About to buy a 2020 Sea Ray 19SPX...am I making a mistake?

Docmaster.
Congrats and welcome aboard. I trailered for several years when i had my 19 ft sea ray. As i got older and my boat got bigger it was more of a pain and a fun day on the water can be ruined in the last hour at the ramp. I now have a 290 sundancer and keep it in the slip from mid may to mid oct. You will find yourself spending much more time on her when all ya have to do is park the car, walk to the boat and go. Plus nothing like a nice night out just sitting on the boat at the dock with a drink enjoying your dock mates


That is going to be our plan in a few more years.
 
thank you! We may be getting a slip too. My wife is shopping as we speak. I think we would have a lot more fun and plus my wife can take the kiddos out when I am at work too.

dave
If you get a slip you will never want to trailer again.
You will use the boat a lot more especially “on the spur of the moment”.
I agree with a previous post that sitting on your boat in the evening enjoying the quite time and not having to load it on the trailer is well worth it.
 
Congrats! Lots of fun headed your way!

My trailer came with some guide posts, makes it far easier to put it on the trailer.
 
Th
Docmaster.
Congrats and welcome aboard. I trailered for several years when i had my 19 ft sea ray. As i got older and my boat got bigger it was more of a pain and a fun day on the water can be ruined in the last hour at the ramp. I now have a 290 sundancer and keep it in the slip from mid may to mid oct. You will find yourself spending much more time on her when all ya have to do is park the car, walk to the boat and go. Plus nothing like a nice night out just sitting on the boat at the dock with a drink enjoying your dock mates

Thank you for the kind words! And yes I totally agree with you. I think we will get a lot more use out of the boat if it’s easier to use and get aboard. Luckily when we launched the boat yesterday it was cold and windy so no one was at the ramp. I couldn’t imagine doing that on a Saturday afternoon when it’s 85 degrees and sunny! Funny you mention just sitting in the boat and having a drink, because that’s exactly what I did yesterday while it was in my parking lot. Just sat in it and enjoyed looking at all the cool features.

dave
 
Agree with above. Put the CE Smith guide posts on the back of the trailer and loading will be a snap.
 
So got the boat today. It’s about 45 and over cast. So not the best day. But we took it out anyways! Couldn’t help ourselves! The boat drove amazing. It was everything would could want.

I thought the hard part would be backing it up to launch and then backing the trailer up. Those things were surprising easy. Although getting the boat back on to the trailer...yeah super hard!! Way harder than I thought! Almost drove my boat into a bunch a rocks, couldn’t get the boat centered, and took me about 20 minutes all in. Finally a guy has mercy on me who was waiting to load his fishing boat up and helped me out. It was a major fail! So we will need practice on that for sure. Although now my wife wants to rent a slip now. So we will see what happens! Can’t wait to get out this weekend!

i post some pictures here as well.

Dave

Which ramp did you go to? There are several less busy ramps that would allow more time/practice.
 
Th


Thank you for the kind words! And yes I totally agree with you. I think we will get a lot more use out of the boat if it’s easier to use and get aboard. Luckily when we launched the boat yesterday it was cold and windy so no one was at the ramp. I couldn’t imagine doing that on a Saturday afternoon when it’s 85 degrees and sunny! Funny you mention just sitting in the boat and having a drink, because that’s exactly what I did yesterday while it was in my parking lot. Just sat in it and enjoyed looking at all the cool features.

dave
Change your signature. You aren't boatless anymore!!
 
Dave, congrats on the new boat. I've been watching this thread as you went through all the buying decisions and I think you made a good choice: Bigger than the 19 but with a smaller loan balance you're comfortable with.

The key to success with handling your boat is practice, practice, practice. Anyone can drive a boat up and down a lake in open water. Where you build your skills and confidence is when you're maneuvering the boat to put it on a trailer, approach a dock, or put it in slip. Learn to read the wind and plan in advance for how it will move the boat as you approach the dock or trailer.

If you haven't already done so, please take a boater safety course and do it in a classroom, not online. The exchange of information between the people in the class is invaluable. They'll likely all be from your area and boat on the same lake and can share info from their experiences. If you can get your wife to go with you that will build her confidence also.

I started with a 20' open bow boat and trailered it all the 11 years I owned it. I loved the boat, washed it after every use and waxed it at least once a year. When I sold it it looked just like a new boat. THAT is the secret to maintaining a boat's value and minimizing depreciation.

BTW, I liked what you said about taking the boat out for the first time and what the weather was like. The first time I took mine out it was about 28*, snowing like crazy and I couldn't see through the windshield. I had to unzip my canvas and stick my head out to see where I was going. LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF THAT MAIDEN VOYAGE AND HAVE NEVER FORGOTTEN IT.

Now go have fun with your boat.
 
If you get a slip you will never want to trailer again.
You will use the boat a lot more especially “on the spur of the moment”.
I agree with a previous post that sitting on your boat in the evening enjoying the quite time and not having to load it on the trailer is well worth it.

Agreed with this! I told the wife no matter what size boat we have, I don't want to worry about trailering it. I even hate trailering the jet ski.
 

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