On Wednesday, February 27, 2013 12:13:44 AM UTC-4, thumper wrote:
On 2/26/2013 9:18 AM, F.O.A.D. wrote:

On 2/26/13 12:08 PM, True North wrote:



Trouble is the dealer had the 18 and 20 foot Xcalibur models next to

my 16 model at the boat show. That 18 would have been a good

compromise for an extra $5k, but I would have had to buy a better tow

vehicle right away.

Also saw the ComPac Sunday Cat sailboat. A bIt pricey at $26k

including the trailer and mooring cover but it had me dreaming.



Back in the day, about 75% of the runabout style boats my dad sold were

in the 14-16 foot range, with 25-40 hp max outboards for use on Long

Island Sound, which can get quite choppy. The last few years of his

dealership, he switched to Merc outboards and every manufacturer started

to offer larger boats that required larger engines. But the smaller

boats are still popular on the Sound. I still see lots of 16-footers

every summer when I visit Connecticut, although they tend to be plastic

rather than aluminum.



As a young kid I spent some very happy hours on my dad's 16' Thompson.

This is as close to it as I could find.



http://tinyurl.com/amkjkdj



The motor was an older white Mercury 60hp and it felt pretty fast at the

time. I remember he literally ran circles around one of his friends

once just to rub it in.


Those old wooden runabouts sure we're pretty.
A neat model was listed on the local Kijiji at a very modest price but I was nervous about upkeep.