THINKING ABOUT BUYING A 20-24 FT BOAT WITH AN OUTBOARD YAMAHA OR MERC ITS BETWEEN SEA RAY AND BAYLINER IN THE PEOPLE I ASK, THE MAJORITY SAY STAY AWAY FROM BAYLINER AND GO WITH SEA RAY.. DONT WANT TO SPEND MORE THAN 20K OR SO ADVICE FROM EXPERIENCED BOATERS?? PS......PISS OF LAMOUR.................I KNOW YOUR ANSWER
Bruce If you haven't looked at a Cobalt yet, go check one out. They're more than you want to spend, but once you inspect one it doesn't take long to see where the money went. www.cobaltboats.com/
Do NOT buy a Bayliner. Get the Sea Ray. Tyler is right about the Cobalt, best boat out there, but you'll pay for it. Also consider Four Winns, Crownline, Chaparral. Any particular reason you want an outboard? You going to use it in the ocean?
THANKS TYLER, YES, A GREAT BOAT BUT PRICEY....ILL CHECK IT OUT JIM, OUTBOARDS ARE EASIER TO WORK ON FOR FIXES THANKS
Are you primarily buying for a nice cruise across the bay? Fish the rivers? Tubin' on the lake with the kids? There's a boat for each but not many that'll do it all. Last year my wife and I were looking for a boat to compromise on (having sold my Donzi Classic 22 and her Cape Dory 22) and we looked at everything. By far the Cobalt was the best... and the priciest. Although the larger Sea Rays are fantastic the quality doesn't seem to trickle down to their smaller line (subcontracted maybe?). Crownline and Chaparral are great boats, built well, stylish and offer a lot for the money. Bayliners? We were not impressed. The low price directly equates to the level of quality, both in materials and construction. We ended up with an outrageous deal on a new (left-over) 2006 Four Winns 255 Sundowner (cuddy cabin with its requisite "potty" and bimini). Although I'm a Merc fan this one came with a Volvo I/O which is pretty impressive with its power and durability. Unfortunately we haven't been able to enjoy our boat as often as we like (two relocations during the past 8 months didn't help) and now it's dead in the water for a jammed control cable. Apparantly it's a common problem for either Four Winns or Volvo and at 30 hours and 16 months there's some finger pointing going on as to who's responsible. BTW, even the dealers are strangled by Four Winns (Corporate) lack of support. Another thing to consider? Dual prop drives are a PIA to get accustomed to and there's a broad learning curve for low speed maneuvering. I could back my Donzi (I/O, single prop) into any slip in any condition perfectly. This thing takes half the marina just to change directions. Our next boat will probably be a Yamaha SX230 High Output or 232 Limited with its jet drives. There are too many manatee zones and shallow areas where we live now which limit our boating considerably. The Four Winns 255, with its wide beam and swim platform, was well suited for the bayous, bay and gulf of the Destin, Fl area, our previous location.
we need more details-- what will the boat be used for? fishing/cruising/speeding around do you want to trailer it or will it be docked? sleeping cabin? ocean or lakes and rivers? answer the above and I can help Do not buy the Bayliner--they look nice, but they are like a cork in rough seas.
Interesting you say that. I found the exact opposite to be true. I found my twin screw Tiara 3100 much easier to maneuver at low speeds than my (father's) I/O Skipjack 20.
Twin screw is one thing and twin prop another. With the former you can forward/reverse independently for additional maneuverability. I'm still trying to figure out the twin prop. Supposedly if you have twin drives with twin props it's a lot easier as well. I haven't played that big yet Image Unavailable, Please Login
I've owned all three. Bayliners are light weight( we had a 28 ft. Ciera, air conditioning,toilet...). It was fine for a lake without big waves. Sea Ray was a heavier boat. In the 20ft. range they are a dime a dozen. Go to any marina and it is probably the most numerous boat- but for a reason, very well built. We had a 26 foot Cobalt for several years. I agree with what everyone else has said. Great manueverability, heavy well built boat, very comfortable. I bought one four years for $28k or so, used it for 2-3 seasons and got $26 back on trade in for our current wakeboard boat. 1 more vote here for Cobalt.
Bruce, If you're buying new, and planning on trailering it, that's really not an issue, get the I/O for increased room inside the boat and across the stern deck. For a boat that lives in the water, especially salt water, the outboard is a better solution. Wade, I'd suggest spending some time in the Yamaha before you buy. I was very interested in one, but talked to a guy that bought one about 2 months ago and he talked me out of it. We're on a 38k acre lake that gets some pretty big waves due to the prevailing South summer winds and boat/jet ski traffic. He said the low speed manuverability of the Yamaha sucks. In normal Texas wind conditions, even using the 'no wake mode' in the boat to keep the jets pumping, he can't steer to park in his boathouse. There's no outdrive in the water to act as a keel when the boat is at low speed to provide even a little directional control. The dealership will tell you it's no big deal, as they told him, but his experience was very different. He said in protected marinas it was no trouble, but our boathouses sometimes require some tricky parking.
DEAR MR WELLINGTON, YOU SABER TOOTH MONKEY SQUIRT ---------PAY ATTENTION ---- BAYLINERS ARE GARBAGE [ NOTHING PERSONAL TO ANYONE THAT OWNS ONE ] SOFT HULLS, LIGHT BOATS AND RESALE SUCKS !!!!!! SEARAYS ---- NICE BOATS BUT MAINLY COME WITH I/O [ INBOARD/ OUTBOARD MOTORS ] HAS AN INBOARD MOTOR BUT AN OUTDRIVE UNIT = POSSIBLE PROBLEMS, MANY !!. I HIGHLY SUGGEST BUYING A BOAT WITH OUTBOARD MOTORS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EASY TO WORK ON AND GOOD FOR ABOUT 4000 HRS [ 4 STROKES ] PREFERABLY YAMAHA !! THE AVERAGE FISHERMAN PUTS ABOUT 100 HRS PER SEASON. YOU WILL NOT COME CLOSE TO THAT. i need to know what the intended use is and where you plan on using the boat ???? EVERY BOAT HAS A DIFFERENT DEADRISE, BEAM, WEIGHT, DECK LAYOUT, HULL DESIGN, FUEL TANK MARERIALS. TELL ME WHAT, WHERE AND USE AND I LL GIVE YOU MY BEST CHOICE BOAT. PS. THANKS FOR THE CALL BACK AND THE INVITE............ PMS ---MY NEW BOAT, COMING ON TUESDAY....... i ll have more pics then.. 31FT CONTENDER. . Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
stay away from all yamaha 250 and 300 HPDI motors !!!!! they were bolwing power heads left and right, even after yamaha would replace the power heads for free these engines would then have cylinders not firing.... STAY AWAY !!! Yamaha 4 strokes are diferent and are virtually bullet proof !!!
JL, Twin Yammers on a Contender,now that's a f'n piece of equipment. You know ur boats'n'boobs. Important stuff... Congrats&cheers, RE
+1. THAT'S SOME SERIOUS KNOWLEDGE THAT LAMOUR IS PUTTING DOWN . BRUCE - YOU SHOULD FOLLOW LAMOUR'S GUIDANCE ON YOUR BOAT DECISION.
OH YEAH BRUCE, DONT BUY A MERCURY OUTBOARD EITHER -- VERADO MOTORS ARE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH LOWER UNIT CORROSION AND THE ENGINE HAS WAY TOO MANY ELECTRONIC PARTS NEEDED FOR THE INJECTION SYSTEM TO WORK PROPERLY. OPTIMAX JUST PLAIN OL SUCK, THEY ARE 2 STROKE AND ARE NOISY AND SMOKEY, NOT THAT GREAT IN RELIABILITY. ENGINES I LIKE IN ORDER -- YAMAHA -- ANY 4 STROKE HONDA -- ANY 4 STROKE SUZUKI -- ANY 4 STROKE ETEC - 2 STROKE. I STAND CORRECTED ON THE SEA RAY WITH AN OUTBOARD MOTOR, THEY ONCE MADE AN 18 FT CENTER CONSOLE [ SEA RAY LAGUNA ] NOW WHATS YA NEED THE BOAT FOR ?? AND WHERE ??
Bruce, Since NJ coast could be your area you can't miss w/one of these. Grady's are great.If you can get a Grady cheers, RE Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks for the tip. I rented SeaDoo jet boats in the past and didn't have any problems although the 23' Yamaha will be different, I'm sure. I may have to issue docking sticks to the entire crew
Like others have said the SeaRay will be a better boat...When Bayliner makes a prototype it is well built with all lots of nice gear and then the accountants come in and say okay we need it to cost this much and then it all goes to hell. I have had a number of SeaRays and they have all been good boats. I briefly had a 47' Bayliner Pilothouse. I bought it as a boat to cruise around the lake and I knew going in that this would not be the same quality as the previous boats I have owned considering it cost about half the price a boat of its size should. I had bow and stern thrusters put in it...lots of expensive electronics. I admit it sat at my dock for about a year before I really used it...and when I did I decided to take it up from Lake Washington to San Juan Island. Early on in my journey I was getting a low battery warning from my Icom VHF radio, I thought that was odd but ignored it and kept cursing along...then all of a sudden I started getting a DSM failure from both of my Raymarine displays, this warning came with a really annoying alarm that would go off every 30 seconds...then the backlighting was sporadically going in and out. After a while I could not take it anymore and I turned all of my electronics off and used my cell phone's GPS to get where I was going. What was odd was I was getting about 13volts on the starboard side at like 10 volts on the port...so I figured the alternator or batteries were bad...then when I finally reach my destination I inspected the batteries to find that there was just a bunch of little car batteries instead of the huge ones a boat this size should have had... When I return home right as I get to the dock my stern thruster goes out followed by my port side engine... I sold it and bought a 64' Hatteras. Sorry that was a bit long…Bayliner nooo SeaRay yes. I would also look into used Cobalts they ride very nicely. Mercs in my experience are a little bit faster but also a bit louder than the Yamahas...I personally prefer Yamahas.
Actually your still wrong sea ray made more than one outboard and not just a center console. Here is a 2005 run about. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2005-Sea-Ray-185-Sport-Mercury-125-hp-Only-69Hrs-Clean_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ63685QQihZ017QQitemZ270258062418QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW
