxy cuddy that is equipt with the engine above. The rated horsepower is, I guess, 145. The boat weighs about 2000 lbs. The boat I have now has a 4.3 OMC Cobra and weighs about 500 lbs more.

I'm looking to switch to a cuddy from a bowrider so that we can spend more time on the water.

Anyone think that the boat will be severly underpowered? Suppose to water test it tomorrow night, and according to the current owner, the boat does "around 40" MPH. Does this sound right? I'm not looking for a speedboat, but I don't want a slug either. The idea of the 4 cylinder is also attractive given the cost of fuel. What do you all think?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 19 ft Galaxy Cuddy with a 3.0 Volvo

propped correctly, it may save you a little fuel, not it could cost you. 20 year old boat and 20 year old under powered motor, does'nt make a good combo, IMHO.

 

[tmh]

Re: 19 ft Galaxy Cuddy with a 3.0 Volvo

Keep looking, IMO, it will be a slug. "It goes about 40" usually means "if the conditions are perfect, it's propped for crappy hole shot AND the speedometer has some crap on it so it's reading a bit high." With a crappy hole shot cuddy you can't easily send some folks to the bow for takeoff either (which sucks also, but gets the job done sometimes).

Certainly, don't buy it without test driving to confirm the power is OK for YOU. If this can't happen, look elsewhere until it can - there are a TON of smallish cuddys from that era that sell for cheap! truth is, many were made back then and few are made today because most want the bowrider/deck boat now when buying 19-21' boats. This makes it a buyers market for used small cuddies!

You're settling on an older used boat.....great....don't be too quick to also settle on power - you don't have to when buying older used! Same type boat with a real engine goes for about $500 more in a 20 yr. old boat, maybe $2500 more new! Why settle?

 

[25thmustang]

Re: 19 ft Galaxy Cuddy with a 3.0 Volvo

Also remember, if you test drive on a smooth as silk lake, with two people and low fuel the boat will react a LOt different than with 6-8 people, coolers, gear and full fuel through a decent chop. The boat sounds underpowered to me as well, I say keep looking eslewhere.

 

[bekosh]

Re: 19 ft Galaxy Cuddy with a 3.0 Volvo

Another vote for keep looking. 19'-21' cuddies of that era can be suprisingly heavy (I would think that boat is closer to 3000lbs.) and with a 4 cyl that will be a real dog. I would recommend a V8 for that size, at least a 5.0l. You'll be a lot happier with the performance and you really won't use more fuel than an overworked 4 or 6cyl. (Unless you run WOT alot.)

We went thru the same process last year so a couple of points. If you are wanting the cuddy to overnight in, make sure that it is large enough for you to lay down in. Even most of the 21-22' cuddies that we looked at last year were to short for me to lay down in and I'm only 5'10". On a 19', the cuddy is really more like glorified storage so I would look a little larger than that.

And one more thing. If you can find one with full canvas, bimini & enclosure with screens, that's a big bonus. Otherwise plan on adding them, it cost us about $1000 custom made. The full enclosure really opens up the space available and let's you use the cockpit when conditions are less than ideal. (Rain or worse, bugs.)

 

[akwalker]

Re: 19 ft Galaxy Cuddy with a 3.0 Volvo

Thanks for the replies. Checked out the boat tonight, and it is a piece of c##p. The pics the guy sent me must have been a few years old, cause this thing looked nothing like them. The search continues,,,,,,,,,,,,