What were your reasons for changing boats?

[Fasterblaster]

I understand that 2 more feet seems to make sense but what really is the reason you change boats. I've noticed ownership progression that goes a little like 200 BR to 220 or 240 Sundeck to 260 DA....

I've had my 2003 200 BR for 2 months. First boat. I love it. Love the openess, love the sunpad, but I'm already thinking about a change.

We live in Vancouver. When we decided to get a boat, we went with a trailerable boat that we could take to the interior lakes. Those lakes are 5-7 hours away with a car load of kids, which is a lot of effort. Thats only going to happen 2-3 times per year.

The reality is that we can pull the boat out of the garage and be in the water in 30 minutes for lazing on the water with a cold beer. We have the Gulf Islands and Georgia Strait at our back door. But a 45 minute trip in water that wasn't really rough water a couple of nights ago had my wife thinking that 45 min trips are too long. So then i starts to thinking.... am i about to fall into the 2footitis trap?

We are mostly daytrippers and don't plan to sleep on the boat, but i guess its possible. I'd still like to pull the boat out of the salt and have the option of taking it to the lake(s). A stable smooth ride is really important though. So is running economy. I don't think we would spend any time in a cabin.

I had already picked out my next boat (220 Sundeck) before i picked up my first. then i started thinking, maybe a 240 or 250 BR, but now i'm thinking, wow, those 260-280 DA's are nice boats; they probably ride really smooth, maybe i should have one of those.....

anyways, i ramble on, but i'd love to hear your thought processes on this game.

 

[Asureyez]

Bigger is better

I started with a plaster's mud box and went to a 46 footer ...

Some are forver happy with a 20 footer and a ski rope, others with a pontoon affair.

For me, I've alway wanted to be at sea ... and when I see a horizon over the water ... I want to go there and see whats over the edge ...

That wandrerlust by water has taken me to larger boats with larger carrying capacity for my stuff and my comforts.

At 46 ft. I'm done size wize. I'm happy with the overall size. i might change to a differetn design to better fit the goals of sea keeping, carrying capacity and range ... but the mid 40's is a cool size for me.

 

[goblue]

I got tired of fixing leaks and having to run a genny to keep the TV and fridge going when on the hook which we do a lot. Also got tired of canvas. The new boat has a hard top and most things run on 12 volts. We run the genny for a short time to keep the ice maker fresh and the water hot for showers. This set up is perfect for the way we boat.

 

[Morpheus]

I got the 240SD as our first boat last October '06.

Kinda of an impulse buy for us. They had a sale at a local Costco (they being MarineMax) where they had a 220SD on display and on sale. After some debating on it we went down to the Marine Max store and looked at the other boats where we liked the space of the 240SD more. So we put a deposit down and told them we wanted to wait for the boat show to see our options.

After we looked at our options at the boat show compareing the same size boat from other manufactures we picked the 240SD (long story on the awsome price we got).

At this point we have decided we want something in the curiser series. Something we can go farther in and stay over night in. We like how the 310DA is laid out so we will probably end up buying a 1 or 2 year old 310DA or something betwee that and a 400DA

Don't get me wrong our boat is awsome but there are trips I'd like to take where first off we don't have the range we need to get there and secondly we can't really spend the night comfortably on our current boat.

 

[Tallahassee240Sundeck]

Fasterblaster...

I am with you... just need to wait for the Admiral to get it. Bought a used 240 Sundeck - what a wonderful boat - great up and down the rivers, out in the Gulf of Mexico - but I am eyeing something like a 280 Dancer - A/C and the amenities to keep the kids occupied while the wife and I enjoy sunsets and such just seems appealing. But the question is can I trailer a 9.5 foot beam or will I be docking it at the gulf?

 

[Sundancer]

We spent two years in a 14 foot old fiberglass fishing boat and wanted more. Jumped up to a 19 foot cuddy cabin and after 13 years jumped to a 250 DA. The jump each time was because the four of us had outgrown the boat. The same holds true this time, we just need more space for Jr. and another occupant that snores! The four of us all need our own space!!

We've been trying to find a 31 Hunter blowboat, but haven't had much luck. We decided that there are a lot of old power boats for sale and we might have to take a look to see what is out there. We'll probably jump to a 290 or 310 depending on what is available. We found a great Hunter this morning, but it's a newer 31 so it has 2 feet of "swimstep" so it's actually smaller than the 1988 era 31 footers we've been trying to find. It has to be trailerable, I think we're covered there. We just have to find the "right" boat. If we buy a sail boat we'll keep our Sea Ray. If we go to a larger power boat, I guess we'll have to sell it. :smt089 :grin: Time will tell! My only requirements are FWC, hotwater, shower and wheel steering (if it's a sail boat!).

 

[Pakmule]

We were spoiled and started off in a 1984 225SRV. It never had a problem for the four years we owned it. We started getting sick of bashing our knees and trying to figure out who was going to be in the cabin and how we were going to reverse who was in the cabin. In short we wanted more space so that we could stay out on the lake for longer.

We bought the 1987 270 that looked very clean and a survey backed that up. In short, it is evil and wants all my money.

Our next boat which I am looking for right now is most likely going to be a recent 270 or if I can swing it a recent 280 280. I will now trade some footage for reliability.