Thinking of a boat

Thinking of getting a boat, something just to bomb around in with the family (me, wife, 8, 10 y/olds), and my father in law will likely use it for fishing, under 20’ I think would be good (towing with a Grand Cherokee V6). Now does anyone have any insight about inboard/outboard engine? I was told an outboard is best cuz it much less trouble, which makes sense, but I’m fairly handy so not real worried about maintenance, so much as seals between inboard/exterior. Really just tossing this out to see if anyone has any wisdom to share, I don’t have a licence yet, looking to stay under $10k, and newer than 1992.

What about the smaller SeaDoo Jet Boat? Like a Speedster

http://www.autotrader.ca/a/sea-doo-b...203C4&sprx=250

My best friend owns Dan's Nautical on the Drive, he suggested them to me when I said I wanted something to just bomb around in.

I was originally thinking of a Bow-rider, but he talked me out of it since it would have been double the money to get same age range, plus took up a lot more space for storing.

http://www.autotrader.ca/a/sea-doo-b...203C4&sprx=250

Thx Chris, I thought about those but given the amount of room I need I think a bow rider is best, I’ve been looking at them for a couple months now, and the prices are all over the place depending on the condition. Both my sister’s have kids, as well as my brother in law, so it would be nice to have room to take a couple extra kids if needed.
I’ve seen nice bowriders between $6-14k so far, but I don’t want to go over $10k for a toy.
Did you end up getting one?

Mach 1’s make great boats.

https://photos.smugmug.com/TMC/i-jkh...c500abf5-S.jpg

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Originally Posted by RedSN

Mach 1’s make great boats.

https://photos.smugmug.com/TMC/i-jkh...c500abf5-S.jpg

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Not sure I can trust the wiring........

I have an OLD sterndrive and so far its been a sinch to work on, (waiting for parts is more of an issue, but I think that's just due to age (late 60's) something newer would be easier to find on parts im sure,
dont buy an OMC stick to something with a mercruser and the motors are fairly generic, (GM, Volvo?penta ect.)


i have heard guys say that out board is better and they usualy follow that up with "becasue if something goes wrong you just stick another motor on it," more money that brains here i think. but if your palning on paying someone to wrench for you eveything gets expensive.


i stuck with the advice that was given to me which was if its your first boat, buy something cheap. i have had to do alot of repairs but have learend TONES along the way. which helps and when you make a rooky mistake, something like not checking your depths when in an unfamiliar lake and shredding your brand new prop. it was only a couple hundred doller lesson and not a couple grand.


my boat is old, ugly, i fix something on it every third time i use it but ive got less than 3000 into it including purchais price, rebuilding the gimble and repairs to the gear housing, if it sinks tomorow it will suck but not 20gs kinda suck

^Thx. Honestly the whole reason I even started looking was because I saw one sitting and asked if it was for sale, old dude said no, so I left it at that, few years later I see some people cleaning out the house, go back and ask, well ya, he died and now they want to sell it. 1986 Doral with a roller trailer, I can get it for $500 but the paint is bad, the motor (4.3) has a cracked block, there’s some rot inside and the end of the outdrive is broken. Not a bad deal for $500 but for me to fix it up well enough to take my family or friends out on it, it would probably cost me more time and money than buying a nice $6k boat.

I’d pass at that.

Dealing with a broken out drive no biggie. Dealing with a cracked block. Big job but doable if you have a Craine to lift it out. Dealing with rot is huge and you won’t be enjoying it this summer.

Keep an eye there are deals to be had.

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Originally Posted by Ponyryd

Thx Chris, I thought about those but given the amount of room I need I think a bow rider is best, I’ve been looking at them for a couple months now, and the prices are all over the place depending on the condition. Both my sister’s have kids, as well as my brother in law, so it would be nice to have room to take a couple extra kids if needed.
I’ve seen nice bowriders between $6-14k so far, but I don’t want to go over $10k for a toy.
Did you end up getting one?

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He's supposed to take me to the auctions in Michigan at the end of the season to go look. One thing he also mentioned is to check on parts. Apparently certain older outdrives are near impossible to get parts for. If you find one you like send it over to me and I can have him give the ad a look and see if any red flags pop up.

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Originally Posted by Laffs

He's supposed to take me to the auctions in Michigan at the end of the season to go look. One thing he also mentioned is to check on parts. Apparently certain older outdrives are near impossible to get parts for. If you find one you like send it over to me and I can have him give the ad a look and see if any red flags pop up.

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OMC is defunct and impossible to find parts for other than used stuff.

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Originally Posted by Laffs

He's supposed to take me to the auctions in Michigan at the end of the season to go look. One thing he also mentioned is to check on parts. Apparently certain older outdrives are near impossible to get parts for. If you find one you like send it over to me and I can have him give the ad a look and see if any red flags pop up.

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Thx bud, appreciate the help.
I was thinking of looking in Michigan as well but with the exchange and the new tariffs I didn’t think it was worth it.
This one is on the low end in year and price, but it looks about perfect to me, I keep going back to it trying to find a reason not to buy it.

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-powerboat-mo...ationFlag=true

I may just wait until fall or winter and watch what comes up, I’m in no rush and really just thinking out loud. As of right now I don’t even have the time to clean out my garage, let alone have time for a boat, lol.

That things like 2 min from your house.

Ya, but if I go look I’ll end up buying it, lol.

DO IT! then take it right to the lake and enjoy the afternoon. having lunch than headed out myself

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Originally Posted by 5.4MarkVIII

DO IT! then take it right to the lake and enjoy the afternoon. having lunch than headed out myself

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Lol, gotta get a licence first, this is mostly just thinking out loud at the moment.

Let's go.if u need a hand let me know.we can also use the ram to pick it up

Licence is easy, takes a couple of hours and $50.

As someone who married into a family with a water access only cottage I'd think long and hard about buying a boat. Rent one a few times and see if it is something you really want to get into. Purchase price is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to cost. Fuel usage (and cost at the marinas) can be a shock. Parts can be way more expensive than their car equivalent. Our inboard motor blew last year - not cheap to replace a volvo penta.

To me the advantage of an outboard is access. Much easier to pop off the cover and have things fairly accessible rather than digging around upside down under the rear seat. Easier to winterize too.

Do yourself the favour and stay away from anything with rot.. if you decide you want a outboard have a real good look at the transom. Not impossible to repair but a ton of work and not something you want to pay for to be fixed.

A lot of people talk about boat ownership being expensive but it really comes down to what kind of boat. Is this your first boat? If so take a look at some of the aluminum hull options out there. Hit a rock with a aluminum boat, you get a dent. A glass boat will set you back a ton of money to get it fixed. If it’s your first boat you WILL hit shit.

Spent the afternoon out with the wife kids and brother. While the beaches were packed we launched at a free launch and then didn’t have to deal with anyone else.

Licence can be done online.

Do it.

lol

Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated guys. I will need to figure out what I want to do, but for now I’m thinking maybe once the house is paid off I’ll seriously consider one. For now it seems like too much cost and work, we both work full time and the kids have sports stuff so we are very time limited, a boat will mostly just sit and not get used much...this is why I no longer have a Mustang, lol.

boo grown up priorities. lol

were you jush hoping for fun on the water or fishing?

i starte with a little aluminum cost less that a grand all in and allowed me to get away even if it was a short hour or two at the nearest resivour, goot way to get started and to learn the ins and outs without investiinh too much time and money. somedays still miss being able to just take teh jont down to fanshaw and trowing a line in as far away from people as possable

Yup, sad I know, lol.
Mostly looking for fun on the water, but my father in law loves fishing, but he’s failed his boat licence before, and they already have a big camper so I dunno if they’ll buy a boat, I know that they want one though. I thought it would be something I would buy but let him use, and I know he’s good for helping out with parts/repairs.

I bought a 91 Chris craft bowrider last year. It’s just under 17ft long. I looked at lots of boats and there is a lot of junk out there. Be prepared to travel for something good. I drove close to Quebec to get my boat but it was well worth it. Original owner and always stored if not being used. That’s something you need to ask. Where is the boat kept when not in use and in the winter. My boat is in very good condition but it didn’t run properly so I got a good deal on it. It has a 115 Johnson outboard which is easy to work on. So $300 later with boat carbs rebuilt and a few other things and setting the timing correctly, I had it running awesome. I have used it lots this year as well. It’s one of the best purchase I have made. I love it and so does the rest of my family. Both my boys are the same age as yours. It came with a ski pole and I taught both my boys to ski and my oldest loves it. So checking out the accessories the boat comes with is important also. It can save you money on stuff you would buy anyways. My biggest thing was checking the structure. I didn’t care about the engine as I could deal with that myself. I looked at a few boats that the transom area had small cracks. That’s bad news.

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Originally Posted by Hutch

I bought a 91 Chris craft bowrider last year. It’s just under 17ft long. I looked at lots of boats and there is a lot of junk out there. Be prepared to travel for something good. I drove close to Quebec to get my boat but it was well worth it. Original owner and always stored if not being used. That’s something you need to ask. Where is the boat kept when not in use and in the winter. My boat is in very good condition but it didn’t run properly so I got a good deal on it. It has a 115 Johnson outboard which is easy to work on. So $300 later with boat carbs rebuilt and a few other things and setting the timing correctly, I had it running awesome. I have used it lots this year as well. It’s one of the best purchase I have made. I love it and so does the rest of my family. Both my boys are the same age as yours. It came with a ski pole and I taught both my boys to ski and my oldest loves it. So checking out the accessories the boat comes with is important also. It can save you money on stuff you would buy anyways. My biggest thing was checking the structure. I didn’t care about the engine as I could deal with that myself. I looked at a few boats that the transom area had small cracks. That’s bad news.

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Planning to upgrade in the next few years Dan? I may take that one off your hands......

Can I strongly recommend getting boat with an Evinrude E TEC outboard motor. I have one, it's fantastic. It's oil injected, direct fuel injected all computer controlled. No dicking around with carbs and chokes and flooding etc.

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Originally Posted by Laffs

What about the smaller SeaDoo Jet Boat? Like a Speedster

http://www.autotrader.ca/a/sea-doo-b...203C4&sprx=250

My best friend owns Dan's Nautical on the Drive, he suggested them to me when I said I wanted something to just bomb around in.

I was originally thinking of a Bow-rider, but he talked me out of it since it would have been double the money to get same age range, plus took up a lot more space for storing.

http://www.autotrader.ca/a/sea-doo-b...203C4&sprx=250

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the link you posted is a Sportster, not a Speedster...huge difference in fuel bills between the two...just a heads up :)

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Originally Posted by Ponyryd

Thx bud, appreciate the help.
I was thinking of looking in Michigan as well but with the exchange and the new tariffs I didn’t think it was worth it.
This one is on the low end in year and price, but it looks about perfect to me, I keep going back to it trying to find a reason not to buy it.

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-powerboat-mo...ationFlag=true

I may just wait until fall or winter and watch what comes up, I’m in no rush and really just thinking out loud. As of right now I don’t even have the time to clean out my garage, let alone have time for a boat, lol.

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The older Maxums are meh...not the greatest...but not the worst either, however that one looks to have a Black Max motor, which are great motors, however a 75hp is very under powered for that boat...especially you plan on taking the kids water skiing an such, I really don't think you would be happy with it...however more room for say fishing and such vs. the jet boats...

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Originally Posted by Ponyryd

Planning to upgrade in the next few years Dan? I may take that one off your hands......

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You never know but I doubt it. If I do decide to sell I’ll let you know. It’s a great boat and the perfect size. The 115 Johnson pulls me out of the water skiing no problem. It’s also a nice weight so I can tow it with my 09 4wd escape. I did swap the axle over to an electric brake set up this year and added a decent brake controller. It got a little questionable one time last year trying to make a quick stop. Now it stops awesome! Only cost me about $500 for everything.

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Originally Posted by Ghost Rider

the link you posted is a Sportster, not a Speedster...huge difference in fuel bills between the two...just a heads up :)

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Tomato/potato. Ya ones got twins and ones a single, but they look similar enough to give him an idea of the type of boat I was referencing.

Here is Speedster

http://www.autotrader.ca/a/sea-doo-b...%203C4&sprx=-1

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Originally Posted by Laffs

Tomato/potato. Ya ones got twins and ones a single, but they look similar enough to give him an idea of the type of boat I was referencing.

Here is Speedster

http://www.autotrader.ca/a/sea-doo-b...%203C4&sprx=-1

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I looked at buying one of these. Costs to repair are crazy as is fuel consumption. There is a lot of stuff to break and those engines don’t seem to last long before needing a rebuild. My 91 boat has the original 91 V4 Johnson outboard. Those engines are virtually bulletproof.

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Originally Posted by Ghost Rider

The older Maxums are meh...not the greatest...but not the worst either, however that one looks to have a Black Max motor, which are great motors, however a 75hp is very under powered for that boat...especially you plan on taking the kids water skiing an such, I really don't think you would be happy with it...however more room for say fishing and such vs. the jet boats...

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Thanks, I do really like that one posted, has a lot of new stuff and really, I think of a boat like a fox, if the structure and paint is good and the price is right, the rest is easy, lol. I may go have a look at that one if he still has it next week.

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Originally Posted by Laffs

Tomato/potato. Ya ones got twins and ones a single, but they look similar enough to give him an idea of the type of boat I was referencing.

Here is Speedster

http://www.autotrader.ca/a/sea-doo-b...%203C4&sprx=-1

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I really like the idea of it being easily washable, but there’s just not enough room for my needs. I’ve also thought of seadoos because they’re so small and easy to ride, but that seems rather pointless since I’m sure ill never be out on the water alone.

Big thanks to everyone offering opinions on this, I’m still a newb to boats, should probably get my licence, lol.

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Originally Posted by Laffs

That things like 2 min from your house.

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I took a drive by there tonight, and noticed two things, one, it’s outside, in the rain and the cover is half off :( , and two, it’s at my boss’ house! Lol.

Richard... long time boater on Detroit River & Lake St.Clair.
Last boat was a 29 Fountain with twin 454s. Stay away from jet boats as they are costly. You are a mechanical guy.... Look for 20ft Sea Ray with an I/O. With a Merc outdrive. Easy to maintain.

Stay away from anything with out Merc. OMC, Cobra, Volva Penta. Costly & hard to find parts for.
Good Luck & see you when I hit Windsor soon!
Sean

Thanks Sean.
I’m not really a boat guy though, boats do nothing for me personally, I just want one to get some quality time with my kids before they’re too cool to hang out with me, lol. I wanted a smaller one so I could keep it in my driveway, and also so it won’t be so horrible on fuel. I also thought an outboard would be best because although I’m a mechanical person-I don’t do major mechanical stuff at home, barely even do maintenance.
I don’t want it to be a huge commitment, I want to have it and be able to grab it and go on a whim. Something small, something cheap, something reliable is all I need. I may upgrade to a bigger one down the road but I need to get some time on the water first, it may not be for me.