Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

[catfighter]

Re: Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

I am/was thinking of a pontoon boat as well. However, I live in a city with 3 rivers and about 3 sizable lakes nearby (with about 6 different public ramps in a 50mi radius), and I really want something that is easy to move from location to location. Chances are, a pontoon boat isn't going to be the best for that reason. I would rather not be confined to docking the boat at one location all season long.

I have a 2-year-old son, so for the most part I'm considering a boat that is comfortable for 2-5 people (including my son) for half-day (i.e. 4-5 hour) trips.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

fwiw, i didn't read the replys...

anyways, i got me a 19' closed bow, rated for 6. 2 is great. 3 is tolerable (balance issues though, vhull), 4 i notice, 5, and i'm approaching max weight cap. noticeable loss of performance. never tried 6..
gear and fuel likely adds an appreciable amount of weight

that's my boat anyways...

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

if you want more room, look at a center console with seating in the front

 

[spikeitaudi]

Re: Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

I have a 2010 Bayliner 185BR. It got a beam of 7"7' and has a capacity plate of 8 ppl or weight limit of just around 1100 lbs. I have 2 jump seats in the aft. 1 Captains chair on the right and 1 Rear and forward / Lounge chair mid. 2 Seats on the bow. 7 Max adults. Now I would be crazy to take 7 adults on the boat. I have had 7 passengers, 4 adults and 3 kids MAX. Still felt plenty roomy for we did. Kids ages were 5 and below.

I bought new cause I didn't want the hassle of a used boat as I was a newbie. BUT, if I would of known at that time what I knew now I most likely would of bought used. BUT, I do love my Bayliner and so does the family.

Here is a pic when I got it new:

 

[Glowplug007]

Re: Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

I have a 2004 SeaRay 185Sport, the arrangement of this boat is a sunpad over the engine area, a bench seat all the way across in front of the engine, two swivel seats and then bow seating. We take the grandkids, 2 boys 9 & 11 and sometimes their mother, that is 5 in the boat and still room to move around with cooler and fishing gear in the boat. Anymore than that and you could not move without tripping over somebody. Now if just making a run out to the sound to the beach we could take a couple more since the boat would be just to ride in. Decide how you are going to use the boat, then you can take the advice here and decide how big it needs to be for your use or how you will plan your trips to keep e verybody happy, it can be done.

I think the recommendation of the Bayliner is a good one. Both Bayliner and SeaRay are owned by Brunswick, they are both fiberglass hulls, they both run Mercruiser engines and drives on I/O and if they still make an OB version you would have Mercury OB. About the only difference is the fit and finish, or one has the SeaRay emblem and the other does not. They are both good boats and will give years of great pleasure if you take care of them. The Bayliner is great entry level boat and even with the bad reputation of years ago just check the signature lines and you will find a lot of the old ones still in use today, that is because the owners took good care of them.

My first boat that I bought was a 1987 SeaRay that I kept for 17 years, it had carpet and a lot of wood in it and even though I tried to take care of it when I traded it on my current boat there were a couple of soft places in the floor. I would not have another boat with carpet, it gets wet and stays wet, if on wood then wood is wet and that starts rot. The boats of today don't use a lot of wood anymore, they use fiberglass.

The wood floor of my bayliner 175 was a concern for me in the buying process, untill I found out its the same "wood" product that makes up the floor in most pontoon boats, on which its constantly exposed to water. The floor of my boat has a lifetime warrenty so even if it does rot, bayliner fixes it free

 

[gtochris]

Re: Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

We have a 19ft Stingray rated for 7 Passengers

Arrangement is 1 captain chair, back to back, and the rear jump seats, If it were up to me, and my choice for the next boat is the buckets and rear bench.

If planning a day, I limit it to 6, any more and it gets too tight for moving around when parked plus driving performance really starts to suffer.

 

[catfighter]

Re: Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

I bought new cause I didn't want the hassle of a used boat as I was a newbie. BUT, if I would of known at that time what I knew now I most likely would of bought used. BUT, I do love my Bayliner and so does the family.

This looks like an excellent boat. I'll probably end up with an 18 or 19' boat.

Problem is I have a Toyota MR2 that's my "toy" and the wife might not like the idea of me having two toys . . . that's probably 2 too many.

Anyway, if I get a boat, it will be a 18 or 19' Bayliner bowrider; looks like exactly what I'm looking for.

Question: More than one person mentioned new Bayliner 19's for $10k. Where are you getting this number, b/c even on the Bayliner website they're more like $15 or $18k

 

[spikeitaudi]

Re: Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

This looks like an excellent boat. I'll probably end up with an 18 or 19' boat.

Problem is I have a Toyota MR2 that's my "toy" and the wife might not like the idea of me having two toys . . . that's probably 2 too many.

Anyway, if I get a boat, it will be a 18 or 19' Bayliner bowrider; looks like exactly what I'm looking for.

Question: More than one person mentioned new Bayliner 19's for $10k. Where are you getting this number, b/c even on the Bayliner website they're more like $15 or $18k

I would like to know as well cause I didn't pay 10,000 for my boat. My boat listed for lik 22,000. I got a big discount and a rebate from Bayliner so my cost was under well under 20,000. That included trailer, bimini, 3.0 Merc with Power Steering. Only thing I can think of is that he is quoting a price without trailer.

 

[bow wow rider]

Re: Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

Question: More than one person mentioned new Bayliner 19's for $10k. Where are you getting this number, b/c even on the Bayliner website they're more like $15 or $18k

this seemed weird to me as well. you can't even get a 175 for $10,000. the 195 is more like $20,000+
http://loddersmarine.com/SearchInventory/byMake/Bayliner/tabid/23307/Default.aspx

i looked at them when we bought our used four winns. talked the guy down as low as he'd go on a 175 -- around $13,000. So, I'm curious. Maybe boats are more expensive here.

 

[jkust]

Re: Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

Agreed, on the 10k price question. I remember when the 175 was toubted heavily for being under 10k and it made a splash in the industry. The 175 for "under 10K" was the ultimate bare bones boat made in Mexico. bow wow rider, by the way there is a pretty good sized regional difference in new boat prices as I discovered when I purchased a few years back. The southern states' prices regardless of brand were, at the time, much less $ for the same model compared to the dealers here in MN. So much so that when I tried getting mn dealers to match southern dealers pricing, they claimed bogus pricing. I've actually found some of the newer Bayliners to have some decent weight hulls and good sized gas tanks formerly reserved for the premium brands. While they are still low frills by design, they are well beyond their bad reputation days. While I wouldn't buy any new boat because the depreciation on power sports is astronomical (you should see how bad snowmobiles are), I'd consider a nearly new, used one if I was looking in the no frills category.

 

[Snobike Mike]

Re: Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

We borrowed a friends Bayliner 175 and 2 adults and 2 kids was "enough" for us. Wouldn't have wanted to have any more aboard.

We now have a boat that is 21'8" long plus swim platform and 8'6" wide and 6 adults and 2 kids is about our max unless you're just shuttling people around.

 

[the_smoo]

Re: Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

I have a 2004 Tahoe Q4 which is 19.5ft long.. its rated for 7. I guess it does have seven seats. I had 4 adults and three kids on it in the lake. Only did that to get to one of the lake beaches. Way too many people and not very practical. Perfect for 2-3 adults and a kid or two... but 7 no.

 

[the_smoo]

Re: Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

We have a 19ft Stingray rated for 7 Passengers

Arrangement is 1 captain chair, back to back, and the rear jump seats, If it were up to me, and my choice for the next boat is the buckets and rear bench.

If planning a day, I limit it to 6, any more and it gets too tight for moving around when parked plus driving performance really starts to suffer.

I have one helm seat and a back to back, and two rear singles as well as the two lounges up front. Im ditching the back to back in the main area. Going to put in two quality helm seats.. frees up room as I dont intend of having that many people in the boat!

 

[ovrrdrive]

Re: Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

When I had my Searay BR176 (17.5') it was comfortable with 4 in it but you knew they were there. I considered 4 adults and a kid or two to be overloaded. One July 4th we had like 8 or 9 adults show up at the ramp instead of the 6 that were supposed to and since we only had about .5 mile to go to the fireworks I let them board and the boat wouldn't even get on plane. While idling to the grounds I of course drew the attention of the FWC and was a life jacket short so I took my ticket and idled back to the ramp and kicked 5 of them off the boat.

My answer on a fully loaded 17' BR is 4.

 

[drrpm]

Re: Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

A general rule of thumb is rated capaciity-2 will be the maximum number the boat will carry comfortably. The shorter boats will also generally have a smaller beam and that makes a big difference as well. My bowrider is 20 x 8'6". Its pretty good for a day of water sports carrying me, my wife and 3 daughters who generally each bring a friend.

 

[BTMCB]

Re: Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

My boat is rated for 8 people / 1,200 lbs. No way would I be comfortable with 8 adults on it and with equipment / fuel, etc, I would be exceeding the weight capacity. Most of the time it is just the admiral and I and there is plenty of room to move about. With another couple, still no problem. The few times we have had both of our sons (football player size), the daughter in law, the granddaughter, the other son's GF (so 6 adults and a 2 year old), it was cramped. The boat still performed well considering the weight, but the captain felt cramped!! While it is nice to have the whole family together, I'd want a bigger boat if we did that every trip. Heck, I am thinking of a bigger boat even if they don't come! My .02.

 

[oops!]

Re: Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

the 9999 number was from a report one of our guys here at iboats did on the b-liners a few years ago (like 2) ......the boats can now be had at a good deal because a lot of 08 stock is still on the lot !

 

[mike343]

Re: Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

Our first boat was a 72 or 73 Glastron Bowrider, Vi87 as I remember but under 18 feet. Great boat for our family--wife and 3 boys. good on inland lakes and rivers. The tri-hulls don't do well in rough waters.

 

[jmarty10]

Re: Bowrider comfort: how many people can enjoy a bowrider that seats 7?

M larson is an 18' open bow. I have two captain seats so i can take one out and the amount of room saved is enormous. We have a family of 5. Kids are 10,9,7 and it fits us just fine. Usually enough room for one friend. As the kids get heavier that 4.3 get nice and nicer each year!