Any boat owners on Veeky Forums?
I live in an apartment complex where I can dock a boat for a little bit more a month but I never gave it any thought until I went out on at today.
M mechanically inclined but how different are boats from cars? Price? What is the Honda Civic or Miata or boats? I don't even know what I'm looking for - I'm completely new to this.
Salt water or fresh water? Salt water is a lot of work, have to pull it out of the water periodically, fresh water isn't as bad. Really depends on what kind of boat you want, an aluminum boat with an outboard being kept in fresh water is not too much maintenance, a larger fiberglass boat being kept in salt water is more maintenance than almost any car. For salt water a Civic would be a smaller Boston Whaler, for fresh water a smaller aluminum boat. What boat is most common/easy to service depends a lot on where you are.
I worked on sail boats and sold products for boats.
Fucking money pits. Constantly rotting in the sun and salt.
I'd have one if I was rich enough to leave it in the marina and have someone keep it maintained. They are fucking eyesores when parked in a driveway or side yard.
Kind of a gimmick buy that I think a lot of people regret, unless you're a hardcore every weekend type boater or fisherman.
Both brother
I'd like to her out at sea if possible. My marina is on a river that empties out into the ocean in about 1 mile
boats are an insane commitment
honestly get yourself a dingy sailboat with an outboard to see how much you love maritime living before you go all in
In brackish water you'll still have to do maintenance to the hull all the time, it's a lot of work. If you want a small boat it will be cheaper and easier to get something with an outboard, to get it serviced you can pull it off yourself and take it to a dealer, new 4 stroke outboards are super nice and really reliable, just flush it with fresh water after every use and tilt it out of the water when you aren't using it. Where are you geographically? If you really want a boat you should get one now, beginning of the summer is the worst time to buy a boat.
It seems to be the question of how much money you can throw at it.
I don't know dick about boats, not that interested in them but this thread is interesting
I live in Jacksonville, Florida. I have no plans to buy one right now. If I would buy one, I would buy it in December or something to save. I'd like to get more maritime education too.
How big Is your slip at the marina? You need to tell us the max size and budget of boat your acomidations and funds will allow. Also do you want a sailboat or power boat? Between my dad and I we own 4 Sailboats and one power boat. We even have a 47 foot multihull sailboat that my dad built in the 80s.
You need to be willing to put a ton of money into this hobby/sport and you will be lucky to see half of it ever come back out of your boat.
So do you know what purpose you want your boat for?
u want da chebby
This.
You really need to have a passion for it otherwise it is just not worth it.
If you are cool with burning money you might be cool with owning a boat.
Bust
Out
Another
Thousand
haha so true man
I used to work at a boat stealership before I fucked up my back, lots good info in this thread most of these kids are way overstating the cost of ownership especially if you're decent with tools.
Miata would be akin to a competition ski boat, specialized and fun but not a good all rounder.
>Select all images with boats
you don't say
The Honda Accord of boats is definitely the Bayliner 185, handles whatever you throw at it ok but don't expect to run with the big dogs. Civic would just be a slightly smaller model.
The two biggest issues on anything with a stern drive are baffles and transom hydraulics, servicing an outboard is a lot harder and you'll be pretty fucked trying to figure out what's wrong without proprietary diagnostic software.
I just realized buying an old pontoon boat and restoring/painting/reseating it is a dream of mine. Thank you Veeky Forums. Now I just have to learn how to swim.
This. Boats are a money pit for the upper middle class.
>want to get a boat so have more access to fishing spots
>have taken it out fishing maybe 10 times in 2 years
The memes are real.
Here's my boat. Now I wish I had kayaks instead
this
had mine for 3 months, blew the motor.
bought another, yay.
>drop $1800 on a trolling motor, battery, fish finder, outboard service and various fixes
>get urge to sell boat for a decent fishing kayak
>don't want to because I've spent more on it than what I bought it for
This guy has it right
Personally I'd go skiboat with ls1 swap obviously.
You need to ask yourself some basic fucking questions like how many people you intend to carry. There are plenty of dirt cheap 15 year old bowriders out there to choose from and a compression test and pre-sale inspection is about 120 doll hairs for peace of mind.
I spent $700 on the boat with a "non working" motor and trolling motor. Sold the gas motor because I couldn't be arsed fixing it for $300. I'd try to sell it but I now live in the desert and who the fuck buys a boat in the desert.
Dedicated fishermen drive their boats hundreds of miles to get to decent fishing spots, somebody would eventually buy it.
You have close to 4k in an $800 boat, don't blame the boat for being a fucking retard.
Also if you plan on keeping that you should consider getting more rollers for the trailer or getting the bottom reinforced, you'll end up with a nice dent on the bottom if you go offroad or drive around with all your gear in it.
>$800 boat
Stessl hulls are apparently well sought after, if anything I got it for cheaper than normal.
I own a 30ft Chaparral
It's basically this model except older
Just to prove I'm not a faggot
Here's the boat being pulled out of storage for this season
profile view with the cover up
on the water
150hp outboard engine for a boat costs more than a Civic.
I bought a boat similar to and sold it two years later.
1. Cost: BOAT = Bust Out Another Thousand
2. Culture: Half the people at the marina were retirees, the other half snobby bankers. I couldn't relate.
3. Care: Needed to spend a couple hours every two weeks cleaning the boat (mostly from spider droppings).
4. Tied to dock: The A/C only worked when plugged in at a dock, needed to be at the dock to BBQ... So I spent most of the time tied at the dock.
5. Fuel: An day cruising at speed can consume a couple hundred dollars of fuel, so it was too expensive to use for joy rides.
it really depends.
What are you going to use your boat for and where? What is your dock mlw.
I live on a brackish creek about a 1 mile from ches bay and then about 20 miles from the atlantic.
I have a 20foot innie/outie. I leave it in the water from about april to october. I have anti fouling paint on the hull (this will reduce efficiency, causes drag). Maintenance really isn't so bad. In the winter I need to flush the engine out, clean hull and outboard and apply anti fouling paint.
An innie/outie is cheap. it has a 4.3 mercury (gm block v6) that is cast iron and stupid simple. It is relatively trouble free. The outboard is pretty trouble free but the trim sensor shits itself about once a year.
You are better off with a full outboard which is more expensive, but more versatile and ultimately better.
For me, the best boat would be a grady white with two fuck huge outboards, if you have a good MLW on your dock/slip you might be best off with an inboard/outboard.
Honda Civic of boats, probably a boston wailer. Miata of boats.. probably a hobby cat
Boats are so last century.
>read Boston Whaler 420 test
>powered by four Mercury 300s
>top speed 41.9 knots = 48.2 mph
>fuel economy at top speed 119 gal/h
>that's 119 gallons for 48.2 miles
>0.4 miles per gallon
I bought a bass boat for $1500 last two years ago it's currently rotting away boats are fun for a little bit
Boston Whaler? Those are expensive, even the older ones
>mine
>a barge is not a boat
Boat.
Things are different but not really complicated.
Chevy 350 4tw.
Boats are not like cars. A boat is a hole in the water in which you pour money in to. The happiest day of a boat owners life is the day he buys his boat. The second happiest is the day he sells it. Boat stands for Bust Out Another Thousand. There is a lot of responsibility behind owning a boat. Boats need to be highly maintained. I run my engine after every time it's been in the water. Wash her inside and out from bow to stern. That being said, boats are generally reliable I find. They usually have a lot of small problems, some of which may amount to a bigger issue or maybe not.
Boats get terrible mileage and don't put fucking ethanol in your boat unless you want to fuck yourself. Don't forget to put the plug in either.
What has been mentioned is operating a boat. It's different from a car. You need to constantly be paying attention and analyzing what's going on around you. Things aren't organized like they are on a highway. I mean they are but not as much. There are some fucking stupid people who helm boats. And I'll tell you what, driving at night on a boat is totally different. Down here in the bayous you've got no perception of depth at night. It all looks the same.
I'm only 20 but I've grown up with boats my whole life and I've been at the helm since I was like 13. There is a lot of experience, know how, money, and love that goes into owning a boat. Somebody mentioned earlier you need to passionate about owning boats and I agree. You'll hate it if 'just want to buy a boat'
My other boat. Boston Whaler above is also 'mine'. Both my fathers actually
the two greatest days of owning a boat, are the day you buy it, and the day you sell it.
Salt water boating sounds like a pain in the dick.
It's not nearly that bad if you stick to fresh water lakes. Alberta and BC have shit loads of lakes so everybody has a boat here. It's normal to burn $200-500 a day on fuel but whatever you gotta pay to play. It's pretty much as expensive as snowmobiling.
The maintenance on RV's is almost worse than a boat, those are the real money pits, especially when you have to pay to store it for 11 months a year.
Boats are still worth it if you got a nice cabin on a lake.
We used to have an old pontoon boat, like what the user said freshwater isn't nearly as bad. Besides some refurbishing when it was first brought, we never really had to throw that much money into it. That old evinrude outboard was a trooper. Most people on freshwater lakes keep their boats on lifts under covered docks rather in salt water where alot of people just anchor their boat to a buoy in open water
Creek race master race
Aut/o/motive, not b/o/ats.
Used boats are dirt cheap, but make sure you see it before you buy it. It may have an extensive indoor swimming pool included.
BUST
OUT
ANOTHER
THOUSAND
how much did you end up paying to purchase the boat and have it running?
>30 ft
>"signature 24"