The Good and the Bad about your current boat

So we are all boat owners and have dealt with deciding what features we want and which we will compromise on. You start looking at boats, you build a list of what you want in a boat - then going through the process - most often there are compromises.

What are you really happy about your current boat?

What is it you wish was different?

I will start off.

The good:

We love the layout and storage. The fact I can go below to the crew quarters and engine room without climbing a ladder, through a door in the transom. I am tall (6'3), I can stand up in the crew quarters and the engine room. Walk down between the engines standing up. Like the engines (MTU's). Could go on - but overall this is a great boat.

The Bad:

The draft. I have a solid 6ft draft. Guess that is the trade off of standing up in the engine room. I manage it, do ok - but draft is big time consideration, especially in the area where we keep the boat.

Next boat - will probably be willing to stoop over a bit - but definitely want a shallower draft.


So, what have you learned from your current boat that you will factor in on your next boat?

The good:
Small enough that I can move it off the lake to storage myself (we have a 5 month season). Big enough for me and the wife to be comfortable in style! And, it's almost paid for!

The bad:
I want a bigger boat with a separate shower, and a bed that I can approach from both sides.

I bought the 370 venture used about a year ago. love love love it!!!! only flaw is slightly underpowered. I wish it could hold plane at a little slower speed. i'm in Stuart, florida. mike

The good: It's the single handling sweet spot. Big enough to accommodate 2 couples overnight or 10-12 people for a day run, but small enough to get into shallow gunkholes and run by myself.
The bad: It needs diesels. I have run a 370 with 3116s and it is a completely different helm and feel. It needs 2 heads. Oh yeah, that's the 40.

I fell in love with the 420/44 when I first saw a new one coming into our marina in 2003 and I still love it today.

The bad:
The main berth is tight, has a low ceiling and is difficult to make. I also wish there were port holes up there. Given the choice of the low ceiling or giving up the sexy profile of the boat I'd still go the way Sea Ray did.

FootballFan said:

The Bad:
The draft. I have a solid 6ft draft. Guess that is the trade off of standing up in the engine room. I manage it, do ok - but draft is big time consideration, especially in the area where we keep the boat.

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Your boat is killer but I hear you on the draft. Most of the folks I tie up with have similar drafts except our one friend who has a big older Chris Craft with a 5' draft and can never tie up with us. Ticks his wife off to no end.

The good: The 460DA is the perfect boat ... almost. It does have 2 separate staterooms, 2 heads & showers, washer dryer, great galley and almost full size fridge. The cockpit is awesome and the 6ctas are rock solid and make maneuvering easy (with bow and stern thrusters)
The bad: If the master was mid ship with a walk around bed I believe that I may keep this one forever.

Our medium term plan is to complete the great loop, so I want a mid master stateroom. I also want to get back to the coast to re-familiarize myself with tides, currents, channels, etc. so I'm ready to move to a different boat.

FootballFan said:

The Bad:

The draft. I have a solid 6ft draft.

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Holy...

All's Well said:

The good: The 460DA is the perfect boat ... almost. It does have 2 separate staterooms, 2 heads & showers, washer dryer, great galley and almost full size fridge. The cockpit is awesome and the 6ctas are rock solid and make maneuvering easy (with bow and stern thrusters)
The bad: If the master was mid ship with a walk around bed I believe that I may keep this one forever.

Our medium term plan is to complete the great loop, so I want a mid master stateroom. I also want to get back to the coast to re-familiarize myself with tides, currents, channels, etc. so I'm ready to move to a different boat.

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Love the 460. I believe I’ll be in one in a couple years

Good:
Fuel Consumption
Cruising speed
Mechanical 6CTA's
DIY Preventive Maintenance ease and cost
Engine room and access to everything
Size - for cleaning and maintaining - no flybridge
Holding value and demand is strong
Two bathrooms - separate shower

Bad:
Blue hull
No Hydraulic swim platform
No bow thruster - never a problem until this year, new marina
Small aft cabin for adult guests
Wife wants Hardwood in salon, New cockpit floor covering, New Dingy and a bigger boat

Blueone said:

Good:
Fuel Consumption
Cruising speed
Mechanical 6CTA's
DIY Preventive Maintenance ease and cost
Engine room and access to everything
Size - for cleaning and maintaining - no flybridge
Holding value and demand is strong
Two bathrooms - separate shower

Bad:
Blue hull
No Hydraulic swim platform
No bow thruster - never a problem until this year, new marina
Small aft cabin for adult guests
Wife wants Hardwood in salon, New cockpit floor covering, New Dingy and a bigger boat

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Everything that Blueone said, and I'll add.....

Good:
Head room in cockpit & salon. My son is 6'4" and he has no problems

Bad:
There is a traffic pinch point at the helm. If someone is sitting in the seat next to the helm, it is tight squeezing by them. Also, I'm not a fan of the 2 piece door system going down to the salon.

Jaybeaux

The Good:
Love the bridge
Slow cruise when not in a rush or hop on plane at 22kts still won't break the bank at the fuel dock
Tons storage (but naturally could always use more)
Love the hydraulic platform
Get a kick every time i fire up the 6CTA's
Love lounging in the salon and having full views of our surroundings
No more CO alarm going off with diesels
Dual heads with separate showers
130 gallon water tanks
Bow and Stern thruster
Space in the forward master is great
No more duck horn - kids are not embarrassed to hit the horn after the fireworks[edited:"i'm not embarrassed"]
Love the classic lines - most think she's way newer than she is

The Bad
View of the platform from the bridge when sterning in
Access to port motor - however haven't really tackled maintenance on that side as yet.
Dreading removal of the bridge enclosure for winter storage

The good:
It's small
Fun to run around in
Easy to work on
Paid for years ago
Fits in indoor dry storage
I think it still looks and runs great even at 20yrs old

The bad:
It's small - can really get beat up on LKN on a busy weekend.
No head - the girls don't like that.
I think a 25ft ish bowrider with a head may be my end boat.

Crownline here but here we go:

The Good:
Love the seating and layout
Love the amenities our 1986 SR didn'thave such as AC and pump out head
Love that I can tow it anywhere (brand new trailer too)
Love the smoothness and agility of the B3 drive
Love the walkthrough windshield
Love it has a TV....lol
Love that it rides over waves so much smoother than our old boat
Love the it has electric engine hatch

The Bad:
Hate that because it has electric engine hatch it doesn't open as far so it is cramped in there
Hate that I have had so much trouble with it this year (old fuel and water in it issues)
Hate that I owe money on it...lol
It is a little tight in the cabin but can't expect much from a 25' boat
Hate that there isn't much storage but that is a trade-off for having lots of comfortable seating

I've been looking at (lusting over, obsessed with?) the Back Cove 34 for years. Finally got one 2 weeks ago. I'm getting used to it.

The good:

• Room for 4+ to sleep. An island berth, convertible settee, convertible dinette. Space was becoming a major problem to sleeping out on the 270 AJ.
• Pilot house with full glass. Basically is an all-weather boat. Don't have the same weather-related visibility limitations of my old AJ or the same worries about weather windows on a trip.
• 27-28 mph cruise. I can get where I want to go reasonably quickly.
• Single inboard diesel engine. Less maintenance and fuel burn than twins. I can cruise at 27 mph burning 17 gph. Less maintenance than outdrives. And it's diesel.
• Handling and acceleration. They are are amazing. My son wasn't holding on tight enough when I went to full throttle; the turbo kicked in and he slid from the helm next to me all the way into the aft cockpit. Bow and stern thrusters are a huge game changer - makes everything easier. The boat handles chop and larger seas very well - it muscles through seas that would have made the AJ have to slow way down and/or very uncomfortable.
• The head: full standing height with a separate shower. No more stooping over or wet toilet.
• Engine access. The whole helm deck lifts up for engine access. With the lone engine I can easily access all sides of the engine and all the mechanicals.
• Build quality. It's very high.
• Draft. with a prop tunnel she draws 3' 1", about the same as the AJ.
• Value preservation. Back Coves seem to hold their value very well.

The bad:

• Storage is not as good / copious as I expected. In some ways the AJ was better in terms of mass storage. The BC has a lot of small storage spots, where the AJ had couple massive areas like the cockpit sole locker, the aft trunk, and the fish cooler. I think this might be largely a function of the inboard design.
• Island berth is hard to make.
  
• No cup holders in the cockpit. Really?
• Hard top separates me from the open-air boating experience. It offers WAY more more protection, but it's not the same wind-in-your-hair sensation.
• It seems like the electric head uses WAY more water than a vacuflush system.
• The acquisition cost. It's an expensive boat. And it's not paid for yet.
  
• It's not a Sea Ray.

copb8tx said:

I fell in love with the 420/44 when I first saw a new one coming into our marina in 2003 and I still love it today.

The bad:
The main berth is tight, has a low ceiling and is difficult to make. I also wish there were port holes up there. Given the choice of the low ceiling or giving up the sexy profile of the boat I'd still go the way Sea Ray did.

Click to expand...

copb8tx said:

I fell in love with the 420/44 when I first saw a new one coming into our marina in 2003 and I still love it today.

The bad:
The main berth is tight, has a low ceiling and is difficult to make. I also wish there were port holes up there. Given the choice of the low ceiling or giving up the sexy profile of the boat I'd still go the way Sea Ray did.

Click to expand...

I love the lines of your boat. Seems very timeless; Sea Ray got it right. Sitting on my new boat last weekend I commented to my wife how much I liked the one that just pulled into the harbor; she hit me.

1989 268 Da 7.4 Bravo one
The Good;
Paid for

Single engine lower maintenance,fuel costs
Robust Drive
Trailerable at 8.5 ft beam
Easy enough to run single handed while managing 2 wee kids
Great amenities and plenty of berths for us plus a couple guests
Big cockpit area for a small boat

The Bad ;
Single screw for docking is a challenge in a breeze
Narrow beam always adjusting tabs for passenger movement
A little small for a tender on Davits we use an inflatable advanced elements kayak on deck.
Helm bench seat makes it awkward to move from the helm if there are people sitting beside me
Rode locker is too shallow for a good drop from windlas
Tamboure doors I am not a fan.

Things I will consider for next boat
I'll probably keep this one forever but if I bought another will probably move up to a 32 or 34 of the same erra and go for an inboard. The kids are only going to get bigger

THE GOOD
Visibility from the bridge. Both for navigating and watching sunsets and marina activity.
Ability to be high off the water looking down (at coral heads) while poking around anchorages in the Bahamas was priceless.
Near 360 degree views outside while sitting at the dining table.
Bridge boat that can clear all the bridges on the western Erie Canal without doing more than 20 minutes to lower the easily accessible radar pedestal.
Plenty enough storage that we can live on it continuously for months and there is nothing out of place or cluttered.
Two full heads with enclosed showers and enough storage for everything an admiral needs
to keep her rigging in shape. How many curling irons and blow dryers do they need anyway?
The older all mechanical Cummins engines with conventional shafts. There isn't any maintenance item or trouble shooting exercise on them that can't be done by an average owner, once they are shown how, if they so choose.
The Onan genny, knock on wood, it's been a breath of fresh air after the two other brands I've had on other boats.
The bow thruster, for traveling to different marinas while dealing with unfamiliar tidal currents, it's great. We may not need it, but because of it we never have concerns about sterning into an unfamiliar slip.

THE BAD
The engine room is a little cramped. It's a double dose of advil and removing unrelated equipment to get to a few things, but it's all doable.
The swim platform is really low to the water. When we sit on the platform with our feet in the water, our butts get wet from minor boat wakes. Admiral's not a fan. I'm not either when the air temperature is 80 and the water temperature is 50!
The stairs to the bridge. They are of no concern to us, at least not now, but when we have guests on board everyone gravitates to the bridge and I am always saying "careful on the stairs" when they leave after having a few beverages. But that's just part of having a bridge boat.

We have had this boat 6 years and I'm not sure if there will be a next boat. We had this one for sale briefly a couple of years ago and were looking at older (1995 - 2005) trawlers and motor yachts
but after seeing the condition of those boats, realizing what it would take to bring them up to a decent standard, and reviewing the service records (not that service wasn't done, it was seeing all the stuff that goes wrong with most boats) we quickly decided to keep ours. We're updating a few things now and we'll see how it holds up for a few more years.

I have only good to say about the 370 we currently have.

Good:
decent interior including head for a 28
Plenty of power
blue hull
Right side for rack storage
Bad:
fuel capacity is too small - limiting cruising ability
single helm seat - seat on portside is too low so my wife has to sit on extra cushions to look out
Stern in docking - limited visibility at best on the portside.