Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

[sidechoke67]

Is anyone using a 17' or so boat as a family boat? I would
love to hear how it is working out, size-wise.

I am commited to towing with a minivan next summer, and am planning
to get the biggest boat that I can safely tow. To me, that means
a 17 foot or so boat. I am looking at some of the lighter open
bow boats in that size; Glastron 175/170, Bayliner 175, Four Winns 170.

We spent some time on a 15 1/2 foot boat last summer, and that felt
fine to me. It is hard for me to imagine wanting anything bigger - but
everyone I talk to seems to agree that a 17' boat will be too small,
and I will want to upgrade after about 15 minutes of use. I am trying
to get a sense of just how less-than-ideal a 17 open bow boat is for
a family of five. Will it be a little inconvenient, or almost unusable?

My kids are young (6, 4, and 2). My entire family of five currently
weighs around 400 lbs - so a 17 foot is plenty safe enough in terms
of weight rating.

We would use this boat primarily for afternoon tubing on small
lakes, maybe an occasional cruise down a canal for dinner.

I would love to hear any thoughts or experiences.

Thanks!

 

[tnduc]

Re: Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

I've got a 17' center console that I've taken out with my family of 5. My kids are not much older than yours and it seems to work fine.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

We manage in a 14.5' and a 16' with no problems. Space can get tight, but that is the drawback to small boats.

What is the tow limit on your minivan?

 

[Mike722]

Re: Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

We had the same thing (kids were 9,7,5) and it works fine untill the kids get old enough that they want to bring friends or Grandparents. Kids don't ski or want to tube fast, so we switched to a pontoon about 3 years ago.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

if you don't mind telling kids to move everytime you go to do something, it is fine. there just is not enough room to move around. one person at a time. as said a toon or deckboat, which is a pontoon , bow rider hybrid then you may have enough room. you will be wanting to upgrade in 4 years, or the kids will have such a bad time, they won't want to go. becareful of the 2 y/o getting sunburned. makes a horrible night.

 

[sickwilly]

Re: Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

Which minivan?

I have a Honda Odyssey and was in your boat exactly -- targeting 18 foot boats light enough to tow.

I lucked out to find a 19 foot stingray and its tows great behind my Odyssey. The Stingray's run light.

I think an 18 foot stingray with the 3.0 would tow even easier.

Yes, a family of 5 fit nicely on my 19 ft, which has an eight person capacity. Actually, two families of 4 work out nicely too. I find the rear bench seat option, as opposed to the two seats split by the motor, is really nice for keeping the smaller kids near an adult when running.


Regarding the minivan, I would also make looking for a trailer equipped with breaks a priority too! Mine not only tows great, but I do not even feel it when stopping with my surge breaks.


http://drri.home.comcast.net/honda/rig_3.jpg

 

[jmarty10]

Re: Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

My 17' worked great this summer. My kids are 7,6 and 4. Tubed a little but they liked to sit up front at the bow and cruise. I want a new boat and am going back and forth about a 17' or 18'. You can't get the 17' bayliner in a 6 cylinder only the 18' or above. I know the kids will get bigger and heavier so the power is the real issue. Big price difference for the 6 cylinder. As far as capacity when grandma and grandpa were on the boat it got tight but that did not bother me.

 

[45Auto]

Re: Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

As others have said, as long as it's just your young family you should be fine. How many people is the boat rated for? We have a family of 5 also and had an 18' bowrider rated for 7 people for 7 years. Worked great while the kids were small, and usually wanted 1 or 2 friends to come with them. Once they grew up into teen agers the boat was very crowded with 6 full-size people on it, and we had to limit who could go (couldn't take 3 kids, 3 boy/girlfriends, and Mom and Dad at the same time, much less any of the kids other friends). Recently traded up to a 22' bowrider rated for 12, and wish I had done it long ago.

The 17' would be OK with your young family. If you're using it a lot and need bigger you can always move up when you're ready.

 

[sidechoke67]

Re: Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

Thanks for all the great info! I really appreciate all the first hand experience.

Although, I forgot to mention that my kids will always think that mom and dad are the coolest people on the planet and won't want to take friends with them, even as teenagers. (ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ).

My minivan is an '08 Toyota Sienna w/ tow package. It is rated to tow 3,500 lbs. (even with 800 lbs of payload in the van). I tend to be pretty conservative, and would like to stay safely under that 3,500 lb number.

For towing weight, I'm thinking of something that breaks down like this. Please point out anything I'm missing or am incorrect on:

Dry weight boat & motor around 2,000 lbs
Trailer around 600 lbs
Battery: 50 lbs
Fuel (20 gals * 6 lbs/gallon) 120 lbs
Accessories (anchor, extinguisher, etc) 100 lbs

Trolling motor/battery (I'm also hoping to fish with this boat): 100 lbs

That takes me to just under 3,000 lbs. , which is about where I've mentally drawn my max minivan towing line.

 

[m&m252]

Re: Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

hey the part that caught my attention is 5 passengers less than 400lbs. me and my fishing gear on my boat is over that ...

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

i will not buy anything smaller than a 4.3L v6. power when you need it. resale value much better.

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

Family of 4 here and I have a 17' Sea Ray that does fine space wise. My limiting factor was getting something that would fit in my garage so the 17 footer fit the bill. It's a 4 banger, but it tows tubers great, never tried skiing with it though. It is equipped with smart tabs. Fuel economy is important to us too as we boat on some really big lakes. The 3.0 will go all day on about 10 gallons. A little more if you're tubing a lot.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

guess i'll be the outsider. i got a 19' closed bow.....rated for 6 persons. being a closed v there is much space between the back faceing seats and the rear seats by the engine. but no bow rider seating. i've had 4 adults and one 2 year old on board along with coolers and other associated gear....that was enough for me....pretty much kept me in my seat while grandma the parents kept on top of the 2 year old who went everywhere but in my space. (the helm). also done watersking with 2 adults and one 6 or 7 year old. with skis and ladders and coolers and gear. that was enough for me too. i prefer 2-3 onboard.....it just makes for a more enjoyable trip for everyone involved. any more folks and i just start feeling cramped......just a different point of view i guess.....

 

[MikDee]

Re: Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

On a point here, you could probably get up to any 19' outboard bowrider with a 125-150hp outboard motor, and still be under 3,000lbs for towing, and might end up never really need anything bigger! Most outboard bowriders are very roomy, without the doghouse (engine cover) in the back. That's what I did. Of course, once you go to any Inboard/Outboard motor, towing becomes a bigger issue to contend with.

 

[tommays]

Re: Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

Well when you get down in the 17' size the price of the 4.3 is a HUGE price increase (3500 dollars) compared to the overall price of the boat


I find that the 4.3 also makes boats that size REAL stern heavy i guess that would be good if your into wakeboarding


Tommays

 

[m_court15]

Re: Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

I have a 18' open bow boat that I usually go out with. Usually have 6 adults onboard, plus we go wakeboarding. I don't think it's too crowded.

 

[Kachadurian]

Re: Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

No problem. But if you want to keep weight down seriously consider an outboard. You can cut the weight on an 18' boat by about 500-700 lbs for the same level of speed/performance.

On my brothers 19' fourwinns we've had 4 adults and 5 kids with plenty of room. In terms of seating a 17' bowrider like the Glastron GT170OB with a 115 2-stroke will have enough room for the whole family, stuff, toys for the kids and trailer and all can come in under 2,500 lbs

Tom

 

[Jerico]

Re: Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

My boat is a 17'6" bowrider. The 6 of us is a little crowded, but hasn't really been a problem. Our kids are 26/25/19/18 so all of us going is a boatload. If someone is going to have to ride up front, make sure the seats are deep enough to be safe. My other boat is a 15' tri-hull. Four is absolute max for it.

 

[05GlastronSX]

Re: Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

I have 2005 Glastron SX 170 bowrider w/ a 150 (max hp). Very, very fast(60 mph) , and i can have 5 people in the boat pulling three tubes with no problems at al running at about 3500 rpms at 30 mph. more than 6 starts to get a little cramped but no strain on the engine.

I have 4 people in my family, myself, my wife, and my two children who are 18 and 15. they often have friends up at our lakehouse and the boat is perfect. I would recommend an o/b if your going this size.

For example, when i bought the boat new in 2005, when i was looking at the dealership, they had a glastron sx 175 (i/o) and 170 (o/b) right next to eachother. they are the EXACT same boat except the power differences. both are 17.1 feet but the o/b had much more space inside. I also got it since the boat was rated for a 150 which there are not too many 17 footers rated for a 150.

17 foot is fine if you are looking for an o/b but im not so sure w/ an i/o

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b129/05_glastronSX/100_0265-1.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b129/05_glastronSX/100_0538-1.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b129/05_glastronSX/100_0438.jpg

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Family of 5 on a 17' boat ?

We had 4 chillins and had a 16' Chrysler Sport Fury open bow tri-hull with 85 hp and upgraded to a 17.5' Caravelle open bow tri-hull with 125 hp.

Chrysler boat was a light weight, shallow tri-hull and was very rough riding. Was adequate space for youngsters such as yours, however. The Caravelle was much heavier, deep V center section and road much better. We spent many a summer at grandma's lake house enjoying that boat.

Mark