Boats and Motorized Floaty Things

[ChrisoftheNorth]

Anyone know anything about boats and other floaty things with a motor? I have no idea, but pressure from the wife has me thinking more about them. We have a boat slip on a bay in Lake MI and I can admit that it would be cool to go out on the water in the summer. I've always viewed them as a waste of money, but a buddy mentioned that a $10k boat is almost always a $10k boat, and they're similar to maintain as a vehicle...just some extra winter storage prep required.

A fast one is probably more fun and usable than a fast car because of the vastness and relative lawlessness in big open water. Would like to seat 4 people comfortably, so nothing huge. It looks like marine engines are mostly car engines, but

[razr390]

I am disappointed this thread isn’t titled Boats and Hoes as made popular by the movie Step Brothers.

[razr390]

I have no boat ownership experience but my dad had a Sea Doo challenger back in the day. We used it very little. Like, 100 hours in 3 years

[ChrisoftheNorth]

I have no boat ownership experience but my dad had a Sea Doo challenger back in the day. We used it very little. Like, 100 hours in 3 years

I've always wanted a Sea Doo jet boat!

[Acid666]

If you need a totally overpowered engine for your undersized kayak, hit me up.

[razr390]

I have no boat ownership experience but my dad had a Sea Doo challenger back in the day. We used it very little. Like, 100 hours in 3 years

I've always wanted a Sea Doo jet boat!

Ignore the crazy decals in the Cayenne. It was a “thing” back then. My dad took an homage approach to the more unaffordable Porsche Design edition Cayenne. When I got the car I peeled the decals off.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

I've always wanted a Sea Doo jet boat!

Ignore the crazy decals in the Cayenne. It was a “thing” back then. My dad took an homage approach to the more unaffordable Porsche Design edition Cayenne. When I got the car I peeled the decals off.

that boat.

[Desertbreh]

Anyone know anything about boats and other floaty things with a motor? I have no idea, but pressure from the wife has me thinking more about them. We have a boat slip on a bay in Lake MI and I can admit that it would be cool to go out on the water in the summer. I've always viewed them as a waste of money, but a buddy mentioned that a $10k boat is almost always a $10k boat, and they're similar to maintain as a vehicle...just some extra winter storage prep required.

A fast one is probably more fun and usable than a fast car because of the vastness and relative lawlessness in big open water. Would like to seat 4 people comfortably, so nothing huge. It looks like marine engines are mostly car engines, but

YES. You should be prepared for far more problems than a vehicle. If you purchase something with newer four stroke outboard that will provide far fewer things to go wrong than inboard/outboard power, which is just a giant mess of shit to break.

[D Griff]

That boat looks pretty sweet, Rudy!

I am personally not about boat ownershit. My also carries the intrigue and I've told her that if she wants one, all of the logistics/maintenance/care are on her, that is a hard from me. Most I know who have owned them seem to us them less and less each year, by year 3-4 they are just taking up space and costing money. It seems to me like kayaks/canoes are the play - better for you, your wallet, the planet, your time, etc. It's kind of like trackdaybro versus cycling... one is terrible and one is good, both are really fun. If you can live without the terrible one, it's best to skip it, but not all of us can.

Alright, I have expressed my negativity... all of that out of the way, boats do depreciate like crazy so you can probably get a great on something older and well cared for. It doesn't seem to me like the experience on a boat from 1995 versus 2021 would be all that different. If I were to boat, I'd be more of a drinking beers on the pontoon kind of guy. There's not really any skill to fast boats so it doesn't interest me much. Water skiing might be fun though?

I've driven a jet ski a couple of times, those are a lot of fun, maybe a good middle ground? THey are still something that, while fun, I feel like an hour on one every year or two is plenty.

Have you considered one of those boat share clubs? Pay a monthly fee and have access to all different kinds of boats whenever you want? My brother used to be a mechanic for one of those companies at one of our big lakes here, it seems pretty ideal but may be

[ChrisoftheNorth]

Anyone know anything about boats and other floaty things with a motor? I have no idea, but pressure from the wife has me thinking more about them. We have a boat slip on a bay in Lake MI and I can admit that it would be cool to go out on the water in the summer. I've always viewed them as a waste of money, but a buddy mentioned that a $10k boat is almost always a $10k boat, and they're similar to maintain as a vehicle...just some extra winter storage prep required.

A fast one is probably more fun and usable than a fast car because of the vastness and relative lawlessness in big open water. Would like to seat 4 people comfortably, so nothing huge. It looks like marine engines are mostly car engines, but

YES. You should be prepared for far more problems than a vehicle. If you purchase something with newer four stroke outboard that will provide far fewer things to go wrong than inboard/outboard power, which is just a giant mess of shit to break.

This is what I suspected and sounds terrible overall.

[Desertbreh]

I have no idea what the engine life on on of those Sea Doo boats is, but if it's like a jet ski/snowmobile, they are throwaway engines.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

That boat looks pretty sweet, Rudy!

I am personally not about boat ownershit. My also carries the intrigue and I've told her that if she wants one, all of the logistics/maintenance/care are on her, that is a hard from me. Most I know who have owned them seem to us them less and less each year, by year 3-4 they are just taking up space and costing money. It seems to me like kayaks/canoes are the play - better for you, your wallet, the planet, your time, etc. It's kind of like trackdaybro versus cycling... one is terrible and one is good, both are really fun. If you can live without the terrible one, it's best to skip it, but not all of us can.

Alright, I have expressed my negativity... all of that out of the way, boats do depreciate like crazy so you can probably get a great on something older and well cared for. It doesn't seem to me like the experience on a boat from 1995 versus 2021 would be all that different. If I were to boat, I'd be more of a drinking beers on the pontoon kind of guy. There's not really any skill to fast boats so it doesn't interest me much. Water skiing might be fun though?

I've driven a jet ski a couple of times, those are a lot of fun, maybe a good middle ground? THey are still something that, while fun, I feel like an hour on one every year or two is plenty.

Have you considered one of those boat share clubs? Pay a monthly fee and have access to all different kinds of boats whenever you want? My brother used to be a mechanic for one of those companies at one of our big lakes here, it seems pretty ideal but may be

In terms of use, we have a boat slip on lake michigan that came with our house that's a 5 minute walk from the back yard. It would live in the water so it could be used whenever, I think we'd get decent use out of it because of this scenario.

What I don't want is something I spend all my time working on rather than enjoying. Plus prepping for winter and storing it sucks. Wife claims it's a better spend of time and money than another vehicle... I'm

Pontoon would be great, a lot of our neighbors have them. But TBH, I'd rather just go down to our shore, paddle around the bay in the kayaks we already have then come back and drink on the dock.

I don't think we have a place to keep jetskis...

[ChrisoftheNorth]

I have no idea what the engine life on on of those Sea Doo boats is, but if it's like a jet ski/snowmobile, they are throwaway engines.

Sea Doo rotax engines seem to be pretty stout and simple to work on, but whether in a boat or jetski, they're the same.

[Desertbreh]

YES. You should be prepared for far more problems than a vehicle. If you purchase something with newer four stroke outboard that will provide far fewer things to go wrong than inboard/outboard power, which is just a giant mess of shit to break.

This is what I suspected and sounds terrible overall.

Its all about what you get out of it. My sister in law in her husband have a 35 foot Sea Ray with twin 4.3 I/Os.... they moor in Huntington Harbor.......it is their entire leisure lifestyle. They spend every weekend on it from May to November, going to Catalina Island CONSTANTLY. BUT. He is the exact opposite of you, mechanically, he can barely reset a GFCI outlet, she's not much better. They just spent 25 THOUSAND DOLLARS on engines/outdrives overhaul. And one engine still leaks oil, that's actually on my freelawyer.com list of things to deal with today. I would argue that it's worth it for them, they LOVE BOATING

KISS. Twenty five feet or less, no stupid shit like onboard toilets, Buy newer, not older and fancier. The whole rule about not buying an old BMW goes to an exponential power for boats. The less shit to break, the better, because ALL OF IT WILL BREAK.

[D Griff]

That boat looks pretty sweet, Rudy!

I am personally not about boat ownershit. My also carries the intrigue and I've told her that if she wants one, all of the logistics/maintenance/care are on her, that is a hard from me. Most I know who have owned them seem to us them less and less each year, by year 3-4 they are just taking up space and costing money. It seems to me like kayaks/canoes are the play - better for you, your wallet, the planet, your time, etc. It's kind of like trackdaybro versus cycling... one is terrible and one is good, both are really fun. If you can live without the terrible one, it's best to skip it, but not all of us can.

Alright, I have expressed my negativity... all of that out of the way, boats do depreciate like crazy so you can probably get a great on something older and well cared for. It doesn't seem to me like the experience on a boat from 1995 versus 2021 would be all that different. If I were to boat, I'd be more of a drinking beers on the pontoon kind of guy. There's not really any skill to fast boats so it doesn't interest me much. Water skiing might be fun though?

I've driven a jet ski a couple of times, those are a lot of fun, maybe a good middle ground? THey are still something that, while fun, I feel like an hour on one every year or two is plenty.

Have you considered one of those boat share clubs? Pay a monthly fee and have access to all different kinds of boats whenever you want? My brother used to be a mechanic for one of those companies at one of our big lakes here, it seems pretty ideal but may be

In terms of use, we have a boat slip on lake michigan that came with our house that's a 5 minute walk from the back yard. It would live in the water so it could be used whenever, I think we'd get decent use out of it because of this scenario.

What I don't want is something I spend all my time working on rather than enjoying. Plus prepping for winter and storing it sucks. Wife claims it's a better spend of time and money than another vehicle... I'm

Pontoon would be great, a lot of our neighbors have them. But TBH, I'd rather just go down to our shore, paddle around the bay in the kayaks we already have then come back and drink on the dock.

I don't think we have a place to keep jetskis...

The bolded is the answer, really.

thinks it's a better spend because she doesn't care about vehicles, that is 100% subjective... but it will be more time and money. I don't see a lot of value in it, but I spend a ton of time and money on track day shit... which is equally as terrible as boating. We all have our thing.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

This is what I suspected and sounds terrible overall.

Its all about what you get out of it. My sister in law in her husband have a 35 foot Sea Ray with twin 4.3 I/Os.... they moor in Huntington Harbor.......it is their entire leisure lifestyle. They spend every weekend on it from May to November, going to Catalina Island CONSTANTLY. BUT. He is the exact opposite of you, mechanically, he can barely reset a GFCI outlet, she's not much better. They just spent 25 THOUSAND DOLLARS on engines/outdrives overhaul. And one engine still leaks oil, that's actually on my freelawyer.com list of things to deal with today. I would argue that it's worth it for them, they LOVE BOATING

KISS. Twenty five feet or less, no stupid shit like onboard toilets, Buy newer, not older and fancier. The whole rule about not buying an old BMW goes to an exponential power for boats. The less shit to break, the better, because ALL OF IT WILL BREAK.

I've never really spent time on a boat to know if it's my thing or not. Agreed on KISS for sure, which is why a seadoo jet boat is appealing...there's not much to them, they're pretty much just big jet skis.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

In terms of use, we have a boat slip on lake michigan that came with our house that's a 5 minute walk from the back yard. It would live in the water so it could be used whenever, I think we'd get decent use out of it because of this scenario.

What I don't want is something I spend all my time working on rather than enjoying. Plus prepping for winter and storing it sucks. Wife claims it's a better spend of time and money than another vehicle... I'm

Pontoon would be great, a lot of our neighbors have them. But TBH, I'd rather just go down to our shore, paddle around the bay in the kayaks we already have then come back and drink on the dock.

I don't think we have a place to keep jetskis...

The bolded is the answer, really.

thinks it's a better spend because she doesn't care about vehicles, that is 100% subjective... but it will be more time and money. I don't see a lot of value in it, but I spend a ton of time and money on track day shit... which is equally as terrible as boating. We all have our thing.

I don't know what my thing is anymore. Just not sure it's boating...

[Desertbreh]

Its all about what you get out of it. My sister in law in her husband have a 35 foot Sea Ray with twin 4.3 I/Os.... they moor in Huntington Harbor.......it is their entire leisure lifestyle. They spend every weekend on it from May to November, going to Catalina Island CONSTANTLY. BUT. He is the exact opposite of you, mechanically, he can barely reset a GFCI outlet, she's not much better. They just spent 25 THOUSAND DOLLARS on engines/outdrives overhaul. And one engine still leaks oil, that's actually on my freelawyer.com list of things to deal with today. I would argue that it's worth it for them, they LOVE BOATING

KISS. Twenty five feet or less, no stupid shit like onboard toilets, Buy newer, not older and fancier. The whole rule about not buying an old BMW goes to an exponential power for boats. The less shit to break, the better, because ALL OF IT WILL BREAK.

I've never really spent time on a boat to know if it's my thing or not. Agreed on KISS for sure, which is why a seadoo jet boat is appealing...there's not much to them, they're pretty much just big jet skis.

For all my negativity, I can tell you that if I lived where you do WITH A BOAT SLIP, there is no planet on which I would not be a boat owner. Your wife will love it it is an entire new world of social interaction. You live on Lake Michigan and you have a boat slip. Buy a fucking boat.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

I've never really spent time on a boat to know if it's my thing or not. Agreed on KISS for sure, which is why a seadoo jet boat is appealing...there's not much to them, they're pretty much just big jet skis.

For all my negativity, I can tell you that if I lived where you do WITH A BOAT SLIP, there is no planet on which I would not be a boat owner. Your wife will love it it is an entire new world of social interaction. You live on Lake Michigan and you have a boat slip. Buy a fucking boat.

This is her argument as well.

[razr390]

I think if you take your time (which you have plenty of with winter) to see what the market is like and make a well-researched decision, it’s worth it just to experience and really find out if it’s “your thing”.

[wap]

Dovetailing with Griff said above, I was also gonna suggest a couple of jet skies, or perhaps better yet, wave runners. They each sit 2, so you and can go out each driving their own, and when you have friends over each couple can ride their own. They're stupid fun, fast, and require minimal skill and storage logistics wouldn't be much of an issue on your property. You could just build/buy a small shed and locat it somewhere on your estate and keep them and their little trailer in it when you're not using them. Otherwise, an pontoon boat for beering on the water would be , IMO.

[D Griff]

The bolded is the answer, really.

thinks it's a better spend because she doesn't care about vehicles, that is 100% subjective... but it will be more time and money. I don't see a lot of value in it, but I spend a ton of time and money on track day shit... which is equally as terrible as boating. We all have our thing.

I don't know what my thing is anymore. Just not sure it's boating...

Mine is more and more becoming cycling which is a much better thing than cars/track stuff, but I don't think I'll ever abandon that either.

Boating is really fun. I am more of a ride in someone else's boat or rent one occasionally kinda guy, but I will stop raining on Infamous's parade. As Rudy said, it can't hurt to try it out. You can always it, if you make an informed decision, you can get out only having lost half of your ass.

[Desertbreh]

I think if you take your time (which you have plenty of with winter) to see what the market is like and make a well-researched decision, it’s worth it just to experience and really find out if it’s “your thing”.

Agreed

[max225]

Are we talking sail or motor ? I have some sail boat experience.

[Desertbreh]

Are we talking sail or motor ? I have some sail boat experience.

eco-boy. Ricky Bobby needs to go fast.