What to buy

[becky]

Hi All, Our family is just getting into boating and are looking for kind of an "all-purpose" boat that would get the kids out of the water quickly as they learn to ski and that would be good for hanging around in too. Everyone we know - including many who have never owned a boat - has an opinion. I'm hearing deck boat from some and pontoon from others. At the boat show they were really pushing the jet boats rather than the traditional prop boat. I like the safety issue there. I'm also interested in opinions on the hull shape. Any advice? Recommended manufacturrs? Thanks.

[guest]

We had an informative chat called "Bayliner 175 versus Glastron MX 175" on a forum that covered this topic pretty well--entry level boats, which I define as 10-15k (see the last link). There are several makes to choose from, this article rates 4 or 5 different manufacturers.

http://www.boatingmag.com/article.a...&article_id=219


http://forums.boatdesign.net/printthread.php?t=2819

[becky]

We had an informative chat called "Bayliner 175 versus Glastron MX 175" on a forum that covered this topic pretty well--entry level boats, which I define as 10-15k (see the last link). There are several makes to choose from, this article rates 4 or 5 different manufacturers.

http://www.boatingmag.com/article.a...&article_id=219


http://forums.boatdesign.net/printthread.php?t=2819

Thanks for resommending the sites. The second article was helpful, but we are looking at, I think, a higher end boat. I'm hearing Larson, Chaparral, Crown Line and Ess Tide. Any opinions? Thanks, Karen