Who's got a boat? What are the pros/cons? (2 Viewers)

Boat people love them some boats. I don’t personally get it but to each their own. Nowadays they almost never sink which is nice, but you do need to be careful and watch out for all the other idiots out there.

Kind of like vacation homes, they can get very expensive so you want to make sure you’ll use it enough to justify the expense. It often makes sense to try renting first to see what you like or dislike about it or at least get a better sense of what you’re willing to pay for or not.
 
Definitely take some time to learn boating laws and common courtesy guidelines. On lakes there aren't as many markers to understand so it's pretty straight forward I think. Never follow to closely behind someone especially if they are towing a skiier/tuber. Don't pass too quickly and closely by someone swimming, fishing, sitting idle. Don't drive a boat if you're under the influence and make sure you have enough flotation devices for the number of passengers you have on board.

Every year around holidays (Memorial day and 4th of July) we have a fatality near here due to people either not paying attention or driving while heavily intoxicated and causing injury/death to themselves or someone else. Definitely make sure you watch out for the other guy.

Also if you've never towed a trailer before, get some practice backing up in preparation for the boat ramp. There's a lot of good and free entertainment to be had by just pulling up a chair to any busy boat ramp and observing lol
 
Budha said:
I grew up with a boat on the James River in VA, and to @liftapint earlier post. I was a young kid and can attest to everything she said.

I was around 7 or 8 when we got it and learned to water ski, swim, drive a boat, etc. Those memories are still there and you’d be surprised, 40+ years later, I still remember basic boat safety I learned back then.

Boat time with the kids is huge! (I don’t have a boat, but if I had a lake/river house, I 100% would!

Advise from boat owner friends when buying a used boat is to have it looked at by someone that really knows boats before buying. People sell “problems”, so getting it inspected (or whatever you do for a boat) is worth it.
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Totally agree with this! My dad got into boats when I was younger (late 80s, early 90s). It was a ski boat with in v8 inboard motor but we would use it for fishing sometimes anyway. The joy of taking it to the lake to tube, ski, cruise, fish and just enjoy summers at the lake was a great memory. I learned to drive the boat back then and would always help my dad prep and take care of the boat. Eventually the costs of the boat kept piling up and our extended family would go less and less often so my dad eventually stopped owning boats as he called it a money sink lol

Back then outboard motors were considered less reliable than inboards but now I think that's no longer true. Opt for a 4 stroke motor over a 2 stroke motor if you can. They cost more but are cleaner, quieter and run more efficiently.
 
mike32 said:
@detroitdad and @WedgeRock are hiding in those photos!
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I think I found @detroitdad.
mike32 said:
235c9182-9286-4189-9c9e-afa008e87825-jpeg.968629
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Highli99 said:
Boat people love them some boats. I don’t personally get it but to each their own.
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When you are on the boat, in the shade with the breeze in your face and nothing but water around you everything melts away. BS from work, all the endless shit you need to fix or do, the politics that you worry about your kids having to deal with, poker losses, anything / everything, it goes away. You're left with pb&j sam-itches, ice cold lemonade and absolutely no fucks.
 
Machine said:
When you are on the boat, in the shade with the breeze in your face and nothing but water around you everything melts away. BS from work, all the endless shit you need to fix or do, the politics that you worry about your kids having to deal with, poker losses, anything / everything, it goes away. You're left with pb&j sam-itches, ice cold lemonade and absolutely no fucks.
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^^ This, this is true. I tend to be completely unable to relax, in life in general. But on a boat, it's completely different. It might be my only truly relaxed time.
No fucks. None.
 
My guess though was that they had unhooked the boat prior to bringing it down the ramp (people do that and try to do a quick launch). Likely during the back up they dropped the boat off the trailer either because the ramp is steep enough or they stopped too quickly so carrying it into the water was what they had to do before putting it back on the trailer to inspect for damage.
 
justsomedude said:
OK.

Not trying to be a smart ass, genuinely curious… WTF are these guys doing? Did they think they were carrying it? Am I missing something? Or are they just total knobs?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/ChSpVbkMuvT/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
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They are retards, they stopped short.

So you prep the launch not on the ramp, you unto the tethers and then carefully backup to the ramp to launch the boat. If you slam on the breaks the boat comes off as designed, but its suppose to be in the water, not on the ramp
 
Here is a decent vid, but its not a solo launch, which is a little more challenging.

Also I think its a bit ambiguous in this vid, you don't want to get the boat off the trailer 'under power', it tears up the launch site

 
toothpic said:
My guess though was that they had unhooked the boat prior to bringing it down the ramp (people do that and try to do a quick launch). Likely during the back up they dropped the boat off the trailer either because the ramp is steep enough or they stopped too quickly so carrying it into the water was what they had to do before putting it back on the trailer to inspect for damage.
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Machine said:
They are retards, they stopped short.

So you prep the launch not on the ramp, you unto the tethers and then carefully backup to the ramp to launch the boat. If you slam on the breaks the boat comes off as designed, but its suppose to be in the water, not on the ramp
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OK... that makes sense.

Also makes sense why the guy would be filming at that point... he probably saw the boat fall off the trailer, then got his camera out and started recording.

Thanks for the explanation!
 
justsomedude said:
Any need for a CB on the water? ...or other radio?
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Depends on the size of the body of water. We take our boat to the gulf and sometimes it's outside cell reception so we have one. All the lakes around here are well within cell reception though so if we were just at the lake we wouldn't have bought the CB.
 
not that I found, that would be more for rescue ops, a mega phone maybe, I find dirty looks and hand gestures get me by, some real morons out there though.
 
I am like a few others here. My dad bought us a boat to ski behind when I was about 6 or 7 and my family was hooked. Lots of great family memories and a lifetime love of both the water and of boats was in my future. That first boat was a Glastron 16' trihull with an 85 outboarrd. What a piece of junk... That trihull wants to nosedive and is dangerous a hell in anything more than a light breeze. I would not take one if it was free. I currently have 4 boats. A pontoon, a wake surf boat, a fishing boat and a sail boat. Of the 4, the pontoon gets the most use and if I had to choose just one, it would be the pontoon hands down.
mike32 said:
Depends on where you are boating, but I'd say a modern Tri-Toon is pretty damn versatile. They put big outboards on them that can pull skiers and tubers, and they are easy to fish off of.......
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This...
 
toothpic said:
There's a lot of good and free entertainment to be had by just pulling up a chair to any busy boat ramp and observing lol
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This is sooo true and I have been the entertainment before. Nothing better then looking like a complete moron in front of an audience w/your kids on board.

I was trying to park a huge ass pontoon (hard roof, water slide off the top, kind of pontoon) into a covered slip. The slip had maybe a foot or less of clearance on each side and the boat had a sticky throttle (rental).

Anyway, I had my wife in the front to grab the pylon and then guide us in (she’s NOT a boat person). Well, I was giving a little nudge on the throttle and it was a bit more then a nudge. I slammed the pylon at full throttle, wife almost falls over board, and I am now waaaaaay out of approach position - lol.

Needless to say, I was further encouraged by the applause from the spectators as I tried to reposition this Mack truck for the next 20 min :ROFL: :ROFLMAO: :ROFL: :ROFLMAO:

BC97ACCF-5FC7-4B48-9957-D585E0BC1392.gif
 
That center console!! DREAMY!

Thanks for sharing, more of a budge than the average of us, but one of us none the less and we love hearing about it!
 
Hunt247 said:
I spent $150K on poker chips over the last year. That's about two weeks burn rate on my boats and planes. I have a 65' 2021 Mikelson Sportfisher, 2022 Yellowfin 36' triple engine go fast, 2021 G36 and a 2022 Bell 505. We work hard and play harder, there is no second place in our game. It's all-in on the poker tournaments and all-in on the fishing tournaments. Every night after the fishing is done poker takes its place. You better be on your "A" game because this crew lives to cash the checks and break hearts. We spend 1/2 the year in Cabo and the other half in San Diego. I have a full time crew and the boat is ready 100% of the time. So you are all wondering if I sell drugs? Nope, I'm a general contractor in Az. and I made it by my self. I have one son and his beautiful fiancé. Not bragging, just sharing, sharing is caring, I care for you!View attachment 969089View attachment 969093View attachment 969094View attachment 969095View attachment 969097View attachment 969101View attachment 969107View attachment 969110View attachment 969112View attachment 969115View attachment 969116
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Well if that fits in your garage, go with that!!! And I envy your garage.
 

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