On Sat, 01 Sep 2007 07:30:50 -0500, John H.
wrote:

Tom, put on your boat knowledge hat for a minute. I'm being offered a Key
West, 18', CC, with the Yamaha 4stroke 150 HP and aluminum trailer for
about $28K.

A Scout, with the same engine, etc, would run about $4-5K more. Are they
worth it?

I prefer the Scout over the Key West in that size boat. Very similar
to my Ranger in terms of fit and finish, it's fairly well thought out
for a smallish CC and the general build quality is better. Which is
not to say that Key West boats are junk - they aren't. In my opinion,
Scout pays a little more attention to little things. And I'll be the
first person to admit that I can be very picky.

In terms of specs, they are almost identical. Minor changes in
deadrise and draft, weights are similar and performance figures per
Yamaha are identical. Nice wide beam on both boats. Layout is
similar with a slight advantage to the Key West in storage and access
to storage.

Styling, I like the Key West over the Scout. Performance, I'd have to
give it to the Scout if only because of the bracket system they use
for the outboard which effectively adds 6 inches in length which
improves performance given the same engines.

My personal experience with Scout is a friends 205 CC which is a very
nice boat. Personal experience with a Key West was 196 Bay boat which
had some features I liked, but I was turned off by some things that
others would consider minor or non-issues. Like I said, I can be
picky.

So, given that, it's your decision. If you want similar performance,
proven quality and pay less, it's Key West. Not a bad choice.

On the other hand, pay more, a slightly better quality boat (in my
opinion), similar performance and pay more, it's Scout. Also not a
bad choice.

For the record, I still think, dollar-for-dollar, Polar is the best
boat out there in this size center console.

And now, I'm going to detail my Ranger and maybe fit in the
Princecraft in between mowing/trimming three lawns.

WHOO HOO!!