The owners manual that came with my 19' bow rider in 1998 is a generic
runabout book for all small Bayliners. I actually read it the night I
brought the boat home - most runabout owners probably don't. It's very basic
and that's probably all most runabout owners care about..
I'm just upset that I didn't buy the MerCruiser Manuals when they were only
about $30. Now that I do some of my own servicing, the manuals cost over
$70!
This approach to manuals is not unique to boats. My year 2000 motor home
came with a generic manual also, for both Class A and C motor homes by the
same manufacturer. To their credit, they included a big vinyl pocket folder
with manuals from all the equipment manufacturers (water heater, toilet,
etc), and the original manual for the vehicle (mine's built on a Chevy
3500).

"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
ups.com...
Manufacturers can now purchase a "generic" owners' manual, and the
publisher will tweak it to more specifically apply to the specific
product line.

http://ww4.kencook.com/boatbooks/ind...product.search

So what does anybody think? Are the manuals likely to be better than
something individually produced for a specific boat, not as
comprehensive, or will it probably depend on a case-by-case basis?

Do you have an "owner's manual" for your boat? What would you have
liked to find included that wasn't there? Or, do you find it well done
and very helpful?