I know this is the wrong place but I am not going to risk going over to
rec.boats to ask.

My son and his girlfriend are living in Tampa on Pelican Island and are
making noises aboput buying a boat. He wants something he can fish on near
shore outside the bay and she wants a plush runabout to play with on the
inside. They have about $15K to play with and are asking me, a confirmed
rag, man for advice.

Is there a boat that will make them both happy? Is a stern drive a better
choice than an outboard?

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

On Sun, 28 Nov 2004 01:40:33 -0500, "Glenn Ashmore"
wrote:
I know this is the wrong place but I am not going to risk going over to
rec.boats to ask.

My son and his girlfriend are living in Tampa on Pelican Island and are
making noises aboput buying a boat. He wants something he can fish on near
shore outside the bay and she wants a plush runabout to play with on the
inside. They have about $15K to play with and are asking me, a confirmed
rag, man for advice.

Is there a boat that will make them both happy? Is a stern drive a better
choice than an outboard?
================================================== ====

As Harry points out, the combination of plush runabout and fishing is
a serious compromise. There are tons of Florida boats out there
however in that price range. I just did a quick YachtWorld search for
Florida powerboats between 20 and 24 feet, and between $10k and $20K.
The search popped up over 6 pages of hits including this older Grady
White in St Petersburg:

http://tinyurl.com/538w6

Note that the transom on this boat needs to be rebuilt, a common
problem with older powerboats. Rot in the stringers and cockpit
floors is another big issue.

The question of outboard vs I/O largely depends on storage. If the
boat is stored in the water, I/Os are more suceptible to corrosion
issues and are expensive to rebuild. Maintenance and fuel are big
cost issues also. I've been running my older 24 ft I/O 10 to 20 hours
a month for the past year since we moved to Florida. Monthly gas and
maintenance costs average in the $600 to $800 range. Big maintenace
issues have included things like risers and manifolds; rebuilt
cylinder heads; starter motor; I/O shaft seals; plus a lot of little
nickle and dime stuff.

Do not go with a stern drive in sal****er. you will live to regret it. Go with
an out board, 4 stroke, small center coucil. Yamaha or honda are best. Go used.


Sterling

"Florida Keyz" wrote in message
...
Do not go with a stern drive in sal****er. you will live to regret it. Go
with
an out board, 4 stroke, small center coucil. Yamaha or honda are best. Go
used.


Sterling


Totally agree. Stern drives are a nightmare in salt water. Too many moving
parts and the cast aluminum doesn't hold up.

Check Dave Pascoe's web site. However, I don't know if he goes into power
this small.

Bill

LOL!

Well put!




Glen, first thing, who's going to pay for this boat? If your son's
going to pay for it he should by the boat he wants, not what his
girlfriend wants, girlfriends come and go. If he buy's what she wants,
and they break up, he's stuck with a boat he doesn't want. Second
thing, 15K isn't going to buy much of a "plush runabout". If you want
an inside that's big enought to play in your talking about a much more
expensive boat. The girlfriend's thinking big bucks, if that's what
she wants have her get out her check book when it comes time to pay
for it, and have her name on the loan as well if they take one.

I've seen guy's get screwed in deals like this, tell him to buy what
he wants, if she doesn't like it, tell her he'll see her when he gets
back from fishing.