Wanting to buy a boat

I need some advice on purchasing a boat. I want to get one by this time next year and I want to do as my research before I jump into it. Im looking for a 20 to 25 ft boat to do some offshore fishing in. My questions are would I have to put a big down payment? What kind of monthly payments am I looking at? How expensive is the insurance? Should I buy new or used? I really appreciate your help.

 

Moved to The Bucket Forum

 

the 2 best days of a boat owners life are the day he/she buys it and the day he/she sells it. As far as payments go there are a lot of factors and of coarse the more you put down the less you finance. Slide by a boat dealer near you and get some numbers from them.

good luck and good fishing.

 

Ok, 1st go used. Second get engines with the highest fuel efficiency as you can find as you can easily spend the cost of the boat with a years use(we use ours a lot so it may not apply). I would get as big as you can afford, it really helps with the rocking and swaying once offshore. Also I would not skimp and get a single engine boat as the second engine is serious insurance if one decides to quit 45 miles out.

What kind of options do you want, such as hull set ups? A closed cabin will cost a lot more than a center console design and will limit fishing area.

We have had two Contender boats, which is a wonderful boat maker. Our current one being a 33 Tournament edition with triple 250 engines.. It screams baby!

Also what to think about is where you will be fishing, are you gulf side or atlantic side?

 

Im looking for a center console with twin engines. My father used to have a mako with twin yamahas and I remember him saying I will never go on a boat with a single engine. Im on the atlantic side.

 

your dad is right about the engines.. Since you are in florida are you familiar with everglades boats? I hear they are pretty good and have a foam core hull to prevent sinking, which is another concern. Offshore can get downright scary at times..

 

I have heard of the name but never really looked into their product. Would you suggest Mako boats? If I am going used how far back should I go?

 

Boat insurance is the cheapest part generally - I pay $200 a year with Boat US.

 

oh for sure, I think Mako makes great boats.. Used, I personally wouldn't go further back than 4-5 years. As Im sure you are well aware, saltwater will destroy anything after a few years..

 

mako hulls are very nice keep in mind that they are HEAVY, so you will need to size the engines accordingly.bama is right to an extent about 4-5 years but with a better made hull you could go 10-15 without concern about integrity.
Another nice one is a Shamrock, they also offer inboards which i personally prefer over outboards.