Looking an 18-21 ft boat for fishing & tow sports

[Doug_FL]

I'm looking for a new boat. Some of the younger members of my family would like to ski & tube.
I'm leaning toward a 4-stroke outboard, by Yamaha, Honda or Suzuki. I guess Mercury is made by
Nissan, so that would work as well. Which of the 4 brands seems to have the best warranty? Is
150 hp enough for tow sports?

How about so-called extended warranties? Many sold by car dealers aren't worth much. I would
only consider those backed by the manufacturer. I notice these are a lot of used boats for sale.
But, they often cost near as much as new. That does not make any sense to me anyway. New boats
have increased a lot in price over that last several years. Any place to get more info on what
I will need to pay for a new 18-21 foot boat? Many
makers no longer give any MSPR on their web site.

 

[airshot]

Welcome aboard....let me say you have a lot of research to do! No one can give you an exact answer to your questions just their opinions and you know where that leads..LOL. There are many different types of boats depending on what you want to do with it. Difficult to find one boat that does it all. If your not mechanically inclined and willing to do your own work then be prepared to spend big bucks getting your boat serviced. There are as many horror stories as their are quality references from the "professionals" in the boating world. Warranty does not mean much nowadays except for the first year on a brand new boat, and yes my good man you are paying handsomely for that!! The good folks on this forum can help point you in a good direction if you find something that suits your fancy....just ask.we all like to talk about boats, good, bad and the ugly. Most all brand name OB motors are quality built nowadays, I am not sure I could just recommend one particular brand. Do keep in mind that all 4 stroke engines whether inboard or outboard are not designed to run at wot all day long like our older 2 stroke motors were. That is why Evinrude and Mercury both still offer their high performance fuel efficient outboards, but be prepared to pay the price. You will find a lot of I/O's on the market due to the high cost of todays modern OB, while the I/O has a higher maintenance requirement the initial cost is less than half, and if your someone like myself, I prefer to do my own maintenance to be able to afford more boating. You have some tough choices out there, please do look at the stickie area about boat purchases in this forum and do your research....you have a lot to do......good luck and keep us posted

 

[Teamster]

Where do you live and how do you plan to use the boat??

Boat show season is coming, If I were buying a new boat I'd do a bunch of research now, And go look at all of them in one place,.

Better deals and incentives during boat show season as well,...

Rumor has it that Evinrude is going to offer a 10 year warranty on E-Tecs this winter,....

 

[JoLin]

Where do you live and how do you plan to use the boat?

Always my first question, too. WHERE will it be used? What kinda water are we talking about here? If coastal or Great Lakes you want to consider seaworthiness first, then decide what's suitable for your use. If it's small/medium sized inland lakes, you can afford to reverse that order.

 

[Doug_FL]

Where do you live and how do you plan to use the boat??
Boat show season is coming, If I were buying a new boat I'd do a bunch of research now, And go look at all of them in one place,.

I plan to use my boat in freshwater lakes more than anything else. However, I would like to be able to use it in saltwater as well. Many of the rivers where I live, that people boat in have some salt in them. The closer you get to ocean, the more salty the water. I realize saltwater is hard on an o/b or i/o engine.

It is just that the nearest boat launch to me is not far from the ocean. Anyway, I plan to pull a skier, tuber or wake boarder behind my boat. This would be the primary activity. For weekends we will go to a freshwater lake. But, when I have less time, it will be in the large river nearby. I might also cruise to another city to have dinner some time, as long as that is safe to do. I never plan to get far from shore in my relatively small boat.

Yes, I do plan to visit boats shows. Looking forward to it in fact. Be a long since I bought a new toy.

 

[ezmobee]

I boat exclusively on a fresh water lake however lots of big boats on there producing large wakes to contend with. We were getting beat up pretty good in our 18'. I started looking for a 20-22' saltwater dual console boat to replace it. The benefits of a dual console over a typical bowrider are a deeper V which rides better in the chop and a self bailing deck. I can leave my boat out in a rain storm and not have to worry about my bilge pump having to deal with the water. The vast majority of it drains right out the back. Most boats in that size range come with a 150HP motor. I found one with a 200HP and I'm very pleased with it. The deeper heavier hull benefits greatly from the additional HP.

 

[jkust]

18 to 21 foot boat prices can have a huge price spread between the bottom to the top. So many choices and brands. I will say our previous boat was an 18 foot bowrider and I was the only one that could reach the water to rinse hands off when fishing and I could barely reach it. The kids would have to go out onto the swim platform to be able to rinse the worm and fish off their hands. It was maybe the worst fishing boat and hence we rarely fished. In addition, the boat was heavily upholstered and again wasn't practical for having kids with hooks. If I planned on actually fishing more than just a couple times per season, I would go toward a fish and ski boat as a minimum (vs a ski and fish boat whereas mine has no fishing equipment at all) as anything can pull a tube or wakeboarder but fishing off a dedicated pleasure-only boat is just a pain. Given you are in the ocean sometimes, a bowrider would be toward the bottom of my list.

 

[aspeck]

EZ followed my lead when he saw my Dual Console! HA! I would highly recommend the DC for what you are describing. Mine is 19' and can handle a decent chop. My wife and daughter enjoy tubing, skiing, and general "hacking around." I enjoy fishing. I am working on adding downriggers, but with the electric motor, the bait and live well, and the pump where I can wash hands or deck, it is a wonderful all around boat and easy to maintain (no carpet). My desire was just like yours and I love mine.