What do you wish you knew before buying your cruiser?-gctid821137

[Tincupchalice]

Hey all.

Wednesday I pick up my new to me 3055. I've had bow riders for years with my current boat a 23 foot jet boat. So, what do you wish you had known before you made the jump to "bigger boating"? Can be anything. Systems, manuvering, maintenance, etc.

[yachtman]

How much more money and work a only slightly larger boat is.

A run about takes a few hours to clean. A 30 foot will easily take you all weekend. 2 or 3 times the polish and wax. No longer doable by hand. You will need polisher and such.

The systems water holding tanks and gauges take A lot of money to maintain properly and if not familiar you will need.to learn or pay someone to do it...

The fun and enjoyment is however exponentially greater. I wouldnt go back for anything

[guntar]

Expect to spend 30 percent of purchase price, the first year, just to fix things the prior owner neglected to and other findings, and then 10 to 15 percent each year after maintaining and upkeep. If only I knew the whole breadth of the cost I would incur I may have thought twice about the current boat I bought 6 months ago.

[Centerline2]

Ive had boats all my life so I knew going into the purchase of a larger boat that the cost would go up immensely, such as moorage fees, maintenance costs, and the many upgrades you will feel you must make to the boat, but I didnt know just how much... and then there's the time it takes to care for the boat properly....

this has already been said, but the first year and a half you will spend much more on the boat than you could have ever imagined, and all this without it ever leaving the dock.

when you do leave the dock with it, the fuel expense will be the limiting factor in how far you can go with it.

also, a small boat owner doesnt have to carry insurance on their trailered boats (unless it is financed) but insurance is a requirement if you are going to rent a slip to keep it in., and it can be expensive on larger and better outfitted boats.

the biggest downside to owning a larger boat that cant be readily trailered is that you may get tired of boating in the same place all the time.... as we live in the western united states, we can easily pull a trailer boat across the country to lake powell, lake tahoe, lake coeur d'alene, lake pend oreille, lake mead, or any other lake, port or bay that catches our interest... there are SO many interesting places places to go with a smaller cruiser that isnt available to the large boat owner, without some unreasonable time and expense

we jumped from a 25 fishing type boat to a comfortable 34footer.... now, 4 years later we have downsized to a 25ft cruiser, and have a very nice and well outfitted 34' yacht for sale. not because we cant afford the 34 but because we cant travel far and wide to the other exotic places that we want to go to..... AND, the larger boat couldnt be brought home to do repairs and modifications on....

we all have to live our dream, so I can only wish you the best with your bigger boat... we lived our dream and found a bigger boat wasnt for us, so its onto another dream now with a smaller boat again.... :-)

[nwboater62]

It all adds up quickly. Bigger boat...2 engines and drives to maintain...bigger slip...Bigger truck...more trailer to maintain...more tanks...I could do this all day. But.....once out on the water..........it's all worth every bit of it!

[SpinelessJFK]

Ive bought a bayliner 3270 andnhad before a 28foot finnish mada boat, only difference now in maintenance is amount of filters and so on at the moment,because i always change it when buy new boat so im sure its changed...

Upgrades i wanna do to boat is just for my own comfort and cant be measured in money because its for own comfort and its worth it!...

Then about winterizing isnt that much more because same crane lifts mine and same stands holds new biat, with few modification ofc which doesnt cost just time to me... Ofc theres two times of everything as oil and so on but thats just a little...

But hapoy sea times to everyone and money comes and money goes, depends just how you spend them but dont worry, be happy!!l

[Tincupchalice]

Thanks, everyone. As I've started thinking, it has occurred to me just how little I know about "bigger boating". I've been around boats all my life, but always smaller ones. The new systems are what has me a little overwhelmed to think about. Fresh water...does the tank drain into the bilge? How long is too long for it to be in the tank (I had an RV and would drain it after every trip). Do I need the same drinking water hose as an RV?

I'm extremely excited for the next chapter in our boating life. It's been a dream of mine since I was little. But as they say, you don't know what you don't know. I'm learning as I go!

[Knot_Happy]

One thing I wish I knew would be the winning lottery numbers. They might help offset some of the cost :woohoo: :P

[Centerline2]

"Tincupchalice" post=821210 wrote:
Thanks, everyone. As I've started thinking, it has occurred to me just how little I know about "bigger boating". I've been around boats all my life, but always smaller ones. The new systems are what has me a little overwhelmed to think about. Fresh water...does the tank drain into the bilge? How long is too long for it to be in the tank (I had an RV and would drain it after every trip). Do I need the same drinking water hose as an RV?

I'm extremely excited for the next chapter in our boating life. It's been a dream of mine since I was little. But as they say, you don't know what you don't know. I'm learning as I go!

the one thing that caught me off guard when moving from a smaller boat to a bigger, heavier boat, was the weight of it when docking.. at 11,000lbs, it took me a few times to get the feel for it when docking in adverse conditions, and the need to approach the dock at a much slower speed.

a small light boat can easily be horsed around with the motor and easily fended off the dock if you come in too hot or there is heavy wave action, or wind.. but a bigger boat is much heavier, wont stop as quick, cant be fended off like a little boat, has much more windage and will leave a bigger mark when hitting the dock... and if it has an inboard vs an outdrive, its not as manuverable.. so go at a snails pace on the approach until you get used to how the boat handles.

[floatyerboat]

If you haven't already, try to hire a surveyor knowledgeable with the type of boat you have your eye on. Try to be there during the survey. The surveyor will bring out many things you'd never think of yourself. Operating the boat will take a lot of practice, skill, and a few white knuckle days thrown in every now and then..

[alanmoor]

Cost, definitely.

[yachtman]

If you look at the "How much did you spend on your boat last year" thread you will notice that for example when you jump up to around 30-32.foot twin engine boat the annual cost is near 10k$ a year depending on the boat ( not including gas). Probably more the first couple years if its been neglected.

That is a huge jump in cost considering the trallered ski size boat. One wouldn't think it goes ups so much but it does. There is just so much more to it. Moorage two engines to maintain water systems more electronics bigger canvas more area to care for and so on. It adds up quickly

In my area I have around $5000 into it before I even touch it. That's for moorage insurance and storage. I haven't maintained it yet at that price or used it.

[Guest]

I wish I knew how much fun it was, I would have bought mine sooner! We probably use our boat 50% as a shore house and 50% as a cruiser. I think that is the biggest difference I see when I look at folks with bow rider type boats. They always pack it in and leave at the end of the day while we are cracking a beer and relaxing for the evening.

[Dooglas]

I've owned everything from a 15 footer to a 37 at one time or another. Two things have jumped out to me. The first are the large increases in costs with an increase of a few feet in length - moorage, insurance, maintenance, repairs, upgrades - it really adds up. The second is the complexity of systems on larger boats. If you wish to do your own maintenance - or even just troubleshooting - you need to educate yourself quite a bit about electrical systems, battery banks, electronics, engines, cooling systems, marine heads, freshwater systems, windlasses, etc, etc. The commitments involved with owning a larger boat are substantial. The rewards can be substantial as well.

[Ruffryder]

congrats entering the 30 club!

twin engine/drive boat so X2 everything, fatter wallet for everything else