I have done a bit of searching but figure before I really get serious would ask if there is any boat manufacturer I should really look into or avoid (yeah I know dangerous question).  I am looking for a 20-30’ fiberglass boat with a Cuddy Cabin that could be used for wake boarding, water skiing, or tubing.  This will be more for taking trips up the river with friends to get a meal and come back (kinda like the $100 hamburger for the aviation guys).  One or two night camping on the lake/river is another use.  Most of the boats seem to have a Mercuiser or Volvo-Penta engine/drive, not sure if this will really make a difference either.  I will be buying used but price is not really a concern.

If the previous owner(s) maintained it will probably make more difference than the brand of boat or engine but figured I would ask anyway.  So far these are the brands I have found running a search, I have put the top list in order from my understanding of best to worst but feel free to “realign” my list.  The bottom list I am not familiar with but maybe the name.  Also if I missed a brand feel free to let me know.  I would prefer a brand that is still around and would prefer it be 2000 or newer.  I currently lean towards a Cobalt but do not want to limit my options.

The List:
Cobalt
Chris-Craft
Chaparral
Wellcraft
Four Winns
Regal
Sea Ray
Bayliner

No clue about:
Stingray
Crownline
Seaswirl
Rinker
Mariah
Maxum
Monterey
Formula
Donzi
Bryant

No need to go past the first 7 options on your list.    Bayliner is several notches below.    Your Q is full of compromises.   Camping, but also Wakeboarding...   Not sure that you'll find ONE that will be good at any of what you want to do without being great at one thing and terrible at another.    But then again, I'm sure that's also fine.  Just being out there is more fun than not being out there.   I just purchased a Mastercraft.   Perfect for wake-surfing, wakeboarding, tubing;   and cruising.   But, not going to see any camping, fishing, etc...

Take it from someone in the Great Lakes state. There are TWO things in life you can never get rid of. Aids and Bayliners.

The first five are good to go. Cobalt, Chaparral are more flashy. Wellcraft and Four Winns aren't often as "pretty" but are very solidly made. Of your second list, Formula and Donzi are like Cobalt and Chaparral. Well, Donzi I think only makes cigarette style boats? Or did. Sea-Rays look nice when new, but my buddies fell apart fast.

Going to need a hell of a motor, and a strong pitch if you want to pull up skiers with a cuddy cabin type boat. That same pitch won't be good for longer trips either. As another poster noted, you're looking for a swiss army knife boat, and you're going to have to sacrifice something to get something else. Gotta prioritize that list better.

Have you looked at the prices of them bastads yet? Omfg. I bought a new Baja 18' bow rider in '93. Kept in the garage or under a hoist canopy year round, it never aged. Then I had to shrink wrap it and store it outside. 3 winters, and it was shot. I was going to buy a new one, but DAMN those prices!  I ended up recarpeting and reupholstering the '93 Baja, and it's beautiful now. Plus, all my kids grew up on it. Glad I still have it.

That's another thing. It's fiberglass and a motor. If you can find one that has never sat outside in the elements, even covered, and has been well maintained, it doesn't matter much how old it is. Bargains to be had there. It was about 4K to tear out the interior and replace it all. Looks like new.

Attached File


ETA: I picked Baja because I believed it was super well built. In the 24 years I've had it, I have not been disappointed. I bet mechanically, it hasn't cost me more than $2K in 24 years. Shift assy had to be replaced last year. Backfired once (my bad), broke an exhaust flap and drank seawater into the block (thankfully, I acted quick and it was an easy fix). Other than that, I had to replace the cables and hoses to the outdrive (dry rot) recently and every 5 years I have the outdrive inspected. Pretty damn cheap to run.

This 2006 Baja H2X would fit most of your requirements, except not so good for wakeboarding. You really want a ballast boat if you're going to do serious wakeboarding. And some skill pulling a skier. You can pretty much rip arms out of sockets with this 320hp beast.

What part of the country are you in?

Like the others - believe that you are asking for one boat to do it all......kinda like having one gun to do it all....

Do you have Monterey in you list?

Are there any boat clubs in you AO?

Red

You want a Mercrusier powerplant.  Volvo/Cobra has some motors that you can't get parts for anymore.  Most marinas have Mercruiser parts on hand.

Cobalt Chap and Crownline are all good to go for that year range.   Any boat of that age could cost you some cash quickly on repairs if it hasn't been maintained.

Bellows
Water pump
Transom shift cable

Keep in mind that maintenance costs are pretty much the same, regardless of the cost or quality of the boat. The results and costs of NOT doing maintenance will be pretty close to the same also.

East US, TN river and a few lakes are within an hour drive.  i am sure there is a boat club in the area but honestly didn't think of it until you mentioned it.

I understand the concern for a "Swiss army boat," the more important part to me is traveling the river/lake with friends.  The other uses will be just to have a place to relax away from all the drama.  The least likely uses would be tubing and skiing (skiing really questionable).  After going to a boat show I get the wake board idea is worthless but this doesn't affect my choice.

I thought I put Monterey in the list, can't see my post while typing this one.

Just to get a feel, would the Cobalt 273 or 243 be a wise choice for my use (think they made them from like 2011 to 2016).

That is a lot of boat if this is you're first one

The difference between 20' and 30' is HUGE. HUGE amount of money, HUGE amount of weight (3,500lbs vs. 10,000+lbs), HUGE amount of overall size, HUGE amount of upkeep, HUGE amount of fuel usage.....etc, etc...

Sounds like you really don't know what you want.

20ft Crownline....



32ft Crownline......

I was also thinking the difference between a 20' and 30' boat is a BIG difference.

It would be my first boat, as a kid my grandfather had a boat that was passed along to my dad.  It was a 20 ft boat set up more for fishing than anything else but we water skied behind it. With three of us and gear on board it felt too small.  Part of this is might be because the boat wasn’t set up for our use, stepping over water skies on the floor is not my favorite past time. Using the boat was great though.   Most small cuddy’s are more in the 24 ft range but didn’t want to limit my search, I dont think I would want anything beyond 27 ft either but opened up my options.

Once dad took a new job it would take 5+ hours to get to the lake, at that point we would only use it once or twice a year until he forgot to winterize the drive unit and it cracked.  That boat never saw water again and fell apart from the sun (sat for two years and bost cover got ripped, the rest is history).

Are you going to be trailering it to the lake/river? Or keep it down there?  If you are going to trailer it...what size truck do you have?   What's your budget for a used boat? Are you good at turning wrenches? In other words....are you able to trouble shoot and repair mechanical/electrical issues? If not..you might want to get something new with a warranty.

Does it have to be a cuddy cabin?  Cuddy cabins waste a lot of usable space......unless you really think you will be sleeping on it a lot, I would look for a bow rider.  A 27ft boat with a cuddy cabin is a BIG boat......not really the best thing to pull wakeboarders or skiers behind.

Would something like a nice and simple 21ft bow rider work?  How rough does the water get where you are going to be using it?

50/50 on trailering it to the river.  Have access to a covered boat slip, this belongs to a friend of the family but his health caused him to sell his boat.  He can no longer travel that much so most of the family will stay there for a weekend or so.  I could put it in the water for the summer but I just have a bad feeling about keeping in the water over a week at a time.  Not sure if a weekend is too long either.  Eventually I will have my own home with water access but until I retire its not in the cards.  Tow vehicle, 3500 Dodge Ram quad cab dually with Cummins and manual transmission, 2wd though.  Boat price less than 100k, anything under this is a bonus but the less I have to spend the better.

My mechanical skills are decent.  I have replaced the head gasket on a few cars and rebuilt the motor on another, just takes me longer than your normal mechanic.  My daily driver is over 28 years old, its needed a thing or two.  Electrical I enjoy if I have a clue how its wired, I would hope I could get a wiring diagram but I might have to do more research on this one.  Eventually I would figure it out but wouldn’t want to.

Most of the use would be an afternoon going out to eat with around 2-5 friends and have a evening on the lake.  Due to certain medications I am taking I have to have a place to “hide” from the sun.  I also would like a place to hide any electronics in case of the sudden “holy crap” thunderstorm that could pop up.  I see camping onboard at least twice a season if not more.  Might take a week or two vacation to travel and stop at national parks along the river.

Being able to pull a wake board is not important, pulling a skier doesn’t rank much higher on my “wants” list either.  I would like to be able to do it but it won’t hurt my feelings if I can’t.  Some of the boats I have looked at have a ski tow/pylon/arch but this doesn’t mean its a good idea either, maybe just some marketing gimmick.

I have seen quite a few 20 ft fishing and bow riders on the river, its usually only really bad if the wind is not in your favor but its not common enough to get an ocean vessel.  Most of the time you see kayak’s and canoes in the water.

Knowing all of that.....I would say to just stay with a well known brand (Cobalt, Formula, Donzi, Bryant, Fourwinns, Baja, Crownline, etc, etc)....and find something with a Mercruiser in it.  As far as a motor goes, go with something bigger than what you think you need.....lots of big boats out there with small motors.  If you are going to go 25ft+...get something with at least a 7.4 liter motor in it (454, 496, 502).  The twin prop Bravo III drives are awesome.....very efficient and smooth. I would try to stick with something 10yrs old or newer. You don't want to mess with anything older than that.

Any like most things used.......make sure it was maintained well, and well taken care of.  I would rather have a 10ry old boat that looks like new, and was well serviced......than a 5 year old boat that was kept outside in teh elements, and never serviced.

You're looking for a lot nicer boat than I am

Check out Iboatsforum kind of like arf of boating

check their restore area to see why an 80/90's boat may not be your best bet, a lot can be hidden by new carpet

Good advice here.

I've had pontoons for the last 25 or so years but I live on a lake so sleeping on it isn't important to me, and it's mostly a wine and cheese cruiser. My friends all have different types of boats, so we choose the boat we need for whatever it is we want to do that day :)

As akethan says, stay with a Mercruiser. Personally, I would not buy a 496. Mercruiser has dropped that engine and has

gone back to the 502. The 7.4 is also a good engine and the BravoIII drive has a lot of grunt out of the hole

if propped right.

24-26ft is going to be the sweet spot for want you want to do. Any larger and they become heavy and many

in the 28ft and up class need a triple axle trailer.

Cobalt builds a solid boat that is relatively easy to work on. They engineered the boat so there's access

to the engine for service and repair in the models I've worked on.

<---Mercury/Mercruiser tech.

I'll bite. Why is the wake board idea worthless? I'm not in the market for a boat today, but I've been looking at some online.
When I was a young kid my dad took me kneelboarding and skiing a lot, exploring the lake and gulf often, and fishing some.
I envied mastercraft boats the same way I'd dream of having a muscle car or an exotic car as a kid.
It looks like Mastercraft is heavy into the wake surfing gimmick which was invented long after I grew up and away from boating. Is wake surfing boring or impossible? It wouldn't be very high on my list either, but what makes it worthless? I'm not being sarcastic, I really wanted to know.

My son caught the fishing bug about a year ago, and I may be relocating back to New Orleans area where I grew up.   When this happens I will be buying my boat. It needs to be rugged enough for fishing, sporty enough for skiing, reliable enough so I don't get stranded, luxurious enough to get the wife on board (literally and figuratively), big enough to get home in an unexpected storm in the Gulf of Mexico, yet small enough to tow.