OT Looking to Buy a Boat...

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I boated most of my life although it was usually much smaller ski type boats (as you can see in my avatar) and boat of the size you want with all the features would likely be around 23' or bigger and with all the extras you require will make the boat pretty heavy. The boat in my avatar is 18' and fairly light and I towed it with an Astro Van with a stock 4.3 litre v6 and loaded for camping and a few people in the van was just a bit under the limit I would recommend. A boat you are looking for would likely need something like an F250 with a decent size V8 or a diesel with lots of torque. Look up the towing capacity of your truck and then check out weights of boats that fit your needs as underpowering with a tow vehicle not made to handle the load will cause more wear and tear and likely premature breakdowns.
i always considered the size of the tow vehicle in relation to its' ability to stop the boat and trailer a more compelling reason for going 3/4 ton and up. his toyota will be able to pull and haul a large boat, just not safely. especially backing down the ramp.
 
i always considered the size of the tow vehicle in relation to its' ability to stop the boat and trailer a more compelling reason for going 3/4 ton and up. his toyota will be able to pull and haul a large boat, just not safely. especially backing down the ramp.

Yes, it's a combination of many things. Many boat trailers of larger boats will usually have trailer brakes as well to help with braking.
 
i currently fish a 24' diesel skipjack and tow it with a '96 gmc 3500. i have electric trailer brakes but there still are wet rainy days that even my combo gives me pause traveling down to the harbor.
 
Getaway trips up the columbia for weekends, possibly a week at a time.

The greatest boat trip of my life was when some friends and I rented a houseboat at the Ice Harbor Dam in the Tri Cities and took it up the Snake river to the Palouse and then on up to Lewiston/Clarkston, and then back down to the Ice Harbor dam. Beautiful country. Actually locked through a dam half drunk because everyone else was hammered. Towed a ski boat with us. Water skied, fished, got a couple of big buckets of cracked range balls, so we would hit them with golf clubs off the roof of the houseboat at cows as we were cruising up the river. Also brought my stereo from home and set it up, speakers on the roof, blasting tunes in the canyons.
 
The greatest boat trip of my life was when some friends and I rented a houseboat at the Ice Harbor Dam in the Tri Cities and took it up the Snake river to the Palouse and then on up to Lewiston/Clarkston, and then back down to the Ice Harbor dam. Beautiful country. Actually locked through a dam half drunk because everyone else was hammered. Towed a ski boat with us. Water skied, fished, got a couple of big buckets of cracked range balls, so we would hit them with golf clubs off the roof of the houseboat at cows as we were cruising up the river. Also brought my stereo from home and set it up, speakers on the roof, blasting tunes in the canyons.[/QU


If there were no hookers, Coke and strippers, it never happened.
 
No coke and hookers. We did have 2 kegs on board. Fucking things took a day to settle down because I drove them up from Portland in the back of my truck. Didn't know Washington campgrounds were booze free. We'd tie up for the night at a campground dock and we'd have 20+ people come party on our houseboat. A couple of times we had to go out into the middle of the river to party and then ferry people back to shore because we were so noisy.
 
No coke and hookers. We did have 2 kegs on board. Fucking things took a day to settle down because I drove them up from Portland in the back of my truck. Didn't know Washington campgrounds were booze free. We'd tie up for the night at a campground dock and we'd have 20+ people come party on our houseboat. A couple of times we had to go out into the middle of the river to party and then ferry people back to shore because we were so noisy.
So your a bad boy lady's man?
 
The greatest boat trip of my life was when some friends and I rented a houseboat at the Ice Harbor Dam in the Tri Cities and took it up the Snake river to the Palouse and then on up to Lewiston/Clarkston, and then back down to the Ice Harbor dam. Beautiful country. Actually locked through a dam half drunk because everyone else was hammered. Towed a ski boat with us. Water skied, fished, got a couple of big buckets of cracked range balls, so we would hit them with golf clubs off the roof of the houseboat at cows as we were cruising up the river. Also brought my stereo from home and set it up, speakers on the roof, blasting tunes in the canyons.

Thats basically the ticket. Head to the mouth of the columbia.
Tri cities. Etc.
 
Thought I would check here since there seem to be quite a few Mariners floating around this forum. :)

I am looking for a boat that can be hauled with a 6cyl 94' toyota pickup, without needing permits (Overwidth or something). Must have a fridge, toilet, shower, stove top, and sleeping for at least 2 people.

Ive been shopping on craigslist for a week or so now, and am not finding many options for what I am looking for.

Does anyone have any ideas on a good place to search or maybe have an in on one for sale in that size range?

My hopeful budget would be $15000 or less, and would be super happy to find it for $10000 or less.
Did you try the Oregonian's want ads?

Also, I'd give Google a shot at it.

Then, there's this WWW thing called Nextdoor. This will tell you a lot about what's going on in your community including sales on certain items.

Boats and boat trailers can be researched on the Web.
 
I agree they are too much work. I sold mine years ago when I realized I was just financing and chaperoning everyone else's party. Then we we pulled it out of the water for clean up everyone would disappear fast. Shit when its your boat you cant even really drink. Still a lot of fun and great memories though. What's that saying, "best two days of owning a boat are the day you buy it and the day you sell it." We might still own one if we lived somewhere with longer summers.
 
I'd rather have a couple of kick ass kayaks, a good tent and some great camping gear....sleeping on the river is overrated....
 
I agree they are too much work. I sold mine years ago when I realized I was just financing and chaperoning everyone else's party. Then we we pulled it out of the water for clean up everyone would disappear fast. Shit when its your boat you cant even really drink. Still a lot of fun and great memories though. What's that saying, "best two days of owning a boat are the day you buy it and the day you sell it." We might still own one if we lived somewhere with longer summers.

You are no longer my friend.
 
I agree they are too much work. I sold mine years ago when I realized I was just financing and chaperoning everyone else's party. Then we we pulled it out of the water for clean up everyone would disappear fast. Shit when its your boat you cant even really drink. Still a lot of fun and great memories though. What's that saying, "best two days of owning a boat are the day you buy it and the day you sell it." We might still own one if we lived somewhere with longer summers.

I'd rather have a couple of kick ass kayaks, a good tent and some great camping gear....sleeping on the river is overrated....

Ive been a water boy all my life. Lived on a 55’ purse seiner in alaska for a while. Always been walking distance to a river or lake.

This is nothing new for me, but ive known with so little time in my life, a boat wouldnt get much use in the past. However, with things settling down this fall for me, i will have more time in the future.

And trust me i know the friends party factor. The pool house taught me that.

This isnt to party on. Sure, ill have friends out on it, but what i look forward too is going up and down the rivers and even puget sound and getting the views you cant see traveling by car.
So peaceful on a boat early in the mornings.

I love to travel and its all about the scenary for me. But i know the nw roads like the back of my hand, so this will be all new.

Might need to wait a year to afford osmwthing slightly bigger thiugh. Ive decided i want it big enough to get up to the puget sound on the water. 25-30’ im thinking.
 
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Ive been a water boy all my life. Lived on a 55’ purse seiner in alaska for a while. Always been walking distance to a river or lake.

This is nothing new for me but ive known woth so little time in my life a boat would get much use in the past. However with things settling down this fall for me, i will have more time in the future.

And trust me i know the friends party factor. The pool house taught me that.

This isnt to party on. Sure ill have friends out on it, but what i look forward too us going up and down the rivers and even puget sound and getting the views you cant see traveling by car.
So peacefuk on a boat early in the mornings.

I love to travel and its all about the scenary for me. But i know the nw roads like the back of my hand, so this will be all new.

Might need to wait a year to afford osmwthing slightly bigger thiugh. Ive decided i want it big enough to get up to the puget sound on the water. 25-30’ im thinking.

who among us doesn't like a good peace fuck?
 
who among us doesn't like a good peace fuck?

And then a leasure morning troll up the river with coffee in hand. The fresh air..anchor up for those peace fucks anywhere we want. Lol.
yeah. Ill be loving it.
 
Ive been a water boy all my life. Lived on a 55’ purse seiner in alaska for a while. Always been walking distance to a river or lake.

This is nothing new for me but ive known woth so little time in my life a boat would get much use in the past. However with things settling down this fall for me, i will have more time in the future.

And trust me i know the friends party factor. The pool house taught me that.

This isnt to party on. Sure ill have friends out on it, but what i look forward too us going up and down the rivers and even puget sound and getting the views you cant see traveling by car.
So peacefuk on a boat early in the mornings.

I love to travel and its all about the scenary for me. But i know the nw roads like the back of my hand, so this will be all new.

Might need to wait a year to afford osmwthing slightly bigger thiugh. Ive decided i want it big enough to get up to the puget sound on the water. 25-30’ im thinking.

One thing you may have factored in already but I will mention it just in case. Although boats are made of fiberglass wood is often used throughout a boat. I would recommend whatever you commit to is make sure you are allowed to have a marina do a thorough inspection to make sure everything works and that there is no dry rot. Money spent upfront can hopefully keep you from starting off with expenses to make it water worthy. Chances are in order to find a boat of the size you want and with the features you want it will have to be an older boat.
 

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