I find it hard to believe Wife is going along with me, usually she doesn't even want to lift her head to look at my laptop when I'm looking at boats. Boy thinks he has won and I have moved on from the Jetskis, but I may have one or two more tricks up my sleeve. Today, we spent a few hours driving to a couple places that sell boats and asking questions. Our first stop was at Ski Dock which I went because they sell the Yamaha boats I showed a couple days ago. They must have had three of the variations, and they ranged from $55,000 to over $75,000.
This is the kind of boat for me. The guy said because of the engines and how they operate, all we have to do is change the oil, one time after 10 hours of break-in, and then after that to change it again after 100 hours. It was a service best left for them to do, and I think I would let them. The engines are inside a compartment under the seats located in the back, I doubt it would be easy for my big ass to sneak in there without stepping on something and breaking it. The sales guy was actually very patient, he took us to the back of the store, almost like a service area and showed us a number of boats. I am still sticking with wanting a 24 foot variation. I think we could do something in the $60,000 range, and that affords a lot of options. He showed us a boat as it was with the tower that they add it runs around $64,000, but with incentives and this and that we could probably end up around $58,000. I walked out feeling that was the boat for us, but since we passed Sail and Ski, and it was open, I headed there next.
Chubs was not having my shenanigans today. He said no! no! no! dad, I need to eat, I don't want to spend all day starving, Wife said to just pick him up something and he'll be all right. We passed by a McDonald's and I said screw it, let's eat. Ski Dock closed at 5:00pm, and it was 3:30pm. I figured if Sail And Ski is open the same hours, we should still have 30 to 40 minutes to check it out. And Chubs is right, I am always pushing and rushing, and then we go all day without eating. It was nice, the McDonald's was empty and fairly clean, plus now Wife playing visitor, she is much more chilled. She has not been that pain in the ass she used to be, and I love it. After we ate, I almost thought she would be bored and ready to go do something else, but she said go, we are already all the way out here, I thought cool.
Sail And Ski is actually open to 6:00pm, so we had even more time to look around. They carry a couple different brands including Bayliner, and they had pontoons, namely the Harris brand. I was thinking I did not want Bayliner for a second boat, but I really liked a deck boat they had, Element XR7. It came with a 200HP outboard and very open layout. I could see all of us fitting, and I really love that they add the double bimini tops so everyone has shade wherever they sit.
Wife really liked the pontoon boats they had. They even had the elusive double decker boat we saw at the boat show on the water, but it sold for $95,000, not including a trailer. They had a very nice laid out Harris Pontoon boat that was a 24 footer with a huge 250HP engine for $75,000, then the sales guy said he could also get the same layout, but on a 21 foot platform, for right at $60,000. This boat would only have a 150HP engine which sounds a bit underpowered.
I was honestly shocked by Wife, when she said, we should just get the $75,000 pontoon, we can give $20,000 down and go from there. I think it is a bit much for a pontoon boat, and I am still open to the personal watercraft idea. Wife will not be living here for the following year, at least. That means, we could only use the boat together on Saturday afternoon.
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