Boat Questions

[Doc]

Okay, my wife said we need a boat. After owning and selling TWO sailboats!
Thinking stern drive, or outboard?
17-18 feet.
Bow rider.
Glastron, or similar.
HELP!

[burhead1]

Well if your talking about a older boat then I would go with the I/O. Will cost you a little more to winterize and to repair if it needs say the bellows replaced. The I/O is quieter and less little to no smoke and smother. Now if your talking something newer i would go with a outboard as most of the new ones are quiet, little to no smoke, produce power that will scare your teenage son and dirt cheap to winterize.

Glastron
Grew / cutter
searay

are all good

Bayliner bad

18' is a nice size, easy to tow and store and will be good on fuel, much like a plane is

[bandaid]

I have never owned a boat but being from a boat rich inviroment like the Okanagan Valley, the guys who own them call them a hole in the water that you throw money into.

[Driving Rain]

Well if your talking about a older boat then I would go with the I/O. Will cost you a little more to winterize and to repair if it needs say the bellows replaced. The I/O is quieter and less little to no smoke and smother. Now if your talking something newer i would go with a outboard as most of the new ones are quiet, little to no smoke, produce power that will scare your teenage son and dirt cheap to winterize.

Glastron
Grew / cutter
searay

are all good

Bayliner bad

18' is a nice size, easy to tow and store and will be good on fuel, much like a plane is

A Grew might be pretty cheap now that the owner of the company died in a gun fight with the Owen Sound OPP last week.
http://www.boatingindustrycanada.com/in ... t&vmcchk=1

The Ontario Provincial Police SIU is investigating two subject OPP officers and one witness following a fatal shooting.

The Owen Sound Sun Times newspaper ran a report stating that a man was dead after a shootout with OPP officers near Kemble, Ontario late Monday night, hours after police say a Grew Boat Manufacturing employee was shot at the plant south of Rockford.

A person close to relatives of the deceased told The Sun Times that police identified David Cameron, owner of Grew Manufacturing as the man who died after shots were exchanged with police north of Kemble.

[burhead1]

His employee most likely took a shortcut on one of there builds and David opened fire.

[Hedley]

Holy crap! I met that guy a few years back, when we were touring the Grew factory - we flew the 421 up there.

I can't believe this.

[Driving Rain]

Holy crap! I met that guy a few years back, when we were touring the Grew factory - we flew the 421 up there.

I can't believe this.

http://www.icantbelieveitsnotbutter.com/home.aspx

Me neither. You know Voodoo?

[Hedley]

You know Voodoo?

No, but if you hum a few bars, I can try to play it by ear.

[Kabloona]

I like the I/O, if you're thinking used I'd suggest shopping the states (lot's of boats in the Minneapolis area), you could save a ton of money. I have an 18' I/O bow rider with a 3.0L Merc, love the boat but find the engine on the small side when pulling skiers or wake boards and the like. If money wasn't an issue I would have got one of those deck boats, gives you the space and comfort of a pontoon but the hull and performance of a sport boat.

[Doc]

Spent the day at the Winnipeg show. Liked the Bayliner and a Larson. Both stern drives. Good point about used stateside, though for sure. I'm an easy drive to MSP, and I'm cheap. You're right....I'll look there.
Really liked the Larson. Classy looking beast...but money talks. I'm just starting my shopping. No rush.
Thanks for the feedback.

[Rowdy]

I'll second the "dont buy a bayliner".

We had a larson and it was a fantastic beast. 17.5ft bowrider with at the time a 150hp outboard. It would easily pull my 200lb ass out of the water on a slalom ski.

Best of luck mate!

[Doc]

What's wrong with Bayliner??

[Darkwing Duck]

Depends how much you want to spend. Rinkers are real nice but a few $$$$ to shell out.

[Pirate Pilot]

Lots of people don't like Bayliners because they are the GM's of the boat world. Bayliner is one of the largest manufacturers of powerboats in the world. "Generally" speaking they are kinda like the plain jane Chevy. Not many frills or options but there is a whole lot of them out there. Their price point could be considered "low end"
IMHO talk about what you and your family really want this boat to do. Waterskiing\Wakeboarding? Day cruising? Fishing? Exploring far reaching islands? Do you really want a bowrider to carry more people or would you rather have a cuddy cabin with a porta-potti in it for the wife and kids? Do you want a convertible top for inclement weather? Do you want to go really fast, somewhat fast, or just putt along?
In my experience performance numbers for power-boats are published with 1\2 fuel, 2 people and nothing else. Keep in mind that the average powerboater will unload a minivan full of "stuff" into the boat along with everybody they could find and then they wonder why the poor thing will not perform. In a 17-18 footer for an I\O I would think a 4.3L mercruiser would be the minimum power I would like. If going for outboard power no one really goes for 2 strokes anymore. Its all 4 stroke outboards. A 150-200 hp. would be the ticket. Oh, there is the Ficht 2 stroke by OMC (now Bombardier) but they are going against the popular opinion. Yamahas have been the popular choice but out here on the west coast there is a move towards Suzuki outboards. Better warranty, performance, price, and reliability.
Powerboat ownership is a disease. I second the recommend to look into the U.S. for some hot prices on popular models because......if you get hooked on this activity the dreaded "2 footitis" kicks in within a 2 year period. I know this as I have it right now and there is no cure....just treatment....as I move up another 2 ft.

[Doc]

Lots of people don't like Bayliners because they are the GM's of the boat world. Bayliner is one of the largest manufacturers of powerboats in the world. "Generally" speaking they are kinda like the plain jane Chevy. Not many frills or options but there is a whole lot of them out there. Their price point could be considered "low end"
IMHO talk about what you and your family really want this boat to do. Waterskiing\Wakeboarding? Day cruising? Fishing? Exploring far reaching islands? Do you really want a bowrider to carry more people or would you rather have a cuddy cabin with a porta-potti in it for the wife and kids? Do you want a convertible top for inclement weather? Do you want to go really fast, somewhat fast, or just putt along?
In my experience performance numbers for power-boats are published with 1\2 fuel, 2 people and nothing else. Keep in mind that the average powerboater will unload a minivan full of "stuff" into the boat along with everybody they could find and then they wonder why the poor thing will not perform. In a 17-18 footer for an I\O I would think a 4.3L mercruiser would be the minimum power I would like. If going for outboard power no one really goes for 2 strokes anymore. Its all 4 stroke outboards. A 150-200 hp. would be the ticket. Oh, there is the Ficht 2 stroke by OMC (now Bombardier) but they are going against the popular opinion. Yamahas have been the popular choice but out here on the west coast there is a move towards Suzuki outboards. Better warranty, performance, price, and reliability.
Powerboat ownership is a disease. I second the recommend to look into the U.S. for some hot prices on popular models because......if you get hooked on this activity the dreaded "2 footitis" kicks in within a 2 year period. I know this as I have it right now and there is no cure....just treatment....as I move up another 2 ft.

Ah yes. The much talked about (because it's true) 2 footitis! All my past boats have been wind powered. I know very little about sterndrive bow riders. My intentions are to "cruise" Lake of The Woods. No camping, unless it's a lodge! Not in a hurry, but 30+ mph would be nice, with two on board. So far, hunting through the online for sales, it seems boats keep their value far better than cars. Upstate MN is loaded with used craft. But some (unless they have been flogged to death) seem to have pretty healthy price tags!
I'm headed to Mexico next week (I know...poor me!) and when I get back, I'm putting 10K USD (Okay, 9999$ so I don't have to declare it) in my jeans and doing a two day road trip to some large MN dealers, while watching driveways en route. I'll carry a 1" 5/8ths and a 2" inch ball in my GMC and just go "hunting"! Figure I should bag a 4-5 year old 17 foot stern drive cherry for that? Money talks. Nothing like a wad of cash to open the bargaining with.

[ex-NWT]

We have a tahoe 195 with a 175 outboard, '07 and we really enjoy it.
Mostly used as party boat, nice and wide.
It has fishing seats and enough power for skiing or whatever.
Top speed 80 kmh, more than enough for us.
I prefer the outboard since we live on the water and have it on the dock as soon as temperatures are reasonable. No winterizing and e-z care.
Our neighbour has a Malibu dealership and thought this was a neat boat, although he would recommend a Malibu