New Man On The Block

[striped bass]

If the hull and topsides on the 2008 have not been kept in great shape, the engine most likely may not have received proper maintenance either. Also, the 2008 is going on five years old and that is when boat and engine parts start to fail due to age and use. This means many dollars. Same principle goes for cars and most other mechanical/electrical systems. I appreciate that you are probably not floating in cash just after a townhouse purchase. That being said, I still recommend the newest GW that you can afford. A 2008 that has not been well cared for is probably not the direction you want to go in. Since we are heading into the dead of winter you might want to hold out for a little while longer and see what comes along especially since there are thousands of GW boats fort sale.

 

[GulfSea]

Thanx everyone for your excellent input!! We had settlement on the property this past Friday!! The property is right on Indian River Bay in Ocean View Delaware. The boat slip is 20 paces from my back door. I contacted Dave Ashley from Taylor Marine our local Grady-White Dealer in DE who was nice enough to actually visit the slip...He confirmed a 20-21ft and 8ft+ beam would work great...Anything larger would depend on how liberal and forgiving the management company would be....I hate to have "the tail wag the dog" but being new to the area and also boating I certainly don't want to....rock the boat(sorry!!). I visited Taylor Marine in Milford DE and looked at the Adventure 208 and also the Fisherman 209 keeping in mind my limitations. I probably will be doing a little more fishing than cruising and for my purposes the Fisherman 209 has alot more room. The Adventure has more storage space but its small size doesn't really seem practical...It would end up with alot of junk piled there..Both new boats are incredibly pristine but so is the price tag...especially since I just purchased the townhouse... Here's the kicker!! He has a "used" Adventure 208, 2008 with 58 Hours!!!! The previous owner did not really pamper it...Portside bow has about an 8 inch gash just under the gunnel...looks like he banged into something...stainless steel hardware is fairly tarnished and dull..Certainly did not compare esthetically with the showroom models!!!.Dave Ashley said these items could be taken care of...It has a 150 Yamaha which to use Dave's words was "cherry" condition.....Bimini soft top.......2008.....58 Hours....$38,500. I priced out a new one...$60+ after bells and whistles....What do you think!!!!???? What should I do!!??

If I were in a similar position, I would probably wait 2-3, maybe even 4 months to observe everything around the area and let things soak in. Talk with locals, neighbors and area residents to get a feel for what is and isn't allowed. You may find access is restricted in some way such as a bridge, shallow water, who knows what. Or you may find having a larger boat is not an issue at all. There are just far too many variables that could change your direction right now to really take the plunge.

The thing is if you really know and understand what you're buying and match what you'll be using it for, you can save a lot of money and even more important, preserve the time you put into customizing the set up. I took over a year researching what I wanted and even put it on the market to move up in size about 4 months ago only to realize at the last moment before selling that I already had exactly what I wanted. I'll probably have my 228 from now on.....I was just a signature away from making a big, big mistake.