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(John) wrote in message om...
"Brian Newman" wrote in message ...
I am in the process of looking to buy our first boat. We have looked at the
Four Winns Vista Series (238 and 258) , the comparable Sea Rays and also
Regals. We will be using it in the CT River and in Long Island Sound. I
have a couple questions:

1. Do you think that this cruising type boat is something we should work up
to instead of buying it as a first boat?

2. While the Four Winns and the Sea Rays are comparable price wise, it
looks like you can get a great deal on Regal. I am talking about $20,000
range for the Regal vs. $30,000 for the Four Winns and Sea Rays- Is it worth
spending the extra money on more expensive boats?

3. If anyone has any buying tips - (I know to have the boat/engine
inspected and to test it in the water) what else should I be aware of in
buying this first boat.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

The best advice I can give you about a first boat is to keep it small.
Go with a 20 or 21 footer, learn how to handle it, figure out what you
really want in a boat from this one. And don't spend a ton of money on
it, you are going to bump into things with it as you learn. If you run
it up on ground it'll be that much easier and cheaper to get it going
again. Keep it for two seasons and then look for a larger boat. At
that point, you'll know better what kind, and brand, boat you need.
You'll be an educated buyer at that point. And your best bet is a used
boat, big or small, they just loose too much in depreciation to
justify a new one, let someone else take the hit for you.

That's pretty good advice.
I started with a 17' Runaboat. Within 6 weeks we moved up to a 24 foot
Cuddy and 6 weeks later a 32 foot Express Cruiser. All boats were
brand new and I didn't like any of them. I found I was always standing
up to drive because I wanted to feel the wind and NOT look a
windshield.
NOTE: Snapping all that canvas gets REAL OLD REAL FAST.
Now I have an old, 1975, but beautiful restored 32 foot Egg Harbor
with a fly bridge, sliding glass door into the cabin
area........minimal canvas. Ahhhhh.
After losing about $60,000 experimenting, I now have what I want.
It was an expensive lesson.