buying first boat, like to get some opinions

[treeface]

I am interested in buying a first boat. The main goal is to have some fun and see if we like boating and learn what we would use a boat for. I do have some boating experience piloting small sailboats (like 1-2 person sized ones) and a 29' cabin cruiser single screw on vacation for a week (a slow one on a river in europe). I am in Portland Or, so most of the use would be cruising around on the rivers here. Mainly my wife and I but we would like something that can hold 4 people for cruising around with friends, maybe drag a tube at slow speed. It might get some limited fishing use, but I will have to see how it goes as I do not find myself fishing much now.

I find myself mostly looking at very used 14-18' outboard powered runabouts. While my budget is flexible, based on what I am seeing from my craigslist searches it is not clear spending $3k compared to $1k on a used runabout really buys me a lot more other than maybe newer and thus more expensive repairs. Many of these boats are 1960s-1980s, some say they ran last season, others are ambiguous. I am fairly mechanically inclined as I used to work as an auto technician and have rebuilt plenty of carbs, some engines, etc so that does not scare me, but I would like to do more boating than fixing.

Based on the above story does anyone have some advice you might give this first time boat buyer? I appreciate any tips on things to avoid or double check or if I am looking at the wrong boats I would like to get your thoughts.

 

[ondarvr]

About 99.9999% of the boats in that price range and age will need a total gut and rebuild due to rotten wood that takes several months and a couple thousand bucks to finish. Plus, you will need something at least 18' long, and you'd be happier with 20' or so.

​Boating can be fun, but's it's not cheap.

 

[Crawfish Dundee]

Used boats in the price range you mentioned will be very used or neglected and will most always need some work. Bump up the price range and you will find more dependable boats in the 5 to 7k range that will most likely start when you turn the key.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Do yourself a favor and read this link on what to look for when buying a boat. It will give you an idea of what to look for, and what questions to ask here about candidates you encounter.

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/gene...eeding-help-buying-a-boat-a-buyer-s-checklist

 

[dwco5051]

. I am fairly mechanically inclined as I used to work as an auto technician and have rebuilt plenty of carbs, some engines, etc so that does not scare me, but I would like to do more boating than fixing.

Based on the above story does anyone have some advice you might give this first time boat buyer? I appreciate any tips on things to avoid or double check or if I am looking at the wrong boats I would like to get your thoughts.

The previous posters have given some good advice. If you were buying a used car would you sooner have one that needed a few mechanical tweaks or one with the body and frame rusted out?

 

[roscoe]

Trying to make your first experiences successful, will make future boating more likely.
Look for something 1990 or newer, in good cosmetic, great mechanical condition, and outstanding structural condition.
To do this, you must educate yourself on what is important, and what is merely cosmetic, or just an inconvenience.

Look at lots of boats.
Climb in them, sit in them, see how you fit, is there enough leg room to be comfortable for 3 hours? Can you see over the dash and bow to navigate and operate the boat.

Any boat you buy needs to have a 20 minute sea trial, to ensure it performs as represented, and suits your needs.

And, it should have a thorough going through by a marine mechanic of your choice.

Don't buy a boat with an obsolete motor or outdrive, that you can't get parts for, and can't get service for.

As a examples, no "sport jets", no Chrysler or Force motors, no "L-drive Bayliners", no "white leg of death", no "dock busters", no Ficht Evinrudes.

If you buy a good boat, it will cost you $200-$400 a year to maintain it.
If you buy a bad boat, you could spend $3-4000 to repair it, then haul it to the dump.



https://corvallis.craigslist.org/boa/6047331920.html



https://bend.craigslist.org/boa/5979168965.html




,

 

[Maranvin]

Like the other post said try and find something built in the 90's at least. I wouldn't worry about brand cause by that point for me it would be more about how well it was maintained. Look for something with an outboard instead of an i/o probably hard to find though. Oh and take a coast Guard safety course sounds like ur experience is limited.

 

[Lowlysubaruguy]

Boating rivers around Portland Or. Im going to state a quote from a long time ago " you gotta respect the river man" Personally for me its welded aluminum or nothing. But thats not going to happen in your price range. If your an auto tech id look for a mid 90s mercruiser witha. 4.3 or 5.0 engine. A car engine can be swapped if you have issues even if there is corrosion factors to be concerned with. But these were pretty reliable and theres a lot of parts out there for them. Older outboards not so much and there also finicky. 17 foot is the smallest craft to have on the Columbia in my opinion. If the waters flat you have so many boaters to content with making huge wakes and being seen is also a plus. If the wind picks up and your not close to a boat launch the Columbia is for a fact one of the roughest bodies of water and it happens in a nano second. id look for something no older than 95 have the transom and hull inspected for dry rot cracks and issues. Boats that old here have been beat to death put away wet. Back to the welded aluminum dry rots not usually a concern. Chances are if you buy a boat for less than $3000 your not going to keep it very long any way. Youll either upgrade ASAP or your going to give up on boating all together. A $3000 used boat is like buying an $800 car. Your a car guy take that to heart. Flip side of that is you get over $8000 and you can find a lot of 17 to 19 foot boats out there. For me 19 to 20 foot is what you really want. it will tow well and deal with rough water when you get stuck in it. And you will get stuck in it on the Columbia. 16 foot makes a great trolling boat and there even fun to ride in when the waters flat but there to short and to shallow in my opinion.

 

[ezmobee]

No Title

An aluminum hull with an outboard is your best chance to avoid financial ruin. Look for a Starcraft SS or similar. Fiberglass boats (in your price range) have wooden transoms, stringers, and decks. Very often these are rotted. Repair is possible but it's a labor intensive job to grind out all the bad wood and cut and glass back in new wood. Plus the materials aren't exactly cheap. Aluminum boats have wooden transoms and decks but they are just screwed into place and can be replaced in the course of a weekend if needed.

 

[treeface]

Chances are if you buy a boat for less than $3000 your not going to keep it very long any way. Youll either upgrade ASAP or your going to give up on boating all together.

Thanks for all of your replies, I appreciate that many of you want to see a new boater have a successful experience. This comment is pretty important as I do not plan to keep the first boat very long at all, perhaps only one season, hence the low budget for the first boat. I want to learn about boating and find out what kind of boat I want. I do not want to presume that I would be happy with a particular size or style. Also I would not be mostly boating on the Columbia, more like the smaller rivers.

It seems like the consensus here is that an inexpensive boat literally will not function at all I assume due to sinking or something from rotted wooden parts and therefore should be avoided. Many of these inexpensive boats can be test driven so I am confused with the notion that multiple $k would be required to have one of them be functional. You could simply get rid of it were the cost to be so large due to something breaking.

My concern with buying a more expensive first boat that your liability is now higher by the marginal cost of said boat, I assume a repower of a mid 90s boat is more expensive than repowering a mid 70s boat (I base this on an assumption with no specific knowledge of boat engines, seems like an old outboard is cheaper than a more modern 6 cyl ).

I am not looking for a long term purchase here and so with that added information do you still recommend against something very basic to learn on? Rather do you still thing something 1990 or newer avoiding some of the obsolete motors and drives that roscoe mentions above.

Thanks

 

[ondarvr]

The repairs and/or upkeep is almost exactly the same for a 1970's boat as 2007, but the 1970's boat will just need far more of them, by a magnitude of 5.

​The 1970's boat will not be safe to even put in the water, let alone use for a season or two, and any money you put into it before selling will be like throwing it in the trash, you will never get any of it back. Half of the owners selling these boats have no clue how bad it is, the other half do know and are trying to dump it as fast as they can.

​I would advise for you to read threads in the rebuild and repair forum on people that buy boats in that price range before going any further. If you plan to go in smaller rivers in the area you'll probably need a jet boat, most are very shallow in places, lakes are fine though.

 

[redneck joe]

Boating rivers around Portland Or. Im going to state a quote from a long time ago " you gotta respect the river man" Personally for me its welded aluminum or nothing. But thats not going to happen in your price range. If your an auto tech id look for a mid 90s mercruiser witha. 4.3 or 5.0 engine. A car engine can be swapped if you have issues even if there is corrosion factors to be concerned with. But these were pretty reliable and theres a lot of parts out there for them. Older outboards not so much and there also finicky. 17 foot is the smallest craft to have on the Columbia in my opinion. If the waters flat you have so many boaters to content with making huge wakes and being seen is also a plus. If the wind picks up and your not close to a boat launch the Columbia is for a fact one of the roughest bodies of water and it happens in a nano second. id look for something no older than 95 have the transom and hull inspected for dry rot cracks and issues. Boats that old here have been beat to death put away wet. Back to the welded aluminum dry rots not usually a concern. Chances are if you buy a boat for less than $3000 your not going to keep it very long any way. Youll either upgrade ASAP or your going to give up on boating all together. A $3000 used boat is like buying an $800 car. Your a car guy take that to heart. Flip side of that is you get over $8000 and you can find a lot of 17 to 19 foot boats out there. For me 19 to 20 foot is what you really want. it will tow well and deal with rough water when you get stuck in it. And you will get stuck in it on the Columbia. 16 foot makes a great trolling boat and there even fun to ride in when the waters flat but there to short and to shallow in my opinion.

i grew up on the willamette and columbia this is best post.


if you can find an old aluminum hull you can gut and hang an old outboard on it. Dedicate all avail time to it you can do itin less than 30 days, less if you just want it functional not pretty. the others here are speaking of fiberglass boats. That said, if you are lucky and do all ypur own work and are cheap, you might, just maybe, break even. Boating costs as do most adult hobbies.

 

[southkogs]

Any chance you can rent a boat a few times and get some ideas from that? My immediate thought is up in the NorthWest your budget will keep you in boats that need some rehab (though down where I am, $3K might get you into something lake ready in a bow rider).

A couple of rentals would allow you to evaluate the experience some, and maybe let you go straight to your long term boat.

 

[WaterDR]

Rent! Or fiend a friend with a boat and then see what you want.

I can't imagine putting someone I love on a 3k boat....then again, I can think of a few people around here

Look....everyone has a budget. To some people 3k is a fortune...to other people 300k is chump change. And no matter what you spend, unless its new....there is no way to avoid 100% a costly repair.

 

[ezmobee]

I can't imagine putting someone I love on a 3k boat.

I don't know that I'd go that far. There are a LOT of boats being properly restored on this site who's retail value isn't going to reflect the work that went into it. My own beloved Starcraft included. It's 100% but I don't think I could get much more then $3500 for it tops. There's barn find type boats to that have somehow managed to be stored indoors for 25+ years. There are diamonds in the rough out there for $3k but there's going to be a LOT of rough. And when you find one that is solid you better be prepared to buy it IMMEDIATELY.

 

[southkogs]

I can't imagine putting someone I love on a 3k boat...

I don't know that I'd go that far.

LOL me neither .... I've never owned a boat that cost more than $2,500!

 

[Captain Caveman]

I'm always a little different than others, and I tend to fish inland lakes where you don't need bigger boats. However, I'd get the ugliest boat that I could find with a decent motor and beat it up for a season. Get your wife on board with roughing it for a year. You will likely run this boat like a 15 year old driving a car for the first time. You're going to hit sunken stumps, rocks, other boats, pilings, etc. You will back the trailer into something, forget to hook something up, etc. All of this is great to do on an older boat that doesn't make you cringe when the damage happens. It will also give you a taste for what you want in a boat. At the end of the season you can start looking for a better boat and then sell this one to the next guy. There is always a market.