Size

How big do I want my boat to be?

Well this will depend on how you use your boat. How many people do you intend to have on the boat. Will you be spending a lot of time on the boat or just using it to get to the beach and back.

If you like water skiing then a boat between 17 feet and 23 feet is best. Any smaller and you wont get many people aboard any larger and you will not get the speed water skiing requires. If you intend to spend all day on the boat cruising then you would be more comfortable with a boat over 24 feet. Sailboat owners enjoy sailing the destination is a bonus. Most power boat owners have a destination in mind and the ride to that destination is the bonus. How far will you need to go to get where your going? How long do you intent to be on your boat? And how many people will you be carrying? The further your going, the longer your spending on your boat and the larger the number of passengers the larger the boat size becomes.

The waters that you boat in are another decisive factor is deciding on a size. If you are boating where the water gets rough then the larger your boat is the more comfortable you will be. If your boating on the Long Island Sound, Great South Bay or Atlantic Ocean I would not recommend a boat less than 21 feet. A boat any smaller will limit your days on the water which here in New York are already seasonally limited. Of course the larger the boat the more amenities that it will have.

Where do you intend to store your boat? While a larger boat offers more comfort to its passengers it also carries a larger price tag and comes with storage costs that are proportional to its size. If you have a yard to store your boat and you intent to trailer it you are most likely looking at a boat smaller that 25 feet. A boat any larger will become difficult to trailer. Dock space here in New York usually runs from $50 to $200 per foot. Some dock space is slightly less but most likely you’ll be paying about $75 to $150 per foot. So larger boats get more expensive to dock.

If you intend to spend overnight trips on a boat you’ll need a boat larger than 25 feet. Of course the more people that stay overnight with you the more crowded the boat becomes. If you want to spend weekends out on the boat consider the close quarters when rain restricts you and your guests to the boat. A boat is a good place for cabin fever.

Have children and wife or husband? Would your children invite friends out with them regularly? Would they still be interested in boating as they grow older? When considering boat size you should consider bring one or two friends for each of your children so that boating remains a family activity as they grow older. This will help to keep boating enjoyable and not a family obligation.

Is the boat going to be used strictly for fishing, for cruising or a combination of both? What type of fishing do you intend to do? This is not only important relative to the size but also to the style, make and model of the boat.

Are you willing to start smaller than what you now need and trade up sometime in the future or is this boat the last boat you intend to purchase.