Hello everyone I've been a lurker on the site and finally decided to sign up. Lol
Here's our dilemma we currently have a 1994 chaparral signature 24 cabin cruiser 5.7 with the Volvo DP duoprop we have owned it for three great years. We tow it and we are on the water every weekend we are in central Indiana. As the season started we were going to slip our boat and we were looking at a large cabin cruiser. One of our normal boating friends that also goes out every weekend thankfully talk this out of the larger boat so that we could travel together. This year we have traveled several places within 300 miles. We went to the river at Louisville the river at Cincinnati put in bay in Ohio in a couple of other lakes in central Indiana we have had an amazing time and want to continue traveling with our boat. So towable is an absolute necessity my tow rig is a 2004 GMC Kodiak 4500 Monroe Conversion. But honestly I don't want to push the limits of the truck so for this conversation let's just assume a 1 ton Dually Diesel will always be my minimum towing vehicle. Although our chaparral is been an amazing boat and has got us hooked on staying on the water we feel it's time for an upgrade but as I start looking at used boats my eyes are glazed over and it's hard to narrow it down so I'm looking for some advice from more season boaters that have a better idea of some of the best options. We like to go out possibly anchor would like to entertain and we don't really pull a tube or anything like that we want to have a nice camper enclosure that is spacious and relatively easy to set up and take down and store we would like something with ac/heat gen. We usually cruise around at 30 miles an hour were not speed freaks were more about having an open seating layout up top and being able to spend 2 to 5 nights at a time on our boat in a little bit more comfort than we currently have in a little bit more comfort than we currently have we like the lounger layouts in social type a layout up top similar to a Rinker 250 but we're kind a looking for something bigger maybe we need a reality check and we're not going to game much by going with a larger boat but the Rinker seem a little hard to find at least in the Midwest. I am willing to travel but not necessarily to California or Florida lol. Although I've never had a boat with twin engines I'm kind of leaning towards one of the boats that have a twin v6 set up. Again I've never driven one and maybe they're not that much better that's why I'm looking for some advise. I'm wanting to spend more Towards 20k but could stretch the budget up to 30 grand with the right boat that was in pretty much ready to go shape with only a few minor things needed I do realize with a budget in the $20-$30,000 range that it is going to be something a little older late 90s to mid 2000's . I'm very mechanically inclined and have replaced engines and out drives in boats before along with all the general maintenance and winterization that has been needed. Where the type that were tied up to several boats we like to sit in the cove with our stereo on and kind of party that is how we enjoy boating so really the social upper deck is most important to us and the camper enclosure will help extend the season early and late, other than a Sea Ray Sundancer 24 / 26 other any other oddball boats I should be looking at that are unique that would possibly have a twin engine or an I Chaseing a pipe dream there. Lol One other when I looked at very closely is the Wellcraft Martinique 2600 &2800 which I see conflicting measurements on. Thank you for your outside perspective and opinion. Happy boating
Here's our dilemma we currently have a 1994 chaparral signature 24 cabin cruiser 5.7 with the Volvo DP duoprop we have owned it for three great years. We tow it and we are on the water every weekend we are in central Indiana. As the season started we were going to slip our boat and we were looking at a large cabin cruiser. One of our normal boating friends that also goes out every weekend thankfully talk this out of the larger boat so that we could travel together. This year we have traveled several places within 300 miles. We went to the river at Louisville the river at Cincinnati put in bay in Ohio in a couple of other lakes in central Indiana we have had an amazing time and want to continue traveling with our boat. So towable is an absolute necessity my tow rig is a 2004 GMC Kodiak 4500 Monroe Conversion. But honestly I don't want to push the limits of the truck so for this conversation let's just assume a 1 ton Dually Diesel will always be my minimum towing vehicle. Although our chaparral is been an amazing boat and has got us hooked on staying on the water we feel it's time for an upgrade but as I start looking at used boats my eyes are glazed over and it's hard to narrow it down so I'm looking for some advice from more season boaters that have a better idea of some of the best options. We like to go out possibly anchor would like to entertain and we don't really pull a tube or anything like that we want to have a nice camper enclosure that is spacious and relatively easy to set up and take down and store we would like something with ac/heat gen. We usually cruise around at 30 miles an hour were not speed freaks were more about having an open seating layout up top and being able to spend 2 to 5 nights at a time on our boat in a little bit more comfort than we currently have in a little bit more comfort than we currently have we like the lounger layouts in social type a layout up top similar to a Rinker 250 but we're kind a looking for something bigger maybe we need a reality check and we're not going to game much by going with a larger boat but the Rinker seem a little hard to find at least in the Midwest. I am willing to travel but not necessarily to California or Florida lol. Although I've never had a boat with twin engines I'm kind of leaning towards one of the boats that have a twin v6 set up. Again I've never driven one and maybe they're not that much better that's why I'm looking for some advise. I'm wanting to spend more Towards 20k but could stretch the budget up to 30 grand with the right boat that was in pretty much ready to go shape with only a few minor things needed I do realize with a budget in the $20-$30,000 range that it is going to be something a little older late 90s to mid 2000's . I'm very mechanically inclined and have replaced engines and out drives in boats before along with all the general maintenance and winterization that has been needed. Where the type that were tied up to several boats we like to sit in the cove with our stereo on and kind of party that is how we enjoy boating so really the social upper deck is most important to us and the camper enclosure will help extend the season early and late, other than a Sea Ray Sundancer 24 / 26 other any other oddball boats I should be looking at that are unique that would possibly have a twin engine or an I Chaseing a pipe dream there. Lol One other when I looked at very closely is the Wellcraft Martinique 2600 &2800 which I see conflicting measurements on. Thank you for your outside perspective and opinion. Happy boating
