Newb Florida boater looking for a craft....

[Luke81]

Hi all, boating newb here in Clearwater, Florida. Been on plenty of boats, but haven't owned one in 20 years or so. I recently got out of race cars and the wife and I are looking for a beginner boat. I know lots of people who own boats and people who work on boats and I'm getting a lot of conflicting advice on what to look for and what to avoid so i'm interested in all opinions. I'll start with our basic desires: something in the 20-ish feet range, little shorter is ok. Bowriders seem to fit our needs the best, although the wife is interested in a cuddy possibly. Something fairly reliable. I don't mind doing the required maintenance but I'd like something that doesn't have built-in problems. We're looking in the $5000-ish range, so I realize we're looking at an older boat. The hope is we can get into something around that range that we can use for a year or so just to "get out feet wet", and if we determine that we're having a good time we'll step up to something newer and nicer. And if we determine we're just not boat people it's not that big a loss if we flip it again.
My main questions are: Inboard or outboard? One mechanic friend insists to only buy an outboard due to ease of maintenance, but others say inboard is the way to go. I have to say that most of the boats in our $$$ range around here seem to be 3.0l inboard powered. What to look for in terms of condition? I know about looking for soft spots on the floor, but I'm not 100% sure I have the knowledge to spot every one of them just by looking and making a few wacks on the floor. are there other telltale signs I need to look for? Anything I'm missing here?
One boat that caught my eye this morning is a 98 Bayliner 205 with a 5.7l engine. Any opinions on this particular boat? It's priced a little bit over our target but for the right value that's ok. I'm particularly interested in the 5.7l because 1. I like to go fast and 2. coming from race cars I can build a 5.7 GM engine from the ground up myself with no problem. So i should be able to work on this engine fairly well. I'm not 100% sure of the differences between the marine and car versions but I've got to assume they're similar.

Thanks, and I appreciate all opinions and thoughts!

 

[Luke81]

Also, another question....I'd like to go look at this Bayliner and potentially make an offer, but I'd like to have a more experienced mechanic come look at it and sea trial it if possible. Where do I find such a person? It's about an hour away so my boating friends up here have scheduling issues, so I'd like to find someone trustworthy down there to meet me at the boat and have a look.

 

[eavega]

Hi Luke

Lots of questions! One piece of advise/information I can add; Living in Clearwater, chances are you will do most of your boating in salt and/or brackish water. In my humble opinion if you are running in salt water, you are much better off looking at something with an outboard motor. They are easier to maintain and would seem to last a little longer in saltwater environments than sterndrives. The cooling systems are usually not closed system but rather are raw water cooled, which means you are circulating salt water in the engine. Salt tends to corrode and create buildup in cooling passages, and sterndrive has more metal that would be exposed to salt water (block, risers, manifold). Means more maintenance and more parts that need replacing.

Another point; the 3.0L and a 20+ foot boat are incompatible. The 3.0L is a great package for a sub-18' boat, balancing power and fuel economy well. I know on my 17.5' boat the 3.0L will get me on plane, and is enough motor to ski, tube, and wakeboard behind. That having been said, I can't put more than 4-5 people on my boat without feeling the performance hit from the weight.

I don't know how the prices are in central FL, but here in GA, $5K would not get you a ready-to-go 20+ foot cuddy in good conditions. Maybe an older bowrider with some minor issues (maybe not even that).

As a final note, looking at boats in the 10+ year vintage, your biggest concern is not a particular brand, but rather how has the boat been maintained? As many here say, I'd rather have a 10 year old boat that has been properly maintained than a 5 year old boat that has been neglected.

 

[Suprathepeg]

When checking the floors take your shoes off and walk over every inch in your bare feet, it will be much easier to feel.

 

[Luke81]

Thanks for the replies!
Yeah I'd say 95% of boats here of this type spend the vast, vast majority of their life in the salt so that's always a consideration. But I'm having a heck of a time finding an outboard in this price range! At least, a decent one. It seems like the ones I've looked at all either have a 90hp (which sounds like not enough?) or are in just very obvious bad shape.
The boats with the 3.0 that i've looked at are typically 17-19 feet. The 20' I'm interested in has the 5.7.

It looks like from my last couple months of searching that around here $5000-ish will get you a 90's bowrider in solid running condition, typically with minor cosmetic issues and/or interior issues. I'm sure our prices may be lower due to the fact that there are around 110,000 non-commercial boats registered here in the Tampa Bay area. There is no shortage of boats to be purchased, there are literally 15 boat dealers within ten minutes of where I'm sitting now and dozens more in the county. My wife was interested in a cuddy for shelter from our daily pop-up thunderstorms, but I think it would likely be a waste of space so I'm leaning heavily away from that. And I'm not opposed to going a little over 5K for the right boat. One bonus is that I own a car stereo/accessory shop and we do quite a bit of boat audio and electronics. We have the capability to do most electrical and interior work in house, so minor issues in those areas aren't deal breaker if the rest of it is solid.

 

[aspeck]

Bayliners are cheaper boats for a reason ... they tend to be entry level boats and not built to the same specifications as others. That being said, and well maintained Bayliner is better than a non maintained anything else.

18-20 footer, you need the 5.7L or an decent sized outboard. My 18 foot dual console has a 115hp outboard on her and she gets up on plane nicely, but is not a speed demon. But then an 18 foot tinny with a 115 would be much faster. And yes, the outboards are GENERALLY less maintenance. a 3.0L or larger engine is going to be more weight than an outboard, so less less horsepower is needed for an outboard.

$5K for a decent boat is hard to find, but it can be done. 3 years ago I bought mine, a 99 with the 115 and a 9.9 kicker in good shape with electronics and electric motor for just a few $100 more. But you probably won't find one this time of year in great shape for that amount of money. It takes time, and generally off season, to find the steals. You may have to add a few more K to the mix to get what you want.

As for the marine survey, that is a good idea. You might be able to hire a mechanic from one of the local marine dealers in the area of the boat to take a look at it for you during their off hours, or hire them through their employer.

Good luck in your search.

 

[flyingcow]

When checking the floors take your shoes off and walk over every inch in your bare feet, it will be much easier to feel.

I'm gonna quote this one for emphasis. This is how I found the six other bad spots in the deck I didn't notice when buying my boat. I have a tinny, so changing the deck isn't as big an ordeal as it is in a glass boat.

The other thing I wanted to mention is this. You guys are in Florida. It gets a little hot in Florida. Here in Northern Vermont, there are days when I can barely stand to be in my cuddy because it's so hot. I love my cuddy and wouldn't have it any other way, but think carefully about how good the ventilation is and how often you'd use it.

 

[Luke81]

FlyingCow, that's exactly my thoughts on the cuddy...it might be nice to grab shelter from a storm, but on a day like today it would have to be well over a hundred in a small cuddy....heck it'll be over 100 in my 3000 square foot shop by 2pm.

 

[Luke81]

So we spent Sunday driving around looking at as many boats as we could, although it seems none of the boat sales yards are actually open Sundays. I had a look look at that 20' Bayliner with the 5.7 in it, and yikes. That thing is trashed. I'm actually shocked that the consignment place would put it on the lot without at least cleaning it up a bit. It was actually quite gross. It had a lot of clear signs of no maintenance at all. It had hoses rubbing on the serpentine belt! And I have to say that we looked at about ten boats in the 5-6 grand range and none were nearly that bad.
So I've realized that I may need to up the budget some to get the right boat. While I AM looking for a low-budget starter boat I don't want something that I can't trust, and it doesn't make sense to drop 5 grand on something I'm going to need to put another 4 or 5 into right off the bat to get it there. And after looking hard yesterday it appears that the quality of boat jumps VERY dramatically when you bump from $5k up to around $8k. I found the exact same Bayliner 20' with the 5.7 at another dealer for $7500 in what appears to be far better shape, but due to their 8 foot high fence and incredibly short sales hours I didn't get to look at it.

 

[eavega]

$8K is a better budget range. Don't limit yourself to Clearwater/Tampa/Orlando area. Metro ATL is only 7 hours away, and boat deals will be plentiful in about 3 months as the season comes to an end and "2-foot-itis" rears its ugly head among current boat owners!

-E

 

[Luke81]

Good point eavega! We're looking all around, although ATL might be a little far for me. I've been looking a lot around central Florida (Ocala/Orlando-ish) as I think those boats are more likely to have spent a lot of their life in fresh water. I've got my eye on a couple we looked at yesterday, both are 2004's. One is an 18' Bayliner with the 3.0 and one is a 19' Stingray with the 4.3. Both appear very well cared for and both are listed at $8000.

I can now certainly see the significant difference a few grand here gets me. Since we're buying this boat as kind of a "trial" before we make a more serious investment in one I was hoping to get off cheap, but a boat that doesn't work isn't going to give us a fair experience.