Middle aged couple about to take the plunge...-gctid821597

[UtahNoob]

...on our first boat.

We live in northern Utah and I am retired military. My long-suffering wife loves the water so a boat is a much deserved gift to her we'll both enjoy.

For those familiar with the area, I envision using it mostly on Pineview Reservoir and Utah Lake with occasional forays to Flaming Gorge Reservoir and Lake Powell. We plan to buy new as I prefer to have the warranties in place, especially for something I know nothing about. I'm very diligent when it comes to reading/following guidance and maintaining things so I hope this will serve me well in this new adventure.

I have narrowed the models down to either the Element E16 or the 160 Bowrider. We plan to move on one this coming winter/spring with the idea of being on the water next summer. Any considerations or advice you can provide to help us decide which model and engine to go with would be greatly appreciated (the Element offers 60 & 75 HP; the Bowrider 60 or 90 HP). With that in mind, here is some additional info...

The majority of the time it will be just be my wife, myself and our small dog (16 pounds). On occasion when company is in town we may have a couple other adults with us. We have no kids.

We don't plan to use it to pull any skiers or engage in any watersports. We just want to get out on the water and relax with some conversation and snacks. Nothing too high speed or intense.

Safety, stability and confidence when putting out, operating and retrieving are priorities. I ride motorcycles on and off road and I am very conservative when doing it - I'm very much a fair weather rider, going out only when conditions are ideal. I'm confident I'll be even more careful when boating, given that my wife and pup will be with me.

Again, any insight or advice you have to offer would be most welcome. Thank you so much...

[Sta-K-Shun]

My wife and I are in the very same position. Former military, empty nesters. Mainly just she and I on the boat. Most cruising and floating and relaxing.

The only thing I would say to you is consider a little larger if you can afford it. We looked smaller when we started thinking about buying.

In the end, the additional space, stability, HP etc of a slightly larger boat won the day.

We ended up with a 19' Bowrider (used).

I also feel like I/O power set ups seem to hold together better over time then Outboard.

I'm sure others may disagree. But that's just my 2 cents.

[Download_Complete]

First suggestion: More size. I believe the 160 and both 17 BRs are dying literally any day now in lieu of a new VR4 bowrider that you can find here: http://www.baylinerownersclub.org/in...-look-2018-vr4

Heads up between the 160 and the Element, I would choose the Element for the reasons you mentioned - stability and living space.

That said, and having driven both e16 and e18 Elements, I strongly encourage you to step up and buy the e18 with the 115 on it. It's a better riding and performing boat, and the space is simply a bonus. It's got the room you WILL need once you get out on the water and start using the boat as intended.

The e16 is a great boat and I wouldn't knock it, but I think the e18 is all the Element anyone needs.

[rbrauerei]

Welcome! I am yet one more retired military empty nester who came to boating later in life and recommends you consider going larger. Matt's suggestion of the E18/115 might even be too small. The smallest I'd consider is 19' as Sta-K suggests. We have a 21' cuddy (642 Overnighter) and boat pretty much as you plan - although we do overnight as well. Our 21' is LOA, which means 2' is the swim platform. We have "just enough" room in the remaining 19'. And I can't imagine less room even for a short sunset cruise to enjoy some wine and cheese at anchor. If I were going to get a bowrider, I'd go with the VR5, which also gives you some more powerful engine options. The VR5 is also very similar to my 642, which handles the oftentimes "exciting and unpredictable" Chesapeake Bay with ease. I have complete confidence that my Bayliner has the safety and stability to handle well in under less than perfect conditions. I've even had my 21' Bayliner out in a "Small Boat Advisory" (not intentionally) and she handled it with ease (even with my neophyte hands on the helm). I'm sure any of these models will do well on lakes.

While there are many great used boats out there, we also went the new route for the warranty as you state and knowing that we can get out on the water without a lot of restoration work beforehand. We bought our's last March (2016) and it was a lingering 2015 model; when we went to an open house at the dealer, we thought we were going to just test ride. They gave us a price, which we didn't like too much; we decided to throw a counter offer on the table which we expected they'd reject, but to our surprise, they accepted! So, looking over the winter/spring you just might find a great deal. Also, new doesn't mean "without problems" as we've already had some warranty work that needed to be done, but hopefully a good dealer will minimize the pain.

[Hawk]

Hi,

We are in the uk, our intro to boating was very similar to yours, mainly my wife and myself, then occasionally our adult kids.

We went for a new 175 BR, permanent dry stack, located on the south coast, this is an absolutely fantastic sports boat, but it has IMO a specific purpose, and that's a fast, vey agile/responsive, fun day, water sports, type boat.

We prefer a more relaxed day on the water, and also like to have our boat pretty much ready to drop and go, so try to keep all the main things permanently on board, life jackets, towels, fishing gear, safety equipment, basic tools, basic cleaning items (absolutely essential with salt water use) etc. Then we only have to take on board our daily requirements, cool box, lunch etc.etc. Used in this way, space and secure storage soon becomes an issue on these smaller boats!

Then there's the issue of going to the toilet, for us guys it's not really a problem, but this is a joint venture and to expect your wife to use a bottle is not ideal.

So we very quickly (within 4 months) changed up to the VR6, the portable head in its own compartment is rare on a boat this size, we even had a 20ltr fresh water storage tank and transom shower installed, and an overhead light for even later use on nice warm days.

The 175 was a fantastic boat, but not ideal for what we jointly wanted out of boating, also it may be specked for upto 8/9 on board but any more than 6 really is getting over crowded, that said I personally miss it! the performance is hard to match for the price, but my wife was never that keen to go out on it, and you really need to consider what you are both expecting out of this new venture,

Really hope some of this helps, and that you enjoy boating as much as we do, we are out at every opportunity.

[BigDuke6]

Retired USAF here, used to be stationed at Hill AFB, and have been on Pineview many times. I bought a 1983 1600 Capri way back in 1995 and still have it. I would suggest going for something larger than a 16ft if you are going to be on anything larger than Pineview. But, mine has served me well. One other thing, get one that is newer and does not have a Force motor on it. Force's are hard to get serviced and fixed. Thanks for your service and enjoy.

[rgs2horses]

Welcome to the forum and boating! I will also join the chorus of 'think bigger'. My wife and I are both retired and most times (99 out of 100) it is just she and I on the water. Like others have said, when you add all the things you want / need some additional size is welcome. So is additional HP. I had a 20' pontoon with a 60 HP outboard on it and found it was just too slow. Fine for puttering around a cove but getting from one end of the lake to the other was painful. So I traded up to a VR5 with the 200 HP 4.5L I/O. Now we typically cruise around the lake at 27 - 32 MPH and can run at 42 MPH to outrun an approaching storm. "I wish I had a smaller engine" said no one ever.

[Ruffryder]

2 foot itis... it's a never ending story.

20' now, 22 before you know it then 24...

[rbrauerei]

"Ruffryder" post=821702 wrote:
2 foot itis... it's a never ending story. 20' now, 22 before you know it then 24...

It's a genuine malady, for sure. More than a few times, I've wished for 2' more in the cockpit when anchoring for the night.

[UtahNoob]

Wow - a lot of great information here!

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to write and share their opinion with me. Based on what's been posted I think the Element E18 with the 115 HP motor might be a good fit for us: Simple design, stable and forgiving, room enough for 4 or 5 adults, and sold at an entry-level price. This might change in the coming months , but that's how it looks right now. When we get close to ordering one (Feb? March?) I'll check back in to get your help on securing the best deal, options to get or ignore, etc.

I'm sure I'm not the first one to do it on this forum, but the whole arc of my experience is going to play out before you. We're literally starting from ground zero. The size of the investment money and time-wise is a little daunting, but I feel like I'll be in good hands with the people here. It's evident your knowledge and experience are surpassed only by your desire to help.

Again, big thanks to all of you!

[RobMick]

Or you look at a "gently" used model at a marine dealer, you can still get all/any warranty that you want, plus save thousands on your first boat......was your first car brand new? Probably not, as everyone knows that we literally bounced that damn car off everything....when we bought our 2012, it was 3 years old, had 32 hours on the motor...looked like new, smelled like new, was better looking than new personally, as the red is red, not burgandy, we had warranties in place through dealer, great finance terms, compared to an exact equipped boat, current model year, we save $13,437.00....the salesman told me this when we were on the fence on new vs used. " at some point, you will put a scratch, a ding or a nick in a boat, no matter how careful or good at piloting you are. With the "used" boat, the pain you have when that does happen is there, but not as severe and not as long as if your boat were new". That has stuck with me and made perfect sense.....long story short....you will scratch it up! Chances are you will love the boating lifestyle, and at some point, like others have said, you will get the dreaded 2'titus, and get another boat...learn on this one, while making memories, without the financial obligation or threat of a huge depreciation hit in even 5 years...just my thoughts, but hell I have a freakin' fleet now and I can't stop myself from buying all these water toys...




Attached files

[UtahNoob]

Excellent point. A sightly used boat with some warranty still in place is something I would absolutely consider for the reasons you've stated. I wouldn't be averse to that at all. Once the new year arrives I'll start looking at online ads and will contact my local dealer to let them know this is something I'd be willing to entertain.

I figure boats are a lot like motorcycles in that people often get them and quickly find they don't have the time for the hobby. In the case of motorcycles, they sometimes have a scary experience and decide to unload before it's even broken in.

I definitely plan to search for something like you described...

Nice 'fleet' by the way!

[Sta-K-Shun]

"UtahNoob" post=821812 wrote:
Excellent point. A sightly used boat with some warranty still in place is something I would absolutely consider for the reasons you've stated. I wouldn't be averse to that at all. Once the new year arrives I'll start looking at online ads and will contact my local dealer to let them know this is something I'd be willing to entertain.

I figure boats are a lot like motorcycles in that people often get them and quickly find they don't have the time for the hobby. In the case of motorcycles, they sometimes have a scary experience and decide to unload before it's even broken in.

I definitely plan to search for something like you described...

Nice 'fleet' by the way!

I would consider the route my wife and I took as well. We bought the oldest, least expensive boat we could find that was still in good shape...(actually GREAT shape for it's age). I employed the same logic I did when buying all of my 5 children their first cars. It's not a matter of IF they will wreck it or break it. It's a matter of WHEN!

I was in the NAVY and have been around boats my whole life. But this is the first boat I have owned and had to maintain, fix, upgrade. etc...

I know we WILL make mistakes and mess up the boat. I would much rather do that to a $3000 boat than a $30,000 boat.

Just food for thought.

[Download_Complete]

Based on what you said, I would highly recommend the Element e18, because it is, as you say, "simple". There's just not much to go wrong on it, it's a unique design you won't find anywhere else on the market, and it's a good performer too.

Used boats tend to be a better value, but I am going to push for the new boat here assuming you have a good down payment. Used boats introduce the concept of right boat, right time, right cost, and if any of those three variables are not there, then shopping becomes a huge headache.

I am about to re-enter boating after a 10 year absence, and because I have a lot of very specific requirements, I am likely buying new. I just sent the email to the dealer today with my specification.

[Nickdixon]

Started from zero in 2013. If the VR 6 had been available, that's what I would have now. 195 is good. Mostly 2-4 people, siding on 2. Would not want smaller, though.