Buying a boat - sea doo or ?

[Will12785]

Well I am in the market for a boat, sort of. My wife and I would like to get out on the water more. We are kind of torn between bass boats and open bow boats. A fish and ski seems the the perfect compromise, but the prices for those are higher than giraffe pussy. One boat that's caught my eye is a sea doo speedster.

its the only non outboard boat I would consider. Everything I'm reading about them says they are great boats. However; their jet boats, made for wake boarding, there's gotta be a catch. They can't be as fun and powerful as everyone claims and not be some sort of major common problem.

Anybody have any experience with them? Should I steer clear? Should I jump on a good deal?

 

[Pmedic920]

Something to consider.

it’s said in the boating world that the two best days of a boat owners life are....
the day he buys it, and the day he sells it.

I live waterfront on the 2nd largest lake in Texas, I’ve owned boats and personal water craft. We have our own ramp for the sub division. We gave away our last pair of PWC two years after our daughter left for college because they were rotting away from lack of use.
We have neighbors that have boats that haven’t seen the lake in years, those boats are rotting away as well, and I’m not talking about POS boats.

Couple of things that I finally figured out.
1) unless boating is going to be your main form of family entertainment, you probably won’t use your boat as often as you think. As time goes by, 2nd, 3rd season use will gradually become even less.

2) boats have expenses attached that most don’t consider in the initial purchase.
upkeep, storage, insurance, and the big one depreciation.


I love boating and being on the water don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to tell you what to do, or how to spend your money. Simply offering a view that you may not have seen yet.

We have a marina close by that rents boats by the day, weekend, or week.
they are very nice boats, they have fishing boats, run a bouts/ski boats, and pontoon/party boats.
these boats average about $500 a day.

I can rent a very nice boat for a 3 day weekend 3-4 times a year, and be several grand ahead at the end of the year.
All the fun of a boat, whatever boat fits my needs at the time.
No boat payment, no upkeep, no storage or insurance, and no loss from depreciation. They also sell the rentals every year or two, so the boats are always almost new.

I live “on the lake” and I’m 99.9% sure that I will never own another boat.

You got money to throw in the lake?
if not, consider my opinion for a moment.
Boat ownership ain’t all it’s cracked up to be, and there’s better/cheaper ways to enjoy boating.

best of luck with whatever you do.


edit:
if you are wanting to “wakeboard” you may want to look at a SeaDoo “wake” over the “speedster”

 

[Mudslinger99]

The Fish & Ski boats are a great compromise but you're right about the price. The reason being is there are less made and therefore less in the used market so it keeps the prices up. I've been there and done that. Enjoyed it very much.

I've owned boats since I bought my 1st boat,motor and trailer when I was 16. Since then I've owned and operated just about every style of boat there is except a Sailboat. I wouldn't waste the gas of dragging a free one home. True story more than once

What is your main use for the boat going to be ? Jet boats are a great choice when dealing with shallow water or a place where the weeds etc in the water are thick in the areas you want to travel. Other than that they lack in other areas compared to a standard outboard.

 

[BIG-O]

We used to have a little tri hull with a merc on it. We got it from my wifes parents when they divorced. We used the shit out of that thing! It started having some electrical problems and was pretty small. We sold it, now I'm having a hard time convincing the wife to get another one. That was 8 yrs ago. I would like a 19 ft open bow V6 with a wake board tower. Never sell a toy until you got one to replace it.

 

[TRINDU]

Something to consider.

it’s said in the boating world that the two best days of a boat owners life are....
the day he buys it, and the day he sells it.

Couple of things that I finally figured out.
1) unless boating is going to be your main form of family entertainment, you probably won’t use your boat as often as you think. As time goes by, 2nd, 3rd season use will gradually become even less.

2) boats have expenses attached that most don’t consider in the initial purchase.
upkeep, storage, insurance, and the big one depreciation.


I love boating and being on the water don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to tell you what to do, or how to spend your money. Simply offering a view that you may not have seen yet.

A lot of truth in that first statement.

I have no idea why OP wants to buy a boat for, besides water, but expenses are purely how you make them.

I bought a $10,000 boat last year, besides all the fuel it drinks, its still a $10,000 boat. It took me a year before i pulled the trigger on it. Just research, and research more on what brands stand the test of time. I scooped it up because the woman who had it got tired of paying dry storage for 15+ years on a something she put a total of 86 hrs on. protip: dont buy a bayliner.

 

[Mudslinger99]

protip: dont buy a bayliner.

I've had several Bayliners in various sizes. This statement holds true for me as well. The 24 ft rode terrible like always on its side type of terrible. It rocked back and forth so bad anchored,it would make even the hard core miserable. I sold that thing to a young guy with a death wish.

They are also a paper thin Hull boat compared to most. The 17ft I had was a nice lil run about but it hated any kind of rough water. Felt like it was going to split down the middle when you hit a wave.

19 ft Fish & Ski was a little better but I mainly used that for me to Bass fish on the front while there was room in the back for the Bikini clad gals to hang out so no complaints there

 

[Pat McRotch]

Something to consider.

it’s said in the boating world that the two best days of a boat owners life are....
the day he buys it, and the day he sells it.

I live waterfront on the 2nd largest lake in Texas, I’ve owned boats and personal water craft. We have our own ramp for the sub division. We gave away our last pair of PWC two years after our daughter left for college because they were rotting away from lack of use.
We have neighbors that have boats that haven’t seen the lake in years, those boats are rotting away as well, and I’m not talking about POS boats.

Couple of things that I finally figured out.
1) unless boating is going to be your main form of family entertainment, you probably won’t use your boat as often as you think. As time goes by, 2nd, 3rd season use will gradually become even less.

2) boats have expenses attached that most don’t consider in the initial purchase.
upkeep, storage, insurance, and the big one depreciation.


I love boating and being on the water don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to tell you what to do, or how to spend your money. Simply offering a view that you may not have seen yet.

We have a marina close by that rents boats by the day, weekend, or week.
they are very nice boats, they have fishing boats, run a bouts/ski boats, and pontoon/party boats.
these boats average about $500 a day.

I can rent a very nice boat for a 3 day weekend 3-4 times a year, and be several grand ahead at the end of the year.
All the fun of a boat, whatever boat fits my needs at the time.
No boat payment, no upkeep, no storage or insurance, and no loss from depreciation. They also sell the rentals every year or two, so the boats are always almost new.

I live “on the lake” and I’m 99.9% sure that I will never own another boat.

You got money to throw in the lake?
if not, consider my opinion for a moment.
Boat ownership ain’t all it’s cracked up to be, and there’s better/cheaper ways to enjoy boating.

best of luck with whatever you do.


edit:
if you are wanting to “wakeboard” you may want to look at a SeaDoo “wake” over the “speedster”

Good post.

 

[Xicor]

A lot of truth in that first statement.

I have no idea why OP wants to buy a boat for, besides water, but expenses are purely how you make them.

I bought a $10,000 boat last year, besides all the fuel it drinks, its still a $10,000 boat. It took me a year before i pulled the trigger on it. Just research, and research more on what brands stand the test of time. I scooped it up because the woman who had it got tired of paying dry storage for 15+ years on a something she put a total of 86 hrs on. protip: dont buy a bayliner.

Did something similar about 5 years ago now, bought a $7k boat that i think is still worth at least 6... runs great, pulls a wakeboard/ski/tube no problem and you can fish from anything that floats. Don't regret the purchase at all

 

[Mudslinger99]

and you can fish from anything that floats. Don't regret the purchase at all

You ever tried fishing from a 26-32 ft Scarab with Twin 7.4 454 Engines with an Outdrive ?

Probably not

I have and it sucked. The window goes all the way to the back of the Transom. No way to get the fish in when it takes off to either side of the boat.Its miserable even trying. I've Fished and Fucked in Every boat I've Ever owned. Anymore questions ?

The only thing those boats were good for was burning LOTS ​​​​​of fuel and fucking. Had a little kitchenette in the Bow of 1 of then that had a wash sink and facing reclining chairs. The women liked it but I couldn't afford that much fun ​​​​​​

 

[aron82]

Good friend had one of the early Seadoo speedsters and we took it out several times.
It was basicaly 2 jet ski drivetrains in the back of the boat, separate throttles for each. Would turn on a dime. Was fun.

If I was in the market for a boat I would look at a pontoon. If you aren't going to be out on the lake a bunch, which happens, you pretty much need to make a day of it for it to be worthwhile, look at rentals. Will save you a lot of hassle.

 

[arse_sidewards]

x2 on it being as expensive as you make it. An old all fiberglass inboard will go for a season with nothing but gas and fuel stabilize most seasons. When you do happen to need tune up parts or gaskets they're cheap car parts.

 

[woods]

We've got a small Whaler that has been great. 13' and a 40hp on it. Moves right along.

 

[Groundloop]

One thing to think about is fuel cost.16 year ago I had a pair of hot rod jet skis.they loved the fuel you could kill a hundered dollar bill after work.the speedster has 2 motors

 

[Arps]

Much like anything there isnt 1 style of boat that does everything well. I have a 23 tritoon with a 150 yamaha on it. Its great for drinking, fishing, and just general hanging out. It can be used for tubing and skiing, but its not very good at it and it drinks tons of gas. With all that being said, we use it pretty much every weekend in the summer and are very happy with it. When the kids want to tube ski or surf we borrow a friends boat.

Jet boats in general are less efficient, so they burn more gas. You also have to consider where you are going to use it. If you start running jet boats up into the lilly's for bass you are going to suck up muck and clog your impeller. You can clean it out, but it gets old in a hurry.

 

[Captain]

Not sure of your location - but like stated earlier if there is a boat club/rental/membership place nearby - definitely worth a look.

I just became a member of "Freedom Boat Club" and so far it has been awesome. Goes like this:

- 1 time membership fee (+/- $7000) - think of this as "buying" a boat - BUT you're buying into every boat in the club
- One set monthly payments (+/- $300) depending on if you want all locations in the club or not (USA, Canada, France, Aus, etc.)
- You pay for fuel consumed
- You make a reservation, show up to the dock, boat you've selected is ready and fueled up. Use the boat. Come back to the dock and hand over the keys. Walk away.

No boat ramp. No maintenance. No insurance. No storage. No cleaning. Its all the best parts of boating, and none of the worst. Multitude of boats to choose from. You're not tied down to one boat.

I happen to be within 3 different locations within 30 minutes from me. Want to cruise the river? Go with the pontoon boat. Want to fish the flats/offshore? Go with the center console. Want to take the kids tubing? Go with the wake boat.

 

[crispins]

I have a 14 foot Jet boat.

I wanted the Sea Doo but after owning a Sea Doo Jet Ski I just didn't want the Rotex motor.

I found a nice Sea Raider with an Evinrude power head mounted to a jet pump.

I had the engine rebuilt (Cost me $2k) and have run the boat for 3 seasons without a single issue.

It is a great boat, I love that you can swim off the back without worrying about the propeller

I love beaching it up on the shore.

It has been a terrific boat and I am sad I won't be using it this year.

 

[2big bronco]

I bought a brand new speedster 10ish years ago and it was one of the best purchases of my life, however it is not a family boat. It will beat you to death and I don't think we ever successfully brought a cooler of beer along without them all exploding. Its basically a 4 passenger stand up jet ski.

With all that said I believe scarab borrowed/bought/stole the design and is making them now. I like thier medium size boats a lot.

 

[DFW Rusty]

Boats are what they are, they are a luxury expense. They are going to have costs that will make you pull your hair out, and you'll have fun when you take them out. Some people get one and realize it's more work than they want to put forth to take the boat out, or that the expenses of always having to keep up with gear and up keep on the boat is too much so the boat sits under a cover for long periods of time until you spend a week and $1k to get the boat ready for memorial day weekend.

I've had the same engine for 4 years on 2 different boats. I bought an older junky fishing boat off one of my friends, but it had a rebuilt mariner 150 magnum on the back, I fished it for 3 years until last year I realized that the hull was rotting (yes the hull was rotted), we found decent shape king fisher 19'6 bass boat with a blown up Yamaha 150 for not much money. Swapped the mariner over and been running that boat ever since. From April until the end of July I go fishing on an average of twice a week(I just took it out fishing last night after the storms passed through N. Texas), some times more some times less, then I do some sporadic fishing through the winter or might use my boat to go turkey hunt the corp land around the lake we live on.

My wife and I agree that as soon as our house is done were going to sell our camper and the fishing boat and go buy a brand new fishing pontoon boat with a 115hp. Our kids are at that perfect age to hit the water, but my bass boat is good for 2-3 people max (3 kids, wife, me, dog, kids friends.... etc.... etc....)

My boat
20200411_215455 by dfwrusty, on Flickr

 

[evernoob]

So without looking, here is what has been said in this thread:

my gran-pappy always said, yes-suh, he said the best 2 days of a boat owner's life are the day he bought eet, and the day he sold eet, yes-suh, my Daddy always said....

And the inestimable

my Daddy always said, yes-suh, he says a boat is a hole in da wat-tuh you throw money intuh, yes-suh that's why my Daddy always do say....

/out

 

[Will12785]

I have a 14 foot Jet boat.

I wanted the Sea Doo but after owning a Sea Doo Jet Ski I just didn't want the Rotex motor.

I found a nice Sea Raider with an Evinrude power head mounted to a jet pump.

I had the engine rebuilt (Cost me $2k) and have run the boat for 3 seasons without a single issue.

It is a great boat, I love that you can swim off the back without worrying about the propeller

I love beaching it up on the shore.

It has been a terrific boat and I am sad I won't be using it this year.

What didn't you like about the rotax? The one I'm looking at is the n/a version not the scic and from what I can tell they seem pretty simple. On the sea doo forum they are saying plugs filters and carb cleanings keep them running like a top. Everyone on that forum seems to be huge "fab boys" of them though, hence my scepticism.

 

[crispins]

What didn't you like about the rotax? The one I'm looking at is the n/a version not the scic and from what I can tell they seem pretty simple. On the sea doo forum they are saying plugs filters and carb cleanings keep them running like a top. Everyone on that forum seems to be huge "fab boys" of them though, hence my scepticism.

Well for me I just don't want to learn anything new.

The Sea Doo Ski I had (An SPX) was great once I replaced every fuel line and the fuel selector switch as Sea Doo uses line that turns into a blue goo when ethonal fuel.

There is nothing wrong with the Rotax, it is just a different design and I just wanted something I understood.

So a 140 HP 2 stroke 4 cyl fit the bill nicely for me.

I wanted the Sea Doo Sportster boat forever, the Sea Raider I bought is basically the same but with a different engine, plus I got it cheap.

I have $3k in my boat and that includes purchase and having the engine rebuilt.

My boat has run flawless, I have been super happy with it.

 

[Poriggity]

I just spent the weekend on lake Pomme De Terre with my brothers family and his boat. He loves his 22' Lowe pontoon, and it's fun to cruise on, but given the PITA of launching, storing, upkeep and fuel $$, I dont think I'd ever own one. My family has been a boating family for years, and my parents still have a 1980 glastron they are restoring. You have to really love water and boating to make purchasing one worthwhile.

 

[Ryno]

I've pretty much decided on a Double Eagle 166L or similar when I have the driveway space. I've known a lot of people that owned one and they always regret going bigger or more complex.

 

[JR4X]

Not exactly boat related but I'll come around to it. I asked a similar question about campers once. The consensus was "go rent a bunch of different campers and find what you like best". So that's what I did and what I found out was that I don't want a camper. Thankfully I hadn't bought one to find out that they are high maintenance over priced pieces of shit. So I've done the same with boats and came to the same conclusion, I haven't found one I can't live without and thank god I could rent them to find that out instead of having to sell one to get out from under it.

 

[larboc]

Pics from last weekend on my shit box.

Something to consider.

it’s said in the boating world that the two best days of a boat owners life are....
the day he buys it, and the day he sells it.

I live waterfront on the 2nd largest lake in Texas, I’ve owned boats and personal water craft. We have our own ramp for the sub division. We gave away our last pair of PWC two years after our daughter left for college because they were rotting away from lack of use.
We have neighbors that have boats that haven’t seen the lake in years, those boats are rotting away as well, and I’m not talking about POS boats.

Couple of things that I finally figured out.
1) unless boating is going to be your main form of family entertainment, you probably won’t use your boat as often as you think. As time goes by, 2nd, 3rd season use will gradually become even less.

2) boats have expenses attached that most don’t consider in the initial purchase.
upkeep, storage, insurance, and the big one depreciation.


I love boating and being on the water don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to tell you what to do, or how to spend your money. Simply offering a view that you may not have seen yet.

We have a marina close by that rents boats by the day, weekend, or week.
they are very nice boats, they have fishing boats, run a bouts/ski boats, and pontoon/party boats.
these boats average about $500 a day.

I can rent a very nice boat for a 3 day weekend 3-4 times a year, and be several grand ahead at the end of the year.
All the fun of a boat, whatever boat fits my needs at the time.
No boat payment, no upkeep, no storage or insurance, and no loss from depreciation. They also sell the rentals every year or two, so the boats are always almost new.

I live “on the lake” and I’m 99.9% sure that I will never own another boat.

You got money to throw in the lake?
if not, consider my opinion for a moment.
Boat ownership ain’t all it’s cracked up to be, and there’s better/cheaper ways to enjoy boating.

best of luck with whatever you do.


edit:
if you are wanting to “wakeboard” you may want to look at a SeaDoo “wake” over the “speedster”

Pfft, set inside and watch TV all day then.

I picked up an ugly 22' fiberglass cabin cruiser with a 302 mercruiser for free of CL in 2011 and have been using it as much as possible ever since, even now that I've got two kids we still have it on the water every chance we get. I ended up rebuilding the transom last year so only got out 3 times because the transom took me almost the whole summer. We probably average getting out once every week and a half during the boating season up here. I think we've put about 300 engine hours on it since I drug it home. We do a lot of big lake fishing (trolling and bobbing) with it, we usually sleep on it at least once a year, take it for recreational dinner cruises down the canal. It works great for us and even factoring in doing the transom last year, it has been a stellar return on investment. I'm not saying this is the right boat for everyone, it certainly doesn't have enough power to ski behind (yet), goes about 35mph at full chooch. My point is that you shouldn't avoid having a boat because you think you have to spend a lot of money on one just to get on the water. Get something cheap and see how much you use it and figure out what you want.

I've probably put $3000 in fishing equipment into it (new chartplotter, riggers, rods, etc.) and I spent $2000 in materials and ~80 hours doing the transom.
Having a place to store it out of the weather is important. I built a drive through pole barn for it a couple years ago which has been awesome, just pull through when you get home and it's out of the weather. I think I had around $2500 and a couple months of working in the evenings building that.

You can't rent a boat like mine around here, but even if I could I probably never would just because I hate renting. We can leave all our stuff on board, pull it into the barn, and it's ready to hook up and go straight to the ramp next weekend. It's not worth enough $$$ to be spendy to insure, I have a $12/month policy for the 5 months of boating season from progressive and it's surprisingly well covered. 3 years of registration is $115. Gas is the only other cost, but if your biggest cost on a recreational vehicle is gas, you're doing awesome. Mine probably get's 3-4mpg cruising at 25mph which doesn't really add up to all that much $ in fuel, most of our trips are under 20 miles on plane per day. We probably burn 15 gallons of premium in the boat and 10 gallons in the truck getting there on the average day fishing. You really have to look at it in smiles per gallon.

On second thought, yea owning a boat may not make much sense :D

 

[Talon2006]

Something to consider.

it’s said in the boating world that the two best days of a boat owners life are....
the day he buys it, and the day he sells it.

I live waterfront on the 2nd largest lake in Texas, I’ve owned boats and personal water craft. We have our own ramp for the sub division. We gave away our last pair of PWC two years after our daughter left for college because they were rotting away from lack of use.
We have neighbors that have boats that haven’t seen the lake in years, those boats are rotting away as well, and I’m not talking about POS boats.

Couple of things that I finally figured out.
1) unless boating is going to be your main form of family entertainment, you probably won’t use your boat as often as you think. As time goes by, 2nd, 3rd season use will gradually become even less.

2) boats have expenses attached that most don’t consider in the initial purchase.
upkeep, storage, insurance, and the big one depreciation.


I love boating and being on the water don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to tell you what to do, or how to spend your money. Simply offering a view that you may not have seen yet.

We have a marina close by that rents boats by the day, weekend, or week.
they are very nice boats, they have fishing boats, run a bouts/ski boats, and pontoon/party boats.
these boats average about $500 a day.

I can rent a very nice boat for a 3 day weekend 3-4 times a year, and be several grand ahead at the end of the year.
All the fun of a boat, whatever boat fits my needs at the time.
No boat payment, no upkeep, no storage or insurance, and no loss from depreciation. They also sell the rentals every year or two, so the boats are always almost new.

I live “on the lake” and I’m 99.9% sure that I will never own another boat.

You got money to throw in the lake?
if not, consider my opinion for a moment.
Boat ownership ain’t all it’s cracked up to be, and there’s better/cheaper ways to enjoy boating.

best of luck with whatever you do.


edit:
if you are wanting to “wakeboard” you may want to look at a SeaDoo “wake” over the “speedster”

I have looked at houses on that lake. Very nice area, very tempting to move that way. Anything I should know?

 

[Talon2006]

The Fish & Ski boats are a great compromise but you're right about the price. The reason being is there are less made and therefore less in the used market so it keeps the prices up. I've been there and done that. Enjoyed it very much.

I've owned boats since I bought my 1st boat,motor and trailer when I was 16. Since then I've owned and operated just about every style of boat there is except a Sailboat. I wouldn't waste the gas of dragging a free one home. True story more than once

What is your main use for the boat going to be ? Jet boats are a great choice when dealing with shallow water or a place where the weeds etc in the water are thick in the areas you want to travel. Other than that they lack in other areas compared to a standard outboard.

The only reason I would shy away from the skido, is they have a plastic wear ring. I worked as a jet ski/boat mechanic for about 5 years. A 2" stick is enough to lock up the pump and keep you from going anywhere. I want to say to pay the dealer to repair it is a couple hundred dollar job. Pretty easy to do yourself though.

 

[Joez]

Have an older 22' boat myself, and love it. Sure there are seasons it doesn't get used as much, but then there are others it gets used non stop. Paid just over 10k for it 10 years ago, and it's probably actually gone up in value. You fight mechanical things, but I deal with those on my 30 year old vehicles, too. Buy good service manuals, do maintenance yourself, and costs come way down. Yes, you are going to face some expenses you can't avoid, but go into it knowing that and it's not so bad. In a couple years we will probably upgrade, but for now this old girl works great for us. Yeah, the carbed 2 stroke drinks a lot of fuel, but we troll all day with the T8 Yamaha, and it barely uses any.

 

[Will12785]

The only reason I would shy away from the skido, is they have a plastic wear ring. I worked as a jet ski/boat mechanic for about 5 years. A 2" stick is enough to lock up the pump and keep you from going anywhere. I want to say to pay the dealer to repair it is a couple hundred dollar job. Pretty easy to do yourself though.

Good tip. Just looked into that. Definitely something to keep in mind looking at them used. Thanks!

 

[Talon2006]

I guess I should add, the two stoke motors always seemed pretty reliable. Two main things I remember was the automatic oil system stop working and burn up the engine, or the crank seal would go out, and flood that size of the crank case with 2 stoke oil. I can't remember if you could bypass the auto oil system to keep the motor going, but I know you have to order a crank as you can't replace the seals yourself. Removing the auto oil system just required you run two stroke. If you pull the plugs and turn over the motor you will see a pretty obvious stream of oil, though I am pretty sure you need to have it sit for a few days before hand. My memory is fuzzy.

Also, the rectifier coil would sometimes go out. I think it was a 50 dollar box, and there is another coil that I can't remember the name of, but they were pricey to the tune of 2-400 bucks. Generally would be shown by a no start system.


That all being said, I would buy one.