is this a good deal (boat buying advice needed)

I'm looking at a 1996 bayliner 1952 cuddy(19 ft) with a 3.0 135 hp mercruiser I/O. asking $6000. is this a good deal. boat is fairly well maintained.

I've read some posts on 3.0 vs. 4.3, I think I should be fine with a 3.0. I'll be mainly using it for close to shore cruising (and maybe fishing) with the family and occasionally overnight at Catalina Island(I live in SoCal.) My kids are 3 and 5, so no skiiing power needed. I've talked to a couple of people at a boat ramp, they had 20 or 22 ft boats and gone to Catalina in them. I guess 19 ft should be ok as well.

will this boat meet my needs? any comments are welcomed(but please no religious war on Bayliner vs. other boats, etc). thanks.

s o

s o wrote:

Anyhow, for my needs it has sufficient power. BTW I paid $4,000 two years ago.

Dave Hall

so

1. (this goes w/o saying)have all USCG safety eqmpt's, gps, compass, vhf radio and boat tow membership 2. do plenty of trial runs along the coast and to the mid-channel with another adult 3. for the first actual run, I won't take the kids, just me and my wife. I'll probably follow along the Catalina Express in the early morning. dont' know if I could keep up with its 35-knot speed, though. 4. I know it's a bad idea to come back during the late afternoon or evening, so I guess we'd always come back the next morning. We'd also avoid the Santa Ana winds season.

would I get any "nods of approval" then? any comments are welcomed. thx

so

s o wrote:

Bayliner builds a number of boats that would be very adequate for your run to Catalina, but I doubt that even a conscientous Bayliner salesperson would recommend the model you have in mind.

Sounds like you have already fallen "in love" with this boat. Take a cold shower. :-) (Cold freshwater shower beats a cold saltwater bath, any day.)

Why not ride that Catalina Express out to the Island some weekend when the weather is a little "iffy" (not dead calm) and see what sort of private boats have ventured out there from the coastline? If the place is chock full of 19-foot Bayliners, then obviously that would be the way to go. If. Most people are more than happy to talk about their boats, so don't be afraid to ask some of the guys with smaller boats how they handle the crossing. On the other hand, if you see darn few boats under 24-25 feet and most of those are blue water fishboats, that might allow you to convince yourself that something a bit more substantial than the boat you have mentioned here might be appropriate.

That said, you can have a blast with a 19-foot Bayliner. You could trailer that thing all over the place, and explore many different inland lakes or sheltered salt water bays and estuaries. No reason to avoid Baylinier, per se- but whatever boat you buy you will want to make sure it's up to the task.

back to the drawing board...

s o

Then, I would characterize it as this..... it is easy to pick the perfect day to start out on that 20 mile jaunt... perfectly glassy sea conditions......

..... that can, in a moment, change to 8 foot or greater waves and make a safe trip back a real uncertainty.

I used to boat with a friend that had the use of a Bayliner 2252. There were days we didn't leave the shelter of the ICW for the Cape Fear River.... let alone venturing from the Cape Fear into the open Atlantic.....

There are a lot of OLD captains and a lot of BOLD captains..... but there are VERY FEW..... OLD BOLD captains left.... for a reason....

Theres many experienced people posting on here, who have been caught in bad storms, swells and various other trecherous waters, on bigger, and more stable craft than what you are talking about, and seems like they don't like the idea either.

If I were you, (and I know I'm not) i wouldn't do it. But after this post, I'll stay out of it.

> s o wrote:

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/cache/searchResults.jsp?currency=USD&units=Feet&currencyid=100&blc=5629&yrc=10894&manc=2517&fromYear=1994&uom=126&duom=126&sm=3&wuom=126&toYear=1997&luom=126&toLength=21&currencyid=100&fromLength=18&man=Bayliner&slim=quick&so=0&ps=20&n=1:1:103834:105832:38&searchPage=

The good news is, the most you could be off is by a thousand or so if the boat doesn't need anything significant. Many people buying a boat overpay by 10's of thousands of dollars, and some people overpay by six or even seven figures. (shudder).

Don't settle for an eyeball survey. At the very least get an engine shop to check out the mechanical aspects, and it wouldn't hurt to engage a surveyor to check for rot while you're at it. It can be tough to find a surveyor willing to tap out a 19-footer, however.

These people with 20 & 22 foot boats may have something better designed for offshore use. Three feet can make a lot of difference in that size category, but more significant would be the hull design itself. Even if they're making the run with 22-foot Bayliners, there are going to be important differences in displacement, freeboard, etc. And you don't want to tackle thta crossing with a "bow rider" of any sort, IMO.

I heard tell that a 22 foot Bayliner can make it through the Sea of Cortez in good fashion.

Any truth to that?

Moral of the story: don't get caught in a "whopper" around here. This group has a long, long, memory.

Asking price may be a bit high... average retail is $5420 for boat, motor, and trailer. Extensive options may make a difference. See: http://tinyurl.com/yetryw

As for 19'.... I'm not familiar with your boating area, but I trust the experience and judgment of those having made cautionary posts...

You can do better than that.

I realize it's smaller, but I bought a very nice 1983 ChrisCraft Scorpion 169 (17ft.) witha 140 hp 3.0 mercruiser and trailer for $1500.00. Just a couple weeks ago, I bought a fairly nice 1977 Monarch 22 ft. Cuddy with a low hr. Four-star reman 350 chevy and overhauled MR drive. Needs a tad bit of work. Mostly cosmetic, but nothing I can't easily handle. w/tandem axle trailer complete with hydrolic brakes, for less than $1500.

I almost bought a 23 ft. "bubble boat" with a 4.3 that needed some hull coating, but wasn't bad. it included a tandem trailer, for $3500.00 It would have been worth it, but I liked the

as the season goes on, people will want to part witht heir boats, to get something else, like a 4 wheeler, or they just don't ahve space to store them.

What you are looking at is a good boat, but for it's size and weight I think I'd wan't a bigger powerplant. I like the 3.0. it's a good economical engine to run, but it seems noiser than what you would think, and for the size boat you are talking about, it would probably be alright if you had all day to get somewhere, and plenty of time to get there. Well, I know that's an exageration, But I think you'd be happier with more power.

Like I said. keep your eyes open, because you can do better than that.

s o wrote:

S

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