Age of Your Boat

[AZBoatDreamer]

Hi new member here.

As I browse this forum reading and learning as much as I can I notice something. It appears the majority of boat owners have boats 15+ years old. Can someone explain why? I'm looking to buy a boat with cash at that is about the age of boat I'm planning to buy. So why do you all own older boats vs newer boats?

David

 

[_chris_]

Re: Age of Your Boat

I have two boats one is a 72 glastron that I was given a few years ago, it is a beater but runs like a champ and second is a 93 Four Winns because the other half wanted a newer prettier faster boat. to me it doesn't matter the year but the condition is what I look for. my 93 came to me in damn near show room condition I don't think it left the garage much. and it only had 170 hours on it.

 

[anon1]

Re: Age of Your Boat

I think that it is mostly the demographics of the visitors to this site.

Maybe, most of us here are not "wealthy" and 1. Buy boats in our price range, and 2) Those that are "wealthier" than us maybe aren't concerned with knowing how to fix/maintain/upgrade the boat. They just automatically take it to the dealer.

Of course, there are always the exceptions and I'm generalizing.

 

[AZBoatDreamer]

Re: Age of Your Boat

I think that it is mostly the demographics of the visitors to this site.

Maybe, most of us here are not "wealthy" and 1. Buy boats in our price range, and 2) Those that are "wealthier" than us maybe aren't concerned with knowing how to fix/maintain/upgrade the boat. They just automatically take it to the dealer.

Of course, there are always the exceptions and I'm generalizing.

I think you have a point there. If I had lots of money to blow on a boat I would just go to the dealer and buy new with a bunch of warrently. Instead here I am learning and reading as much as I can to avoid mistakes from buying a used boat and maintaining that boat after the purchase.

 

[KRH1326]

Re: Age of Your Boat

Mine is 33 years old. I couldn't afford the 2009 version of what I have.

I have a welding shop ( 20 x 40 ) for my "garage". I have been tinkering and fooling around with pre 1980's ford engines for my trucks and what not. ( not to mention the parade of harley's goin' thru )

I can rip thru my old carburated 351w like the back of my hand. All of the modern age of electronic this and computerized that, I am afraid, would keep me from diagnosing and fixing the problems that I couldn't afford to have someone else fix.

Time and mechanical know-how I got. Plus I got the boat for free, so at least I started in the black.

 

[tboltmike]

Re: Age of Your Boat

Mine is a 34 Arrow Glass Cheetah and runs like new and doesn't look to bad either. Even has the original engine and trailer..Saltwater use to boot.

Would rather it be floating than filling a landfill!!!

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Age of Your Boat

For me, it's a money thing, there's no way I'd spend the kind of money they want for a new boat or motor so I find and fix what I can get cheap.
My boats range from 22 to 50 years old right now, and I doubt I'll buy anything newer unless I get is super cheap. Most of the boats I have were either free or pretty close to it.
The same for my motors, most were off of junk boats that weren't worth fixing, I cut up the boat to get the motor or maybe the trailer often just in exchange for removing it from someone's yard.

Motor wise I try to stick to the 80's and early 90's motors, for both simplicity and ease of repair, but I would probably buy a newer 4 stroke if the price was real right. I wouldn't go too far out of my way though to get a newer boat or motor. The added weight of the newer motors also would concern me on an older boat built for a much lighter 2 stroke outboard.

 

[xxturbowesxx]

Re: Age of Your Boat

Its about the condition and not so much the age.. a boat that is 15 years old and is well taken care of will have a ton of life left and you will save tons.. Ive looked at boats for over 10k that are 3 years old and in worse condition than alot of 15 year old boats. I will take my chances with a knowledgable owner over trashed newer boats anyday.(usually trade ins)

 

[xxxflhrci]

Re: Age of Your Boat

Its about the condition and not so much the age.. a boat that is 15 years old and is well taken care of will have a ton of life left and you will save tons.. Ive looked at boats for over 10k that are 3 years old and in worse condition than alot of 15 year old boats. I will take my chances with a knowledgable owner over trashed newer boats anyday.(usually trade ins)

I agree 100%. I bought my 1985 boat in 1996. The original owner was meticulous. He never let it get rained in. Heck, he wouldn't even let his kids get in dripping water from their swimsuits. He Armor-Alled the vinyl after every trip. He said he didn't run it above 3k rpms much. It all showed. The boat looked like new. I've used it now for 13 years and have had next to no trouble out of it. I take care of it like he did (except that 3k part..LOL) and it still looks and runs great.

 

[5150abf]

Re: Age of Your Boat

You hit it on the head "I'm looking to buy a boat with cash" doing that with a new one can be a little difficult.

Mine is 29 years old, I paid $1750 for 7 years ago, 16' Sea-Nymph aluminum with an Evinrude 50.

We had just gotten my wife a new(er) car and I had a small tinny at the time, I ask the wife if she cared if I sold my car, her old car and my Honda CBR and got a truck and a boat.

I wound up after a very long search with my current boat and a Mazda pickup, upgraded the truck since then and the boat has been rebuilt from the kel up and painted.

Aluminum doesn't get ate up like glass so there life span is much longer, getting one 30-40 years old isn't a big deal.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Age of Your Boat

some of the new boats today are based on the same hull of 30 years ago. the 30 year old boat will perform just as well as the new boat. also we do not cringe when we bump the dock a little harder, than we ment to.

 

[LIQUID PROZAC]

Re: Age of Your Boat

ditto tashasdaddy-mine's 87 bought this year and being a newbie have added my fair share of dings and scratches-would be sick if it was new and shiny

 

[oops!]

Re: Age of Your Boat

So why do you all own older boats vs newer boats?

David

BAAAAA HAAAAA HAAAAAA........

cause we're all freeking broke from fixing our older boats!. lol

there is quite a few newer boat owners on the forum.....however...they are off enjoying there boats rather than posting in the repair sections.

imho.....the repair forums are the backbone of this site for new posters and its why they log on.......newer boat owners, dont uasually need the info that this site excels in.

the forums get really intresting when you start to know the gang....it becomes like a family.

good luck with your boat purchase....feel froo to post likely candidates....and we can give you opinions.....

there is a list floating around on what to look for in a boat....

td if your on.....can you please link it?

cheers
oops

 

[eastont]

Re: Age of Your Boat

One thing I've noticed is the big difference between the US and Canadian boat ages. There are not that many boats from the 70's still either for sale or on the water in the US, but here in Canada boats from the 70's or even the 60's are still plentiful in both for sale ads and on the water.
I don't know if that's a financial demographic or it's because of the ability to write off the loan as a mortgage in the US. for tax deductions.

Mine is a 1988 and that doesn't seem that old to me. But, I sure wish I had a walkthrough transom, because I'm not anywhere near 21 anymore...lol

 

[mike64]

Re: Age of Your Boat

I think a lot of people who own older boats and are looking for info online about how to fix something will find their way here. That's how I discovered iboats.

Now if I type info about my motor into Google the first result is often an iboats forum post that I made!

 

[floatingwoody2006]

Re: Age of Your Boat

i have a 1957 14' arkansas traveller aluminum, and a 1969 johnson 6 HP outboard. With a 79$ cuda 300 fishfinder, and a 59$ atwood minitroll downrigger, and an 89$ cabelas trolling combo..I have challenged many locals to outfish me in freshwater lakes. Not many can. It's all about the ease to get out there mostly solo..i don't need to get anywhere faster than that, and i almost don't have a fuel bill.

 

[KurtG]

Re: Age of Your Boat

Our boat is an '86 which makes it 23 yo. I was taken care of pretty good and is rock solid.

I was being pretty specific on the type and size of boat I was looking for.

The 'Henry O McKee' line was started as a Boston Whaler-like alternate to foam filled boat construction. Henry Mckee had many patents on foam-filled construction. Our boat is billed as unsinkable with 60 cubic feet of foam for 3600 lbs floation (hull weighs 750 lbs). There is supposedly but one 2" strip of wood in the keel.

I could have joined the "forgot the plug" club, but only noticed the deck was slippery so had to nonchalantly go back and put the plug in that I had forgot. Nice when you don't have to worry about taking on water, or even if the plug is in.

Our boat was priced around $2,500 whereas a new 15' Boston Whaler is currently about $25,000 out the door. And I think our boat has a lot more than the comparable 15' whaler in terms of hull lay-out. No reason we chose to go with the older, but well kept boat.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Age of Your Boat

yep, i think it's a money thing too. i know i can't afford a new boat, not even close. can't afford an old one either. but with the help of this fine forum, i've managed to keep my old boat going. also some older boats have different ideas of design from the newer boats. if i could afford a new boat what would i get to replace what i have. i don't see any new boats with a sliding hardtop. so if i want that. i have to go old. didn't know that's what i wanted when i bought my old boat, but now that i have one, i don't know what i'd replace it with since i get much use out of the hardtop.
also, +1 on the repair of my old boat. boat repairs are costly. the new high tech boats of today i probably can't fix. in part because i don't have the new costly high tech tools necessary to diagnos problems of it. i got rid of an 02 yamaha waverunner to get my boat. it was new when i got it. but as i read the s/m for it, i found multiple times that i may need yamaha diagnostic equipment to find a issue. bad enough to have to repair it, but the tools necessary to repair were yamaha tools only. i'm not a yamaha tech and would only use them tools once or twice. hard to justify the high cost of such tools when your only gonna use them a little bit.. like someone else in this thread said. i understand my old engine. start throwing high tech in there and i start to get lost quickly w/o reading a lot.

 

[ScottinAZ]

Re: Age of Your Boat

Add another one for old boats. Mine is an '82 Imperial with a 115 Evinrude on it. I can fix anything on the boat for relatively peanuts, and have the satisfaction that I know it was done right. Plus it keeps another old boat out of the dump

 

[AZBoatDreamer]

Re: Age of Your Boat

Thanks for all the comments.

When I brought up the Idea to my wife that I wanted a boat the first words out of her mouth was. "I don't want a boat payment" I said ok we will pay cash and set up a goal of what we want to spend. My spending limit is 5K cash. My wife thinks 5K will only buy us a rusted old tub of a boat LOL. Then I showed her all the nice boats in craigslist and Boattrader for 5k and under. I did explain that we have to be careful purchasing a used boat and I have been reading and learning on IBoats.