Wanting to buy a boat but deciding which one?

1. Family 4-5 person to relax and maybe occasionally go fishing.
2 Wife and I only for same reason as #1
3 Boat: pontoon vs walk thru front type (bowrider)
4 4 stroke motor I assume: heard Yamaha is good?
Thanks

I have a 23' Hurricane deck boat. It has lots of room for people, coolers and plenty of storage for all the stuff you need for a day of fishing or partying or whatever. It has a head and two sinks with a freshwater system. It's powered by a 225 Yamaha FI 4 stroke that runs flawlessly.

I had considered a pontoon, but glad I went with the deck boat it's very versatile.

I know several people with boats and most have the Yamaha 4 strokes on them, from 15hp to 200hp....awesome engines...until they need repairs. Then,
B-reak O-ut A-nother T-housand has NEVER been more apt. Luckily the issues with them are rare, but damn, seeing some of my friend's repair bills makes me appreciate my 40 year old outboard Johnson/Mercury engine.

Just sayin...

One of the best days of my life "WHEN I SOLD THE BOAT"

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Originally posted by Big Steve:
Just sayin...

How come I never have this view on my boat?

quote:

Originally posted by "The Bender":

quote:

Originally posted by Big Steve:
Just sayin...

How come I never have this view on my boat?

Your boat must not be expensive enough LOL

quote:

Originally posted by "The Bender":

quote:

Originally posted by Big Steve:
Just sayin...

How come I never have this view on my boat?

Bender you have to install 5,000 watt sound system and play a lot of Hip Hop, along with 4 or five kegs .....LOL

Boats are expensive,but then what is fun and cheap.

If you get time with family and enjoy do it is my thinking.

Never had pontoon so can't ay anything about them.

Have had cpl ski boats. Walk thru bow is cool for small groups,cruising,fishing and if enough motor you can ski,tubing and knee boarding.

Get a survey done on any boat you are planning to buy.

quote:

Originally posted by J178RED:

quote:

Originally posted by "The Bender":

quote:

Originally posted by Big Steve:
Just sayin...

How come I never have this view on my boat?

Bender you have to install 5,000 watt sound system and play a lot of Hip Hop, along with 4 or five kegs .....LOL

If they come for hip hop view maybe all you want.

quote:

Originally posted by wideopen231:

quote:

Originally posted by J178RED:

quote:

Originally posted by "The Bender":

quote:

Originally posted by Big Steve:
Just sayin...

How come I never have this view on my boat?

Bender you have to install 5,000 watt sound system and play a lot of Hip Hop, along with 4 or five kegs .....LOL

If they come for hip hop view maybe all you want.

boat is an acronym for "bust out another thousand".

Yes you'll want a Yamaha 4 stroke. I work on Merc, tohatsu, and Yamaha. Or should I say I work on Merc and Tohatsu. Rarely does a yamaha come in for anything but oil change. 'Course I live in duck hunting heaven so I occasionally see them in for a broken prop or bent shaft.

I like the pontoon but they're kind of a pain to go "puddle jumping"...towing from the house to the lake just for a few hours, then back home, etc. Not heavy, so you can tow a lot of them with a 1/2 ton just fine. Deck boat is a little heavier and if it's bigger, you'll wish you had more truck if you have a standard 1/2 ton now. I like things about both and there's things I don't like about both; similar to me hashing back & forth a long narrow river boat (2036) with a jet outboard, or keep my flat bottom jon. Ideally if I had the space and won the lottery I'd have both.

I had several boats when I was young from a 43ft twin diesel cruiser to a 16ft with around 90hp Merc. I liked the big boat best as we lived on the Chesapeake Bay back then but I think the most used boat was an 18ft bow rider Bay Liner with a big Force motor that the kids wore out on the Ohio river---they had that thing out dawn to dusk one summer. Wore it out so I sold it the next year. Also had a 24ft Welcraft with an inboard Merc that was a nice boat......Lots of choices but be prepared, even fuel is expensive.

Fern, check your post count 4(442). Never mind, it changed)

Owning a boat was a blast when the kids wanted to play on the water and I wasn't racing. It turned into a chore, so I sold out.

I had a pontoon and then a Sea ray 23' bowrider. Both had good things about them and bad things.

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Originally posted by ferndaleflyer:
I had several boats when I was young from a 43ft twin diesel cruiser to a 16ft with around 90hp Merc. I liked the big boat best as we lived on the Chesapeake Bay back then but I think the most used boat was an 18ft bow rider Bay Liner with a big Force motor that the kids wore out on the Ohio river---they had that thing out dawn to dusk one summer. Wore it out so I sold it the next year. Also had a 24ft Welcraft with an inboard Merc that was a nice boat......Lots of choices but be prepared, even fuel is expensive.

Abuddy of mine has a 32' sport fisher with twin cummings diesel. He stole the boat and has been fixing it up. He finally got both engines running so he took it to Catalina. Cruising at 1800 rpms 1 1/2 gals per mile. 80 gals to go to Catalina and back.

That's about right Floyd. But if you want to go you need fuel.....

quote:

Originally posted by Floyd Staggs:

quote:

Originally posted by ferndaleflyer:
I had several boats when I was young from a 43ft twin diesel cruiser to a 16ft with around 90hp Merc. I liked the big boat best as we lived on the Chesapeake Bay back then but I think the most used boat was an 18ft bow rider Bay Liner with a big Force motor that the kids wore out on the Ohio river---they had that thing out dawn to dusk one summer. Wore it out so I sold it the next year. Also had a 24ft Welcraft with an inboard Merc that was a nice boat......Lots of choices but be prepared, even fuel is expensive.

Abuddy of mine has a 32' sport fisher with twin cummings diesel. He stole the boat and has been fixing it up. He finally got both engines running so he took it to Catalina. Cruising at 1800 rpms 1 1/2 gals per mile. 80 gals to go to Catalina and back.

I was told by a good friend mine that has a 40ft sport fisher that when you can stand in the shower with cold water running over your head and reach over and flush $100 bills down the toilet and feel good about it, then you can afford to own a ocean going boat

Can't say I flushed money but that big boy had a 100gal tank and I have filled it twice in a weekend, but back then diesel was less than $1.00 a gal unlike now. I am old and have bought gas for $.15, $.20 a gal---the good old days!

My wife and I recently moved from Colorado to Lake Havasu City, AZ. We had a 20' open bow boat in CO. It was perfect for the smaller lakes around us there. But as soon as we moved to AZ, my wife wasn't as comfortable on it. The bigger the lake, usually the bigger the boats, and the choppier the water. My wife started hinting at a pontoon. I resisted as long as I could because it just wasn't my style. But I got to admit, I was wrong! I love all the room we have to walk around, and it's extremely smooth out in rough water.
Our boat comes exclusively with Honda outboards. We opted for the 225, which has more than enough power for what we like to do. I can get 45 mph out of it pretty easy, and have no problem pulling skiers, tubers, and wake boards out.
Good luck in your search!