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I've been bitten by the boat bug. I'm wanting a 18-19' fun boat (bowrider seems to be the style I like).

Anyhow, I'm just looking for references right now. Good magazines to read etc. I'd like to buy used if possible, and will need to know what to look out for, as well as what brands tend to be more reliable/higher quality.

Any other insight (other than, "you're crazy") is apprecitated.

Somthing like this one is getting close to the budget:
http://www.chatleeboats.com/boat_detail ... oatID=1066

funny, it wasn't long ago that I wanted a bass boat...

Scott[/i]

Scott, I've been told that the two best days of having a boat are the day you buy it and the day you sell it

Now, considering there are a ton of boats in the Charlotte area due to Lake Norman, Lake Wylie, etc.., so if you find something in the Charlotte area, I'll gladly check it out. My dad's had a few boats, so I at least know where things are - AB

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I've never bought a used boat, but I own a ski boat, pontoon boat, and two waverunners. One waverunner and the pontoon boat came from Chatlee. The ski boat came from Boats Unlimited (I think that's it) in Raleigh. One waverunner I bought used when I got my lake house (sort of with the house).

I shopped at Choplin Marine (near Chatlee on US1) for pontoons before going to Chatlee, and really didn't care for Choplin at all. Chatlee was much better. They all exist to sell you down the river (heh), but Chatlee seemed much better to deal with than Choplin.

The thing with used is to trust your gut...there are lots of people out there that just realize they don't use their otherwise well maintained boat enough to justify keeping it, and then there are those selling because they know they ran the motor low on oil or something. My Dad found someone selling one of the former and loved it until he also didn't use it much and recently sold it. Too bad, too, because it was exactly what you're after. There are a ton of what you're after out there because they are the most universal fun boat around and can be towed by just about anything, yada yada. Great choice, IMHO, and not something you'll have to pour money into (unless your motor does shit on itself).

Outside of all that, what you'll find is probably the same as everyone else that owns a boat and doesn't live on a lake. You'll love it the first year, you'll like it the second, and then it's just a matter of time before you decide you've let it sit long enough without using it that you want to sell it. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just sort of the cycle of things. I was ready to sell my ski boat, too, until I decided instead to spend a lot MORE money and get a place at the lake. I think the place at the lake is the same story as just owning one boat except it takes a few more years to get smart and realize you should just sell it.

In case anyone is really interested, my personal opinion is that lake real estate at Badin Lake is a great investment right now. In fact, the crappier the place, the better the investment. If you can find a single wide trailer on an otherwise nice lot, particularly one with a good boat house, it's gonna skyrocket in value. Within the next couple of years they will have sewer service down there and once that happens that lake is going ot have a building boom. But the thing is, all the buildable lots (for the most part) are already built on and a large chunk of it is trailers and really crappy houses built in the 50's and 60's. The rest of the lake is Uwharrie National Forest and thus will never be built, which is awesome. But once they got sewer people that currently can't upgrade because they'd never get a septic permit for anything more than the one and a half baths they currently have. Then people are going to realize that Badin is damned close to the triangle (less than an hour and a half drive on pretty good road now) and because it's dam driven by Alcoa and part of their lake system, it pretty much never goes down during droughts and such. Alcoa has two other lakes upstream that they'll empty before they let Badin go down more than two feet because they use the Badin dam to generate electricity for their big smelting plant nearby.

Anyway, that's my off topic spiel.

Oh, the other thing about boats...the cost is like 90% motor. Don't be fooled into thinking this nice looking boat that's pretty cheap because it has a "small" motor problem should be "cheap" to fix. Never works that way. An otherwise "nice" boat that fits what you want should be a grand or less if you suspect it even *might* need a new motor. Boat motors are stupid expensive.


--Donnie

Scott,

I had a Stingray open bow. 19.6 foot. 4 liter V6 inboard/outboard. Got a bow cover so on the days it's cold and breezy you can button down the nose section and make it a closed bow. They are made in SC. Lower price but a good boat. The stringers were fiberglass instead of marine plywood. No rotting and lighter weight. They make good lake boats but are a bit light for ocean duty.

We had it for 5 years while the kids were going into and finishing high school. Had a blast with it. I had 1 problem with it the whole time and it cost $100 to fix it. They don't have the fit and finish a Baja has but they are solid and reliable.

I bought mine new at the boat show when they were offering the big factory rebates on them. If you get used. Look at how many hours of runtime on it, service records, make sure the floor isn't rotting, check for cracks out back where the engine/outdrive mate up.

As far as Chatlee/Choplin goes. Chatlee has been around a long time. He made money on volume sales. When I got my boat his reputation for poor service turned me off. Choplin is a big money guy who opened his store right next to Chatlee to try and drive him out. They hate each other. So if you can play them against each other go for it.

Graham

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My first boat was a 20' Regal. I followed that up with a 25.5' Baja I did a lot of research into boats when getting both. I compared the Baja to the Formula and Fountain. For the money, Baja was the best around. But they have since been sold to Brunswick, so I am not sure of the quality. I think Brunswick owns most of the boat manufactures.

As with cars, opinions differ. I would never touch a Stingray. I know how they made them fast.

If I was looking for a fun family boat, here is what I would look for:

- Merc 4.3L V6 (good gas mileage and will get you up to 42mph or so in a 19' boat)
- Fuel Injection.
- Stainless steel prop and make sure the prop is original for the boat. Yes, some people will argue that a aluminum prop will save your outdrive. And they do have a point. If you are new to boating or to a lake/river, put the aluminum one on. Oh, yes carry a spare prop.
- One piece cockpit liner (easy to clean, less chance of wood rot)
Easy exit from the water unto the boat (a two step ladder will be a pain).
- Quality gauges.
- Even on a 19', a second battery is good idea (can't tell you how many time I have helped out boaters with a dead battery).
- Quality and fairly think vinyl on the interior.
- Ease of access to the engine. A boat engine requires a lot more maintenance than a car's. So you want to easily be able to check/change fluids and plugs.

Any of the boating magazines are a good place to start. I used to read Boating Worlds and Boats. The reviews are pretty good and on the mark.

I agree 100% with Donnie. Unless you have a place on water, take a deep breath and step away from boating. Not sure where you would be boating, but go to the ramp next Saturday and watch. That is what you will be dealing with very time you put the boat in and take it out. I had my boats dry stacked at Kerr. Not a bad deal. When I moved the Baja back to Raleigh, I kept it at the marina. I did have it in the water and dry storage. Let me know if you want to know the upside and downside of those.

As for the lakes in the area, I have not boated Jordan. But Falls sucks and is a total waste. Kerr is very good and huge. But it is used to maintain Gaston's level, so it can rise and drop a lot. Gaston is very nice. With the lack of rain and the drought conditions, by late June or early July the lakes will be so low, boating will be next to impossible. Two years ago, they dropped so much, I could not get my Baja in the water. And if I did, no way would I take it out onto the water or lack of water.

This is technically a bad time of the year to be looking for a deal on a boat. The fall is the best. But deals can be found. I bought both of mine new though. My brother has bought a lot of boats used....maybe this last one will be a winner. There is a reason why GM used Merc as a test bed for their engines. Boating is hard on equipment.

With the cost of gas soaring and the lake levels dropping, I bet more boats are coming onto the market now.

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Thanks for the tips. Looks like I need a friend with a boat

How about rentals, any of the marinas around here (Jordan or other) rent half way decent boats for the day/weekend? Seems it might be cost effective for a season or two.

Learn a little on their hardware.

As for location, I'd spend most of my time in Jordan lake I suppose (lots of ramps within 25-30 min of home). I'd also likely tow it in the direction of family (Dad in Atlanta). It will also likely see salt water (oh no!!!). My dad has a place 1/2 mile from the Gulf in the FL panhandle. Our destination would be Choctawatchee Bay, for both lesiure and fishing.

Again, maybe rentals are the way to go.

Scott

I've never heard of anyone doing rentals. That could be because I have my head in the sand sometimes, certainly.

When I first got my boat, I went to Jordan several times. The put-ins are a pain there, IMHO. The only good one you have to pay $5 or something for, and even it is busy. Jordan is also well known for prop-eating-stumps and shit.

I didn't have to worry about the latter because my ski boat is a Sea-Doo jet-boat. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but I'll never do *that* again. Damned things just can't be maneuvered slowly. Prop driven boats are bad enough, but jet boats SUCK ASS. They're *decent* if you have your own slip on the water, but HORRIBLE for getting on trailers. HORRIBLE. DO NOT DO IT.

A good many people at Badin actually share a house with another couple. Don't know your financial situation, but you might consider that if you know someone else interested. Like I said before, that place looks to me to be a great investment. I know that's a much bigger stretch than just buying a boat, but it could also be a great way to fund a college education. Our neighbors on one side at Badin are two couples from Greenboro that recently bought the house together.


--Donnie

My family owns a house up on the Rappahannok river in VA. I have been going there all my life and I grew up around boats. Forget about buying a lesiure boat and taking it into salt water unless it was designed for it, you will regret it. Also, inboard motors suck avoid them like the plague!

The only places that rent boats in the area that I know of rent pontoon boats and jet skis.

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If you ever want to have a good time, bring a couple of beers down to the Jordan put-ins on a busy weekend. One busy Memorial Day I was out with Mick, and got the privilege of watching a Windstar trying to pull a decent sized boat up the wet concrete. Fun times.

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Two years later and I find myself scanning Craigslist for boats again. Meghan is big enough that she can fit into a life vest and has almost enough sense to not jump overboard just to see what's there.

We're also considering lake houses in the not too distant future (employment permitting).

Not much has changed on the boat front. This one looks nice to me (18 foot Stingray):
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/boa/1127233318.html

I did see one in Atlanta (a 2002) with a claimed 20 hours on it for $3000 less.

As for lake houses, we really like Hyco. Anyone know much about it? The location (to RTP) is nice, we could actually commute from there to work if we wanted. I know it didn't see any big drops in water level during the last drought. It appears that some of the coves aren't really deep enough, so buying a house/property will require some depth measurements.

We're planning to rent at Hyco once or twice this summer, just to see if the lake thing is actually fun like we think it should be.

Being able to rent it to friends visiting VIR is also a bonus...

I'm trying to talk my parents into retiring to Hyco Lake. We buy they house, they rent it from us.

Scott

That kind of boat is a pretty good starter boat, especially if you really find a good deal on one. If you do that then when you sell it in a couple years for your next boat you won't lose your ass AS badly.

I'd only buy if the owner is willing to take you out on the water in it. Meet him at the put-in BEFORE he puts it in and get the jist of it with that particular boat. Make sure nothing looks out of the ordinary and that it starts and runs fine. You know engines, so you'll know if it doesn't seem right. If it doesn't seem right, don't let the seller say "oh, it just does that." They run right or they don't.

That's a fairly small boat with a not-very-deep V hull, so it's gonna be a little on the rough side. It's also only 135HP, so it's probably not going to be terribly fast, but it's probably plenty fast for a starter boat. Should get one skier up fine, two at a time will be tougher unless both skiers are good. But it should be a very good all purpose boat.


--Donnie

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sure you wouldn't prefer deep water access to the intercoastal Scott? it is a bit of a commute to RTP, but i know where you could find a nice 3 acre lot in Merrimon NC.

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I had the 19.5ft Stingray with the V6. That will pull a slalom skier up in deep water with a few people in the boat. The 18ft with 4cyl will be a struggle. My friend that same boat you are looking at. Not much grunt. Forget 2 skiers. That is not going to happen. I could pull 2 people on kneeboards or wakeboards. Pulled 2 tubes also. I wouldn't go smaller than the V6 version.

After owning the Stingray for about 5 years I sold it with all the toys and got a decent price for it. Donnie is right on that. They aren't an investment. But I didn't loose my AS on it either.

Stingrays are light. They have fiberglass stringers instead of wood. keeps the weight down. They are not good in the ocean. I used mine for fresh water only. Their Z-plane hull is a pretty good design. I turned that thing as hard as it would go and had it about on its side. It wouldn't roll over. They are pretty stable and easy to drive.

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Not worried about skiers. Just need to pull a tube or knee board at the most. Meghan is 30ish lbs, it won't take much power to make her skip. With only 3 of us, we won't be doing much pulling. Probably just fishing, parking and swimming.

Then I'd hold out for a better deal. Thing is, those 4cyl boats are harder to resell because your only market is newbies. The "upgrade" market is at least where you are already.

Heck, you can make your kid skip for a really long time with a pontoon boat and just a decent sized motor. Smile

I actually bought one of these last year:

http://www.zodiacmarine.com/model/122/presentation

Inflatable boats don't seem sexy, but have a lot of advantages. For one, they are easy to climb in and out of safely and sit low on the water when stopped. For another, they ride good and can perform really good, since they're so light. Mine has a 75HP Yamaha and I love it. You can totally pull with it. I put a half top at the rear with rod holders and radio box in. It's great for parking and playing off of, you can definitely fish of of it, and they're very ocean capable should you choose. Used they can be found fairly cheaply, and Zodiac, Avon, and AB will all re-tube them even pretty old, so there's no serious worries about getting stuck with one down the road that won't hold air. But they last a LONG time. I did a bunch of research.

Oh, they also tow great since they're so light, too. My 17' can accommodate as many people as the 18' Stingray you're looking at, and can probably out-perform it with less power.


--Donnie

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