I will soon be buying my first boat. (Have been around them my whole life, friends/family members have had them, etc)
I got offered an amazing deal on a 18.5 foot Stratos bass boat with a 175 merc. on it. The deal is almost to good to pass up.
My delima is that I dont really fish, (just never got into it) and my usage of a boat would be tubing, wakeboarding, and general cruising around medium to medium/large sized lakes. Most outings would be with 4 adults including myself. I would like an open bow type I/O boat for this, but this Stratos is such a good deal I may not be able to pass it up. I've never driven a bass boat, yet have rode in many. An uncle of mine had nearly the same boat as I'm looking at, but a few years newer with a 150 merc and it was a rocket on the water. (it did around 60 on gps on smooth water, and seemed to handle very well)
Most of the bowriders I've driven seem to be "sluggish", when compared to his bass boat. (the bowriders have been a 4.3 merc, a 2.3l 4cyl, and a 5.7 merc which was a large boat). These boats did not obtain speeds much over 35 either.
I would like a "sporty" boat that handles well and runs decent speeds, yet need to be able to hold 4 adults at times comfortably.
Would buying the Stratos and modifying the interior to include bench style seating up front (where storage compartments are now) be worth it? I've got the skill to do so, just unsure whether it would be worth my time. I was thinking doing a small bench style arrangement like a bowrider with small storage under the seats. I would also add a sound system as well.
I think i could do all this for less than buying a comparable bowrider, but would the performance of the boat be affected to much?
I got offered an amazing deal on a 18.5 foot Stratos bass boat with a 175 merc. on it. The deal is almost to good to pass up.
My delima is that I dont really fish, (just never got into it) and my usage of a boat would be tubing, wakeboarding, and general cruising around medium to medium/large sized lakes. Most outings would be with 4 adults including myself. I would like an open bow type I/O boat for this, but this Stratos is such a good deal I may not be able to pass it up. I've never driven a bass boat, yet have rode in many. An uncle of mine had nearly the same boat as I'm looking at, but a few years newer with a 150 merc and it was a rocket on the water. (it did around 60 on gps on smooth water, and seemed to handle very well)
Most of the bowriders I've driven seem to be "sluggish", when compared to his bass boat. (the bowriders have been a 4.3 merc, a 2.3l 4cyl, and a 5.7 merc which was a large boat). These boats did not obtain speeds much over 35 either.
I would like a "sporty" boat that handles well and runs decent speeds, yet need to be able to hold 4 adults at times comfortably.
Would buying the Stratos and modifying the interior to include bench style seating up front (where storage compartments are now) be worth it? I've got the skill to do so, just unsure whether it would be worth my time. I was thinking doing a small bench style arrangement like a bowrider with small storage under the seats. I would also add a sound system as well.
I think i could do all this for less than buying a comparable bowrider, but would the performance of the boat be affected to much?
