Which ski boat?

[garbageguy]

Our old-ish 16 ft glass Starcraft up at the lake has fallen out of favor with the Admiral and kids. Looking for a ski boat in the 10k range which looks to put us in an early 90's closed bow. All other things being relatively comparable is an open bow ski boat going to be about 5k more? Thanks.

 

[southkogs]

$10K can get you quite a bit of boat (IMHO). Do you mean a dedicated tow boat, or more of the typical bow rider runabout?

 

[garbageguy]

Pretty much a dedicated tow boat, but we'd like to have as much room as possible for the occasions when we have a bunch of people that want to hang out on the lake. My son has been searching, and has quite a bit of experience boating, skiing, working on boats (budding mechanic at 2 marinas) (but he's only 23) . He's telling me a closed bow will be much easier to find, and 3-5?k less. I just wanted to tap into the wealth of experience here.

 

[oldjeep]

Might be able to find a Malibu response lx in that range. I'd be looking for no wood construction no matter what brand. This is above your range, but a good value. Fuel injected and the bathtub style open bow

http://fortcollins.craigslist.org/boa/5131079697.html

 

[oldjeep]

Edit, that one is actually an echelon lx so it has a standard open bow.

 

[southkogs]

I was finding some of the mid 90's MasterCraft 19' boats with open bows between $5k & $10k not too long ago ... Supra made a couple of nice tow boats too that would be worth keeping an eye out for.

I was looking in the Atlanta and Indianapolis markets.

 

[garbageguy]

Thanks for the input, much appreciated

jeep, what do you mean by bathtub, vs standard, open bow?

kogs, thanks for looking. We live near Buffalo, NY and our "camp" is in the Adirondacks, so I think we have a decent search area - any other suggestions most welcome. My son has his eye on a '91 Mastercraft closed bow, in Glens Falls, NY. We're thinking of maybe settling with a closed bow, and using the savings to pay someone else to paint the camp. I think an open bow might come in handy when we have a bunch of people - and heck, we can paint. But he says it'll be much harder to find an open bow in our price range.

How much do you think we can get for a 1993-ish 16 ft glass Starcraft with trailer? Both in very good shape. 4k?

 

[oldjeep]

The bathtub open bows don't have a walkthrough on the ground, they have a step on the dash.

 

[garbageguy]

Thanks jeep, I remember seeing pics of your Malibu and being quite envious

Anybody have photo(s) comparing the two type of open bows on ski boats? Or what ski boat can I search for that has the bathtub?

 

[oldjeep]

Malibu response Lx would be one to search for. It is just a triangular pit in the bow

 

[southkogs]

... I think an open bow might come in handy when we have a bunch of people ...

An alternative if your place is right there on the lake: buy an old pontoon and make a swim barge outta' it. No motor or seats (or rail for that matter) needed. Tow it out, anchor it and ferry folks out to swim and watch. Ram around with the ski boat, and change riders at the swim barge. We used to park our 'toon out on the lake and base off it all the time.

 

[garbageguy]

OK, now I really want one of these boats

jeep, I searched back to see a couple pics of your Malibu - nice!

kogs, yes we're on the lake, and that's a great idea. Fortunately, our big floating dock works like that. And sometimes floating docks become a base out in the lake, They're often designed and built to facilitate that.

Now I'm thinking an easier to find, less expensive closed bow is the way to go. Is is that most people want an open bow these days, so the economics of supply-and-demand come into play? Or maybe it's also coupled with the fact that only newer ski boats have open bows?

 

[oldjeep]

I think is has more to do with the older boats being mostly closed bow, not that the demand for old open bow boats is so high
. The type of boats you are looking at the bow is very small anyways.

Just make sure you are looking at no wood boats. Mastercraft has been no wood a lot longer than Malibu, no idea when nautique went woodless.

 

[garbageguy]

Just make sure you are looking at no wood boats. Mastercraft has been no wood a lot longer than Malibu, no idea when nautique went woodless.

Is no-wood more of a thing for ski boats in terms of need, practicality, availability?

 

[oldjeep]

It is a rot thing. Supposedly 84 and up mastercraft have no wood.

 

[garbageguy]

Thanks for the input, jeep. I was just wondering if no wood was more of a possibility to find in (older) ski boats for some reason. I don't have any problems now, but I kinda wish my 1998 express cruiser had no wood.