Hi folks,
New to the board... have to say, after reading the introductory "Boat Buyer's Checklist", I'm a little overwhelmed, but printed it out a will use it to the best of my ability. I've recently purchased a cottage, and will now move from a 2000 Fisher Pro Avenger (16.5') aluminum with a 75 Merc O/B solely used for fishing to either a Deck boat or a Bow-rider. I've got a couple of kids, so I'm certain I'll be doing some tubing, but also need the flexibility of being able to put a total of 8 people on board to tour the lake and family cruising. First question is specifically about the pros and cons of deck vs. B/R, given my general purposes is one better than the other as they both seem to have that capability (given I'm looking at 20ft B/Rs not 17 - 18ft ones). I'm actually going to look at a couple of boats this weekend and wonder if anyone has owned or is familiar with the models and can provide me some insight. The first boat is a 2008 Starcraft 2010 Ltd Edition Deckboat powered by a 4.3L Volvo, while the 2nd boat is a 2002 Ebbtide Campione 200 B/R powered by a 5.0L Merc (hence the Apple or Orange title - as I realize there is very little similarity). Unfortunately both boats do not have hour meters, so the sellers were unable to provide me those figures. Both sellers have confirmed they've kept meticulous service records and will pass those along. Oh, and the Ebbtide is listed for ~$14,000 and the Starcraft $22,0000 (which makes sense given the 6 yr difference in age). All I have to go on for now is pictures... they both look like they've been taking care of quite well (inside and out)... of course that's just in the pics.
Any feedback or insights would greatly be appreciated.
Cheers,
New to the board... have to say, after reading the introductory "Boat Buyer's Checklist", I'm a little overwhelmed, but printed it out a will use it to the best of my ability. I've recently purchased a cottage, and will now move from a 2000 Fisher Pro Avenger (16.5') aluminum with a 75 Merc O/B solely used for fishing to either a Deck boat or a Bow-rider. I've got a couple of kids, so I'm certain I'll be doing some tubing, but also need the flexibility of being able to put a total of 8 people on board to tour the lake and family cruising. First question is specifically about the pros and cons of deck vs. B/R, given my general purposes is one better than the other as they both seem to have that capability (given I'm looking at 20ft B/Rs not 17 - 18ft ones). I'm actually going to look at a couple of boats this weekend and wonder if anyone has owned or is familiar with the models and can provide me some insight. The first boat is a 2008 Starcraft 2010 Ltd Edition Deckboat powered by a 4.3L Volvo, while the 2nd boat is a 2002 Ebbtide Campione 200 B/R powered by a 5.0L Merc (hence the Apple or Orange title - as I realize there is very little similarity). Unfortunately both boats do not have hour meters, so the sellers were unable to provide me those figures. Both sellers have confirmed they've kept meticulous service records and will pass those along. Oh, and the Ebbtide is listed for ~$14,000 and the Starcraft $22,0000 (which makes sense given the 6 yr difference in age). All I have to go on for now is pictures... they both look like they've been taking care of quite well (inside and out)... of course that's just in the pics.
Any feedback or insights would greatly be appreciated.
Cheers,
