More Noob Questions... Saltwater?

[PennStateZ]

Re: More Noob Questions... Saltwater?

I went to a marina/boat sales place today near VA Beach. I talked to a guy who works there about all my questions. They deal a lot with high performance I/O boats, such as Sunsation, Formula and Baja. He was saying that if you flush after every use and put it in dry storage, you'll get an acceptable amount of life out of an I/O. If you leave it in the water (wet slip) for more than a few days you're going to start getting to the issues, and a season is basically out of the question without bottom paint and other precautions.

However, I don't think I could store a boat somewhere and trailer it for any less than I can put it in dry storage (racks) so I might still go with an I/O and just be obsessive about the flushing and cleaning. He wasn't really trying to sell me anything but did have me leaning towards something a bit larger (26-28') if I don't want to get tossed around on the bay. His argument for the performance boat was that with the higher cruising speeds his range is extended. Since performance boats were really what caught my eye in the first place I might have to bite the bullet and go that route. I didn't want to have a payment (was going to go shopping with cash and no loan) but maybe it's smarter to take the payment, have some cash in reserve, and get more boat so that I don't have immediate repair headaches or want to turn around and sell it right away.

It was helpful to talk to someone who boats almost daily down here. He pointed at some boats but didn't even try to coax me over to look at them. I told him it'd probably be next spring before I bought and he said that it was good that I had time to look at all my options, and then proceeded to answer any question I could think to ask. I probably will look there first when I'm ready to buy since it's hard to find businesses like that anymore.


I really like the .38 Special they had sitting there The Fountain Fever was nice as well. Unfortunately those will always be out of my price range.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: More Noob Questions... Saltwater?

buy a bow rider with the bow cover that you snap on, if it gets too rough. don't get in a big boat for your first. suggest really looking for a good used one. that the original owner to the big depreciation hit. as far as how, long you leave the boat in the water and damage, depend on the usage, everyother day, things have a hard time attaching. if you use it once a month, thats another thing. my Chris Crart spend all of August, in the water in the keys. topside wash down every night, and covered, it is a 98% salt water boat.

 

[MikDee]

Re: More Noob Questions... Saltwater?

I used to live on the Great South Bay Long Island, a barrier strip of land from the Atlantic ocean (Fire Island) and even though the bay can kick up some waves, I've had 4 bowriders 1-16' Wellcraft airslot outboard, 2-18.5' Wellcraft airslot I/O's, 1- 20' SeaRay I/O, and 2 Cuddy's, plus a few older closed bow boats over the years, and in all that time, I only got water in once over the bow, while moving forward slowly (boat not on plane yet) in the fairly rough Fire Island Inlet (between the ocean, & bay) while fishing with 3 adults, & 2 kids, in the 18.5' Wellcraft I/O, the kids were sitting in the bow, and the worst that happened till I got on plane, was a couple of wet butts,,,lol Get yourself a nice bowrider, they make the most of the available room in a boat. I think that dealer is trying to get rid of those gas hog Hi-perf boats off his lot, besides, they're not practical, usually they have 2 buckets seats with a bench in the back, and a big engine hatch in the rear, plus not much walk around room, or even leg room! Somewhat like a Hi- Perf sports car.

 

[PennStateZ]

Re: More Noob Questions... Saltwater?

While that all makes perfect sense, I do drive a high performance sports car (with 2 seats)


It does seem like I have a lot more choices for the money in bowriders. Newer ones sell pretty cheap and they're popular. I'll probably just look for the deepest hull I can find and get the cover if needed.

 

[MikDee]

Re: More Noob Questions... Saltwater?

While that all makes perfect sense, I do drive a high performance sports car (with 2 seats)


It does seem like I have a lot more choices for the money in bowriders. Newer ones sell pretty cheap and they're popular. I'll probably just look for the deepest hull I can find and get the cover if needed.

You have no reason to move around in your 2 seater sports car, sport boats are different, especially when coming in too fast while docking (no brakes!) and that hot lumpy idle, and high pitch prop, is actually moving faster then you thought Or, if you go to anchor, and hafta scramble up onto that slippery, shiny front deck Water sports are fun too, when you can't get out of each others way in that small cockpit. Anyway, a SeaRay, or Four Winns are deep hulls with deep vee's, there are other good choices out there too, by the way, outboard bowriders are a lot more roomy then I/O's. Good luck, Mike

 

[PennStateZ]

Re: More Noob Questions... Saltwater?

This is pretty swank...

http://www.boats.com/listing/boat_details.jsp?entityid=105341181&srh_prev=No%3d26%26rt%3dboat%26ro%3d1%26r%3d107460491%26entityid%3d107460491%26rs%3dboats.com&srh_next=No%3d28%26rt%3dboat%26ro%3d1%26r%3d1892613%26entityid%3d18926131%26rs%3dyachtworld.com&rev_srh=sfm%3dfalse%26bn%3dsearchbar%26Ntt%3doutboard%2bbowrider%26No%3d20%26luom%3d126%26slim%3dquick%26currencyid%3d100%26Ntk%3dboatsEN%26sm%3d3

 

[MikDee]

Re: More Noob Questions... Saltwater?

IT SURE IS!!! But, it does seem a little overpriced, considering you can get a New Improved Bayliner a sister boat package by Brunswick, just like it for about $12,999. near by me in Pa.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: More Noob Questions... Saltwater?

The smaller ski boats that are typically I/O generally have a SUBSTANTIAL price increase if they have an outboard model. So from what I've seen, for that boat being brand new and a SeaRay, that's a good price.