Newbie looking for advice

[BigReidy]

Hi guys and gals, New to the forum and about to be first time boat buyer, I live in the Gold Coast Australia and are looking to import a good second hand boat from some where on your side of the pond, I am leaning towards a bowrider and have about 18k to spend. I have also budgeted another 7-10k for import costs, I have owned 2 PWC's so I have some experience on the water and we are a family of four looking to spend time on the water cruising and maybe some watersports, I dont want to go much older than 5 yrs, Needing something that'll take about 8 people 4 adults, 4 kids. Will be kept at local marina in dry storage racks so towing is not a consideration, The Broadwater (huge bay off the Gold Coast protected from the surf by islands) is where it will mainly be used, Loads of water traffic (so pretty chopped up) and afternoon winds can make it pretty rough. Putting it out to the experts amongst you for a bit of direction in what my money should be spent on. Something around California area is easiest for shipping to East Coast of Oz but I'm not going to restrict myself for ease of shipping, Thanks in advance for any help and sorry for the long winded first post. Craig.

 

[user64]

Re: Newbie looking for advice

Hello Craig...I'm sure that you will get a lot of good opinions from this forum as there are many experienced boaters here. I can give you a little help based on my experience. Some will agree; some may disagree. Listen to what is said and decide for yourself after youve heard some opinions.
You say that its basically very choppy most of the time. That would lead me to say that you should probably NOT consider anything less than a boat with a 20 degree deadrise. That will help you not get pounded when that chop/breeze kicks up . Im also not sure that a bow rider is the best choice for that type of water (although I understand why the seating would be attractive with the amount of people you intend to carry). I might consider a larger center console with a lot of freeboard (to keep the kids safe) before a bow rider. Again, its ultimately going to be your call, so listen to the suggestions made and do what makes the most sense to you. Good luck.

 

[Starman8]

Re: Newbie looking for advice

Based on your criteria, take a look at the Freedom series from GW

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Newbie looking for advice

Good luck on your search. Out of curiosity, though...How does that cost/benefit equation work?
Couldn't that $7-10K buy you that much more/better/newer boat there? I would think $28K would buy
more boat there than $18K would here. So you're essentially saying $18K spent here buys you $28K+
worth of boat.

 

[BigReidy]

Re: Newbie looking for advice

Good luck on your search. Out of curiosity, though...How does that cost/benefit equation work?
Couldn't that $7-10K buy you that much more/better/newer boat there? I would think $28K would buy
more boat there than $18K would here. So you're essentially saying $18K spent here buys you $28K+
worth of boat.

Down here they are looking for 50k for a 25k boat in the US and as our Dollar is at parity at the moment with the greenback it makes it a very attractive proposition buying in the US and importing
Have a browse and you'll see what I mean, This is just one example.
http://www.boatsales.com.au/boats-for-sale/boatdetails.aspx?R=8150727

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Newbie looking for advice

Down here they are looking for 50k for a 25k boat in the US and as our Dollar is at parity at the moment with the greenback it makes it a very attractive proposition buying in the US and importing
Have a browse and you'll see what I mean, This is just one example.
http://www.boatsales.com.au/boats-for-sale/boatdetails.aspx?R=8150727

Yeah, after I asked the question, I did a little comparison shopping using a 240 Sundeck.
I found the SeaRay that you posted for $32,900 at a dealership here. Little more than half the
price of the one you posted, 2007 SeaRay 210 Select. I understand now.

 

[LippCJ7]

Re: Newbie looking for advice

HOLY COW! $60,000 for a 4 yr old boat! Well I fully understand your ideology now. First I wouldn't stop at 5 yrs old, go to 10 yrs old as in your situation your definitely going to need a marine survey anyway and your likely to find a heck of a boat for $18K to $20K say in the 23'-25' range. You can find the mid to high end makes in that price range, Obviously I am partial to Crownline but Chaparral, Sea Ray, Monterey and a few others but I think those are the top manufacturers you will find in that price range IF you open it to 10 yrs, I don't think you will find many Cobalts in there and I'm probably forgetting a make or two but that will get you started. Get the biggest boat you can afford especially in your situation as when the water gets rough your going to want a boat that doesn't beat you up otherwise the family will quickly abandon you!

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Newbie looking for advice

HOLY COW! $60,000 for a 4 yr old boat! Well I fully understand your ideology now. First I wouldn't stop at 5 yrs old, go to 10 yrs old as in your situation your definitely going to need a marine survey anyway and your likely to find a heck of a boat for $18K to $20K say in the 23'-25' range. You can find the mid to high end makes in that price range, Obviously I am partial to Crownline but Chaparral, Sea Ray, Monterey and a few others but I think those are the top manufacturers you will find in that price range IF you open it to 10 yrs, I don't think you will find many Cobalts in there and I'm probably forgetting a make or two but that will get you started. Get the biggest boat you can afford especially in your situation as when the water gets rough your going to want a boat that doesn't beat you up otherwise the family will quickly abandon you!

Yeah, that's why I was using a 240 and 260 Sundeck for comparison between U.S. and Australian market pricing.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Newbie looking for advice

forget the bow riders; they're for lakes. you want a center console with bow seating--look at grady white, sea hunt, boston whaler. Yamaha outboard. You want one with a good spoon bow, not a "bay" or "flats" boat. Go to the Sea Hunt site and look at the Triton, then compare other hulls there, and you will see what I mean. Once you see what hull/interior options are there, you can look at the used market.
If you want to carry a lot of people and be safe in any conditions consider Carolina Skiff, but they will be bumpy. But bumpy is not the end of the world; just a difference. If it mattered that much, Boston Whaler would not have lasted 50 years!
I've been to the gold coast (have family all over Oz including Noosa) and it's a lot like the southern Atlantic coast. Look at what's popular among experienced boaters there, and follow the lead.
I suspect you are going to have to go through a dealer to get this done.

 

[LippCJ7]

Re: Newbie looking for advice

Ninja did you hear about that dealer in florida (Ithink) that was stealing boats here in the states and sending them over to NZ and Australia? I guess he had a reason! WOW a 4 yr old Sea Ray 210 for $58k thats just nuts! I would have never known there was that big of market over there....$10k(Probably high end) to ship it over there then pay taxes and probably make $5k to $10k profit? Thats a no brainer! Make BigReidy our seller on the other side too! Difference is we would have to buy the boats over here I'm no thief!

 

[BigReidy]

Re: Newbie looking for advice

Thanks for the replies so far guys, All your advice is greatly appreciated, The most popular down here apart from the millions of boats used for fishing are the bowriders and luxury cruisers (not quite in that league yet !), I am trying to stay with the most popular brands down here (sea ray, four winns, monterey, glastron etc) for a bit of dealer backup and support, I'm not keen on buying on something which has no dealer network for the ability to source parts. Also dry storage costs at the marina are detrmined by size so I'm not to keen to go over 24ft LOA, Just to keep my storage fees reasonable, 90 % of the time it will just be my own family on the boat which is just myself, The good lady and 2 teenage daughters. Are Bayliners as bad as I've been told ? (dont know how well informed the people dishing out the advice are) as a 22ft Bayliner 225BR seems like a great buy financially, I know its not going to be of Cobalt quality !

 

[LippCJ7]

Re: Newbie looking for advice

Well Generally Bayliners in the 90's were considered entry level boats due to the quality of the boat and that knock against them has stayed with Bayliner somewhat into the 2000's even though they now certainly appear to me to be much better built boats. So I think if you find a Bayliner you could be happy with down there for a good price you should certainly give it a fair shake. Also I don't take my boat to the Ocean, I'm in Colorado 1500 miles from any ocean so what Home Cookin' says needs to be taken into account. Staying 24' and under is fine but I wouldn't worry about dealers in the least, if your looking at a 5 yr old boat your not going to have a warranty on the boat just the motor and outdrive so as long as you have a Volvo or Mercruiser dealer (which I am positive you do) your fine as they are the only two manufacturers I know of anymore for boats of this size.

 

[GLENN M]

Re: Newbie looking for advice

myself i think bayliner got a bad rap,i like there style.like any boat have it checked throughly before before!laying down any money.if your importing you should find reputable dealer and surveyor.the higher end boats like grady you get what you pay for,and its the type of power you will be servicing not the hull,unless god forbid you put a hole in it!

 

[BigReidy]

Re: Newbie looking for advice

Ninja did you hear about that dealer in florida (Ithink) that was stealing boats here in the states and sending them over to NZ and Australia? I guess he had a reason! WOW a 4 yr old Sea Ray 210 for $58k thats just nuts! I would have never known there was that big of market over there....$10k(Probably high end) to ship it over there then pay taxes and probably make $5k to $10k profit? Thats a no brainer! Make BigReidy our seller on the other side too! Difference is we would have to buy the boats over here I'm no thief!

No problem, save me buying a boat, I can just use whatever you send over till its sold ! great idea. Seriously shipping is about 7k out of Longbeach California into Brisbane and a 10% tax is aapplicable on total of boat cost plus shipping cost. So a 20k US boat will be landed in Oz for 30k which is still going to give a 5 - 10k profit on anything decent.

 

[BigReidy]

Re: Newbie looking for advice

Seen this guys, Any opinions good or bad ?
http://boats.iboats.com/2005-monterey-214fs-bowrider/707761.html

 

[BigReidy]

Re: Newbie looking for advice

How reliable is the Volvo 5.7L V8, Not as much info on the 5.7 as their is on the 5.0L on the net. Thanks.

 

[NYBo]

Re: Newbie looking for advice

Both are rock-solid Chevrolet small blocks. No worries there. It's all in how they are treated.

 

[dockwrecker]

Re: Newbie looking for advice

You're apparently going to buy anything sight unseen and hopefully have a good Surveyor on our side of the pond in hand. I don't see a boat manufacturer's warranty being of much value compared to the powertrain warranty which probably won't exist either. That being said, I'd lean to premium manufacturers using quality components and pray what I bought hadn't been beat to death, and the powertrains favored in your area. I've had both Volvo and Merc, I'm personally disappointed in Merc stuff. But it's all about your local POWERTRAIN support out yonder in Oz. A Cobalt, Chap, Four Winns or Monterey that fits your budget would be my first choice given a passing marine survey. Odds are the little stuff will hold up and keep you happy in the long run.
My .02.

 

[BigReidy]

Re: Newbie looking for advice

Both powertrains are supported within 10 miles of me and the major boat manufacturers are all supported locally also, I am going to organise a survey of anything that I really like the look of, With the Monterey I mentioned in an above post at the top of my list at the moment.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Newbie looking for advice

Seen this guys, Any opinions good or bad ?
http://boats.iboats.com/2005-monterey-214fs-bowrider/707761.html

Good looking boat. I don't have enough experience with Volvo Penta to comment on that.
I actually had a Volvo Penta here, but I didn't own it. It seemed to be a strong running
setup when I ran it, though.