First time buyer - Need advice on used boats

[Toto7SC]

Step one is completed. We bought a used 2004 Nissan Armada Platinum with 120.000 miles yesterday. Towing capacity is about 9.000 lbs. This way I don't have to worry about pulling too much weight or loading up the car with too much weight. I want peace of mind.

Now we just have to find a boat but we won't rush anything. I am still favoring a pontoon although we looked at a deck boat that my wife really liked. The nice thing was that it had a 150 HP motor on it. I'll keep you posted.

 

[drrpm]

I bought my boat 10 years ago when my daughters were 14, 11 and 7. I chose a 20 foot bowrider with a 5L Mercruiser V8 and it has worked out well. Most of the time we go out the girls bring some friends so it nice to have a little extra space. Also, coolers, tubes, etc. take up space and while I have an electric air pump its a hassle to fully deflate the big tubes. Having V8 power is good for pulling skiers or 2 tubes.
As far as storing the boat, I rent a shed that's about 2-8 miles from several boat ramps on Lake Thurmond (Clarks Hill). Which one I use generally depends on which friends we are meeting as some do the concierge thing at the marina. I usually leave about half an hour before my wife and kids as I have found that its more efficient for me to pick up and launch the boat and they can load the coolers and gear at the dock. At the end of the day they head home and I put the boat back in the shed and rarely get home more than 10 minutes behind them. Once you get the hang of launching, retrieving and backing the trailers into the shed it goes pretty quickly.