[kregars]

Good day all,

I have been looking to get back into boating for family activities as well as fishing and something to have to pull my 2 boys on a tube with (8 and 11). My previous boat several years ago was a Wellcraft 235 Aft cabin that while it served it's purpose is not the type of vessel we are now looking to move into.

My wife has very few requirements that I wholy agree with. A portapotti is a must. Secondly it must be roomy enough to move about it for fishing (the 4 of us to have lines in the water at the same time with room to move as needed to land the fish). The next is a combo requirment between myself and my wife, and that is a fiberglass cockpit liner.

All of these requirements are met with the 225 Dual console, but they are also met by other manufactures both lower on the picking list and higher (higher involving a higher cost).

We happend to look extensively at this vessel on Saturday (aug 2) and though we liked it, I hadn't heard much about KW boats though reading, they have been around for 20+ years.

Can anyone give some advice on this boat, and compare what you have found when searching for a new (or used) boat for themselves?

Thanks in advance,

[christianL]

I'm the proud owner of KW 225DC, w/ Yammy 225 4 stroke for 1 year now. I love the boat. I live in Charleston, SC. KW is made a few miles from where I live. There is plenty of room to move around. Easily remove the rear bench seat for added room for fishing. It cuts thru the chop very well (trim tabs are great). I have a porta potti for the boat, but it stays at home except when we are at the Christmas parade (b/c it's cold). The storage area is great for just that, storage. Using the restroom is possible, but not comfy.
I was drawn to Key West b/c of their reliability, durability ratings. My purchase desicion was between a Scout and key West. The Scout of the same size was a beautiful boat, "luxurious" interior, and fast, and of course much more expensive. The Scout is lighter than the KW, and in addition to that, the sales guy we test drove w/ claimed we didnt have enough gas to go out into the rougher waters of the harbor. That was my main reason to test drive, to see how she handled in the chop. bottom line, my desicion came down to 3 things: the Scout had a permanent porta potti, (who wants to deal with that?), I was not able to test drive in rough waters, and price. as a previous owner of a low quality boat, the KW is a great choice. The boat is heavy, so I wouldn't recommend any motor less than 200 HP. Hope this helps.