Under £10k good beginner boat - need some help!!!

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davesimmons

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Hi Guys,

I am looking to purchase a fun little "run around" sports boat to play with during the summer and have seen a Sea Ray 175 3.0L Mercruiser for sale in my local boat yard for £7,500 like this;

Sea Ray 175

My question is does anyone know about these boats? Are Sea Ray a good starting boat or do they come with problems?

I guess the main question is whether buying privately from someone is recommended or using someone like this Global Trade Partners where the boats have come from the US? They look in really good nick!
 
Sea Ray have a good reputation, would have no qualms buying one. Things to check with a US import: Shore power voltage (if fitted..) US is 110v, UK is 240v. Also check v carefully vat and importation requirements.. I've not had an import myself, but have heard horror stories ref documentation. Would be worth checking the legal side carefully.
 
Thanks Ross, might consider this one in my local boatyard a bit more!

Is there a good website anyone has found offering advice on what to look out for when buying a used boat?
 
Sea Rays are excellent boats. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

This one looks like a bowrider, so you might want to give some thought to where you're going to use it, because a snootfull of water over the bow in a chop will give you an instant jacuzzi up front but won't do you any favours. Having said that, I don't think we've ever had worse than spray over the bows in our, admittedly slightly bigger, 21 footer.

Boattest is a good place to look for reports on US boats. click here and look at the 176 bowrider which I think is the replacment of and similar to the 175.
 
sea rays are good boats, they are part of the brunswick group (maxum, bayliner, mercury, navman, & even sealine)
thing to watch as others have pointed out - this is not a UK spec import which will mean less residual when selling

hope this helps
 
As already mentioned, Searays are excellent boats. I personally would not buy an import from the USA at this size of boat. The potential for things going wrong V the cost savings just are not enough (IMHO).

Bowriders are great lake boats, and made a lot of sense on places like Windemere, but in anything more than a slight chop they will ship bucket fulls of water over the bow.

I have a 19ft cuddy myself, not to sleep on but simply because it has a slightly higher freeboard and sheds water round the screen rather than into the boat. The compromise is that you get less seating than a bowrider (But in practice no one wants to sit up front cos its wet and cold)

There are lots of 20ft ish cuddys on the market at the moment at about 12-13k, make a decent offer and you should pick one up for under your budget.

Makes to look for are Searay (215 express-great boat but prob over budget) Fourwinns 205, Fletcher sportscruiser, Glastron 199/209, Maxum 1900sc/2100sc, Doral, Bayliner 212/602 and a few more. (stick a 'cuddy' search in boatshop24 or boatsand outboards.

Good Luck
 
Have to agree, I went round before Xmas making silly offers on a few (Asking -25%), no one took the bait. I really liked the boat but it was too wide for my drive anyway!
 
Used to have a 19ft Searay bowrider myself, great boat, only sold it because we decided that we wanted accomodation. Allways used at sea and never saw any water over the bow, but then if it was that rough we were not out in it!
Not sure about dealing with a company not based over here though, it is hard enough to deal with problems with UK based dealers! There must be plenty of these kind of boats already in this country that you could chose from to reduce your hassle risk. Think hard and good luck
 
think theres an 18 ft or so around Northney for £8-8.5.. been for sale for a while. First boat I had was 18 ft bowrider. Only time I had water over the front was about 2nd time out when I didnt know what to do when one of the IOW ferries wake came. I stopped, and we got a few buckets in. That was my fault. We had a few occasions the waves were about 1m above us, but we didnt have any problems. You do feel bloody exposed though, and you sure as hell are wathcing the bow and those waves! But the good part of them is you are really close to the water, so the sense of speed is great fun. And a bowrider is pretty convenient if you are beach/bay hoping, or ease of tying up against jetties/harbour walls, as you can walk right to the front. Plenty of people on here seem to think they are totally unsuitable for Uk waters. Well, that just depends what and when you want to do/go out. Get a wet bag, and all in it stays dry.(think someone does a see-through one which is neat)
If you are just messing about in good weather, I think its far better than a cuddy as you have the whole boat to use, but if you want to join others out in larger boats,or be out in more mixed weather, then ,yes, you may feel a bit insecure.
 
Make sure the trailer is a UK one. US spec may not be legal in the UK. Also, do a search for Global Trade Partners on this forum.
 
If the easy bow access is what you are after, what about a "Walkaround"?

I think a Bayliner Trophy would within your budget. (they did an inboard version which is a bit more expensive)

Bayliner%20Trophy%2020_1.jpg





Am still thinking about one myself.......I got some useful advice to chew over from the folks here:-

A Small "Wipe down & Forget" Motorboat - Bayliner Trophy??
 
I wouldn't limit myself to Sea Ray. Over here in the US brands like Bryant, Caravelle, Chaparral, Crownline, Four Winns, Glastron, Maxum, and Monterey also do a decent job with small I/O bowriders. In the smallest bowriders the brand differences are not so great as in the 20 footers.

If you are lucky enough to come across a boat in your price range with a 4-stroke outboard, I think those are easier to start off with than an I/O boat.

Kelly
 
Im reading about the bowriders with a sinking feeling as i have taken the step and just bought my first boat a 2000 fletcher arrowstreak with a 115 mercury outboard which is a bowrider.Have i made a big mistake or have i got the best of both worlds should i purchase the bow lid that fits over the bow.Just a little concerned as ive been out on the sea in the past and its changed from being calm to quite rough within a few minutes are they realy this bad i havent used it yet on the sea only on a lake on a calm day
 
Yes, the sea can change very quickly, but more than that, it depends on the way that your going. Try going out a mile or so, then do a circle, see what it's like in each direction. What seemed dead flat, maybe untennable the othere way.

Dunno about bow riders, but I do know, that I've had three foot of water on my deck, which is like. 6 ft up??? Only doing 8 knots at the time, and did not expect bad weather.
 
one of the few sensible things you've said recently.

Yes, exactly what I do. Go out, then turn around then run back opposite direction. If the conditions in one direction seem fine, going the other might not. So check it out early
 
[ QUOTE ]
Have I made a big mistake or have i got the best of both worlds should i purchase the bow lid that fits over the bow.

[/ QUOTE ] You will be fine, however I do suggest an RYA level 2 course which will show you how to drive in waves, use the trim effectively etc and avoid taking a green wave over the bow.

Pete
 
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