Reflections after One year a boat owner

[dmanmtl]

A little late here but I wanted to share some of my thoughts after having owned a boat for 1 season.

Last May I purchased a 2004 Bayliner 175 (3.0L, Alpha drive). The boat was in great shape, I took it for a test run and it ran like a charm. So I decided to take the leap, bought it, towed it home and the season was under way.

Most of my boating is done in Lake St-Louis off the shore of Montreal ? this lake is basically a widening of the St Lawrence river between the Lachine Rapids and power dam/islands in the west. It?s a nice lake, the fishing is great but gets very shallow in the most bizarre places. I was lucky enough to secure a spot at a little fishermans marina to leave the boat while not in use. The marina has individual slips for each boat and is pretty secure. Well worth the $400 for the season and sure beat towing, waiting in line at the ramp, hoping for a parking spot etc.

The boat came with a nice bimini, almost new as well as a travel tarp. One thing I did not plan for was a custom snap on mooring covers ? I was under the impression I could pick one up on the internet or at some marina but boy was I wrong ? the set of 2 covers ended up costing me $600 and took 2 weeks to make. The fit well though and the boat stayed bone dry while not in use.

If I were buying a boat just for me (and my son) I probably would have picked up a nice princecraft or some other fishing boat make with a big outboard on the back. But I compromised due to the fact that my wife wanted something the whole family could enjoy?tubing, cruising etc.

Another surprise to me was how choppy the lake actually can get and how a small boat like this gets batted around in the wakes of 30 foot yachts and other big waves. I had been out with a buddy lots of times in the past but his big aluminum pricecraft was much more stable than m little bayliner. Didn?t take long for me to realize when not to venture out and how to ride the wakes.

We also took the boat to one of our favorite campgrounds that has a super boating lake. This was almost a disaster due to the fact that the launch was sand and I tow with a Sienna (less than ideal) ? there was no way the boot was going in the water far enough to come off the trailer with my sienna ? thankfully a great guy offered to launch it with his Ford ?Raptor? ? I think I know what I need after the sienna. He was also around to pull it out for us. We burned up 4 tanks of gas in three days.

I spent a lot of time agonizing over an I/O or an Outboard ? I don?t want to turn this into a discussion about which is better but it seems to me like the I/O requires a lot more maintenance. I am currently contemplating my spring maintenance. I will do the impeller since I have no idea when it was changed but now also wonder if I should change the output shaft bearing, bellows etc?There seems to be a fair number of potential fail points on this sort of setup compared to an outboard?Winterizing is also a lot more of a pain with an I/O than an Outboard.

I will probably keep this boat for one more season, see how much we use it and then upgrade. I would like something a bit larger and possibly an aluminum fishing style with an outboard. One thing I do know is that for anything bigger I will need a bigger/more suitable tow vehicle. This is something important to keep in mind.

I figure we have about 3.5 more months before we can put the boat back in the water?

Some pics attached sum up much of our first season....

 

[ssobol]

Re: Reflections after One year a boat owne

Re: Reflections after One year a boat owne

I tow my 22' C-Dory with a Sienna and don't have any problems launching or retrieving, but I also have only used paved ramps.

Perhaps the tongue on your trailer is not long enough. When I had to get a trailer for my 16' RIB (about the size of your Bayliner), the boat vendor said specifically to get a long tongue trailer.

 

[dmanmtl]

Re: Reflections after One year a boat owne

Re: Reflections after One year a boat owne

Never had an issue on a paved municipal ramp but some of the smaller lakes at campgrounds around here have sand or gravel ramps. Also, in some cases the slope is not ideal - ie: you have to back too far into the water to get the boat to float off and the sienna is very low in the back even with my airlifts fully inflated.

 

[airshot]

Re: Reflections after One year a boat owne

Re: Reflections after One year a boat owne

Yep the OB vs IO argument has been going on for years, it all depends on what you are doing and how much you have to spend. I had OB all my life until a few years back and bought a bigger boat with an IO. The fuel savings alone made me glad I chose the IO but you are correct it has much more maintainence. There are plus and minuses for each just depends on what you use it for. You are learning that you have to pick your launch ramps carefully with the tow vehicle you have, just another part of the boating game.

 

[wrench 3]

Re: Reflections after One year a boat owner

If you don't know the history on the bellows I would be inclined to change them and get a fresh start. The Gimbel bearing can be inspected by pushing in and rotating it. It should turn smoothly with no rumble. However if you buy a transom reseal kit for the bellows and gaskets, they usually include the bearing.

 

[carey965]

Re: Reflections after One year a boat owner

its funny i bought my boat around the same time as you and it is fairly similar boat only mine has a 4.3

but ya i would agree with you about the i/o vs o/b i wanted an o/b when i bought mine but got too good of a deal on my i/o and couldent be happier with it, the impeller is easy to do and surprisingly cheap, i think it cost me about 60 bucks for the parts

but i would also agree with doing the bellows, better to be safe then sorry

also being up in quebec you should give bon echo a try, its only a couple of hours from you and is a awesome boating lake, it averages about 200 ft deep and can get up to 400, so no worries on hitting anything

 

[dmanmtl]

Re: Reflections after One year a boat owner

its funny i bought my boat around the same time as you and it is fairly similar boat only mine has a 4.3
also being up in quebec you should give bon echo a try, its only a couple of hours from you and is a awesome boating lake, it averages about 200 ft deep and can get up to 400, so no worries on hitting anything

We have been to Bon Echo a couple of times - Great campground, only had a kayak on that lake and I don't remember there being man or any power boats - but it's been a while. Maybe it's time to revisit. How's the launch?? Thanks for the tip.

D

 

[carey965]

Re: Reflections after One year a boat owner

they have 2 launches, they aren't the worst i have been on the main 1 is mostly concrete and on a pretty shallow angle so the sienna should be ok, i have seen lots of power boats there, generally by the beach you will see a bunch lined up, had a great time skiing there back in sept, water was a little cold but because it was the off season we were the only ones on the lake

its actually a really cool lake, as soon as you leave the lagoon near the main launch if you have a depth finder its cool to watch it go from 5 feet deep to several hundred in in a matter of feet, make sure you walk up mazinaw rock, it has some awesome views

 

[JimS123]

Re: Reflections after One year a boat owner

I know nothing about foreign vehicles, so I had to google Sienna to see what it is. From the description, it sounds like it a capable tow vehicle, i.e., 3500 # capacity.

In my case, I don't tow with an SUV or a pickemup truck, but rather an ordinary old auto-mobile....like a regular car! I have used ramps as bad as you described and I can't say I have ever had a problem anywhere.

They key is a capable trailer. When you said "float off" you gave it away. Switch to an all roller trailer, or better yet an all roller tilt bed, and you'll find out what trailer boating is all about. Besides, a new trailer would be much cheaper than a new tow vehicle.

 

[Captain Caveman]

Re: Reflections after One year a boat owner

The pictures say a lot....and nice walters there. I hope they tasted good.

You probably had the best first season that one could have asked for - no major mechanical issues, you didn't hit anything major, and your marriage is still intact!

Airshot was spot-on regarding I/O vs OB and you seemed to make a smart choice about not launching when the conditions weren't right. Good luck in the future.

 

[Starcraft5834]

Re: Reflections after One year a boat owner

Nice pics, looks like you had a good first year.. upgrade? a 20ft would be prudent.. big difference when wind is up a bit.. towing one,, I've got a 20ft cuddy, GMC Sierra long bed w 4.8 liter has no problem.. My first boat was smaller,,, a few outings in the wind one quickly learns.........beating vs comfort...

 

[thumpar]

Re: Reflections after One year a boat owner

Nice pics, looks like you had a good first year.. upgrade? a 20ft would be prudent.. big difference when wind is up a bit.. towing one,, I've got a 20ft cuddy, GMC Sierra long bed w 4.8 liter has no problem.. My first boat was smaller,,, a few outings in the wind one quickly learns.........beating vs comfort...

That is similar to my scenario. We had our old boat (in sig line) for 7 years. On busy lake days we would get beat up. The new boat is 20'2" with a wide 8'6" beam. We tow with a 2003 Suburban with the 5.3l.

If you do the bellows change the shift cable too since you will be in there. I did the whole transom seal kit on my old boat by myself.

On the I/O vs OB subject. I agree there is more maintenance but if there is a real issue with the motor most any auto shop can work on it because it is pretty much just a truck motor with a few different parts for freshwater protection. I do all my own work with no problems.

 

[briangcc]

Re: Reflections after One year a boat owner

The St. Lawrence River can really whip up, sometimes for no apparent reason other than the right direction of wind. Those times you just sit back and enjoy the scenery...this coming from a 19'6" I/O boat owner. Really not much you can do about it as I have seen some major white caps on the river that I wouldn't venture out in unless I was in a laker.

As for your issue with sand ramps, I understand completely. My family used to vacation on Baptiste Lake in Bancroft ON. Sand ramp at the campground we stayed at and on a couple occasions my family's station wagon got trapped in the wet sand. I remember having to unhook the boat trailer from the car, put a 1" rope between the car and the trailer, and carefully walk the trailer up the ramp that way. Not fun, not safe, but I'm here to tell the tale. **This was with the 15' MFG, no way I'd try that with my current I/O.

Last time I was there, I launched and retrieved all my extended families boats as I had a '95 Pathfinder 4x4. Plenty of power to do what we needed and I soaked the rear hubs on that SUV doing it.

One thing on the aluminum boat...it'd pound you to death in waves. There will be naysayers but I've had the opportunity to compare rides in my 17'6" Bayliner Capri 1800LS vs. my uncle's same sized Sylvan and the rides are night/day different. His pounds in the waves - teeth jarring. What's nice about aluminum is the weight savings as you go up in size - which is good for towing. So that Sienna of yours can probably tow a 20' aluminum boat without maxing out.

 

[crabby captain john]

Re: Reflections after One year a boat owner

The St. Lawrence River can really whip up, sometimes for no apparent reason other than the right direction of wind. Those times you just sit back and enjoy the scenery...this coming from a 19'6" I/O boat owner. Really not much you can do about it as I have seen some major white caps on the river that I wouldn't venture out in unless I was in a laker.

As for your issue with sand ramps, I understand completely. My family used to vacation on Baptiste Lake in Bancroft ON. Sand ramp at the campground we stayed at and on a couple occasions my family's station wagon got trapped in the wet sand. I remember having to unhook the boat trailer from the car, put a 1" rope between the car and the trailer, and carefully walk the trailer up the ramp that way. Not fun, not safe, but I'm here to tell the tale. **This was with the 15' MFG, no way I'd try that with my current I/O.

Last time I was there, I launched and retrieved all my extended families boats as I had a '95 Pathfinder 4x4. Plenty of power to do what we needed and I soaked the rear hubs on that SUV doing it.

One thing on the aluminum boat...it'd pound you to death in waves. There will be naysayers but I've had the opportunity to compare rides in my 17'6" Bayliner Capri 1800LS vs. my uncle's same sized Sylvan and the rides are night/day different. His pounds in the waves - teeth jarring. What's nice about aluminum is the weight savings as you go up in size - which is good for towing. So that Sienna of yours can probably tow a 20' aluminum boat without maxing out.

You are correct on a tin boat being pounded on small to medium (for boat size waves/wakes). On large waves even a 20'er is not heavy enough to be IN the water. Being on TOP of the water makes control difficult-- but should not be out on those anyway.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Reflections after One year a boat owner

glad you had a good season and thanks for sharing the + and the -.

as you learned, the bowrider is not a seaworthy design. that drop down bow that came into play in the 80's for style is a dangerous scoop. Look for something with a deeper V at the approach, higher bow and some flare to it, and effective rails on the side that deflect water away from the boat, not into it. You mentioned going to a tin OB; I used to take a 16' starcraft bowrider out in the chesapeake bay in real dicey conditions (OK stupid teen at the time but here I am to testify).

 

[Maclin]

Re: Reflections after One year a boat owner

Thanks for sharing, good stuff. And by the way, $600 for those custom snapon covers sounds like a pretty good deal to me!

I am adding more personal experience for any future searchers. I recently rejoined the OB owner's ranks. I downsized for this one and went specifically for OB mainly because there is no big ole hole in the back requiring regular maintenance to keep "sealed". Plus getting harder for me to kneel down and work on the I/O. I still have the larger I/O boat, just needed something smaller for me to launch and cruise solo. I boat in inland lakes so ocean going type features did not need to be considered.

 

[ssoper]

Re: Reflections after One year a boat owner

My first year also with a 1993 Four Winns 190 Horizon. I have had several Fishing/Duck set ups, and still have a 2006 18' Lowe Roughneck. But, with my family we have really enjoyed the last season on the Four Winns. Cruising and Skiing have been a blast! Boating on lakes and the Mississippi river. Look forward to this coming season!