Single Best Advice to New Boat Owners

[maximos]

Hi all. Wife and I about to soon fulfill our lifelong dream of boat ownership. We're so new to the boating world, we could use some expert opinions regarding a few very important matters and would very much appreciate learning from you what we should REALLY be looking out for throughout this process. I'll ask some questions below and will await your posts. Thanks!

First, this will be a fresh water boat that we plan to keep in a marina. Our budget puts us somewhere around $50K or less. No more.

1. New or Used? What's the fine line regarding financing? Is it wise to buy a 5 year old boat and get longer financing? What about a 10 year old? etc. Is there a "cutoff" in terms of age and engine hours that we should avoid?

2. We're very interested in the 30' to 34' cruiser boats for the simple fact that we will be entertaining and would appreciate the added room (roughly 8 passengers). Which boat manufacturers should we focus our attentions toward? Sea Ray? Formula? Regal?

3. In all honesty, what will our budget get us for the money? Should we spend more and get a longer period of financing to even out the payments rather than finance short and lose out on a better boat?

More questions to come later. Look forward to your responses.

[ixtlan22]

Hi and ...First of all, Welcome aboard!...

All very good questions...as for as answers, however...gonna be tough. I think you can get those questions answered here but it will probably have to be broken down, simplified, and answered over a period of time. Each question could generate hours of discussion because they are open ended...meaning there's no set answers but lots of opinions. A lot of your questions are going to depend on your needs, personal likes, and dislikes, where your from in terms of climate etc., etc,.

My first thought for you, since you indicated you're new to boating would be to consider enrolling in a United States Power Squadron course. Two reasons...first they give classes on about everything there is to know about boating including safety, navigation and proper boat operations, but secondly it's usually a great bunch of people from varied backgrounds with different kinds and sizes of boats. I learned a lot in the evenings just listening to them discuss the various problems they had with their boat...sorta like here but more immediate and specific. By the way if it's it's going to be a joint deal (husband and wife) they recommend both take the classes. When I was a kid my dad even made us go!

Anyway, I'm sure there are people here who can answer some of your questions here but I'm not sure there's a single best answer or piece of advice except...hang in there, keep asking, and when it strikes a chord with someone I'm sure they'll try to answer.

[GaryMayo]

New to boats

Entertaining 8 guests

Post 1

Thinking of borrowing fifty grand

...................

Nice try. O what the heck, play along

You need go look for a Wisconsin boat as they are the cheese Capitol of the us. Cheese is important because (little known fact) boat hulls are most often made out of cheese. Look for a hard cheese hull. Cheddar is good cause it is just a tad rubbery and when you ram the docks you somewhat bounce off. Some docks are also made of cheese, and you want flavors that compliment one another. Do not get Limburger cheese hulls unless you do most of your sailing down wind from others. Stay away from Swiss cheese as those boats tend to sink rather easily.

Always eat before you go sailing so your 8 guests are not tempted to consume your boat. I have seen this, nasty when it happens. The boat owner is left with little except crumbs of Ritz crackers all over the docks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3KBu...e_gdata_player

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, maximos.

A >30 Ft cruising boat, at <$50,000, WILL be a used boat.

[Brogan007]

Following with great interest.....

[Csm]

Hi! I'm new here, and only have one year of boating experience. I just wanted to share how my husband and I got into boating. (fwiw, I've been reading here for some time because we plan to go bigger and live aboard, eventually)

Unless you know someone to work on your boat very cheap, or have the knowledge and time to do it yourself, you need to budget in the inevitable repairs that need to be done on a used boat. Because we didn't know much at all about systems excpet for the stuff we read (and honestly, didn't understand), we opted to buy new with a big fat extended warranty. And even though the boat is new, in the first year we did require warranty work. Boats break. Ours never broke to the point of unusability, but when things didn't seem right, we just took it to our guy and said, "What's that? Should that be happening?"

We've learned a lot in the last year, and have a lot more to learn. We did at least go into this purchase knowing that there was more to boating than how many people we could entertain, and what kind of food to bring.

We have started with a 24' deck boat (10 passenger rating), and if you do not have experience driving any boat at all, I suggest you start smaller. Take some classes, take handling classes. We had a captain the day we took delivery who spent the whole day with us, showing us docking, anchoring, wake handling, trimming, getting on plane, etc.

Just my .02. We figured out what we could afford monthly (and that's payment, insurance, docking, gas), how we would use it (if you are not going to overnight on it, no need for a cruiser), and bought somethin within our budget that fit our needs and has a good resale value, because we will eventually sell it.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Csm

Hi! I'm new here, and only have one year of boating experience. I just wanted to share how my husband and I got into boating. (fwiw, I've been reading here for some time because we plan to go bigger and live aboard, eventually)

Unless you know someone to work on your boat very cheap, or have the knowledge and time to do it yourself, you need to budget in the inevitable repairs that need to be done on a used boat. Because we didn't know much at all about systems excpet for the stuff we read (and honestly, didn't understand), we opted to buy new with a big fat extended warranty. And even though the boat is new, in the first year we did require warranty work. Boats break. Ours never broke to the point of unusability, but when things didn't seem right, we just took it to our guy and said, "What's that? Should that be happening?"

We've learned a lot in the last year, and have a lot more to learn. We did at least go into this purchase knowing that there was more to boating than how many people we could entertain, and what kind of food to bring.

We have started with a 24' deck boat (10 passenger rating), and if you do not have experience driving any boat at all, I suggest you start smaller. Take some classes, take handling classes. We had a captain the day we took delivery who spent the whole day with us, showing us docking, anchoring, wake handling, trimming, getting on plane, etc.

Just my .02. We figured out what we could afford monthly (and that's payment, insurance, docking, gas), how we would use it (if you are not going to overnight on it, no need for a cruiser), and bought somethin within our budget that fit our needs and has a good resale value, because we will eventually sell it.

Welcome to CF.

Looks like you kept your eyes open when jumping aboard.

Good on you!

[99CaptainZ]

Thank you! That's hysterical! Praytell, where might I find a 30' Cheddarcraft?

[salty5]

Hello,

Here's my .02 / get the best boat you can for the least amount of money, I would save $8,000 for slips, insurance, fuel. I would estimate $7,000 fund for repairs and uppgrades, $5,000 for a cushion, leaving $30,000 or less for purchase, very do/able. I think a quailty older boat will work, talk with brokers for advice and guidence. All the best'

salty5

[S/V Alchemy]

Find a boat of similar size and rig that is racing. Volunteer as crew. Learn boat handling at speed, beware of the steep learning curve. Transfer all that you learn about sail trim, boat trim, helming and navigation to your cruiser. Cruise like a racer, and enjoy the process of sailing, both sooner and to a greater degree.

It's not as if sailing is about getting places. It's about the process, so you may as well have the skill set to enjoy getting the most from your boat.

[Cheechako]

I believe the OP is talking a powerboat. (Sea Ray? Formula? Regal?)
There are some bargains out there. Offer much less than asking price. Canvas enclosures etc are expensive. Find a boat with much of what you need already on the boat. Over 5 years old and engines/outdrives should be treated as suspect until proven otherwise. Consider the cost of moorage and substantial cost of gasoline nowdays. Remember, if it's a single engine, you need a kicker motor and bracket to get you home if you have a failure. When considering a specific boat , search online under the type of outdrive or engine to learn more before examining it. Google like: "Volvo 280 outdrive issues" Good luck!

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by S/V Alchemy

Find a boat of similar size and rig that is racing. Volunteer as crew. Learn boat handling at speed, beware of the steep learning curve. Transfer all that you learn about sail trim, boat trim, helming and navigation to your cruiser. Cruise like a racer, and enjoy the process of sailing, both sooner and to a greater degree.

It's not as if sailing is about getting places. It's about the process, so you may as well have the skill set to enjoy getting the most from your boat.

They're looking for a power boat. Don't know any Cigarette owners that that'll let me or other strangers on their boat!

They are beautiful though.