First boat - $5k budget

[hornet]

Who can argue with this ?

"You are not just buying a boat, you are buying the Batboat. And, in-turn, you are buying a licence to stand out from the crowd as the baddest Mofo'n Captain this side of Captain Kirk, Captain America, Captain Hook, and that kid you went to school with, who could drink a litre of PVA glue in under 60 seconds, A.K.A Captain Cooked...."

[Lightningx]

:rofl:

[bowl]

You could get a second hand AI for that kind of money, that'd get you to more places in worse weather than a tinny

What is a AI?

[SteveoTheTiger]

im guessing a Hobie Adventure Island.

[rb85]

This boat has been for sale for years...make him an offer he cant refuse
batboat.jpg
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/rosebud ... 1168007722

The most obscure boat advert I have read. :rofl:

[cobby]

$5k I'd be getting the biggest, newest open tinny I could find in the best nick. 2 quintrex 4.2m dory wide bodies on boat sales listed under $6k, one with a Yamaha 2 cylinder premix 30hp the other with a Suzuki 30hp.

You get more immediately useable boat for your buck compared to a runabout or similar configuration. They're a decent enough size to not **** bricks the minute a boat wake comes at you. Easy to tow, launch and move around home by hand. And if you decide to sell within 24 months you'd likely lose bugger all money.

Avoid old glass boats like a Haines or similar. It's almost guaranteed it'd be rotten under the glass and your $5k quickly becomes $12+k after proper repairs and that's without upgrading motor or trailer

[smile0784]

This boat has been for sale for years...make him an offer he cant refuse
batboat.jpg
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/rosebud ... 1168007722

What a write up eh

[smile0784]

Stay away from old glass boats there only problems waiting to happen

[Vargs]

I bought my first boat for around $5k. 4.2m Quintrex widebody Dory with 30hp tiller steer. It was a ripper and I took it in both bays and Port Welshpool and had lots of good trips. I sold it a few years later for $4.8k when I upgraded to a new boat. I was trying to work out how much I like boating and it was really good for getting me started. The only ting I disliked was that if is chopped up then I would get soaked with a tiller steer but for $5k, what can you do. It was a ripper boat to start with as I learnt how to handle a boat.

[Dr Snapper]

Definitely use up some bonus points with a friend that knows ‘boats’ when you are buying.
Have a look yourself and do as suggested here to check and test the boat. Then get your experienced friend to look at the boat.
Once you find the boat you like think of a few things you will have to improve on the boat (spend money on) make a rediculously low offer. As usual there is a huge oversupply of boats for sale and if you check the date the boat was listed you will be able to tell if the sale process is starting to drive the owner crazy!
I got lucky as a friend of mine loves to bargain and I let him do the negotiations when purchasing my boat. He asked a few questions and drove a hard bargain after finding out the boat sale process was driving him mad.
I nearly fell over when my mate made his first offer but we didn’t move much from that price and I got a bargain!

Good luck!