You might have seen my recent facebook post that we are thinking about getting a new boat. Over the past year, we've noticed that our current boat just isn't really meeting our boating needs any more. What we currently have is a 2006 Bayliner 175. I can't find a pic that shows our entire boat so here's someone else's pic - this looks exactly like our boat.
The boat isn't big enough to take it out on the ocean and the way the seats are configured, it's hard for Ryan to go fishing in it, even in the river. The bow can be crowded and hard to get around each other.
Our current boat has an inboard/outboard engine which means the main part of the engine is inside the boat under a hatch and only the part with the propeller sticks out (like the picture below right). On an outboard engine, the entire engine is external to the boat and all engine parts are contained in the engine case. The outboard engines are much easier to maintain. Especially for us - on our bayliner, when it rains the water drains into the bilge so the boat starter and other components may be actually sitting in salt water until the bilge pumps out the water. The components wear out a lot faster and they are pretty hard to get to since they are inside the boat.
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Plus the seat layout doesn't work great for us and the seats are really wearing out!
Over the past year, we've been looking at other boats - trying to find a boat that can be taken out on the ocean and is conducive to fishing (what Ryan wants), but can also be easily driven around the river with wakeboarders or tubes and is comfortable (what I want). Those are two very different types of boats so we've really struggled to find one that would work for both of us. But recently, Ryan discovered the Starcraft Star Step 229 OB coastal. It's a center console boat with a good design for fishing and can be taken in the ocean. but it also has lots of lounge seating that I like and should be able to take wakeboarders and tubes. Here's a link to the one we're looking at buying (but ignore the price because we're not going to pay even close to what the ad shows).
http://www.topnotchmarine.com/new_vehicle_detail.asp?sid=02732813X3K2K2013J5I36I42JPMQ4640R0&veh=268342&pov=2833118
And here are some pictures we took of it while we were at the dealer:
http://www.topnotchmarine.com/new_vehicle_detail.asp?sid=02732813X3K2K2013J5I36I42JPMQ4640R0&veh=268342&pov=2833118
And here are some pictures we took of it while we were at the dealer:
Overall, the boat is around 21' long, holds 12 people and would have a top speed around 40mph. Like I said, he would only go out on the ocean when seas were calm and it should take people wakeboarding too. The only reason I say "should" instead of "will" is because we haven't seen the wake yet. We will probably take it for a sea trial (like a test drive) sometime this week or next weekend and then we will be able to see how quickly it planes, the size and shape of the wake, etc.
