I understand. What I was "compaining" about was your working
that 18ft is the MINIMUM for four people.

There must be some mis-understanding somewhere. This post is a
follow-up of my original post. In my original post, I stated that I
want to be able to operate the boat safely in a protected sal****er bay
with 4 persons. This was the reason why I stated in the beginning of
this following-up post that I believe a 18-ft boat is the right size
for me. Obviously, if a person only looks at this statement alone
without knowing the original post, he will think that a 18-ft boat may
not be the minimum requirement.

It's a common recommendation here that 18ft is about the
MINIMUM anybody recommends. Makes people looking at
this NG to think that they need $20K or so to go boating, and
that's simply not the case. It's like saying the MINIMUM car
you can have for 4 people is an Impala (when there's lots of
people happy with an Echo)

I won't pay $20K for a boat, 18-ft or not. This is just a hobby. My
18-ft boat costs me _much_ less than that. Actually, during the course
of shopping for a used boat, I found that the price of boats in 16-ft
to 18-ft range don't vary much by their length. Price has a lot more
to do with how new the boat is. The length of a boat seems to be a
secondary factor. I am not very sure about this; but I have a feeling
that the HP rating of the motor probably has more impact on the price
than the length of the boat. This means if I can live with a less
powerful motor and a longer time to get the boat on plane, I may trade
off the HP power with longer boat length, and I may end up paying less.
This turns out to be a good trade off to me. My boat has a less
powerful motor (115-hp instead of 150-hp); but it still can get the
boat on plane quite fast even with 4 adults on board. I am just happy
to pocket the difference by choosing a boat that has a less powerful
motor.

The fact that the price of used boats in 16-ft to 18-ft range don't
vary much by length may have something to do with the possibility that
the cost of a used fiberglass boat hull is only a small part of the
cost of the total package of boat/motor/trailer. When people look at a
used boat hull, they will likely find something that needs to be fixed
and become turned off. When people look at a used marine motor, they
will like it as long as the motor powers up alright and doesn't make
strange noise. I have a feeling that the price of a used marine motor
probably holds up its value better than a used fiberglass boat hull.
Therefore, the length of a boat doesn't impact the final price that
much because the boat hull itself doesn't cost that much anyway.

Jay Chan