Newbie needs help please_FIRST boat- new vs. used GW?

[jep1]

I have the same boat and year as Mustange65 and live here in Cal - fish and game just cancelled salmon season for 2023. Caught some last year.

Will have to target halibut along with everyone else.

Good luck on your boat search.

steve

Thanks Steve!

 

[jep1]

Indeed! Love salmon fishing along with halibut, crabbing and even shrimping... though the season for that is extremely limited. Did you take a look at that boat yesterday?

The 2020 Freedom 215 at Cannon's Marine has 1500 hours on the engine so I did not go look at it. Also I really want freshwater (although at that price for a 2 year old GW,
I would have boat a saltwater if all else, incl engine hrs, were acceptable. In terms of engine hours I'm looking for less than 500 hours or actually 50-100 hours per year, and well maintained.

 

[Beyond A Wake]

If you have not been boating before maybe you could join a boat club for an initial period of time before buying your own. It is not cheap but cheaper than servicing your own boat with frequent impeller changes, propeller damage and so on.
I think your choice of dual console is smart as it clearly offers more versatility in use than just for pure fishing.
Go out on different size boats to see difference between say a 20ft and a 22ft boat.
If my memory serves me right I think the pathfinder boats have fairly low freeboards more usable for bay or lake fishing while the GW has higher freeeboards allowing for more open water use.

H

 

[Mustang65fbk]

The 2020 Freedom 215 at Cannon's Marine has 1500 hours on the engine so I did not go look at it. Also I really want freshwater (although at that price for a 2 year old GW,
I would have boat a saltwater if all else, incl engine hrs, were acceptable. In terms of engine hours I'm looking for less than 500 hours or actually 50-100 hours per year, and well maintained.

I didn't realize that the boat had 1500 hours on it. My only thought would be that most new outboards should get you well into the 2,000 hour range, likely even 3,000 hours or more. If you're like me and as you mentioned above, if you only put 50-100 hours on the boat per year then you wouldn't see 1,500 hours of usage until about 15 years of owning the boat. Which would make me wonder if you this is your "forever boat" or just something for the time being? I also noticed your age of 63, which 15 years from now would put you at 78. Which also could definitely change up a few things. Finally, even if you did purchase the boat and only owned it for a few years, I can't imagine that you wouldn't at least break even with selling it for what you paid for it, until you do find the right boat. But it's up to you and what ultimately works best for you. Good luck with whatever you decide on doing and have you ever thought about considering either a 205 Tournament or Freedom?

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[jep1]

I didn't realize that the boat had 1500 hours on it. My only thought would be that most new outboards should get you well into the 2,000 hour range, likely even 3,000 hours or more. If you're like me and as you mentioned above, if you only put 50-100 hours on the boat per year then you wouldn't see 1,500 hours of usage until about 15 years of owning the boat. Which would make me wonder if you this is your "forever boat" or just something for the time being? I also noticed your age of 63, which 15 years from now would put you at 78. Which also could definitely change up a few things. Finally, even if you did purchase the boat and only owned it for a few years, I can't imagine that you wouldn't at least break even with selling it for what you paid for it, until you do find the right boat. But it's up to you and what ultimately works best for you. Good luck with whatever you decide on doing and have you ever thought about considering either a 205 Tournament or Freedom?

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I'm loving your reply. I was thinking the same thing but so many people advised against buying a boat that has so many hours on the engine I thought that maybe the thing would be in the shop all the time. So yeah, I think hey it's like me mid-life, broken-in, and running just fine! I'll use it to learn on for about 2-3 years and then get a new Freedom 225!! Resale will be tough but at that point I won't worry too much about it. Yes, I am definitely interested in a Freedom or Tournament 205!

Right now I'm running into a time crunch with a Mediterranean vacation later this month that we have been planning since pre-Covid (yeah, got cancelled 4 times!). I have a 91 year old step mom I take care of in my home and just did a big renovation to make her comfortable. So we are settling in (unpacking). My dock was supposed to be done by now(December) but the demo just started 10 days ago. So, I may have jumped the gun on this but was trying to get it done before we leave. I'll be back around May 8th and pick it up then. I appreciate everybody's help. I learned so much from all of you and can't thank y'all enough!!

 

[jep1]

If you have not been boating before maybe you could join a boat club for an initial period of time before buying your own. It is not cheap but cheaper than servicing your own boat with frequent impeller changes, propeller damage and so on.
I think your choice of dual console is smart as it clearly offers more versatility in use than just for pure fishing.
Go out on different size boats to see difference between say a 20ft and a 22ft boat.
If my memory serves me right I think the pathfinder boats have fairly low freeboards more usable for bay or lake fishing while the GW has higher freeeboards allowing for more open water use.

H

Great advice...my cousin is a member of Freedom Boat Club and he did just that! He took us out on several different boats and the reason we like the deeper V or multi-V is the much smoother rider and secondly we didn't get beat up as much sitting in the deeper freeboard (I think that means the ones that had more depth between the front seats and the top of the rail). The seats had more cushion and the people up front didn't get pounded too much. I also noticed a bug difference driving the two different types of boats. When I drove the deeper V hull I felt, sooo much more stable, confident. There was so much less play in the steering wheel. When I drove the other boats I actually didn't feel as if I had control sometimes and that actually scared me. I would never buy anything other than a multi-hull or deep-V.

But yes, if I don't buy a boat in the next couple months I may join Freedom for a year. I think the rates are reasonable and a great way to get experience. Thanks!

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I'm loving your reply. I was thinking the same thing but so many people advised against buying a boat that has so many hours on the engine I thought that maybe the thing would be in the shop all the time. So yeah, I think hey it's like me mid-life, broken-in, and running just fine! I'll use it to learn on for about 2-3 years and then get a new Freedom 225!! Resale will be tough but at that point I won't worry too much about it. Yes, I am definitely interested in a Freedom or Tournament 205!

As long as all of the maintenance has been done on the boat/motor, I think that while the hours are a bit on the higher side, I think I'd still consider it as a strong candidate, especially because of the year and the price. When I bought my boat back in October of 2021, the motor had 1k hours on it and I was a little bit nervous about it as well, especially because that vintage of F225's can have the dry exhaust corrosion issue that many have. The boat having basically a "brand new motor" is going to be a bit different as most new motors aren't going to have the issues that an almost 20 year old engine will have. I'd honestly be more concerned about a vintage of motor like mine that had 1,500 hours on it as opposed to one that's only just barely 3 years old now. If you're serious about the boat, I'd consider making them an offer you feel the boat is worth, after having it checked out with a fine tooth comb obviously, and to where you think the deal makes sense to you.

As mentioned above, even if you break even after a couple years or usage, or even if you lost say oh $5k of value in the boat but got 3-5+ years of usage... I'd consider that the cost of owning a boat and I'd honestly think of that as a win. And I'm a bit of a frugal person myself. If you think you'll "lose your shorts" on the boat, or if you only think that you'll have it for a year or two and that you'd potentially lose $10k or more in value on it, then yeah maybe consider something else. My mother is in her early 70's and was just recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, of which if I was considering buying a boat to be able to spend even a few trips with her on it, it would be worth the money to me. Again, I wouldn't be "negligent" and not do any research going into potentially buying a boat, but if buying the boat gives you the opportunity to spend time with her, family, friends and you're able to make some memories with it, then that's money well spent, and then some. Let us know what you do and good luck on whatever you do decide on.

 

[jep1]

As long as all of the maintenance has been done on the boat/motor, I think that while the hours are a bit on the higher side, I think I'd still consider it as a strong candidate, especially because of the year and the price. When I bought my boat back in October of 2021, the motor had 1k hours on it and I was a little bit nervous about it as well, especially because that vintage of F225's can have the dry exhaust corrosion issue that many have. The boat having basically a "brand new motor" is going to be a bit different as most new motors aren't going to have the issues that an almost 20 year old engine will have. I'd honestly be more concerned about a vintage of motor like mine that had 1,500 hours on it as opposed to one that's only just barely 3 years old now. If you're serious about the boat, I'd consider making them an offer you feel the boat is worth, after having it checked out with a fine tooth comb obviously, and to where you think the deal makes sense to you.

As mentioned above, even if you break even after a couple years or usage, or even if you lost say oh $5k of value in the boat but got 3-5+ years of usage... I'd consider that the cost of owning a boat and I'd honestly think of that as a win. And I'm a bit of a frugal person myself. If you think you'll "lose your shorts" on the boat, or if you only think that you'll have it for a year or two and that you'd potentially lose $10k or more in value on it, then yeah maybe consider something else. My mother is in her early 70's and was just recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, of which if I was considering buying a boat to be able to spend even a few trips with her on it, it would be worth the money to me. Again, I wouldn't be "negligent" and not do any research going into potentially buying a boat, but if buying the boat gives you the opportunity to spend time with her, family, friends and you're able to make some memories with it, then that's money well spent, and then some. Let us know what you do and good luck on whatever you do decide on.

Appreciate all the advice. Making memories with friends and family is priceless for me now especially having not had enough balance during my career. So yes, I agree with everything you say about the price of ownership.

I'll have to take a short hiatus while I do some traveling this summer. It's hot as hell down here in Fl.and the tourists make traffic so bad going to the grocery or a nice restaurant becomes something of a nightmare so we are going to get away as much as possible until September.

I'll definitely let everyone know what I do. Thanks for all the help!

Mustang, do as much as you can do with your mom as early in this disease as you can. You will never forget those memories for sure! Been there, still there but everyday brings new possibilities! Take care!