Hello all, been lurking around for while and finally decided to join up. From what I've seen this is a great place for information with a lot of good people! which shouldn't be a surprise given the friendly nature of the boating world. That being said I hope you will all forgive me for asking what I am sure has been asked a MILLION times over by new members. The question is what boat should I buy.... Don't worry I have more information. First of all I am not new to boating... not really anyway. I have been on boats and around them my entire life. My family has always had a boat and a couple of years ago I bought my first boat myself. 96 crownline 18' bow rider, I love that boat dearly! Problem is life has changed, and I now find myself wanting/needing things that the current boat just can't do. I started looking around and honestly was a bit overwhelmed with the number of boats and brands and options out there! As I said I am not "new" to boating, however I am new to looking for boats. In the past my father always did the boat shopping and he was always just looking for value. He never bought a "cheap" boat but also never believed in paying for something he didn't NEED in a boat. Low hours, well maintained, enough power to pull skiers and tubers and reasonable price. That was his search criteria and it served us well. At the time it was just the 5 of us. My parents and the three sons. Now we are all grown, have kids of our own and our boating habits have changed drastically. the old crownline and rinker are still getting the job done but they're is room for improvement. ALL that being said I now have myself, my wife, and my son's boating priorities to take into account along with the yearly trip to the lake with the whole family. Now before I begin the list please understand that I am aware it is impossible to get a boat that would cover ALL things. Just looking for peoples input, opinions, suggestions etc. on something that might straddle the middle a bit. SO..... For starters I'm looking to be in the 20'-24' range. I personally love sports cars, motorcycles, and such so I enjoy a sporty boat with some power! I don't need to be the fastest boat on the water by any means but I do enjoy getting up and moving! If it was just me Id be looking for a Crownline LPX just love the way they look and sound. However, my son loves tubing, and LOVES long boat rides. He would sit in the front and ride for a week straight if he could. Him and the wife also LOVE pulling up to the beach and hanging out at the back of the boat. we spend time on the river during the summer but the boat's main use comes on our trips to the lake (2-3 times a year for 4-8 days at a time) The lake is large and can develop some decent chop from time to time. Its no place you want to get stuck in a boat that doesn't handle chop trying to beat a storm back to the dock! So basically in a perfect world I would like to find a boat that, can pull skiers and tubers, handles chop at least decently, has a good comfortable lay out for longer day trips, has a large swim deck off the back, a walk through transom would be awesome... .and on a selfish note I would love a boat that has enough power to make it fun to drive, and has a sporty kind of look to it.. maybe Captain's call exhaust.... oh and it HAS to be an open bow. My wife and son would kill me if they couldn't sit up in the bow. is that too much to ask!? lol Anyways, thanks for listening to the same old question once again. let me know what you guys think. Whats your favorite boat in that size range and why. Oh yeah as far as price...... I don't think I could ever pull the trigger on a brand new boat but for the right boat I could PROBABLY get the boss lady to go for 20-30k.... maybe... lol
