Wayne,
There is only ONE boat that will meet your needs. All the rest will just be
a compromise.
http://tinyurl.com/crcxa

The builder has the ideal combination of quality and value.





"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
OK, Let's get some serious boat discussion going (per Chuck's end of
year challenge).

The time has come to replace our ancient 24 ft I/O cuddy.

Here are the specs:

Maximum 26 ft LOA (not counting the swim platform).

Max beam of 8 1/2 feet.

Must have an enclosed head and some minimal galley and sleeping space.

Must have a better than average ride through a chop, preferably best
of class for a 26 ft cabin boat.

Must have reasonable speed, capable of cruising at 24 to 26 kts in
good conditions.

Must have a reputation for decent quality and resale value.

Anchor windlass preferred.

Our leading candidate so far is a Sea Ray 260 Sundancer. Being a bit
of a traditionalist, I'm not particularly in love with Sea Ray's
styling, but it's less offensive than some, and the boat seems to fit
in most other respects.

Suggestions?

Smithers one of 1000's wrote:
Wayne,
There is only ONE boat that will meet your needs. All the rest will just be
a compromise.
http://tinyurl.com/crcxa

The builder has the ideal combination of quality and value.

You're right about the "value" observation. At $53k it's relatively
affordable, and for many
weekend boaters it will prove to be as much boat as they will ever
need. No, it won't blow away boats that sell for 30, 40, or 50% more in
a tough head-to-head comparison test- but it remains true that you get
a lot of bang for the buck with one of these. Philosophical question:
Is a casual boating family as well or better off with a boat large
enough to provide a comfortable (and adequately safe) cruising platform
that may not be built to offshore standards as they would be with a
"better boat" substantially smaller for the same money?

Sometimes I think that a family is at least as well off in an
"adequately built" 26-footer that meets their needs as they are in a
bullet-proof 19-footer that doesn't. 75-90 percent of the boating done
in the US is probably done in freshwater lakes.

Is it the right boat for Wayne? Probably not fast enough or the best
possible choice in choppy conditions.

On 20 Dec 2005 17:05:28 -0800, wrote:

Is it the right boat for Wayne? Probably not fast enough or the best
possible choice in choppy conditions.

=========================================

For $7K you could option it up to a 350 Mag MPI with a Bravo 3
outdrive and probably get some performance out of it, but at only 17
degrees of deadrise it would shake your fillings out and probably
damage the boat in short order. Fuel capacity is only 75 gallons, not
really enough for a bigger engine, and air conditioning (mandatory
here) is another $3K, windlass $1.7K.

With over $12K in mandatory options the price is still low but it's a
totally unsuitable boat for around here. They just don't hold up in
sal****er and Florida sun. Even the best made boats require a lot of
TLC to keep them up to spec.