Is a 1989 230 Sea Ray the right idea?

[Always Learning]

Hi All,
Firstly apologies in advance for any naivety/stupidity...

We are fair weather boaters with growing boys, and have enjoyed several seasons with our 'entry level' 2006 175 Bayliner on our local lake tubing and wakeboarding. This summer we started to feel the limitations as kids bring around their 150lb friends so I started to browse Craigslist. Now, we do not have a boating background (actually pretty solid land lubbers admittedly). I've changed the alternator, starter motors, oil etc on our cars but am not brave enough to go tinkling in the boat, so Im cautious about taking on too much but we definitely need more power as the 135HP isn't cutting it anymore.

I just searched in a price range (wasn't sure what I was looking for) and a 1989 230 Sea Ray caught my eye: cabin was cute, 260HP is double what we have, and 230 isn't a huge jump up in regards to towing and handling. I saw very little else in the price range ($6-10k) (probably due time of year) so unable to really get a feel of other options. I've gone through quite a few posts in here but hard to get a feel for uses/costs. So...

Our primary use is towing teenagers. Is the 230 a good fit for this?
We are limited mechanics. Will the 230 or any bigger boat mean a huge jump in mechanical bills? Or is it something I can learn quickly (neither of us have down time to spend in garages though).
The cabin option seems a plus: place for younger kids, out of the sun etc. Does the novelty wear off? Could we really use it to overnight anywhere? Over rated or useful? Would I miss the open bow?

Any other options I should be researching? Unfortunately unless you're looking at brand new ones its hard to compare.

Any advice much appreciated, and if this is the wrong section let me know too:smt100.

Thank you!
Emma

PS: Will definitely be getting a survey but the 230 is $6500 cash price (end of season and posted out of town), always under cover, professionally maintained, 400 hrs on engine, salt water use, photos show excellent condition. Interested in feed back on price for Washingtong (googled this model and seems to vary around this mark).

 

[mwph]

What part of the U.S. Are you in? The cabin of a 230 is nowhere teenagers will want to be when the temp is 94 & the humidity is 90.
Two adults may overnight on a 230 but start adding teenagers & yes, the novelty will quickly fade.
Changing the starter on some boats requires engine removal. Not trying to scare you off but....just investigate.

We love our boat. It fits our current boating style. That's what you have to determine first. Your intended use. The next boat you look at imagine you, your passengers and all the needed gear onboard. The space & configuration in more important than length & horsepower.

Just my opinions. Hope it helps.

 

[Always Learning]

What part of the U.S. Are you in? The cabin of a 230 is nowhere teenagers will want to be when the temp is 94 & the humidity is 90.
Two adults may overnight on a 230 but start adding teenagers & yes, the novelty will quickly fade.
Changing the starter on some boats requires engine removal. Not trying to scare you off but....just investigate.

We love our boat. It fits our current boating style. That's what you have to determine first. Your intended use. The next boat you look at imagine you, your passengers and all the needed gear onboard. The space & configuration in more important than length & horsepower.

Just my opinions. Hope it helps.

Good points, thanks. Our new boat would need to accommodate a family of 5 casually, for heavy duty tubing, so main priority is having power to tow heavy things, for more than an hour without emptying the tank. (Our bayliner got a heap of hours, and would go the whole day without a refuel). It has to withstand sporting teams on long summer days (from lake beach to tube, not on boat, just has to be comfy for a few parents spotting). And next year we'd like to do some 4th of July type outings... I guess enough room for a few coolers really. No fishing planned, or off coast adventures.

Im not removing any engines . How often do starters go in boats? Our 3.0 Mercruiser is a very simple engine. At what size do they start getting complicated? The most industrious I got with any maintenance was rewiring the sound system after several years of use loosened the tower... we caught it mid fall but not before it severed speaker wires. (I now tighten before and during every outing.). Oil changes and preseason checks are done locally though they guided me through the "very complicated" winterizing process ("pull these tubes here, put this in gas, disconnect this battery/place on trickle charge..."). Given this is all we've dealt with, how steep will the change in maintenance be for a bigger boat?

 

[edd0100]

Hi Emma

I've been boating all my life. Every time I get a different boat its a new adventure. No dumb questions (seriously).

Going from a 2006 to an '89 will amount to a bigger annual cost for you. Things just start breaking more often at this stage. Also, the primary question (if it were me) is what can I do with this boat that I can't do with my Bayliner? Even if the boat is bigger, if there aren't more seats or accommodations, you're not gaining anything. Sounds like you know what you want to do with the boat. MWPH is right, the kids don't stay down below long. Will you have 6 (almost) full grown bodies at the back of the boat?

Keep an eye out for the bigger problems for boats of this vintage. Rotted wood stringers and engine compression come to mind. Good idea to have a survey done. If you're mechanically inclined and do your homework you can probably handle a good part of the maintenance work. Repair is another story. I'm doing some work on my boat now and was surprised to find that, even though I can do the work, I can't physically fit into the space... surprise. Lots to consider. My brother just surveyed an '89 230 with 300 hours - beautiful spotless boat. Turned out it needed a major engine overhaul because the boat wasn't properly winterized. The compression on the middle cylinders was 40 pounds less than on the outside.

There are a lot of choices out there. If you're like me it's hard to resist a boat at what seems to be a great price. Just keep in mind that there lots of them out there. Also, they are less expensive for a reason.

Hope this helps. Good luck!
Ed

 

[takemboating]

Are you going to be towing it? My 2001 230 weighs 6600# with some skis and 1/2 tank fuel. I don't know how that compares to a 1989 230. I have always owned open bow boats for the extra space. Most important, check it out and have fun!

jv

 

[Always Learning]

Are you going to be towing it? My 2001 230 weighs 6600# with some skis and 1/2 tank fuel. I don't know how that compares to a 1989 230. I have always owned open bow boats for the extra space. Most important, check it out and have fun!

jv

Ah, thanks, yes that leads to our next consideration... It will come home every night and we don't have the luxury of a dedicated tower. Our SUV shouldn't do more than 6600lbs (rated 7700lbs). I don't have the figures off the top of my head but we established that the 230 COULD be towed, and we're only a 10min drive from the lake, but I wouldn't enjoy not feeling I had ample tow capacity. If we found a boat we loved we would consider upgrading the SUV too realistically.

Which leads to the next point- we are heading up to take a look this week. If we love it we can go from there .

 

[Always Learning]

Hi Emma

I've been boating all my life. Every time I get a different boat its a new adventure. No dumb questions (seriously).

Going from a 2006 to an '89 will amount to a bigger annual cost for you. Things just start breaking more often at this stage. Also, the primary question (if it were me) is what can I do with this boat that I can't do with my Bayliner? Even if the boat is bigger, if there aren't more seats or accommodations, you're not gaining anything. Sounds like you know what you want to do with the boat. MWPH is right, the kids don't stay down below long. Will you have 6 (almost) full grown bodies at the back of the boat?

Keep an eye out for the bigger problems for boats of this vintage. Rotted wood stringers and engine compression come to mind. Good idea to have a survey done. If you're mechanically inclined and do your homework you can probably handle a good part of the maintenance work. Repair is another story. I'm doing some work on my boat now and was surprised to find that, even though I can do the work, I can't physically fit into the space... surprise. Lots to consider. My brother just surveyed an '89 230 with 300 hours - beautiful spotless boat. Turned out it needed a major engine overhaul because the boat wasn't properly winterized. The compression on the middle cylinders was 40 pounds less than on the outside.

There are a lot of choices out there. If you're like me it's hard to resist a boat at what seems to be a great price. Just keep in mind that there lots of them out there. Also, they are less expensive for a reason.

Hope this helps. Good luck!
Ed

Thanks Ed appreciate that!

And yes, the low price made me balk a little. Definitely room for an extensive survey. And yes, repair vs maintenance is very different. Its the repairs that I am more worried about, you're right.

I've seen nothing to warn me off the 230 so far (no high maintenance areas especially) so gather its boat specific. I hope your brother found out prepurchase? Ive added rotted wood stringers and engine compression to my radar.

In answering your body size count, realistically parents won't be spotting in a few years, and they wont fit on the tube forever so perhaps just wakeboarding and a few passengers afterall. In which case, maybe the bayliner will come back in to its own. Thanks for the question, it did make me think. At least Im not feeling I have to grab this one, sounds like I've got plenty to think about and still learn. Realistically Im not desperate to increase my responsibilities but I'd like to not guess weight combinations next summer . But then again, having the whole team over might be fading out too.

Im going to keep looking around and see whats available under $10k, if anyone cares to recommend a boat that fits and is a step up I'd be glad of the guidance for sure.

Oh, the cabin vs open bow: generally people sit at the back, we don't tend to use it much so I was wondering if the cabin could be used by us or kids on summer overnighters maybe, or food storage (we've given up carrying food on the bayliner, no where to store it and just gets messy).

 

[Whistlerwilly]

Hi Emma,
I just sold (today) my very first boat...a 1996 23' Sea Ray Signature cuddy with 410 HP and it was more than enough power for tubing, wakeboarding etc. Now that my kids are well into their 20's, we're opting for a 1989 30' Weekender. Time to forgo the power for more comfort! We appreciated the cuddy for the few overnight stays that we took every year and for the storage but otherwise it was never used.

 

[Dancer Dave]

I pulled tubes around the lake for years with an 88 17.5' Glastron bowrider, 3.0 Merc with little trouble. 5 teenagers and myself on board and that little 3.0 had no trouble planing or achieving 35 MPH (GPS), and as you said, very good on fuel. To get there, I switched to a four blade prop and always kept a few bodies up in the bow. Getting a wake boarder up took a little more time, but it would do it.
If I were to do it all again, I would definitely buy another bowrider, but would look in the 20 foot range to get a V8 in the upper 200 HP area.

 

[MMcCawley]

I realize this isn't necessarily an apples-to-apples comparison but growing up my parents had (and still have) a 1978 Sea Ray SRV220. It's been an amazing boat, small enough to not be a hassle towing yet large enough to fit our family of four. Growing up we would go camping on Catalina (~30 miles off shore of Southern California), camping on Lake Powell, Havasu, Mojave, Mead, even towed down to Cabo and the Gulf of Mexico for fishing. The cabin wasn't huge but large enough to sleep my parents. My brother and I would sleep on the main seats which folded down into a bed. You could actually fit another 1-2 people on the stern bed above the engine. In my opinion, a great layout. I learned to waterski and wakeboard on the boat. Plenty of power with a 351 Ford yet fuel efficient enough to cruise around and pull skiers without dreading the fuel bill. While the older boats will likely have more maintenance there's something to be said for their simplicity. We've rebuilt the engine and stern drive on this boat a number of times.

Now that I have a family of my own, including 5, 3 and 1 year old daughters, I opted for a slightly larger boat (1989 268 Sundancer). While I love the boat, it's more difficult to tow, consumes more than twice the fuel, has more "systems" on it requiring maintenance, and not as nimble. That said, with 4 women in my family I figured it was best to err on the side of caution and get something with a little more amenities so that our vacations were a little more enjoyable for them.

I hope that's helpful. Good luck with your search, I'm sure you'll be happy with whatever boat you end up with.

Blessings,
Matt

 

[War Eagle]

A 230 is a fun boat - the boys will love it! But on this age boat - a really good survey is absolutely essential. There is a lot of wood in these boats and it is subject to rot if water has gotten to it. Engines and out drives require - no "DEMAND" - regular maintenance - and a boat that won't run reliably is absolutely a "hole in the water ....".

Quality time with the kids might be worth more than you think!

One last thing - check that trailer - make sure it fits the boat if you are gonna tow it. May just be camera angle but the chine look awfully close to the fender to me?? (as for tow vehicles - its not how much it will tow - rather how much it will STOP!) :grin: