Older Ski Nautique's reliable boats?

[paperdesk]

After many troubles with a somewhat older outboard and then inboard/outboard boat, I'm wondering if I could get some advice here on inboard direct drives.

I have a friend who has a 70's model Ski Nautique, who's been telling me he finds it much better value to have an older direct drive like that than other types of boats, especially for wakeboarding/skiing etc.

Is it true that they are more dependable on a whole? I've been looking at Nautique's ranging from 1977 to 1986, with the more affordable ones in the older price range of course. Any ideas on reliability of these boats, or any in particular to avoid if I were to go that route? Or is it even worth going there, instead of getting a newer i/o or outboard for similar price?

I'm learning to ask questions here first BEFORE buying

Thanks!

Ted

 

[paperdesk]

Re: Older Ski Nautique's reliable boats?

Opps, seems I've posted this in the wrong forum. Can a mod close it and move to General forum? Thanks.

 

[Don S]

Re: Older Ski Nautique's reliable boats?

No problem, off to Boat topics and questions

 

[paperdesk]

Re: Older Ski Nautique's reliable boats?

Thanks Don! Looking forward to seeing some replies here.

Ted

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Older Ski Nautique's reliable boats?

i think they are just like another boat. do your homework, the do the basic checks on engine, hull, propulsion system. hull seals on propshaft. it's all the same, just different items to check.

 

[tommays]

Re: Older Ski Nautique's reliable boats?

1977

Well the bad is in those years is the reverse rotation FORD motor(Hard to find) , when my BIL orginal wore out in 2004 he had to go with a rebuild from jegs

The new manifolds which are the ONLY thing you can get now require raiseing the engine cover 2 "


It is a fine boat BUT is showing it age and is close to needing a compleat rebuild as the stringers are on there last legs

If you find one that was in a garage i do not think the hull would have these issues

Tommays

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: Older Ski Nautique's reliable boats?

What is going to be the main use for your boat? Are you boating in a lake or river, or are you in a bay or ocean?​

 

[paperdesk]

Re: Older Ski Nautique's reliable boats?

Yah, 1977 is the year I was born! In a way that doesn't seem so very old . . .

Several of the boats I'm looking at are the mid 80's range (2001 version) Nautiques.

I live off a large freshwater lake in Washington (Lake Roosevelt), and that's primarily where it'll be used.

These boats seem to have a real ledgend about them, and I guess I'm wondering if any of it is true, or if it eve is a lot better to use a direct drive for towing! Seems that repairs are less expensive on these boats than i/0's. Is that a fair assumption?

 

[MrX-175]

Re: Older Ski Nautique's reliable boats?

A year ago I was looking at an 80's Nautique "2001" at the local Nautiques dealer. What he told me was that the Mastercrafts and Nautiques were built better than other direct drive boats. He said that before installing the floor the would put the expanding foam in and then shave it off even with the stringers. Other makes drilled a hole in the floor and injected the foam which left air pockets where moisture could collect.
Another thing he said was that the engines in direct drives worked alot less than an outboard or I/O.
Nautique 2001's are also know to have great wake producing hulls for wakeboarding.
Good luck on your search and maybe we'll see you on Roosevelt sometime.

 

[hal2814]

Re: Older Ski Nautique's reliable boats?

A year ago I was looking at an 80's Nautique "2001" at the local Nautiques dealer. What he told me was that the Mastercrafts and Nautiques were built better than other direct drive boats. He said that before installing the floor the would put the expanding foam in and then shave it off even with the stringers. Other makes drilled a hole in the floor and injected the foam which left air pockets where moisture could collect.
Another thing he said was that the engines in direct drives worked alot less than an outboard or I/O.
Nautique 2001's are also know to have great wake producing hulls for wakeboarding.
Good luck on your search and maybe we'll see you on Roosevelt sometime.

The Correct Craft dealer told you Correct Craft boats were built better? I would never have thought it. There's some truth that their build quality was better than their peers at the time but how the owner took care of the boat has a lot more to do with its current condition than how the manufacturer got foam into the hull.

 

[kmurray802]

Re: Older Ski Nautique's reliable boats?

The direct drive tournament boats(new & old) are awesome boats for lakes and water sports.I had a 79 American skier for years and loved it for running around lakes.The boat is practically on plane when it's sitting still.You don't have the plowing and bow rise while pulling up skier like you do with O/B & I/O's.Most of them have V-8 engines that produce 250+ Hp(plenty of power).

That's some of the good,now here's the bad.Keep her at that nice calm lake.Every now & then I would put it in the river.If the chop get's over about 6" get ready to get wet.If it got to 1' you would just about get beat to death.Not a good ride at all in rough water.

 

[paperdesk]

Re: Older Ski Nautique's reliable boats?

Thanks for the replies! I do want to use the boat some for just general runabout boating, so that is a disadvantage for the inboard. I guess I'll just keep my eyes open and see what comes up! I do like the 2001 series nautiques though . . .

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: Older Ski Nautique's reliable boats?

That's some of the good,now here's the bad.Keep her at that nice calm lake.Every now & then I would put it in the river.If the chop get's over about 6" get ready to get wet.If it got to 1' you would just about get beat to death.Not a good ride at all in rough water.

...what he said. I drove one for competition skiing one summer after running a nice V-8 I/O and it just about shook my teeth out with the slightest wake chop on the lake. Plus the noise at the end of 3-4 hours of running had me beat and I couldn't wait to get out of the thing.
It was a cool, capable ski boat and everyone seemed to respect it as such....but it was a drag to drive by comparison to the other one.

 

[paperdesk]

Re: Older Ski Nautique's reliable boats?

After a hard look at things it seems an i/o will best suit what I'm looking for a the moment as an all around boat. If someone wanted to give me a nautique I wouldn't turn it away though . . .

Thanks for your input everyone.

Ted