My wife is making me buy a boat and I need advice.

[Suzi55Jet]

I'm hoping I've posted this in the right forum.
I'm not a regular poster, usually only when I'm in a jam, I'm in a jam.
I've always had small boats with simple 2 stroke outboards but never anything more than that. Currently I have an '89 55hp Suzuki on16ft aluminum Sylvan and it's suited my needs, except the wife won't get in it and it's too small for the Bay (Chesapeake). She wants a nicer boat.

Of coarse, I want a center console, strictly fishing. She wants a bow rider and seating for four. We need to compromise. Honestly, I don't know squat about fiberglass boats or anything other than old 2-strokes, I've always been the rider and not the driver in fiberglass boats so I'm looking to be pointed in the right direction.

My criteria:
* Towable: I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 V8, towing capacity 7200 lbs> Not a real long wheelbase but good hp.
* Used. I'd like to keep it under $15,000 (or reasonably close).
* Seating for 4 and preferable something up front with a cushion that can either be removed for fishing or is out of the way.
* I don't use much live bait so bait-wells aren't a big deal. Storage is a big deal.
* Don't expect to troll much, I'm more of a light tackle fisherman.
* 22ft range??
* I'd like something that can handle wind chop on the bay but not too deep of a draft as some of these stripers get in shallow water.
* I have no idea if I should look at OB or IO motors. I would like something that is known to be reliable. It doesn't have to be real fast but not looking for a tug boat either.
* I'm seeing boats in the 2008 range in my price range. 200 to 300 hours. What is high hours?
* Any brands (boats or motors) I should steer clear of? Brands I should concentrate on finding?

Any help wold be greatly appreciated

Neil

 

[Scott Danforth]

with a center council fishing boat, I would go with either a large single outboard or twins

to keep the wife happy, you may need to be looking at a dual council or a bow rider

if the wife is happy, it makes your life happy.

with a bow rider, I would go I/O, however that is just me.

get the live well, you can store stuff in them or use them as coolers or..... put fish in them. however most bow riders do not have livewells

with proper maintenance, either IO, or OB will last over 3000 hours

condition and maintenance history trumps brand.

read the guideline check list thread http://forums.iboats.com/forum/gener...er-s-checklist

 

[tpenfield]

Check out some "dual console" boats. They are basically a cross-breed between a center console and a bow rider.

 

[SkaterRace]

Are you planning to sell your current boat? If not then why not get exactly what that wife wants and keeps yours for fishing or work that plan into the budget somehow. Having a selection of boats is a nice thing to have.

 

[ezmobee]

No Title

Check out some "dual console" boats. They are basically a cross-breed between a center console and a bow rider.

Came here to say this. Perfect compromise. We love ours!

 

[mxcobra]

15,000 should buy you a nice very nice 21-22 foot bow rider I/O. thats what Id get with that kind of cash always check for damage to hull!

 

[Suzi55Jet]

Are you planning to sell your current boat? If not then why not get exactly what that wife wants and keeps yours for fishing or work that plan into the budget somehow. Having a selection of boats is a nice thing to have.

The current hull will probably be scrapped for the aluminum. It's pretty beat and more than a few patched holes and one unpatched that I haven't been able to find. I intend to replace the hull with something newer. It's a jet outboard that I use for fishing the shallows of the upper Potomac and Susquehanna river Kind of a specialty boat. We recently moved nearer the Chesapeake, there's a new public boat ramp about 5 minutes away. The bay is a striped bass mecca and I do want to fish it but not out of a family runabout. I need a bigger water version of a Fish and Ski bass boat to keep all parties happy. She's ok with a compromise.

 

[Suzi55Jet]

Came here to say this. Perfect compromise. We love ours!

I hadn't considered something like that. Thank you. Looks like we're neighbors. Is it for sale? :eyebrows: The dual console seems to have advantages. Is there enough storage for fishing equipment??

 

[Old Ironmaker]

I was in your exact situation when I was shopping for a boat. I wanted something I knew my Lady would enjoy coming out on the water with me, she's not a boater but enjoys diving. On a bowrider she could grab her book and chill out but I am a fishing addict and always wanted a centre council for the Great Lakes here. So I got ourselves (actually she paid for it) a StarCraft Superfisherman 190. The 2 livewells magically become storage for towels, bathing suits, books and coolers. Off comes the front butt seat and down goes a air mattress and it's a padded bowrider and on goes the CD Stereo (never on when fishing). The fish finder becomes Sonar and the GPS with all my weigh points becomes a navigation unit to find weigh points for reefs and shoals for snorkeling. I'll ask her if she wants to drift around if it's a bit too warm and I might as well bottom bounce a tube or Drop Shot for some Smallies or Jumbo Perch!!!! Win, Win, Winner.

I would suggest you go with Outboard as well. I am not a mechanically inclined guy but it is so simple to winterize and work on simple things like filters and plugs and wires on my outboard I actually do it myself. No way I can drain a I/O properly and deal with all the electronics on them. I know the I/O guys will say it's just as easy dealing with I/O's. My hand doesn't fit anywhere that one needs to get to inside those things and I have much more room than the same boat which also comes with I/O option. And I don't have to deal with Gimbal gears, shifter linkage and seals.

 

[JASinIL2006]

I wish MY wife would make me buy a new boat...

 

[fishin98]

Just my opinion....Look for a Whaler or a Scout....Both are extremely well built...Composites used in construction(NO WOOD) and seaworthy. Yes they are pricey, yet hold their value.

 

[fishin98]

I wish MY wife would make me buy a new boat...

I hear you!

 

[jkust]

15k is a decent budget....at 21 and 22 feet you start getting into a whole other class of bowrider or whichever class and things start to get tight at that price if you are talking in the 2000's. What I'll say is right now at this very second, boats are starting to pour onto the market and the rush will soon be over and you have stragglers left that are for some reason undesirable and onesies and twosies coming onto the market throughout the season. There's a thousand guys in your area right now doing the very same thing. My suggestion is to very quickly learn the lay of the land so you know when a good deal is just that.

 

[ezmobee]

I hadn't considered something like that. Thank you. Looks like we're neighbors. Is it for sale? :eyebrows: The dual console seems to have advantages. Is there enough storage for fishing equipment??

I'm in York, PA but bought the boat down on the Eastern Shore. Definitely not for sale since I just got it Sept '15! There is storage in both consoles and since the hull is so deep the "ski locker" area in the floor is HUGE. Has a livewell too. Pretty much all the salty boat manufacturers have dual console offerings. The Robalos are my favorite. The deep V, high freeboard and self bailing deck are ideal for bay conditions.

 

[bashr52]

I started out with a 15ft dual console tri-hull with an O/B. My wife and I used the boat 90/10 for fishing/swimming/watersports. It was starting to show its age and need another floor replacement, and the old Chrysler 2 stroke was in need of some attention. Once we got a second dog on board any extra space we had disappeared, and the no live well thing sucked.

I really wanted a CC, and was casually looking one day and stumbled across a 21ft with T-top and an I/O. I've always been an O/B guy, so this was new territory. The open front has plenty of in-floor storage, and throw down some patio furniture cushions, and you have an instant sun-deck. The T-top gives good shade as well if it gets hot, and all the built in rod holders means there is more room for storing water type gear instead of fishing equipment. We can anchor out in the lake, she can swim/sun, and I can fish at the same time.

I'd shop around, look at center/dual console boats with the wife, and see which one really fits your intended usage.

 

[Texasmark]

[h=2]"My wife is making me buy a boat and I need advice."[/h]

Poor baby.......................I feel so sorry for you....LMAO. Grin Best of luck

 

[Suzi55Jet]

[h=2]"My wife is making me buy a boat and I need advice."[/h]

Poor baby.......................I feel so sorry for you....LMAO. Grin Best of luck

I know, right? What if I told you she was tall, long legged and pretty too. It's a curse. I can't say no to her.

I don't want a boat purely for selfish reasons. I like to fish. The boat to me is nothing more than the vehicle to take me to the fish. Any non-fisherperson in the boat is a speed-bump in my road to happiness. So, I keep my crappy little boat running and nobody wants to get in it unless they really want to go fishing.

Driving around (pleasure boating) in the water and not fishing is like spending the night with Megan Fox with my clothes on.

 

[briangcc]

Look at a Chaparral 21 H2O Fish & Ski. Bow rider that converts into a fishing machine with bow and stern seats, livewell, etc. Good amount of storage on board.

​Glastron has a Fish & Ski of similar size as well. Again, converts from bow rider to fishing machine.


Both would have seating for more than 4 when in bow rider mode.

 

[gm280]

Some how you both need to compromise on what you each want the boat for. Because if either gives into the other's ideas, somebody will also regret the purchase forever!. JMHO

 

[fishin98]

Maybe you should look into one of these...Whaler also made it in a 18ft..best of both worlds
https://orlando.craigslist.org/boa/6061039326.html
I'm trying to convince the wife I should have this boat!!!