I've always wanted a boat, a cabin cruiser-style. Now I want a pontoon, though. I'll never be able to afford a boat, though.
jesus christ, other than weadjust, who has owned a boat with a motor on it?
Hopefully will be meeting a the guy with the 1997 Ebbtide bass boat tomorrow to do a closer inspection.
This is going to be fresh water/lake boat only in the DFW and possibly Texoma/Austin area. No salt water will be seen by it.
It's nice seeing everyone's experiences, and it clearly looks like the bigger/more complex boat = lots more cash really quick.
This is a good point, OP. Make sure you point it out to your wife, that way she might let you own two boats. (It's why I own two boats! ) If you have the space for an extra boat, get the 16 footer with the 9.9 first. Then when you're out with the wife, say something like, "wouldn't it be nice to have just a little bit bigger of a boat so we can pull the kids on tubes or skiing?"Boating is not expensive if you get a motor that is 9.9. Everyone here is talking about rocket boats with 100+ motors on them well hell ya that is going to be expensive. If you are a serous fisherman then going 30+ mph is not going catch you any fish. Most lakes in PA will only let run a 9.9 motor on the smaller lakes. You can go all day on a 6 gallon tank.
We got a boat up at our cabin in MN and it is running an Evinrude 5.5 hp and it is from the 50's they are tanks. Yes we have repaired it over the years like rings and new props but it still running. Where else are you going find a motor running after 50+ years? Yes this motor runs hard in the summer because people will fish sun up to sun down on the lake.
Our PA boat is a 16 foot bass boat and we have it running a 9.9. We put it in the garage during the summer and during the winter we have a good friend that will store the boat for few hundred dollars.
Now if you are looking to go skiing then by all means buy that power boat with the 90 hp on it and have fun. It will cost you to run that with that setup. Also like I said make sure the lake you are going to will let you run these types of motors.
The best day was when we got that bass boat I would never sell that boat ever. It has been 15+ years with this boat and too many good times spent on that boat to remember them all.
jesus christ, other than weadjust, who has owned a boat with a motor on it?
Now that I've read page 2, I agree with much of what Dr. Pizza said. Not sure where he goes boating, but I don't think marinas up here are that expensive when it comes to gasoline. But we fill up on the way to the launch, so we pay normal prices.
We have a boat. It's awesome to have. 18.5 Glastron Fish/Ski combo, 190hp volvo penta. Gas at the marina is expensive - the only option where we spend a lot of time is 91 octane no ethanol. $4.54 a gallon last week. That translates easily into $100 for an afternoon of tubing and skiing. Putting that into perspective though, it costs a hell of a lot more for a lot of other recreational activities - 4 people going to a concert, or going to a football game, etc. In fact, those activities are a hell of a lot more expensive than boating.
I really don't think it's that expensive overall, but I have the space at home to store it & don't have to pay to keep it at a marina. Launching a boat under 25 feet, despite what someone said above, is pretty easy, though I've seen some people at the boat launches really struggle. The general problem is that they can't back a trailer down the ramp - uncoordinated idiots. (Practice in a parking lot somewhere so you don't annoy people who have to wait for your sorry ass. - Easiest way is hand on the bottom of the steering wheel, hand goes in the direction you want the trailer to go.) Some service can be a little expensive; I just dropped mine off Saturday for an oil change and to have the usual service done - checking the lower unit, changing the oil/grease where it's needed. That'll run me about $250. (And as a courtesy, they'll regrease the hubs on my trailer, which saves me a bit of time.) The water pump just started leaking. The marina said I'd probably make it through a week of boating, but after that, I'd need to take care of it. If I had them do it, I'm guessing a couple hundred dollars. I found a kit for replacing the impeller and o-rings etc., on sale for under $20. Last year, my starter went. It might have been a do-it-yourself job, but fortunately, I had the marina do it. From an earlier service, they had pulled it and reused the same bolts. They should have replaced the copper clad bolts, but didn't. The result - the bolts started twisting without the threads giving - my block had to be heated to get those bolts out (add a couple hours to the job) without snapping the bolts and needing to drill them out. Drilling them out would have meant the entire engine had to be pulled, changing what could have been a $200 job without problems, that was a $400 job with problems, into a small fortune.
Overall, I'm quite happy with it. It's got plenty of power for pulling skiers and tubers. On relatively calm water, it runs around 50mph with an aluminum prop. I could get more speed out of it with a stainless steel prop, but don't find that necessary.
Extra equipment isn't as expensive as someone above said. We have enough of those tacky orange life vest things for the capacity of the boat; they cost about $8 each. We also have the much nicer vests, especially since we tube and stuff - since I'm good at bargain shopping, I can get them fairly cheap ($20ish each) - just bought two of them to replace the yucky ones in the kayaks. They were on sale BOGO. I've gone overboard (pun not intended) with purchasing safety equipment - I'm supposed to have a fire extinguisher, I have 2. I'm supposed to have flairs or other visible signalling device - I have both and twice as many flairs as necessary. 1 throwable cushion - I have 4. Whistle as a back-up to the horn, etc. And still, I'm no where near $400. In NY, registration for the trailer is about $20 a year, and registration for the boat is good for 3 years (I think) for somewhere around $100. Other states vary significantly on this. No "license" is required, though you have to take a course and have a certificate before operating a pwc. I'd prefer that people DID have to take a course before boating, though I haven't run across too many morons on the water. Neat fact I learned from one of those courses: it's legal in NY to be operating a boat while drinking a beer; I never would have suspected that. Though, you can still get a dwi if you're intoxicated.
*note: things I ran across last week at our favorite impromptu social gathering/party spot (a shallow sandy cove, warm water, few weeds, 75% protected by a nasty shoal) - a pickup truck tool box retrofitted into a floating pontoon charcoal grill capable of cooking enough bbq chicken or hamburgers for a few dozen people. Also, a floating beer pong table (same cove.)
If you are a serous fisherman then going 30+ mph is not going catch you any fish. Most lakes in PA will only let run a 9.9 motor on the smaller lakes. You can go all day on a 6 gallon tank.
If you are talking about lakes sure. That extra power and size is very important to run islands or deep sea.
the 2 happiest days of your life, the day you bought you boat and the day you sold your boat.