Ever since I bought a 35' slip, I've been looking for a boat that would fit in it. I can't go over exactly 36' 10" fully rigged. That includes the swim platform to the tip of the anchor. Obviously I should be at least a few inches under that so I'm not banging against the dock.
Bayliner was one of the honest manufacturers until recently; my 2003 285 is actually about 28.5' HULL length. LOA it tops out closer to 30'. Fortunately, most marinas only charge me for what the model # implies. I always tell them "28 and a half" and have never been charged for more than 29.
I notice that all changed a few years ago when Bayliner re-jiggled all the model numbers. My 285 no longer exists, but they promoted one of the smaller hulls to use that name. Kinda sucks for people who pay by the foot, but I guess that's marketing.
I'm getting off topic here. My point is it's very hard to find the real LOA of any advertised boat. And that's what I need before I can even look at a boat.
I've downloaded Bayliner manuals for a lot of the models I'm interested in, looked on various boat and yacht seller's web sites, and found absolutely no consistency. I've come to the conclusion that the term LOA means different things to different people. I'm not sure what part of the word "overall" they don't understand, but there's clearly some disconnect.
So, does anyone know of any way to get an HONEST listing of boat lengths? I really don't want to waste my time on something that my marina won't allow me to keep in my slip.
Bayliner was one of the honest manufacturers until recently; my 2003 285 is actually about 28.5' HULL length. LOA it tops out closer to 30'. Fortunately, most marinas only charge me for what the model # implies. I always tell them "28 and a half" and have never been charged for more than 29.
I notice that all changed a few years ago when Bayliner re-jiggled all the model numbers. My 285 no longer exists, but they promoted one of the smaller hulls to use that name. Kinda sucks for people who pay by the foot, but I guess that's marketing.
I'm getting off topic here. My point is it's very hard to find the real LOA of any advertised boat. And that's what I need before I can even look at a boat.
I've downloaded Bayliner manuals for a lot of the models I'm interested in, looked on various boat and yacht seller's web sites, and found absolutely no consistency. I've come to the conclusion that the term LOA means different things to different people. I'm not sure what part of the word "overall" they don't understand, but there's clearly some disconnect.
So, does anyone know of any way to get an HONEST listing of boat lengths? I really don't want to waste my time on something that my marina won't allow me to keep in my slip.
Comment