Buying A Boat

By Dusty Miller

Here in the valley of winter we're about as far from boating weather as we can get. What better time to think about buying a boat? Even though winter has barely ended, officially at least, the Toronto Boat Show has come along to stir up thoughts of warm summer breezes on the water. People have started to rouse themselves from their hibernations to come down to the show or at least to pore over boating magazines. For anyone interested in boating, this is an exciting time.

Each year as the manufacturers introduce their new models, I am asked questions like "What sort of boat should I be looking for?" "What is a good boat?" "What are the bad ones to avoid?" My answer is always the same. By and large, a good boat is one that suits your purposes well. A bad boat is one that is missing something you need. So the first thing you have to do to find a good boat is to decide how you want to use it. You have some homework to do… but it's a lot more fun than the stuff that taught you the meaning of the word procrastinate.

Before you even start looking at boats at all, sit down with pen in hand and start to figure out what you want to do on the water. Your list should contain as many details as you can think of as you answer the following questions:

Where will I be doing my boating?

When, what time of year?

What sort of wave conditions will I be looking at?

How many people will I take along?

Will I be cruising, fishing, wakeboarding, racing…?

How long do I plan to be on the boat at a time? Hours? Days?

Where you plan to do your boating, of course, is one of the important determining factors in the size of boat you need and hull design you should have. You can't, for instance, ask a fair weather boat designed for quiet inner waters to do well on the Great Lakes. If you plan to take your boat far out into open water, you're going to want a boat that has the size, stability and power to get you back to shore if the wind comes up. It almost goes without saying that the bigger the water the bigger the boat but there are other factors. Manufacturers have designed smaller boats for open water. Some center consoles, for instance, have lots of freeboard, power and beam to provide sufficient safety.

Weather is another factor that relates to where you go boating. When boating on a smaller lake, you can probably beat foul weather to shore. However, if it starts to look nasty and you're a few miles out you might not. So your boat better have the protection you need or it's just not the boat you want. Weather is a "when" factor, too. Boating plans that include early spring and late fall should take cold rain and even wet snow into consideration. An ardent fisherman might don his sou' wester and relish an April downpour mixed with sleet in an open boat. If, however, he wants to bring along someone who isn't as hardy, he might be better off with a cuddy cabin with a furnace.

This brings us to the question of who do you plan to bring along. If you like to go fishing with three of your buddies, your boat better have enough freeboard and power to handle a thousand pound load or more. I've seen fishermen out in boats with so little freeboard they could swamp if somebody sneezed. On the other hand, a family of four with two toddlers had better have a space where the kids can crawl around without getting into anything and without any danger of climbing overboard. Keep in mind, that if this family wants to keep the boat for 10 years, say, the toddlers will become teenagers and they have quite different needs. A twenty-foot bow rider with sleeper seats might be enough for an overnighter when the family is young, but in a few seasons you're going to want some privacy and so will your kids. So maybe you should consider something larger. Before I get to cruisers, however, let's take a look at how the hull fits into the decisions you're making.

Performance boats have flatter hulls. In this context, performance means speed. The flatter the hull the greater speed because there's less wetted surface and less drag. You also can go farther on a tank of gas but you will lose comfort. A flat-bottomed boat will slap across waves giving you a rough, noisy, wet ride. And if those waves get up, you'll want to get to shore. Flat-bottomed boats do not do big waves very well.

A deep V hull, on the other hand, creates a much softer ride, cutting through the big waves instead of bouncing over the top of them. The hull also improves tracking and a wide, flaring bow will through the water to the sides giving you a much dryer ride. The beam is a factor here, too. A narrow boat has less wetted surface than one with a broad beam. It'll offer more economical performance and slice through the waves comfortably as well, but you pay for that benefit with less room on board and a wet ride.

The semi displacement is a combination hull. The forward section has the deep V shape to provide a soft entry into the waves and the ability to take heavier water. At the stern, the V flattens out to look more like a performance boat with hard chines. This gives the boat more stability and when you open her up, the V rises out of the water and the boat rides on the flat surface to provide speed and greater economy with the reduced wetted surface.

Full displacement hulls, found on trawlers and tugboats, for instance, have round bilges, fore to aft. Unlike the boats with a hard chine, a right angle where the side meets the bottom of the boat, the full displacement hull is rounded so it eases into the waves and has a very soft ride. The sacrifice here is that the boat rolls easily with the waves. At anchor, a passing runabout can set off the "tilt" sign; so don't forget your Gravol. But if your boating means you might be caught at sea in very heavy seas, this is the safest kind of hull to have. As I often say, everything's a trade-off.

Here's another important trade off. A single engine boat will be less expensive than a twin and go farther on a gallon of gas. It will also probably have more storage room. However, at low speeds, a single inboard-outboard has tendency to go hunting, criss-crossing back and forth in the channel as it proceeds through the water, like a hound dog looking for a scent. You can get used to it, and compensate to some degree.

The twin-engine boat, however, will have the thrust balanced across the transom so it'll hold a much straighter line. You may sacrifice some space, but if one engine overheats, you'll have the other to bring you home. Besides, it's not going to use twice as much gas as a single because the two will work together to provide the same thrust as the single.

OK let's talk about cruisers. The amount of money you have to spend is usually the determining factor when it comes to size. Although if you do want to go up the canals, you don't want to be too big for the locks and you'd better have clearance to get under the bridges. The kind of cruising you do, will help you decide on the style of cruiser you want.

A couple who go boating on large open waters and want to cruise the restaurants and other spots of interest along the coast might consider an express. It'll get you there fast, in style, and give you a place to stay overnight. However, people who want to cruise with another couple will probably want privacy, separation from each other for a little while. They should consider the fore-and-aft style cruiser with solid doors that shut and lock.

The trade off here is access to the swim platform. The raised aft deck that forms the roof of the aft cabin is a high above the water. So you'll have maybe a half dozen steps down to go swimming or board the tender. If somebody has a difficulty climbing, this may mean a look at something different. That same person might find a cruiser with its aft deck at the same level as the swim platform more comfortable. Wide walkways would come in handy, too. But wider walkways mean a narrower cabin, a little less room inside. People who want to follow the sun south in the fall and come back with the birds in the springtime might look at a trawler. You can see how confusing it gets. The more information you have the better.

There are so many factors, so many different styles and combinations that your homework is very important. When you're seriously considering buying a boat, or just want to do a fun exercise, write down your plans in great detail. Armed with that personal knowledge you'll be much better able to determine the difference between a "good" boat and a "bad" one.

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The above article was originally published in Power Boating Canada Magazine.