I've been around boats for a long time because I've been on Dive boats
but have never owned a boat myself and have never really operated them
myself. I would like to get a boat that my family of 4 can go out
from Orange County to Catalina for the weekend (23 miles). I would
also like to go out and go diving with a few people. I don't plan on
staying on the boat for more than 1 or two nights. Being my first
boat, I would like to get a used one to help reduce the cost. My
thoughts are to get a 26-28ft with a cabin. First, am I crazy for
getting this size boat as my first one? Also, I was looking at the
Bayliner because the cost is a lot lower than others. The bad news is
that I see a lot of negative feedback for Bayliner boats. I'm looking
for a boat that is seaworthy, dependable, etc. but I don't need the
fancy interior stuff like teak, etc. Any recommendations would be
great. Please email mail in addition to posting on the newsgroup
). Thanks.

Our first boat was a 30 footer. Like you we had been around boats for a long
time but had never owned one.

We did a ton of research before buying, trying to sort out the "bayliner is
crap" sort of advice as well as determining what our needs were (sounds like
you've got the needs part figured out).

I read up a lot on hull design and learned the difference between open water
boats and protected bay boats. And looked around a lot to see what other
people were using and what they seemed to think.

As far as the Bayliner thing goes, there's a lot of Bayliners in my marina
and they seem perfectly fine. We're on the St. Lawrence/1000 Islands area so
none of us are dealing with the type of stuff you would need a Hatteras for.
But it all comes down to your intended use. I'm not familiar with the
boating area you mention so you'll want to see what the other guys are using
and ask them what they think.

Just my 2 bits.



"Diverguy" wrote in message
om...
I've been around boats for a long time because I've been on Dive boats
but have never owned a boat myself and have never really operated them
myself. I would like to get a boat that my family of 4 can go out
from Orange County to Catalina for the weekend (23 miles). I would
also like to go out and go diving with a few people. I don't plan on
staying on the boat for more than 1 or two nights. Being my first
boat, I would like to get a used one to help reduce the cost. My
thoughts are to get a 26-28ft with a cabin. First, am I crazy for
getting this size boat as my first one? Also, I was looking at the
Bayliner because the cost is a lot lower than others. The bad news is
that I see a lot of negative feedback for Bayliner boats. I'm looking
for a boat that is seaworthy, dependable, etc. but I don't need the
fancy interior stuff like teak, etc. Any recommendations would be
great. Please email mail in addition to posting on the newsgroup
). Thanks.

Paul, do you know if the state's pulling in the docks yet for the launches
at lakes like Black Lake? I'm salivating for one last trip up that way....

Gee I don't know sorry. I'm on the Canadian side, I'm guessing you're on the
'murican side?

I'd give my left arm for one more cruise too. The trees are supposed to be
spectacular down there right now.

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
Paul, do you know if the state's pulling in the docks yet for the launches
at lakes like Black Lake? I'm salivating for one last trip up that way....

Yeah...'murican, in Rochester. The twits are pulling the docks at some of
the Finger Lakes already. Nobody told them there's another month to bass
season, and that the pike and walleye are going friggin' bonkers. We can
still get our boats in the water, but it requires hip waders.

"Paul" wrote in message
. cable.rogers.com...
Gee I don't know sorry. I'm on the Canadian side, I'm guessing you're on
the
'murican side?

I'd give my left arm for one more cruise too. The trees are supposed to be
spectacular down there right now.

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
Paul, do you know if the state's pulling in the docks yet for the
launches
at lakes like Black Lake? I'm salivating for one last trip up that
way....

Don't be afraid of a 28-footer as a"first boat." The learning curve for
handling a 28 footer isn't really any longer than for a 21 or 22 footer, and in
a lot of ways the greater mass of a larger boat helps promote stability.

The brand name of the boat you select will be less important than the design
characteristics. Bayliner probably builds both suitable and unsuitable boats
for your purpose....but if you're going to be somewhere under 30-feet size wise
you might want to consider boats that are designed for offshore sport fishing
conditions. In the NW, boats like C-Dory, Skagit Orca and a few other brands
would be worthy of investigation and consideration.

To avoid 2foot-itis, when I decided to buy a boat, I bought
the biggest boat I could trailer without getting ridiculous
(25'). Never regretted that move.
JR

Diverguy wrote:

I've been around boats for a long time because I've been on Dive boats
but have never owned a boat myself and have never really operated them
myself. I would like to get a boat that my family of 4 can go out
from Orange County to Catalina for the weekend (23 miles). I would
also like to go out and go diving with a few people. I don't plan on
staying on the boat for more than 1 or two nights. Being my first
boat, I would like to get a used one to help reduce the cost. My
thoughts are to get a 26-28ft with a cabin. First, am I crazy for
getting this size boat as my first one? Also, I was looking at the
Bayliner because the cost is a lot lower than others. The bad news is
that I see a lot of negative feedback for Bayliner boats. I'm looking
for a boat that is seaworthy, dependable, etc. but I don't need the
fancy interior stuff like teak, etc. Any recommendations would be
great. Please email mail in addition to posting on the newsgroup
). Thanks.

--
Remove X to reply

--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth

"Gould 0738" wrote in message
...
Don't be afraid of a 28-footer as a"first boat." The learning curve for
handling a 28 footer isn't really any longer than for a 21 or 22 footer,
and in
a lot of ways the greater mass of a larger boat helps promote stability.

The brand name of the boat you select will be less important than the
design
characteristics. Bayliner probably builds both suitable and unsuitable
boats
for your purpose....but if you're going to be somewhere under 30-feet size
wise
you might want to consider boats that are designed for offshore sport
fishing
conditions. In the NW, boats like C-Dory, Skagit Orca and a few other
brands
would be worthy of investigation and consideration.



Check with the people on the All Coast Board. They fish and boat the area.
One of the guys has a 24' Sportcraft for sale. Never ridden on one, but do
like the lines.
http://www.allcoastsportfishing.com/...&conf=mainconf
Bill

Hi David,

This is not my area but I have been looking at ~25' boats with a cabin.

I think you need to consider what size you can tow unless you will keep in
on the water?

I would spend some time looking at new boats so you can learn something
about them. I would find a dealer near the area you are planning on boating
and talk to them about something new and used.

I would not get a boat over 10 years old and about 5 years old would be
great. If you are going out in the ocean, you need to learn a lot about
boating and have a boat that is in top shape.

One more thing is that a diesel motor is nice on a larger boat but will cost
more.

--
Bill Kiene

Kiene's Fly Shop
Sacramento, CA
www.kiene.com

"Diverguy" wrote in message
om...

I've been around boats for a long time because I've been on Dive boats
but have never owned a boat myself and have never really operated them
myself. I would like to get a boat that my family of 4 can go out
from Orange County to Catalina for the weekend (23 miles). I would
also like to go out and go diving with a few people. I don't plan on
staying on the boat for more than 1 or two nights. Being my first
boat, I would like to get a used one to help reduce the cost. My
thoughts are to get a 26-28ft with a cabin. First, am I crazy for
getting this size boat as my first one? Also, I was looking at the
Bayliner because the cost is a lot lower than others. The bad news is
that I see a lot of negative feedback for Bayliner boats. I'm looking
for a boat that is seaworthy, dependable, etc. but I don't need the
fancy interior stuff like teak, etc. Any recommendations would be
great. Please email mail in addition to posting on the newsgroup
). Thanks.

"Bill Kiene" wrote in message
m...
Hi David,

This is not my area but I have been looking at ~25' boats with a cabin.

I think you need to consider what size you can tow unless you will keep in
on the water?

Good point. A fishing acquaintance of mine bought a 25' something, without
thinking of how he was going to trailer it. He has a 1999 Crown Victoria
with all the snazzy suspension upgrades, but still, not a car you'd want to
tow with every single weekend. He was about to trade it in for some pig of
an SUV like an Escalade or something, just to tow the boat.

Luckily, his wife slowed him down and reminded him that they only trailer it
about 6 times a year, to move it between lakefront houses owned by their
parents, on different lakes. It sits at those houses for 3-4 weeks at a
time. She called a couple of marinas and found they could get the boat towed
6 times for far less than the cost of putting gas into a fat SUV for three
months. And this didn't take into account driving the SUV around pointlessly
for the off-season.

It may seem like a minor point until you consider that the Crown Vic gets an
honest 24-26 mpg, and something like the Escalade gets 12 mpg on a flat
highway doing 65 mph with the wind behind it.