I have been holding out on saying anything, I hate being pooped on by my family for being irresponsible with money, but I really wanted something to draw me outside and hopefully make me more active. For the last several months, I have been looking at and comparing whether to get a boat, a pair of Seadoo jetskis, or some kayaks. Cost was of course the biggest consideration because from previous experience, even the chap boat I had a few years ago, it still cost money every month in different ways. The next important consideration was size and it had to be something that would at worst fit in the garage. Then I was worried about transporting the vessel to and from the water.
If money was not a factor, I would have gotten a 50 foot yacht and just gotten a boat slip and kept it on the water, but of course that would be a $500,000 dream, at least. I looked at a number of boats, but eventually I settled on the boats at Bass Pro because of cost. I would have liked a Scarab jet boat, they are a few years old and rather sexy or cute as far as boats go. They had a 16 footer that seemed perfect, it would fit in my garage according to the size, but then reality bit me in the ass. We went to the local dealer in Lakeway and first the guy said because of Covid affecting production, he had no idea when they would even get any of them. He said Dallas was a larger market and even they could not get any in stock. I also didn't like his shitty comment when I asked if they carried the particular boat and he (insultingly to me) said "oh yeah, people buy those as their second boats so their kids can use them." I kept asking question s but I thought to myself "I am not giving this asshole a penny of my money." He did have an interesting boat idea on the floor, an inflatable Bote Rover Aero. It is a rather large kayak that inflates so it can be "folded" away and carried in the trunk of a car. I had seen the hard plastic/fiberglass version of this and it was one of my choices, but this seemed weird and not as durable and at $2000, I thought a bit much so I opted out.
Another choice was buying what would have to be a pair of jetskis. I liked the idea of this because it is like driving motorcycles on the water and about a year ago, Seadoo came out with a fishing version, with a much longer back area to stand up and cast and some engine controls that allow it to operate at a very low RPM so it acts as a trolling motor. These particular Seadoos were $15,999, so a pair would easily be over $32,000. I tried being frugal and when we went settled on a more entry level pair of jetskis which listed for $9500, so the cost seemed closer to $20,000 in my head, but after adding a trailer, taxes, assembly fees, destination charges, finance and whatever else the sales guy could think of, even a pair of these were over $35,000. I really wanted to pull the trigger on this, I mean it would be fun, Baby A was most excited because 16 year-olds can legally drive them alone after taking a boater class and it was a couple weeks before his birthday, but we would easily be looking at a plus $500 a month cost, so we said no.
To be continued...
Bote Rover Aero (originally $1999 seen around August)
Sea-doo GTI (salesman had a couple in stock, willing to sell at $9500)
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