Re: Need advice on buying first boat
JT,
I'm in the same situation at moment. I've been looking for a 18 -20 ft bowrider as well. My criteria were: enough space to carry me, wife, kids and few friends when required, power for the usual water sports, easy for the wife to drive as well and easy for me to trailer and launch/recover on my own.
I've looked at lots online and in the last few weeks checked out in person a lot of potential boats. Eventually came to the conclusion from talking to friends and from lot of really useful advice on here that I needed minimum of 5.0 MPI engine and around 20' length to cope with occasional waves I encounter, waketower, sports seating and extended platform.
I ended up with a short list of Bayliner 205 flight series, Sea Ray 205 and Monterey 194 FS. I tried to keep an open mind when viewing all. They were all great looking boats, but my favourite out of them by quite a margin was the Monterey. It seemed to have a better finish on it and appeared to offer more value for money than the others. Even with the sports seating there was loads of room.
Hence, no surprise I now have a deposit down on the 194, I would definitely recommend that you have a look at one and the next model up, the 214. Am sure the guys on the forum will give you plenty other good suggestions to consider.
Good Luck
AJ
JT,
I'm in the same situation at moment. I've been looking for a 18 -20 ft bowrider as well. My criteria were: enough space to carry me, wife, kids and few friends when required, power for the usual water sports, easy for the wife to drive as well and easy for me to trailer and launch/recover on my own.
I've looked at lots online and in the last few weeks checked out in person a lot of potential boats. Eventually came to the conclusion from talking to friends and from lot of really useful advice on here that I needed minimum of 5.0 MPI engine and around 20' length to cope with occasional waves I encounter, waketower, sports seating and extended platform.
I ended up with a short list of Bayliner 205 flight series, Sea Ray 205 and Monterey 194 FS. I tried to keep an open mind when viewing all. They were all great looking boats, but my favourite out of them by quite a margin was the Monterey. It seemed to have a better finish on it and appeared to offer more value for money than the others. Even with the sports seating there was loads of room.
Hence, no surprise I now have a deposit down on the 194, I would definitely recommend that you have a look at one and the next model up, the 214. Am sure the guys on the forum will give you plenty other good suggestions to consider.
Good Luck
AJ
