Starting to look for a weekend boat

[southernboater]

We currently own a 22ft pontoon, which we have enjoyed. We are starting to look for something with a cabin, suitable for weekends and travel on the Inter Coastal Waterway Georgia - South Carolina - North Florida. We have no desire to travel far from shore. I enjoy fishing, while my wife looks forward to relaxing. I would like to be able to trailer the boat. We would appreciate input regarding what to look for / avoid. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Starting to look for a weekend boat

hard to find a comfortable cabin boat that is also comfortable to trailer. yes, I know there are a few people who launch 28' ers regularly, but that is the exception. Also if you want to do this in the summer you will need A/C.

 

[southernboater]

Re: Starting to look for a weekend boat

A/C is a good point. If mama's not happy...

 

[ssobol]

Re: Starting to look for a weekend boat

We currently own a 22ft pontoon, which we have enjoyed. We are starting to look for something with a cabin, suitable for weekends and travel on the Inter Coastal Waterway Georgia - South Carolina - North Florida. We have no desire to travel far from shore. I enjoy fishing, while my wife looks forward to relaxing. I would like to be able to trailer the boat. We would appreciate input regarding what to look for / avoid. Thanks for any advice.

Depends on what you can trailer. C-Dory, Rosborough, Ranger Tug, Nordic Tug, and a few others make cabin class boats that can be trailered. A C-dory 22 or 19 can be trailered at less than 3500#.

 

[jestor68]

Re: Starting to look for a weekend boat

Lots of folks just getting into the cruising life style start with something like this 24 ft Bayliner.

There are a number of different brands in this entry size. There are lots listed on E-Bay within the southeast.

Boat Test actually has a full test of this model, as well as a number of different brands of like size.

These "pocket cruisers" are considered trailerable as long as you have a stout tow vehicle to pull it(a 3/4 ton PU or better).

 

[25thmustang]

Re: Starting to look for a weekend boat

23-25' express. Get a mid cabin for the extra storage. Stand up head, find one with AC. Should be too tough to trailer, should also be ok for intercostal and weekends.

 

[agallant80]

Re: Starting to look for a weekend boat

I am in the same boat, pun intended. I have a bow rider now and want to move up to something with a cabin. I don't know what your budget is but I am considering the stingray 250CS It has hot water/ac stand up head, mid burth. On the site I configured it for about 78K MSRP and the dealer, Chatlee Marine in Sanford, NC quoted me about 67K with trailer, tax everything. I have looked at bayliners, searays, and the stingray. I have considered used but I really don't want to be out on the water wondering if the former owner decided before trading it in to see how high he could rev the motor or something like that.

 

[LuvBoating]

Re: Starting to look for a weekend boat

After we sold our '89 Invader Bowrider, we started looking into getting a full cabin cruiser (24'). After looking at some, and doing some serious thinking, we decided a Cuddy Cabin would fit our needs better. A full cabin cruiser can be a lot of work to take care of/clean and maintain (stove, frig, etc). And, depending on the age of the owners, can be some work to launch/retrieve! As far as "pulling power" goes, we have a '05 Durango (no Hemi) that we pulled a 1997 24' Bayliner Full Cabin Cruiser from the dealership to the ramp with (approx 3 mi) for a test ride...........our Durango done fine.
Like already stated, we ended up buying a '92 Celebrity 200 Cuddy Cabin (20' w/5.7L/V-8 I/O) and our Durango pulls that with no problems at all. The cabin is small, but both of us can fit into it and lay down. We also got a porta-potty for it. We would've loved to have a fully-contained cabin cruiser, but too much expense and not that easy to trailer around. At our age of mid 60's now, we can just handle the launching/retrieving of this 20 footer!

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Starting to look for a weekend boat

seems to me that unless you are going to spend big $ to get a cabin truly comfortable to live in for three days--which will be a boat too big to trailer--gat a smaller boat with a cabin for some basic functions, as suggested above, and stay in the marina's hotel rooms on your destination cruises. In the long run it will be cheaper and way more comfortable. If you find you are going overnight often enough to warrant a "live aboard' then upgrade.

Think of these analogies:
Sleeping in a cuddy/walk around on a trailerable boat is like sleeping in a backpacker tent. Some people enjoy that. I used to enjoy that, and could tolerate it once or twice now. My wife, who used to, wouldn't do it now. Makes for long nights when it's hot, buggy or raining.

Sleeping in a small cabin is like camping in a 8' dome tent--a little more room to stretch out, but still confining especially in bad weather--which includes hot and/or buggy.

getting a large comfortable boat is like buying an RV. Lots of room; comforts of home on a smaller scale. Big fuel bill. Can't go anywhere that can't handle a large vehicle/vessel. Air conditioned. Expensive to garage/dock. Expensive to overnight at a camp ground/marina. Cost a whole lot more, both to buy and operate, than you'll spend on motel rooms.

large boats carry small boats like some RV's drag small cars along. Can you afford both?

So think about how you and your wife like to travel (backpack, car camp, car+motel, RV campground) and match your boat accordingly.

 

[captain zac]

Re: Starting to look for a weekend boat

I have been doing what you want to do for years
living about 80 miles from Charleston we trailer to the intercoastal
My first boat was a 2855 Bayliner
big cabin plenty of room for 4 but you would need 3/4 ton tow
I now have a Chaparral 265 SSI that is very easy to trailer but small cabin so now we stay at hotels
If you want to stay on the boat I would suggest you take a look at the Bayliner 265 or 2655
very easy to trailer will have A/C and an aft cabin some do have a gen but I do not raely feel that you need it on the intercoatal

Harry

 

[southernboater]

Re: Starting to look for a weekend boat

I appreciate the input. Shortly, I will be passing my F150 on to my son. Now I know where I need to be with my replacement truck. If we look in the 24 - 28 ft area, will we have the option of inboard vs. out? Is one preferable over the other? I have no experience with an inboard motor.

 

[25thmustang]

Re: Starting to look for a weekend boat

Unless you find a more fish suited boat, it will almost always be an inboard/outboard. Think of a basic car engine, using the sea water to cool it, and some marine parts. This is attached to an out drive hanging off the back. Very very broad description, but the general idea.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Starting to look for a weekend boat

I appreciate the input. Shortly, I will be passing my F150 on to my son. Now I know where I need to be with my replacement truck. If we look in the 24 - 28 ft area, will we have the option of inboard vs. out? Is one preferable over the other? I have no experience with an inboard motor.

Inboards will be rare in that size of boat. I/O's are most common. Inboard is simplest mechanically of all the drive types.

As for towing... I did it on occasion with a 1999 24' Chris*Craft express cruiser, and it wasn't fun. Boat alone weighed 5250 lbs dry. Trailer 1700 lbs. Fuel up to 800 lbs (100 gal. tank). Throw in a fresh water tank, holding tank and 'stuff' and you're at 8000 lbs. I used a 3/4 ton Dodge 4X4 hemi pickup and it did just fine, but the whole towing/launching/retrieving experience was nothing but a royal PITA with a boat that big. I couldn't imagine doing it on a regular basis or for long distances. I was also unnecessarily saddled with a 10 mpg 'beast' for 95% of my driving.

When I bought the Four Winns I told my wife, 'you know this means paying for hauling and winter storage. I can't tow it back and forth to the house anymore.' Her response? 'GOOD!'

I side with the bunch who advises a smaller boat and overnight stays in marinas and motels.

My .02

 

[rbyham]

Re: Starting to look for a weekend boat

my wife and I are at same decision point. Leaning smaller cabin at this point. Cuddy something. But tell me those with experience on intercoastal waters how does that "use marina hotels" thing work? I was not aware marinas have hotel space as well... Thanks.

 

[JEBar]

Re: Starting to look for a weekend boat

we used to own a 26' Excel that looked almost exactly like the one in this link ... its first owner trailered it from NC to Florida where they took it to the Bahamas .... we used it mostly in the intercoastal waterway and local lakes ... twice during the time we had it, we trailered it from NC to SD and then back to Minnesota where we took it 150+ miles down and back up the Mississippi .... it was a heavy boat but trailered well .... much depends on how comfortable a person is when towing large/heavy trailers .... for us, its cabin proved to offer reasonable comfort in the spring/fall we often stayed on it over long weekends .... without air conditioning sleeping on it during the summer was uncomfortable (at best)

Jim

 

[captain zac]

Re: Starting to look for a weekend boat

my wife and I are at same decision point. Leaning smaller cabin at this point. Cuddy something. But tell me those with experience on intercoastal waters how does that "use marina hotels" thing work? I was not aware marinas have hotel space as well... Thanks.

The marinas do not always have a hotel but there are hotels close by.
finding a place to stay will not be a problem
If you are going to do this and sleep on the boat in the summer you will have to have A/C
Inboard outboard is the way to go if you can
there will be many times that you will be in less than 5 ft of water at low tide
The intercoastal is great fun from Wilmington NC all the way to the Keys
there are many towns that you can park the boat and y9ou are right down town

Harry

 

[airdvr1227]

Re: Starting to look for a weekend boat

I can tell you for certain that a 23' Cuddy gets old after a couple of nights. Hatch A/c is a must, but in a cuddy it's right in your face as you sleep (not to mention the time we came back to the boat after a night of, well, you know, imbibing only to find that we had screwed up the drain hose on the A/c and it had leaked all over the bed). Our 23' didn't really have a head. It had a porta potti in a closet that was designed for use by little people only, so that meant a good walk to a usable head. At the end of last season we broke down and bought an old mobile home at the marina that we're fixing up.

 

[Alwhite00]

Re: Starting to look for a weekend boat

My 250 Sundancer works great for our family of four, (has an aft cabin also) Stayed on it probably 8 weekends or so this year. I trailer it always unless staying at the marina for the weekend. Around 7,600lbs with the trailer. Sundancers have a very nice layout in the cockpit that allows face to face seating at the removeable table.

LK

 

[Seevee]

Re: Starting to look for a weekend boat

My 250 Sundancer works great for our family of four, Stayed on it probably 8 weekends or so. I trailer it always unless staying at the marina for the weekend. Around 7,600lbs on the trailer. Sundancers have a very nice layout in the cockpit that allows face to face seating at teh removeable table.

LK

Agreed, the Sundancer is fine. I just sold our 270 Dancer, and it was reasonably easy to trailer, but would need a good truck. We could haul it with our 350 Chevy Suburban without a problem, but it weighs 6500#, so some care is required. If you didn't have to go too far, it's a great boat the 250 is, too.

Our Dancer has a huge VBirth, very comfy. It also has an aft cabin that will fit a 6ft person. However, the galley area is small and really only room for one at a time to get up shower, etc. So, four is a bit crowded, but two is great. It also had air (a must in FL), but had to take a portable genny with for hanging on the hook.

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