What type of craft?

[steve the farmer]

Hi.
I am new to this forum and new to boating.
Having retired early I am getting back to the things I did in my younger days that work and other things have held up.. Scuba is one, I recently finished re training again. Water skiing was another passion of my youth, and simply having fun days out on the water with the family, be it, offshore, or river cruising. I last owned a boat in the 80s
So, I am looking for advice on boat buying please.
I am looking for everything in one hull, but really, I know I need at least two craft to satisfy my desire, but my budget wont stretch to that.
Talking of which it’s not massive at 25K max, but an ideal spend of 20K, so it’s a used craft I’m after.
At the moment I am scuba diving off club ribs, nice and fast, good for the job, but I don’t really want to buy my own rib as they are not ideal for taking the grandchildren up the river or for spending the best part of the day offshore fishing.
So I think I am wanting a fast GRP cruiser, with some deck space, fast enough for skiing, and to get my mates and I, say, out to dive sites of about 7-10 mls off shore so we can dive at slack water and be back between tides.
With skiing and diving in mind, I need access to water, so it’s a swim platform at the stern or a good side ladder. Deck space is necessary too for 4 sets of scuba gear.
Finally, it needs to be towable, as it will be used all around the South coast. My max towing weight is 3500kg so it can be a reasonable size craft if GRP.
I have just been looking on the internet for boats for sale, so any recommendation for a particular type of boat/engine would be good. I don't know if I should be looking at inboard or outboard, and I am assuming I will want about 25 knots.
Thanks Steve.

 

[maverickofpoole]

Karnic 2250 would tick most of your boxes as would as would imo Trophy 21 or 23' in fact most walkaround sports fishers would do what you're asking

 

[steve the farmer]

Yes, they are the sort of thing. Walk around fisher, that's what I'm looking for. thanks.

 

[Kawasaki]

Outboard

 

[KINGFISHER 9]

Big centre consoles are good all rounders, unless you want to sleep aboard, but make sure there's a loo!

 

[steve the farmer]

Hi guys, thanks for your help so far.

I have done a list and put things I want to use the boat for in order of priority.

A) Family cruising, that is Wife and I, 2 grandchildren and their parents. So 6 people, and that cruising will be just offshore, and on two local rivers.
B) Fishing with friends
C) Diving with buddies
D) The odd weekend or even week away, sleeping on board with the wife.

So I am thinking 20-25 foot sport cruiser. Something like, but not necessarily, the Chaperral 240 signature or a Bayliner 2252.
Cabin with bunk, wc, small galley. Ideally transom access door onto swim platform. Both the above are just within my 3500kg towing limit, allowing for trailer fuel and water. So I can keep the boat at home undercover in our barn, and launch anywhere but also have quite a spacious craft.
The choice of engine may not be up to me, as I am buying a used boat, but I do notice boats of this type do have different engines, mostly the Mercruiser and Volvo Penta, so what engine it has may sway my choice. I have researched them, and see with equivalent engine size and HP, they are very similar and can be thirsty lumps, but as I wont be opening it up for skiing much at all really, putting on the power will only be for tide and adverse weather reasons, I will be keeping speed down.
However I have seen diesel powered cruisers of around the 2000-2400kg mark about 22-25 foot long, and having a farm, I have a bulk Red diesel tank, so that would certainly save me money. But are there drawbacks with diesel against petrol on this type of craft? And for the type of use speed I am going to be putting it too , would diesel or petrol be better for me?
Thanks Steve.

 

[dpb]

A sports cruiser of that size will do A,B and D on your list but the cockpit layout of many might prove a bit fragile and too little floor space for a bunch of divers and their gear as these boats are all about the seating.
The diesel / petrol debate on that size boat has been done nearly to death on here lately so you will easily find recent discussions on that topic!!
The outboard walk around option would be good one if you can find one with bathroom facilities.
One thing to consider is that the enclosed cockpit space when the canopy is up on a sportscruiser can give much better shelter than those on some of the walkarounds making your boat more useable in poorer weather, relevant in particular to criteria A and D!

 

[steve the farmer]

A sports cruiser of that size will do A,B and D on your list but the cockpit layout of many might prove a bit fragile and too little floor space for a bunch of divers and their gear as these boats are all about the seating.
The diesel / petrol debate on that size boat has been done nearly to death on here lately so you will easily find recent discussions on that topic!!
The outboard walk around option would be good one if you can find one with bathroom facilities.
One thing to consider is that the enclosed cockpit space when the canopy is up on a sportscruiser can give much better shelter than those on some of the walkarounds making your boat more useable in poorer weather, relevant in particular to criteria A and D!

I had considered the wear and tear on the cockpit regarding diving. My plan was to choose a boat where the seat pads come off, the bayliner 2252 had that but not a walk through transom. But all good points by you, thank you.