Boat owners inside, I have some questions...

[Nick Chapman]

Since we recently moved on a lake(about 1/8 of a mile from one), I've gotten the bug for a boat. I've grown up on boats all my life, as my father is a retired engineer from Mercruiser. But I've never owned one myself.

What are the pro's and con's of owning one? How much maintenance am I looking at per year?

Thanks!
Nick

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Boat owners inside, I have some questions...

We owned a full race drag boat for 20 years and our Dad owned runabout ski boats and ocean going fishing boats all his life. After moving to SoCal and out into the desert we bought a house with an in-ground pool.

That's the set-up, been a boat owner, around boats all our life and then owned a house with an in-ground pool.

What we discovered was we got all the benefits of the boat without all the hassles of owning a boat with the pool except for fishing.

Weird analogy but we'll explain later when we have more time...

With a pool, no fighting traffic, no fighting Newbie boat owners trying to figure out how to launch their boat, no Newbie boat owners trying to figure out how to pull their boat out of the water. (If a lake is popular you'll spend a lot of time in the boat launch either waiting to launch or waiting to pull out).

No fighting drunk people on the lake, or in the boat launch trying to figure out how to launch their boat or pull it out of the water.

No crazy boat drivers that don't know the laws for pulling skiers, an in our case, with a pool, no more speeding tickets or no lack of muffler tickets. (We had Super Traps but didn't always run them, kind of chokes the horsepower).

On the other-hand, going boating is a lot of fun!

Did that help?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Boat owners inside, I have some questions...

Might want to make sure you're going to have time to use it also.

In 20 years of boat ownership, we saw a lot of guys get the bug, go to a boat show, buy a boat, enjoy it during the summer and when fall, winter and spring came around, found themselves paying anywhere from $400.00 on up a month on the boat payment for something parked in the garage because it's raining. The next step was watching them put the boat with low hours up for sale.

In Oregon it rains about 9 months out of the year so that gave you about 3 months, or 12 weekends to play with the boat. Take those 12 weekends and divide them into what you have into the boat and that's what each weekend cost you to go boating plus food, soda pop, gas, boat launch fees, park fees, etc.

Zoom zoom...

1970 Super Sanger Flat Bottom Drag Boat - V-Drive
National Title Holder - 1976 Super Modified Class 1/4 Mile in 9 seconds at 122 mph.
Owner/Driver: Rick Baker





Here's my son Rand about one and a half years old sitting in dad's boat before I sold it.

Note the stereo bolted to the passenger's side head on the engine, (just behind the passenger seat) and if
you look you can see a 76 Gas Station Ball on the tip of the stereo antenna behind the Indy Champ air scoop.

[Nick Chapman]

Re: Boat owners inside, I have some questions...

Mike, you forgot to add...

No more skiing/wakeboarding

No more looking at girls in bikini's

[Nick Chapman]

Re: Boat owners inside, I have some questions...

On a serious note,

I don't plan on financing this purchace(if we do it). I plan to buy something 5k or less. So that way if I have a change of heart, I can always get my money back.
Plus, we live less than 4 minutes from the boat ramp(no lie). So, we could be in the water within about 30 minutes after I get home in the afternoon.

I understand all of the hassles about the boat ramp traffic, and I would be one of those newbies But, everyone has to learn sometime....right?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Boat owners inside, I have some questions...

On a serious note,

I don't plan on financing this purchase(if we do it). I plan to buy something 5k or less. So that way if I have a change of heart, I can always get my money back.

Great approach.

Plus, we live less than 4 minutes from the boat ramp(no lie). So, we could be in the water within about 30 minutes after I get home in the afternoon.

Living close does make it inviting and will mean a lot less hassle and driving time. We lived about 60 miles from the nearest lake and had to drive through two logging towns with speed traps to get to it.

I understand all of the hassles about the boat ramp traffic, and I would be one of those newbies But, everyone has to learn sometime....right?

Yeperdoo... we're sure you would figure it out and become good at it after one or two trips.

Drag boats just get floated over the trailer, hook the latch arm to the eyelet on the underneath of the front of the bow and pull out. Fast and simple.

A lot of boats have guiding rubber wheels and some kind of rope crank and the boat needs to be centered just right. With waves, wind and others around you loading can become kind of difficult and then take longer.

If you can, make sure the owner takes you for a ride, that way you can see how hard it is to unload or load and get a feel for how the boat runs and travels on the water.

Go for it!

[Jeepster04]

Re: Boat owners inside, I have some questions...

Weve never really owned a 'ski' boat so when I think about boating, I think about fishing and enjoying a day on the lake. Weve never really been into the skiing thing but I enjoy tubing some. We still swim some but the majority of the time we fish.

I take it you plan on getting a ski boat? In-board or out-board engine? Size?

[CHRIS K]

Re: Boat owners inside, I have some questions...

Two best days of owning a boat is the day you buy it and the day you sell it.lol.not really if you get a small boat it is not too bad.