On May 21, 5:14 am, RogueIT wrote:
I am looking into go in on a boat and was wondering what is the best
place for research.

I don't have any previous buying experience but I do have a couple of
questions.

Are boats like cars in the sense that you can get 200,000 miles from a
Toyota but only 150,000 from a Ford or Chevrolet? I don't want to buy
a boat that is getting ready to break down.


Brand name only tells you something about how the boat was built to
start with, and cannot be relied upon when shopping for a used boat.
Most of the stuff most likely to break on a boat (darn nearly
everything except the hull itself- and in very rare cases that can
happen as well) isn't built by the company laying up the hull and
assembling the components. There are only a handful of gasoline engine
builders in common use, and perhaps a half-dozen very common makes of
diesel with another half-dozen making regualr appearances. Boats can
be and have been powered with marinized versions of almost every
engine- including VW diesels. The engine itself will last just as long
in Brand X as it will in Brand Y, provided it was properly installed,
properly sized to the boat/load, and has been properly operated and
maintained.


Is there a "blue book" for boats and where would I find a copy of said
blue book?

Two or three. And they all disagree. One problem with most of the
giudebooks is that they are national publications, while the boating
market is regional. (A trawler in the Pacific NW is worth a lot more
than a trawler in Florida, for example. A pontoon boat is a big hit in
Alabama, but might go begging in many parts of Oregon). If you haven't
shopped enough to develop a pretty good sense of what your local
market is you may not have shopped enough. You don't want to pay a NW
price for a trawler in Florida, or a SE price for a pontoon boat in
Oregon.





If a boat is in the water but for-sale would it be wrong or un-couth
to ask the boat be lifted out of the water for an inspection of the
underside and prop? (and what is this process called by people in the
know...dry dock?)


A survey. Don't buy a boat without a survey, LIfiting it out of the
water is a "haul out", but the inspection, which should cover a heck
of a lot more than the prop and shaft is a survey.




If the boat is in Dry dock, is it to much to ask to have the boat be
put in the water for a "test drive"?

Absolutely not. Don't buy any boat without seeing it float, running
it, enjoying it, and having an expert mechanic and/or surveyor give
you a thumbs' up.





When you all bought your first boat was there ever a time when you
said "&^%#$^ I wish I had" and what was the mistake you made?

I wished I had bought a boat 10 years earlier. :-)



Are their common mistakes that are made?

Yup. But asking these kinds of questions might help you avoid a few of
them.


Should I avoid one engine over another?

Look for an engine that is still in production and that has at least
decent loxal service available. You can get a marinized BMW engine-
but if parts are mail-order only in your location and the only guy who
knows how to work on it is 6 hours away you will regret that choice
immensely.



Have marine engines gotten as complicated as car engines?

Not quite, but closing in pretty rapidly.



the boat would be used for day trips mostly.
Looking at used 20-35 ft boat in the Louisville, KY area so intended
use areas would be Ohio river and Kentucky lake.
Budget is 35,000 and according to yachtworld.com there are quite a few
Carvers and a couple Sea Rays, Chris-Crafts, and the odd Crownline and
Bayliner that fall under those criteria.

Well that should get me started...FYI if the boat gets bought I will
be going to the power squadron to take their classes but I hate to
waste my time if a boat isn't in the future.

Thanks in advance and happy sailing.
Scott