Yo guys, my mom and i are looking for a new boat (not off the line new, just new to us) to buy in the not so distant future. we currently have a Gradywhite 18' fishing boat. the boat has served us well over the last 12 years we have owned it. not a single thing wrong with it.

we will be keeping it for my almost 70 year-old grandfather who loves fishing. its an easy boat to drive and maneuver due to its low horsepower (130hp yamaha saltwater series) and its size (18ft) so it is a no brainer to keep it.

she left me up to the research for this boat and i cant decide if i want a wakeboarding boat (with an obscene amount of hp, around 450) or a "muscle" boat (like a fountain or a scarab with twin 400hp engines). we do a lot of recreational wake-boarding and tubing (rarely skiing). i know for a fact that i want it to be between 24 and 38 ft.

i have been looking on ebay and craigslist to get a feeling for the market and browsing forums to learn (more) about who makes quality boats and who to stay away from.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

and a pic of the current water vessel:

 

I'm jealous..I love boats

 

it helps when your parents (my mom in my case) has a condo throwing distance from the Chesapeake Bay:


there is a loading ramp to the right of the dock where the pic of my boat was taken

 

My Father in law had a 1995 Monarch 18' fish/ski boat with a 140 HP Envinrude OB, and it would run 65 MPH without a problem. My Brother in law inherited it but he sold it cause it was cumbersome to tow and maintain.

I'm sure you can find a nice fish/ski boat with at least 225 HP and 75 MPH all day for pretty good price these days.. anything going faster than 75 mph on the water is ******* crazy IMHO..

 

i know that today's standards require that a boat go no faster than 70.2 mph. any faster than that it is "reckless driving" if youre caught by the coast guard.

the fishing boat is going to stay so i can concentrate on looking for nonfishing boats (i.e. center console boats).

my neighbor has an older Baja boat with twin positive displacement supercharged 502's (and completely rebuilt everything else) somewhere in the neighborhood of 1500hp (combined) and we did 128mph down to baltimore. that was fun

 

I only know flats boats well. We have a 99 Actioncraft 18' with a 115optimax Mercury on it. Great fishing/tubing boat.