03-10-2006, 08:22 PM
What you have been told only holds true if you are a die-hard wake boarder. There are plenty of excellent boats for under $5k. The Reinell posted here looks like a great boat for $5k. If that is a bit out of your limit, you should easily find something for around $2k. Not as fancy or as big, but good boats.
A few years ago I purchased a 1973 Trihull with a 135hp outboard for $2k. It worked perfectly for several years without any added expenses. Last year the power tilt finally gave out, but it was also set up to tilt manually, so that was fine.
However, last fall we decided to upgrade. As mentioned earlier, condition is far more important than age. I found a 1979 Fiberform that was an original owner from a guy that used to work for fiberform. He had all the bells and whistles put on that were available back then, including remote troll, 9.9hp troller, etc. He only used it for fishing, so the main motor had a whopping 249 original hours on it. It was also stored indoors it's entire life under a custom cover, so the interior was like brand new. The seat material is still as soft as new, too. The boat is beautiful and only cost me $4300.
There are definately some benefits to outboards, and this is my first I/O. The one benefit to I/O is the quiet and power. This one has the 305 V8.
With your boat choice, consider where you are going to use it. If you are on water that can regularly get rough, I would avoid the tri-hulls. That's what my last boat was. They are amazingly stable in relatively calm water, but they are terrible in rough water as they climb and dive with the waves. It can be a bit scary if you are diving into big waves, and you really have to take the waves at the right angles. My new boat is a deep V that cuts right through those big waves.
Now one question. The person posting the boat before mentioned they can mount downriggers where the back seats go. Can you possibly send photos of how you have that set up? That is one thing this new boat is missing and I just started really liking the downriggers on the old boat. This new boat is in just too nice of shape to start drilling the body for downrigger mounts. Also, it has a full storm cover and windows (similar to a Jeep soft top) that the downrigger mounts would get in the way of.
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A few years ago I purchased a 1973 Trihull with a 135hp outboard for $2k. It worked perfectly for several years without any added expenses. Last year the power tilt finally gave out, but it was also set up to tilt manually, so that was fine.
However, last fall we decided to upgrade. As mentioned earlier, condition is far more important than age. I found a 1979 Fiberform that was an original owner from a guy that used to work for fiberform. He had all the bells and whistles put on that were available back then, including remote troll, 9.9hp troller, etc. He only used it for fishing, so the main motor had a whopping 249 original hours on it. It was also stored indoors it's entire life under a custom cover, so the interior was like brand new. The seat material is still as soft as new, too. The boat is beautiful and only cost me $4300.
There are definately some benefits to outboards, and this is my first I/O. The one benefit to I/O is the quiet and power. This one has the 305 V8.
With your boat choice, consider where you are going to use it. If you are on water that can regularly get rough, I would avoid the tri-hulls. That's what my last boat was. They are amazingly stable in relatively calm water, but they are terrible in rough water as they climb and dive with the waves. It can be a bit scary if you are diving into big waves, and you really have to take the waves at the right angles. My new boat is a deep V that cuts right through those big waves.
Now one question. The person posting the boat before mentioned they can mount downriggers where the back seats go. Can you possibly send photos of how you have that set up? That is one thing this new boat is missing and I just started really liking the downriggers on the old boat. This new boat is in just too nice of shape to start drilling the body for downrigger mounts. Also, it has a full storm cover and windows (similar to a Jeep soft top) that the downrigger mounts would get in the way of.
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