Thinking of upgrading

H

hostage

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May 4, 2010
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I have a 19ft Maxum Cuddy and it gets to the point where I wish I could have a couple more people on it. My towing vehicle is 4500lbs max, though I am thinking worst case I could always rent a tow vehicle for a day or two if need to tow it any where. I have owned my cuddy for about 4-5 years and this is my first year slipping it. I see a lot of other people are fine slipping their boats w/o even owning a vehicle that can tow. Anyways most of what we do is go out into the bay, anchor and hang out. I initially bought it for skiing, though up until this year I didn't have many friends who skied/wake board. I would like to move away from the cuddy as the space is all but useless. I am wondering if a direct drive boat like the Moomba would be a better buy as it seems to have a lot of room, is meant for skiing/wakeboarding, and what I am is hoping less maintenance as there are no bellows. My only worry is this boat doesn't seem as geared up for lounging. A good friend of mine bought a new boat and that kind of got me itching for a new one. I am looking at the 21-23ft range and don't want to spend too much money on gas. Granted I only fill up 2 to 3 times a year. My budget is about $20k and the last thing I want is a new boat as I would cry the first time i scratched the gel coat. Any suggestions? On the other hand my wife likes to relax, maybe a cabin cruiser wouldn't be a bad idea to look at, it might also be better for diving.

Edit: After thinking a little further now I am leaning more towards an aft cabin cruiser. Seeing how little I ski and a friend of mine has a ski boat made me think about this further. Do cruisers suffer from the same v-hull wonder that my cuddy does at slow speed? I am thinking of something that I could use for the Erie Canal, on the bay, and exploring lake Ontario. How is gas on them? We don't mind going out to the dock and just hanging out in our slip for some reason or another. Also I love cooking food myself, so this also might be a better option.
-Hostage
 
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oldjeep

oldjeep

Admiral
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May 17, 2010
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6,455
More people and direct drive do not compute, I assume you mean a V-drive. In that case then yes tons of space. If you actually mean a direct drive, too low to the water and no space inside.

20K would be tough but you may be able to find some early - mid 90's boats for that in the 21-23 ft range.

Mine is a 20ft and has a ton of space for lounging as well as a good ski wake. We won't talk about fuel usage or price.

In your price range I'd be looking for a bowrider, some of the 20ft+ ones have semi wrap around seating and could be found in your price range and not be 20+ years old.
 
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H

hostage

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May 4, 2010
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I was looking at this boat: http://rochester.craigslist.org/boa/4557073894.html Also I have been looking at a few cabin cruisers. I am worried that the skiboat won't be as comfy and I won't ski as much as I want. We are a little interested in campers and are thinking of a cabin cruiser we could explore ontario, erie canal, and maybe diving. I do like grilling outside, though I dont know how viable that is on a boat. We do seem to hang out on our boat and I do have a friend that has a ski boat if I want to ski
 
thumpar

thumpar

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Jun 21, 2007
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6,138
I am not a fan of the "engine in the middle" boats. It cuts up the space. Look around at different layouts. My 20' has a capacity of 12 people. The beam is wide. It is all about they way it is designed.

The bowrider would probably be the best idea. In warm weather the cuddy gets hot unless you have AC so not much relaxing there. Get a bowrider with the filler cushions. It makes a lot of space for the wife to relax.
 
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