Buying my first boat

[j.lev]

I started boating about a year and a half ago and have the bug. I mainly rented boats around the country. This summer I joined a boat club in South Hampton and spent the summer on the water on a Cobalt R3 and a Regal 230 OBX. Great experience. I spend about 3-5 weeks in South Florida in the winter and want to own a boat instead of joining a boat club there. Might be crazy, but I want to check owning a boat off my bucket list. Going used. Question is should I go with a broker and does anyone have an opinion about a good brand for a 28-29 foot low maintenance starter boat? Sea Ray SLX 280, Sea Ray SDX 290 OB or a Cobalt A28 were suggested. Highest hours on those is 260, lowest 50.

[rsn48]

What kind of boating do you see yourself doing, a slow trawler like experience or faster, express cruisers, various tug brands, or "fast" trawlers? If you are looking at Sea Rays, then an express cruiser would work for you.

Check out Cutwaters and Back Cove's.

[Lepke]

Remember it's your first boat. You're gonna learn things that will influence your second boat buy. Don't spend the farm on the first boat.

I'd go with a broker. They save you from looking at dozens boats you're not interested in. Usually brokered boats can pass a survey. I don't think brokers are more expensive than private sales and are more secure.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by j.lev

I started boating about a year and a half ago and have the bug. I mainly rented boats around the country. This summer I joined a boat club in South Hampton and spent the summer on the water on a Cobalt R3 and a Regal 230 OBX. Great experience. I spend about 3-5 weeks in South Florida in the winter and want to own a boat instead of joining a boat club there. Might be crazy, but I want to check owning a boat off my bucket list. Going used. Question is should I go with a broker and does anyone have an opinion about a good brand for a 28-29 foot low maintenance starter boat? Sea Ray SLX 280, Sea Ray SDX 290 OB or a Cobalt A28 were suggested. Highest hours on those is 260, lowest 50.

Can't speak to brands/models in that range, but...

You may find it useful to draw up a list of features you must have, want to have, would be nice to have... before you shop for specific models.

For example, in that range, you can often have a choice of wide side decks (smaller interior), small side decks (wider interior), or step-thru forward windows. You pick. OTOH, it may help you to know if you can navigate the step-thru option or not, etc.

Another example, some in that range (see SeaRay Sundancers) have a mid-cabin (sometimes called an aft-cabin) in the aft end of living quarters but actually underneath the helm. Do you need/want that?

What for: fishing, cruising, both? Cooking facilities? How elaborate? Convertible dinette for addition sleeping?

Inboard? Inboard/Outboard? Outboard? Who will do maintenance; you, or hired? If you, examine access to service points on inboard engines... to decide whether the candidate is viable.

And so forth.

Then shop new manufacturer's websites to see what they offer/offered... that meet your specs. Once you've identified likely candidates, shop the used market to find good examples of your targets. A buyer's broker can help, but then again many boats in that size range aren't listed with brokers... and instead are on craigslist, thrhullthruth.com, and other used boat advertising sites.

-Chris

[AKA-None]

First boat keep it cheap enough to consider it disposable