First time boat buyer, in need of wisdom and guidance from you beautiful people

[bonz_d]

POV from another small boat owner.

I would start by saying in my area, Chicago - Milwaukee - Madison to Rockford, that would be a fair price for the boat even w/o an engine. It also has a higher freeboard than most fishing boats which will make it a bit dryer in rougher water. Agree that if fishing 3 adults would be about the limit. Should also work well on smaller lakes, rivers and ponds. Which a 20' + won't do.

I have had my old 14' Lund on Lake Geneva Wisconsin which is 5200 acres and a max depth of 135' with the only problem or concern being the fear of being run over by all the idiots that are out there on the weekends. I also live a short drive to Lake Michigan and wouldn't fear taking that boat outside some of the harbors on that lake. The biggest thing is in knowing the limitations of the boat. When to go, when to run and when to stay home. Also that boat would work just fine on my local lake which is just under 1000 acres and a max depth of 40'.

Back to the boat. I would go look at it with the understanding that what I'd be looking at is a hull and trailer. If both are sound I would consider it. I will also admit that I know nothing of your local area but if there are boats everywhere such as there are here a late 70's to early 80's 35hp OMC would be a good fit for that boat and I can find nice running ones around me for about $500.00

Just consider how you intend to use this boat and be honest with yourself.

 

[Starcraft5834]

Welcome Super....I'll throw my 2c in.... The first boat I bought was a 15ft trihull, with 50hp outboard....As I have mentioned in posts before, I boat in the NYS Finger Lakes mostly, I took my 15ft on Lake Ontario once,, it was a near calm day, winds less than 5,,,water was flat rolling ribbons...my experience was fine,,,,,that lake is usually not flat water on any given day tho... I took it out on Seneca and Cayuga Lake on "normal days" and loosened my teeth by the constant pounding of the hull on the water....bad experience...

I've now got a 20ft cuddy.... why I ever bought a 15ft trihull remains a mystery to me... small boats are meant for ponds and rivers,, period..... "bigger is better" may not always be the case in life,, as for boating,, it is! few people will argue to the contrary.. as mentioned get a min 18 footer.. 20 would be better... that's my advise to you,,

 

[bonz_d]

I should have explained, I do not plan on venturing out far into lake ontario, in fact I'm very inexperienced with boating and I am afraid of going out there in the deep. If anyone is familiar with Rochester, I live by irondequoit bay and that will primarily be where I boat(which is very enclosed and away from the open water), that and many of the tiny tiny lakes/ponds and rivers around me. I want the boat for fishing and won't be doing tubing or anything and I feel like a small boat would be more manageable for me, seeing as this is my first boat. This will be a bay boat.

Looks as though everyone is missing or ignoring this response to the question and is just focusing on Lake Ontario.

 

[dozerII]

Looks as though everyone is missing or ignoring this response to the question and is just focusing on Lake Ontario.

Yes but he also said he wants to put 3-4 people in the boat for fishing that will be very very cramped for even still fishing and a tangled mess with 4 trolling in a 14 footer.

 

[bonz_d]

Yes but he also said he wants to put 3-4 people in the boat for fishing that will be very very cramped for even still fishing and a tangled mess with 4 trolling in a 14 footer.

And as I've stated here in this thread and elsewhere that I've fished a 14' Lund with 3 adults in it many times and everyone was just fine. Have also stated in this post that 4 in a 14' boats gets sticky but as I recall he also states that much of the time he will be alone. As for myself I would not troll with more than 2 people in the boat no matter what size it is unless of course we are talking about a charter boat.

Look, he's looking for an entry level boat for probably the least amount of money to get out on the water.. Who knows it might be one season and he might decide he doesn't even enjoy boating. At least with this one for most likely $1000.00 he can be on the water and at that price he won't be losing any money on it because at least around here that boat in running condition is worth $1000.00 - $1500.00 every day all day long.

 

[jbcurt00]

Fortunately, varied opinions are good fodder for thought. Super now has a lot of info and various perspectives to help make an informed decision.

Lots of people free climb 1000ft bluffs or BASE jump, more people don't.

Who's to say a 14ftr won't be bought and kept but relegated to smaller waters once familiar w/ it's pros/cons, and a larger boat purchased for bigger water. Many of us have more then 1, Super certainly can too.

I don't know Super, so I'd never presume that he's well versed in small boat navigation of large bodies of water, nor had enough experience at the helm to be able to do it safely in a 14ft boat, solo or w/ 1+ person aboard.

It's been more then 10posts and almost 3 days since Super said Thanks, and last commented in this topic. Perhaps he's made a decision and possibly owns a boat.

Super, buy what makes YOU comfortable boating where and how ever you choose. As a new boat owner, I'd encourage you to err on the side of caution and above all else be as safe as you can. You can always buy another boat, you and your friends/family aren't available anywhere else in the marketplace I'm aware of.

I've never boated a great lake's sized body of water, but have seen (probably done) plenty of acts of utter stupidity that fortunately didn't cost anyone their life, but surely could have:

• Guy in his 30's lost on an inland body of water for more nearly 11hrs overnight in an open bow runabout in dense fog w/ 2 small children under 8. No food, no blankets, no heavy jackets. Overnight temps in the 40's. Out to fish just before dark, adrift and afraid to run aground or out of fuel, so not using the OB, and had NO nav lights lit for fear of running the battery down. They were still out there when we trolled out of the fog at about 7am the next day
• People w/out life jackets in shallow freeboard flat bottom Jon boats and extremely over weight in the dark in HEAVY boat traffic on a swiftly moving river w/ <45*F water temps. There were countless 30ft+ cruisers anchored and underway in the same 1mi stretch of the river. Probably 200+ boats. Once the fireworks were over, 90%+ headed back up river.
• Drunks jumping from boat to boat the same day ^^^ before dark, until 1 fell in. He wasn't in the water 30sec and could barely open his hands and nor raise his arms very high for us to grab him as he attempted to swim, and was going down river past our boat.

IMO, NONE of that was in waters that should be considered dangerous on a regular basis, where countless people lose their lives every year, just based on the conditions, not human error. Most of the examples I listed were mostly people making poor choices.....

Please boat safely and ENJOY whatever boat you buy.

 

[lncoop]

Welcome aboard, Enzo! To answer your first question, sure you can handle a boat, especially the kind you're looking to buy. As to that one in particular, there is no way that boat seats five or six comfortably, and much of the guy's ad is pretty ridiculous IMO. If I were looking I wouldn't even go look at it, but I browsed Rochester CL and saw several in the $1500 range that looked like they'd fill the bill nicely. What's your budget?