If you get a bigger boat, WHY?

[mesquito_creek]

I had a 26 foot sleekcraft and got rid of it becuase I felt it didn't do anything right. Cabin was worthless and it was too big without any real space advantage. It really didn't seat people any better than small boats. I decided on a tournament boat for skiing, a 21 foot day cruiser for cruising and a fully loaded twin screw ac generator live aboard for living. So the perfect size boat is a 70 footer cut into 3 pieces and rigged accordingly.

Still looking to pick up a 18 foot biesmeyer flat to finish up the quiver of arrows

 

[Wizard29]

I started out with a 19' flat bottom, then moved to a 30' Magic, and now have a 34' Eliminator. My favorite boat so far and by far is the 34'. The other boats were fun, but I like the fact the 34 has zero problem handling the rough water up on Mojave. When there are 4-5' swells in the afternoon on a really windy day, it's nice to blast back to the marina at regular speed when we're tired and ready to come off the water. We constantly see the smaller boats on the way back getting pounded to hell. I'm often thankful we don't have to do that.

It is more to store and a lot more to tow, but when you have a place near the lake set up for it, that becomes a non-issue, really. It is more to clean, but I used to polish all the chrome and stuff on the flat bottom for longer than it takes to clean the 34 anyway. It does restrict access to some of the more shallow areas, but tighter/narrow areas aren't a problem because it still maneuvers well if you know how to take advantage of both props in the water.

I also like the redundancy of two engines. If I lose one, I'm still getting home.

Just comes down to your style of boating. Bigger boats mean sacrificing some things, but to me those things are small compared to the benefits.

 

[Englewood]

My wife says size doesn't matter?

 

[rivergames]

I need bigger because I need more room for all the ladies. I have alot more pull then those games boys😀

Good luck! [emoji6]

 

[oldschool]

I'd buy a bigger boat, but I blow all my money on frivolous things like the mortgage and food.

 

[ramos45]

1989 GW Invader Bravo 23ft open bow - this was my first boat back in 2008. Previous owner dropped a 383 stroker in it and that thing screamed however, you'd get beat up with the smallest chop. Only had it one season. Ran aground heading back to ramp in Mead. 6ft gash just left of keel.

1989 Maxum 23ft open bow - Much deeper V and more room than previous boat. Ran so much smoother in lake and had a tower. 2 years of tubing behind that thing until bigger truck purchase then.....

1989 Scarab III - Going on 6th season this year and can't see myself going smaller anytime soon. Pain in the ass, YES but the fun we've had on this thing can't compare to the others. We do miss the tubing but as I get older I more like to cruise now anyways.

Main reason I went bigger is room for people, overnight, and comfort on those not so calm days.

 

[riverroyal]

because Merica............

why lift a truck? why get a M3 when a Prius will get you to work. You can go on and on.
Mostly its budget reasons to go bigger. The all mighty dollar is the answer.

 

[NicPaus]

Put serious thought into this question all week and thought hard about picking up 21ft'r, but I think I'm going with something in the 26 foot range at least until i retire in a couple years and get to enjoy mid week boating in parker.

With my 22 it was a 1 man job launching and retrieve at Echo. Only time I would try to trailer solo with 26' is when current stops just after dark. Problem now sold big truck and doors are almost under water before boat is on trailer as water drops. Now my boat sits unless I have a crew. I could pull up to a dock in the 22 and just grab it while sitting not happening in 26. I was hoping you scooped up that 28 Bullet. I think a 25' Bullet WTOB would be Ideal for you. Perfect size handle the rough. I would go back to a smaller boat but my Crew keeps growing and they love the mid cabin.

 

[SJP]

A man can never have enough boats.

 

[ramos45]

Launching alone is still doable as long as there is room on the courtesy dock to tie off. haven't tried retrieval alone and hope I never have to.

 

[DaytonaBabe]

We love our 21 Daytona. Few would argue that it is basically one of the best boats to have on the Lower River. We'll keep it until we step up to a 22 Daytona. For us, it's less to keep clean, less fuel needed, and can run in less water than a larger boat. :thumbsup

 

[Victory32]

If you had ever been on LOTO on shootout weekend (or any weekend for that matter), you'd know EXACTLY why I have a 32' boat. Anything smaller than a 30, and you better have good dental insurance. It's actually a small boat on LOTO. Love that lake. The GF is starting to bitch about having to launch the beast though. She wants a toon! I told her as soon as I get fitted for my wheelchair, we'll start looking. (famous last words!):grumble:

 

[28skater]

The 21 is soo much less work 30 minutes to put it away perfect for Parker.

 

[JD D05]

I went 25 - 28-28 - and now a 35. The 35 is really a wash on cleaning to the 28's, mostly because I don't have to bend down so far to get to the bottom, also the second 28 was a cat and cleaning up under neath SUCKS! I went bigger because I just like bigger for the space etc. However I do think twice about day trips with it, BUT when I am on Powell in weather I absolute love it. We also sleep in it etc and have 3 kids.

 

[boatnam2]

With my 22 it was a 1 man job launching and retrieve at Echo. Only time I would try to trailer solo with 26' is when current stops just after dark. Problem now sold big truck and doors are almost under water before boat is on trailer as water drops. Now my boat sits unless I have a crew. I could pull up to a dock in the 22 and just grab it while sitting not happening in 26. I was hoping you scooped up that 28 Bullet. I think a 25' Bullet WTOB would be Ideal for you. Perfect size handle the rough. I would go back to a smaller boat but my Crew keeps growing and they love the mid cabin.

Echo ramp sucks lol, got something in the works keeping it a surprise.

 

[guest hs]

Im so glad I got rid of my 28 Advantage what pain to keep up I will take my Day Cruiser any day over it!

 

[RodnJen]

Bought a 21' 13 years ago and no plans to change. I like to ski, wife wakeboards, kids tube and will hopefully be skiing and boarding soon, fast enough 60+, easy to clean, reasonable service, rides great. If it's so rough that our 21 can handle it, then we should be up at the house grilling and drinking.

We had the talk earlier this week about a 28' Bullet. The one in the classifieds had us thinking a bit. For what we do, it just does add to our boating experience enough to make the switch. Is it faster, yes. Does it ride better, sure. Will it be more fun for the things we like to do on the lake, not likely.

 

[DeltaSigBoater]

I went from a 27' Day Cruiser that could seat 8 adults comfortably, a cuddy cabin that carried all the chairs, coolers, lifejackets, skis, floats, and whatnot. To a 18' Hallett Mini Cruiser, which has about 24" total under the bow.

Love the fact that I can launch & retrieve quickly with the 18, but the rough water factor is horrible compared to the 27.

Would really like to move up to a 21' or 22' Day Cruiser.

 

[spectra3279]

I got my 32 cause I could not pass up the deal.

 

[3.Slow]

We had an 18' Bahner growing up, it was tight with a family of 7 but we had fun. My first boat was an 18' Bayliner, perfect family boat, but with 5 kids, we just outgrew it and even the small local lakes get to choppy for an 18' we were fortunate enough to pick up a 23' Caliber 1 last season. I feel it is the perfect boat for us, small enough to ski and wakeboard, big enough for a normal day on havasu, mid cuddy is perfect for napping kids.

 

[Ouderkirk]

A shit more time to clean, alot more $$$ to go fast, More challenging to find a spot at Fox's

The plus side:
Chop, swell, wind, speed?

Both sides:
They ALL get hot chicks, so that is a plus on both Sides!

I want to hear the reasons why you prefer a smaller boat (28' and under) or a bigger boat, or both?.

Having owned a couple of bigger boats...28ft and 32ft and gotten rid of them both for a 20ft. The biggest issue to me was the lack of deck hands to handle the lines. In my case, leaving the helm to man the dock lines in a crosswind was painful. Jumping and hustling to keep your boat from drifting into someone else really took the fun out of owning them. Going out became a chore. Girlfriends make lousy deck hands. Wives and children are not much better. I like to go out in my boats, not sit at the dock.

A 20-24 footer I can handle myself in every respect.

The upside of the big boat was you had a place to go to if the weather got too bad, or a place to crash if you got too liquored up:drink. You had (most)everything you could need onboard.

The other work, like cleaning wasn't such a big deal. It needed to be done, but it wasn't a huge issue.

 

[Cray Paper]

I really want a 30' - 32' twin engine deep V closed bow for our next boat. Our closest lake doesn't have any beaches to pull up to and just hang out as it's in the heart of Seattle. People drop anchor and raft up when they hang out with performance boats. There is a salt water launch to the Puget Sound 15 minutes from my home, if I had a larger boat with twins, I could take the family to the San Juan Islands in a couple of hours, weather pending. Not to mention, just head south and be to Seattle in about 20 minutes and the south sound in 30 minutes.

I wont do that with a single engine boat, nor would I trust the weather with the shallow V / padded bottom / short freeboard MCOB 25' Eliminator.


My next boat is going to be bigger with twins.

 

[RodnJen]

I really want a 30' - 32' twin engine deep V closed bow for our next boat. Our closest lake doesn't have any beaches to pull up to and just hang out as it's in the heart of Seattle. People drop anchor and raft up when they hang out with performance boats. There is a salt water launch to the Puget Sound 15 minutes from my home, if I had a larger boat with twins, I could take the family to the San Juan Islands in a couple of hours, weather pending. Not to mention, just head south and be to Seattle in about 20 minutes and the south sound in 30 minutes.

I wont do that with a single engine boat, nor would I trust the weather with the shallow V / padded bottom / short freeboard MCOB 25' Eliminator.


My next boat is going to be bigger with twins.

That makes perfect sense.

 

[the510]

In Parker, IMO a 25' is a big boat. In Havasu, a 25' is where you start to get comfortable. Since our progression is leading us to Havasu, I see a 25 pontoon with good power or a 26 deck with mild power as our next boat. I like to be on the smaller side of things because I hate cleaning them.

It sounds like PR388 needs to move to the river and open a detail shop though...

25ft is a big parker boat, and the smallest boat I would want in Havasu. I love my 25 bullet. I alway consider getting a 28ft deck boat, but for the 1/3 the money I would rather repower with a high HP N/a engine, cap the side rails, and reupholster the interor to turn the bullet into a custom one of a kind hot rod.

28ft is the havasu standard now days. Anything smaller than 24ft is considered small, anything bigger than 28ft is considered big.

 

[steamin rice]

I used to have a 21' boat when I boated on the lakes and when water skiing a lot. Then I moved to Orange County and wanted to try ocean boating, so I bought a 29' boat with a single engine. That was fun, but I'd have to slow down some days when the water was really rough and I also wanted to be able to cruise at a faster speed. Then I moved p to a 34' with twins. It was great, I could cruise at 60 MPH/3800 RPM and not really worry about the water.

Now that I'm back in AZ, I boat at the lakes mostly and have considered downsizing. I'd probably go to something in the 27-29' range with a single engine. As it is, my bigger boat take a bit more thought to figure out gas stations, parking, launching, etc, but once on the water I like having the bigger size and twin engines. I never worry about water conditions on the lakes, although my boat isn't any good for pleasure skiing.

All boat have tradeoffs

 

[FreeBird236]

I've just kind of always had this dream, What would it be like in an Eliminator 30' Eagle in 4' water in the North bowl? Like a Caddy I would bet.:thumbsup