Thinking of my first boat

I'm 21 years old and I do well for my self. Instead of buying my first brand new car I was thinking of buying my first boat. Please correct me if anything is wrong below

I've been looking around and I keep coming back to 24-31' walk arounds with cabins. I look the look and the idea that I could use it over night. Any suggestions as far as a good first boat? And its going into salt water

Second, what is true ownership cost per year. I live in CT and my numbers are based on what I could find on the internet in my area:

insurance:$700
storage: $600
slip: $2200
maintain: $600
gas: $1000

Re: Thinking of my first boat

Also, I was thinking of either buying an older boat and having it redone. Saw a bunch of vintage low hour 80's and 90's boats with horrible interiors that I would modernize. Or buy a newer boat. I want to spend 15-20k with a trailer at max.

Re: Thinking of my first boat

Boat refurbishing isn't typically work you'd "have done". It's kind of a DIY or forget it type of thing unless you don't mind paying exorbitant amounts of money.

In that size range there really aren't any bad brands. Two most important things are to not buy one with an obsolete powerplant (avoid OMC stern drives and Force outboards) and check carefully for rot in the wooden components of the hull (transom, deck, stringers).

Re: Thinking of my first boat

The one number you may want to think more about is gas. Some boats in that range could go through that dollar figure in a week - depending on usage of course. Another one is maintenance. In you second post, you mention you might think about an older boat - that maintenance figure might become a monthly amount if you buy a boat that needs work. Even general maintenance and winterization costs will probably run you more than that.

Otherwise, I can't fault you for you choice - walkarounds are great, and in general, will probably be lower maintenance. Good luck with your decisions and boat purchase.

Re: Thinking of my first boat

What do you all pay on average in a season?

Re: Thinking of my first boat

If you buy a 24-31' boat for $15-20K you are just maknig a down payment on an expensive project. Your figures from the internet could be monthly!
Plus the boat you buy will be unreliable at least initially and down for repairs a lot--which is squeezed by a short season both for use and repair work. You do not want to spend your leisure time fixing; you want to be boating. You have to pay for that access.
INvestigate as well if your marina allows you to do repair work there.

Also, there is a big difference in a 24 and a 31, as far as handling (are you solo?), fuel consumption, holding and operating costs. If you have no boating experience, that's a big one to learn on.

Maybe look for a 22' cuddy or walk around, with an outboard, to start with?

Re: Thinking of my first boat

what about a well taken care of Bayliner Trophy?

Re: Thinking of my first boat

A boat is an expensive toy for most people. At 21 it would be better to save for a home, retirement, emergency fund, etc. than to blow a lot of money on a boat. If you really want a boat you would probably be better off getting something small and getting some experience before moving up in size.

Re: Thinking of my first boat

drrpm said:

A boat is an expensive toy for most people. At 21 it would be better to save for a home, retirement, emergency fund, etc. than to blow a lot of money on a boat. If you really want a boat you would probably be better off getting something small and getting some experience before moving up in size.

Click to expand...

Right on... Would agree with this post. Unless you live on the thing it's probably not going to get as much use as you like and you'll end up working on it most of the time.

Re: Thinking of my first boat

The difference in the costs after you buy it for a boat vs. a car is astronomical.

But boats are more fun.

Re: Thinking of my first boat

MKF6,
Hi! A couple questions....How much experience do you have around boats (both in the water and out of the water)? How much time do you estimate you will try to be using the boat? How much time can you devote to maintaining/repairing/upgrading a boat?

Having work done on a boat always seems to cost 3-5 times what you would guess. Doing it yourself saves a ton, but most owners can do only so much, because of limited skills or tools or time available. I would strongly suggest, if you are on a budget that is fairly limited, that you start smaller. Learn the ropes on a well-built recent 18-20 footer that first gets checked out by a pro. Maybe not much for overnights, but can that wait until you step up in size and experience?

I'd hate to see you get turned off to boating because of a crappy, expensive experience first time around. Best wishes.

If you've been through all this already, my apologies.
Larry