Help me pick a good Cruiser for the Chesapeake

I was hoping to get some advice from some of the more seasoned boat owners. I am starting to look for a boat this spring and have it narrowed down to a few different brands and models. First a little background on me. My parents used to have large power boat/yachts when I was a kid and for the last five years I have been sailing on the Chesapeake (chartered boats up to 30?).

Now that I want to buy my first boat, I realized that my family (wife and two boys 6 & 9) is not really that much into sailing , so I decided to get a power boat. In particular I want to get a cabin cruiser around 28 feet. I will mainly boat around the upper Chesapeake to be within driving distance of Philly (where I live). The reason for the cabin cruiser is that I can sleep 4 comfortably, it has a head and small kitchen, it will get you round faster with the occasional 4 day trip around the Bay. We can do some water sports with it (tubing) and some fishing. If I don?t like the location after a year I can put it on a trailer and have it easily send to a different marina. I could also use my inland ?Marina? close to my house to service and store it in the winter and pick a new marina (they offer a complete delivery/pickup service and winter storage around NJ, DE, and MD).

In terms of boating features I have narrowed it down to something used in the $40-$65K price range and 2000-2007 vintage. I noticed that you can find some nice cruisers with low hours and all the features (windless, vacu-flush, electronics, camper canvas pkg, air & heat, 300hp engine, and trailer). Now since I am new to the game of power boating, I don?t really know much about how things are going to age ie what is the tradeoff of saving a few thousand bucks over getting something that is slightly newer. For example my local marina had two boats in stock that would fit the bill, one was a 2000 four wins 268 Vista with 75hr and loaded with slightly outdated electronics (radar, fish finder, GPS, VHF, stereo etc.) for around $35K with trailer the other was a like new 2007 Four Winns 278 Vista loaded with all the goodies for $65 (incl. trailer). Obviously the 07 was much nicer , but at the same time I realize the boat will probably depreciate about $10K every year?. The other boats that I have considered are the Sea Ray Sundancer 260 and the Regal 2665 Commodore , but I really like the layout of the Four Winns.

I was hoping you could share your experience with these boats, suggest something I might not have considered and give me some advice on the actual purchasing process.

Thanks!

Re: Help me pick a good Cruiser for the Chesapeake

You CAN do some water sports with a cruiser, obviously not the best for it and not cheap to do (fuel costs). I guess as a compromise, if you want the room for 4 to overnight, that's what you wind up with.

Can you narrow down your price range a bit? You've got a big range mentioned and it sure includes a LOT of boats. What were you planning to spend?

Absolutely nothing wrong with 8-10 year old boats, but if raw water cooled (most are) you have potential issues if it was in salt water. The engines normally don't last very long (10 years ???). Up here in the Great Lakes area in fresh water, with less use, we see 25 year old raw water cooled engines humming along fine.

Don't buy an underpowered boat. Any you are interested in find out what power options were available, and if the one you are looking at is the lower power option, you may be underpowered.

Obviously, lots of decent makes. The ones you mentioned are all mid-range quality, good boats. Not the cheapest, not the most expensive. IF they were taken care of, nice boats. If not well-cared for, then no brand is good used.

Re: Help me pick a good Cruiser for the Chesapeake

Some good advice there from TMH. As stated, you have an awfully big $$ range, and if you can really afford the $65K, well, why not do it? You'll get a near-new boat that's already undergone shake-down and (presumably) had anything wrong from the factory, already corrected.

I'm a cheapskate by nature, so even with that kinda dough I'd probably look for a 5-year-old boat in really nice condition. I'd set aside a few thou to have a major service done. There I'd sit with a good boat that wouldn't need anything outside of routine maintenance for a long time.

It's all a very personal decision- I like your size choice, though. Good reasoning behind it. Whatever you decide you'll do fine, so be happy with your decision. You've obviously thought this through.

Re: Help me pick a good Cruiser for the Chesapeake

don't buy it for watersports; way too big to the point of being dangerous. drop another 2K for a Carolina Skiff 14' with a 20; a good boat for your boys and will be good for dinghy-ing, exploring, beaching, etc. in the Chesbay. Being flat it will tow with little drag.

Re: Help me pick a good Cruiser for the Chesapeake

That is some good insight. I think I am stuck with a cabin cruiser because we want to stay on the boat overnight rather than pay for a hotel since we are about 1.5hrs away from the closest marina. We like to explore the Chesapeake with a couple weekend trips and might move the boat from one marina to the next over the next few years. My original budget was $50K, but than I got sucked into this really nice like new '07 Four Winns 278 on my dealers lot. Only 40hrs and still some warranty, but it already too the big "off the lot" depreciation hit and I know everything is working fine.

Once you get into older boats, I guess you start dealing with normal wear and tear issues and since I am new to power boating, I rather get something newer.

Good point on the water sporting though, that is something to consider. Well, my boys are still pretty young to demand a 2hr wake boarding trip .

Are there any other brands that I should seriously consider? I am going to the Bay Bridge Boat show this weekend to check out some other brands and talk to a few marinas before I make my final decision.

Let me know and thanks for your help.