Will it pull skiers and wakeboarders?

[amynbill]

Re: Will it pull skiers and wakeboarders?

There are so many boats on the market right now that if you dumped the 2 jet skiis and looked around, I bet you could find something a little newer and possibly more reliable still within your means.

The replaced floor would scare me off on the purchase, only because of all I have read about boats on this and other bulletin boards is that it USUALLY means the stringers and/or transom isnt too far behind.

The engine will be adequate for your watersports. However, what those who are telling you a 4 cyl is fine arent telling you is it is much more difficult for a beginner to learn while being dragged until the boat finally gets up enough go to get them out of the water and the immense strain on the drive components. Ive been behind 4's and they could barely get me out of the water on a wakeboard or waterskiis. Luckily I was strong enough to hold on and knew how to do both already.

All of us can only give advice, and its easy to spend other peoples money...but I am wondering if by saving just a bit now on this purchase, that you will end up paying way more, or disappointing yourself and family on something that fails.

 

[skid_pl8]

Re: Will it pull skiers and wakeboarders?

It isn't really that much trouble to buy and sell, I do it frequently with ski's and vehicles and other assorted toys. The main issue for me buying a boat is credit, I just don't have enough yet for anyone to want to loan me money to buy a boat. I have plenty of expendable income to afford one but I don't have thousands of dollars just laying around to buy one outright. So it is a unique situation I am currently in. I don't mind one bit buying a boat that I know I will want to upgrade in a year or two at all, even if I bought a bigger nicer boat from the start I would want a bigger nicer one in a year or two anyway I am sure.

You guys do have me worried about the rot now more than before though. Where can I stick an awl in the transom, from inside the engine bay? The back of the boat has 2 seats seperated by a doghouse for the engine. I will have to poke the awl through the glass covering the transom if I am understanding you right? On a side note I can contact the person that did the repairs and ask him what he did when he had it, I don't know him personally so I can't really trust what he says to be absolutely true but if it coincides with everything I find then that would help ease my mind. The stringers have me worried more than anything, I am sure we can figure out one way or another how good the transom is but not being able to check the stringers is kinda going to be an unknown I guess. I have helped put a new transom and floor in an old trihull and I have no desire to have to do that to this boat.

 

[QC]

Re: Will it pull skiers and wakeboarders?

FWIW, I had a 3.0 and it was OK for an experienced slalom skier, but nowhere near ripping the handle out of my hands. Nothing wrong with 3.0's but heed the warnings on the older Volvo's. Great little engines, but the people on here are giving good advice that comes from a TON of experience. Tommays is a very experienced boater and owner and skier, so I would also note that he suggests that these 4 bangers are marginal I will note that I have also got two slalom skiers out with a 3.0, but these were smaller women, patient and experienced.

I never bash engines, even air cooled Briggs and Strattons They are what they are, and they are rated what they are, and unless corporations are lying and cheating on their rating tests, horsepower is horsepower. The fact is, more horsepower, if propped correctly, will get a bigger, and less experienced slalom skier out quicker. I only weigh 160 lbs. and I am a decent skier (was) and I had to use skill to lessen the time it took to get up behind a 3.0. Yes, I coulda gone down to a 15 inch prop and got out quicker, but I am absolutely blown away that some are claiming that getting a 220 lb. skier out from a deepwater start is cake. It isn't. Heck my 5.7 Alpha in a very light 20 footer, struggled a little to get a big and dumb slalom skier out. And that was a 60 MPH boat with great hole shot . . .

 

[skid_pl8]

Re: Will it pull skiers and wakeboarders?

I guess I should say that I don't really have any plans of slalom ski'ing behind it. I would prefer to wakeboard than ski. Anyone else that might want to ski will be on 2 and just be glad if they get out of the water. My best friend used to slalom competitively so he might try, if he can get out of the water and on plane then cool, if not no big deal(he is now more interested in the wakeboard as well).

Can anyone tell me why they didn't use the bow of the boat for storage since it is closed? I have never seen the inside of a closed bow hull so I don't know if there is space in there for anything or not. If there is has anyone fabbed up a door so they could use it as storage?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Will it pull skiers and wakeboarders?

there is usually a shelf, we stored, life jackets, and everything else under there.

 

[skid_pl8]

Re: Will it pull skiers and wakeboarders?

Maybe I just didn't see a port to get in there, I figured there should be one though. Looking forward to getting back out to take a look at it with all the new information I have now. I might just walk away from it and wait for next summer.

 

[oops!]

Re: Will it pull skiers and wakeboarders?

ok bud......

leaving the motor size aside for a bit

bhammers statements are right on.........ask the owner, HOW he replaced the floor.....did he just lay another sheet of wood over the old one?...(if he did, chances are the boat is unsafe)
if he says he dug it all out? ask him how the stringers were?...if he says fine? ask him if he cut the tops off and take a core sample of the foam stringers.
when he placed the new floor in, ask him if he glassed it in, if so with what size matt and cloth. epoxy or poly.

(if he actually did the work.....he will be pleased as punch to explain it to you...happy as a clam to share his hard work with someone.
if he gets agitated.....he didnt do the work and he is mad that anyone would ask so many detailed questions. that means he has no idea about the boat and you need to make a choice to walk or continue to investigate...at that piont i would walk.)

there are some othere suggestions for checking the boat out.....

look in the ski locker.....stick your head in there, take a flashlight and a probe....start picking and probing......

look in the transom area inside the boat, push on the glass, is it soft?
b-liner used a weird paint, to cover the patterns of cloth....this paint flakes badly when wet from behind......if the boat is bad.....there will be signs....

have a look at the alignment of the windsheild, is it true? or a mismatch....a bad mismatch, means structureal weakenss.

i can go on for a long time typing a full list of things to check, but just pm me if you want more.

p.s. im not bashing bayliners.... i own one.! it seems bayliner has changed the way it builds its boats over the past decade or so. one of our guys here, did a review on the new bliners and was super impressed, the 4 cyl did allmost 50 mph!

the new b-liners are really cheap new, and i would expect the dealers to be giving out no intrest deals, just to move the boats....you might get away with 125 dollar payments......just somthing to think about


cheers bud.........good luck.
oops

 

[stevewolverton]

Re: Will it pull skiers and wakeboarders?

Can anyone tell me why they didn't use the bow of the boat for storage since it is closed? I have never seen the inside of a closed bow hull so I don't know if there is space in there for anything or not. If there is has anyone fabbed up a door so they could use it as storage?

What do you mean by not using it for storage? That's what that area is used for. I have enough room for my anchor, battery, 2 12" subwoofers, and my legs (I'm 6'1").

I love closed bow boats. I think they look better than bowriders, but they are much more difficult to enter than a bowrider.

 

[skid_pl8]

Re: Will it pull skiers and wakeboarders?

ok bud......

leaving the motor size aside for a bit

bhammers statements are right on.........ask the owner, HOW he replaced the floor.....did he just lay another sheet of wood over the old one?...(if he did, chances are the boat is unsafe)
if he says he dug it all out? ask him how the stringers were?...if he says fine? ask him if he cut the tops off and take a core sample of the foam stringers.
when he placed the new floor in, ask him if he glassed it in, if so with what size matt and cloth. epoxy or poly.

(if he actually did the work.....he will be pleased as punch to explain it to you...happy as a clam to share his hard work with someone.
if he gets agitated.....he didnt do the work and he is mad that anyone would ask so many detailed questions. that means he has no idea about the boat and you need to make a choice to walk or continue to investigate...at that piont i would walk.)

there are some othere suggestions for checking the boat out.....

look in the ski locker.....stick your head in there, take a flashlight and a probe....start picking and probing......

look in the transom area inside the boat, push on the glass, is it soft?
b-liner used a weird paint, to cover the patterns of cloth....this paint flakes badly when wet from behind......if the boat is bad.....there will be signs....

have a look at the alignment of the windsheild, is it true? or a mismatch....a bad mismatch, means structureal weakenss.

i can go on for a long time typing a full list of things to check, but just pm me if you want more.

p.s. im not bashing bayliners.... i own one.! it seems bayliner has changed the way it builds its boats over the past decade or so. one of our guys here, did a review on the new bliners and was super impressed, the 4 cyl did allmost 50 mph!

the new b-liners are really cheap new, and i would expect the dealers to be giving out no intrest deals, just to move the boats....you might get away with 125 dollar payments......just somthing to think about


cheers bud.........good luck.
oops

I will take all the advice you can give, you might as well put it out here for everyone to see. Maybe the next person in my position will search and find your response. As for the ski locker I didn't see a place to access the interior of the bow at all, I will look again when I go back out there. Checking the windshield allingment is a very good idea and one I hadn't considered, it does have a split windshield that opens in the middle and I didn't try to open it but it looked dead on straight when we looked at it yesterday with no cracks or signs of stress that jumped out at me.

 

[bhammer]

Re: Will it pull skiers and wakeboarders?

Skid,

What area of the country/state/city are you in? You may have posted it, but I missed it.

Some of these old timers here would love to help and go look at a boat for some of the new guys. Shoot, some might do it for free while other's you may have to buy a steak dinner. Not that I am volunteering any one person. I for one would go look at a boat for you if it was semi close to me. I do it all the time for buds that I see face to face. Heck, most of the folks here, I'd jump at the chance to meet face to face and call my friend. I'll need people to come to my cremation years on down the road.

I think you have the point though... You just need to fully understand and check out everything you can before you buy. Oops is exactly right, ask questions as we all love to talk about our boat projects, just ask oops about his restro project and you can't get him to shut up 'bout it. (I just had to say it oops. ) All kidding aside, when I look at boats for friends, I ask lots of questions, the more squirm I get from a seller, the more I ask and the more cautious I become. Good luck and keep us posted. We will need lots of pictures if you buy her...

 

[bhammer]

Re: Will it pull skiers and wakeboarders?

What do you mean by not using it for storage? That's what that area is used for. I have enough room for my... 2 12" subwoofers

Dang, do you get little ripple waves off the bow of the boat with the bass? Bet you go thump de thump real nice with those.

 

[skid_pl8]

Re: Will it pull skiers and wakeboarders?

I live in Bentonville, AR.

 

[QC]

Re: Will it pull skiers and wakeboarders?

I don't know about that model skid boy, but my first boat's bow was completely closed off, no acccess, fuel tank was in there . . .