Help a newbie buy a boat

[grkmec]

I am a boating novice. I have some experience with small jet boats and will be renting sundeck 240's for the remainder of the summer. I would like to use the off-season to research and buy a boat. Here are my requirements:

1) Max price = $200,000
2) I want it to be able to sleep 2 couples
3) It will be salt-water driven on Long Island Sound and Southern New England
4) I would like to be able to comfortably do trips to Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket from Stamford, CT
5) I would like a boat with a fast cruise speed and excellent range. Fuel cost is secondary concern
6) My wife is a bit sensitive to sea sickness so I don't mind paying up for a boat design that reduces getting sea sick

What boat do you recommend, what engines and why? I am open to boats other than Sea Ray, but I need to start somewhere and just found this site.

Thanks and I look forward to all the leaning !

 

[Panchita]

Best bet is a used 2004-2008 340 DA..

We just moved from a 2003 280 DA into the 340. and we love it,,,.

Great cruiser, Big 8.1 Engines, a lot of power,, cruises at 23-24 knots at 3500 RPM consumes 30 GPH approx.
225 Gallon tank gets you around 6 hours with some margin .

Sleeps two couples easy..
Very stable boat in seas up to 4 feet. after that will move a bit but will handle much more than you can.

Easy to manuever, not too big not too small,,,

We love it!!

 

[Panchita]

Correction , consumes around 35 GPH at 3500 RPM

 

[waclark57]

I am a boating novice. I have some experience with small jet boats and will be renting sundeck 240's for the remainder of the summer. I would like to use the off-season to research and buy a boat. Here are my requirements:

1) Max price = $200,000
2) I want it to be able to sleep 2 couples
3) It will be salt-water driven on Long Island Sound and Southern New England
4) I would like to be able to comfortably do trips to Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket from Stamford, CT
5) I would like a boat with a fast cruise speed and excellent range. Fuel cost is secondary concern
6) My wife is a bit sensitive to sea sickness so I don't mind paying up for a boat design that reduces getting sea sick

What boat do you recommend, what engines and why? I am open to boats other than Sea Ray, but I need to start somewhere and just found this site.

Thanks and I look forward to all the leaning !

I think the best advice I can give you is to take your wife and go out and look at boats. There are a lot of good boats out there and you can get a lot for that price range. What you have to determine is what sort of boat fits your needs.

Your requirements are pretty generic. Many boats will meet your requirements and yet they can all be very different. What I like and what you like may be worlds apart.

I think the first step is to determine the type of boat that fits your needs and then look at your options. Sport Cruiser, Sedan style Yacht, Aft Cabin, Pilothouse?

The best part of this exercise is that you get to go out and look at lots of boats. That's always fun, IMHO.