Our boat sunk ! Replacement questions

[GCSuper]

Well, the unthinkable happened Friday, Apr 15th. High sustained winds of 45 to 60 mph at Possum Kingdom lake hit our dock from the side and eventually caused the shoremaster lift to come un-clamped, which dropped the boat down to the water and trapped it due to the rear of the lift still having some air in it. I was there the whole day, but could do nothing. Before the lift failed, I thought of putting the boat on the trailer, but was by myself and would have been trying to load downwind with lots of rocks around the ramp, so I scrapped that idea. Then I spent the next 8 hrs in agony watching my boat being thrashed in the dock until it had two large holes in it that the bilge pump couldn't keep up with. The next AM, I contacted a local recovery guy who came the next day and retrieved it, so it was underwater for two days. As soon as the boat was out of the water, the fire dept came by and told us to evacuate as fires were begining to break out all over the lake. So the boat sat for another week before I could retrieve it. It's toast. 2003 Ski Centurion we purchased new and had just over 200hrs.

We survived with no fire damage and good boat insurance ( I hope ) My thoughts and prayers go out to those who lost thier homes due to fire. 160 homes were lost.

The replacement question: We have always wanted a Nautique, but could never really justify spending the extra money. Still don't want to spend the funds for a new one, but with the insurance $ and cash, we will have a 50K budget. The boat I have always lusted after is a 226. Love the layout and size, but there would be issues. The lift, which I have repaired, is rated at 4500 lbs. The dock cutout as well as it's winter storage bldg are 25ft. To further complicate things, I had just ordered a touchless boat cover made for our boat ( 22'10" ) and dock, so I'm afraid the 226 will be a bit too much. So that puts us looking at 210's or 211's. I haven't been in either, but I fear the 211 isn't big enough, but with fuel prices approaching 5 bucks/gal, maybe it's time to downsize. So my question is, what would you guys recommend for the best years/motors to have or avoid given the 50K limit ? I really don't ski or wakeboard much anymore, mostly I drive for our teenagers to wakeboard. Sorry for the long post.

Thanks, Robert

[jimmyj]

not being a smart a**, but i would let a boat COVER hinder your decision on which boat to buy. buy what you want. cancel the cover, sell it, burn it, whatever. buy the boat you WANT.

[GCSuper]

The cover is alread here, just not installed. There's also an issue with the lift capacity. And I don't think I would want to burn a $ 4,800 cover.

[obd666]

sorry to hear about your boat, im sure you had some attachment to it having it since new ... anyway, it sounds like a 210 would be right up your alley, especially if you are pulling up and coming wake boarders. they will love the new wake, trust me. and, with 50K you have plenty of options as to what year you want. start looking and decide which year really grabs you, it wont be hard to find one you like ...

[CradGen2]

The NEW 226 are nicer, but over 50K. I'm not a fan of the older 226. I had a 211 and of all the nautiques I have owned that is the one I liked least. I love my 210, love it. the 210 is my favorite nautique to date. Also I kept it on a 4500# lift. Buy 2008 or newer 210, which you will find in your range.

These are my personal opinions.

Sorry about your boat. Wouldn't might seeing a couple photo especially of the lift. Also I won't burn the new canopy, but I wouldn't let it stop me from making a boat decision like stated below. Maybe the company will take it back or exchange it. Could be other people on the lake after the storm that need one.

[GCSuper]

sorry to hear about your boat, im sure you had some attachment to it having it since new ... anyway, it sounds like a 210 would be right up your alley, especially if you are pulling up and coming wake boarders. they will love the new wake, trust me. and, with 50K you have plenty of options as to what year you want. start looking and decide which year really grabs you, it wont be hard to find one you like ...

Crad, what did you like the least about the 211 ?

As to the canopy, it measures 302 inches long and 84 inches high from the floor of the dock, so a 226 will most likely fit, but there's still the lift capacity to deal with. Can't afford to replace with a larger lift without cuting into the boat budget.

[GCSuper]

sorry to hear about your boat, im sure you had some attachment to it having it since new ... anyway, it sounds like a 210 would be right up your alley, especially if you are pulling up and coming wake boarders. they will love the new wake, trust me. and, with 50K you have plenty of options as to what year you want. start looking and decide which year really grabs you, it wont be hard to find one you like ...

I'll try to add a pic of one after the lift went down. First attempt at adding pics. Also have several videos.

[shag]

Man that blows (not a play on words). You might be able to get by with your lift. I am not recommending anything, but many lifts are 'overbuilt'. Meaning they should have a designed safety factor built in. Maybe an engineer could chime in here. I know you would be close to capacity with a larger boat, but as long as you are not leaving excess weight in the boat (IE ballast full, or a lot of extra gear) - I would think you might get away with it. As far as the cover, can it be modified slightly to fit a larger boat? I have had 210's and love em, but really like my 230 now. Plenty of room for all. Like someone previously said, get the boat you want - you won't regret it. (speaking from experience). around 50K should give you plenty of options. There are 1-3 year old boats in very nice condition out there. The only thing against you is that used retail has actually gone up a lil due to the costs of new boats and the economy.
Good luck!

[CradGen2]

Also maybe you can add a float to your lift to up that capacity.

the 211 - First there are lots of people on this site that love their 211's. Here are my comments

- walk through - waste of space
- rear seating - small and didn't like the look of the bar for the seat.
- hull slap sounded loud in the boat.
- I had an 2004 which had gel coat strenght issues under the rear facing observation seat.
- It did ride in rough water OK - GOOD thing
- Pain to work on the motor with the walk through
- Felt small inside the cockpit with more then 4 people.

Wake comments
- 36 MPH was average to slalom behind. compare to an 80-89 Ski nautique. got worst the slower
- soft/small wakeboard wake.
- hull spray like crazy for the boom
- the hull spray created rough water for barefooting long line
- soft, not a lot of volume for surfing
heavy to trailer


Ok enough said. Lots of people will disagree on my comments regarding the 211. I LOVE very Nautique I've owned, so my statement is the 211 just wasn't the right Nautique for me and what I like to do.

So why did I buy it. Found it at a boat show. It was the first year for the 211. I did drive it before I bought it, but it was a cold day and decided not to do anything behind the boat. I buy a new boat very couple years and have access to a ton of Nautiques to ski, foot and board behind, so I have the best of all worlds. Wanted to try a vdrive.

I could go on and on, but you should drive and ski any boat before you buy it. You might love the boat and it do all the right things for your family.

[SkiTower]

Just wanted to comment on the 211...its my second boat so I can't compare with 210's or others, but I love my 211. I LOVE the walk-thru because it keeps people off the vinyl. I can see Crad's point about working on the motor, though. I'm still in the 'new' phase and let the dealer do the work. If you have 4-5 on board, the 211 is great. Any more and it's acceptable occasionally but wouldn't want it to be a regular thing. I've had 10 on board and felt fine, but 6 were kids. As for the wakes, I'm no expert. But I also don't care for the rear seat 'bar', but it has to be removed to get to the plug. Lately I just leave it out unless I put more than my family of 4 on. I actually like the extra space without it. My only gripe with my boat is I have the small engine and it struggles getting my 300 lbs up on slalom. Struggles, but still succeeds.

[GCSuper]

Thanks for the comments so far. I've only just started to look at for sale ads. I'll probably stop by Buxtons and go for a test ride in both if they're available. They just posted an ad for a nice clean 211, but it's already showing a pending sale. I've owned four boats since 1985 and all were bought new, so this will be a new experience for me.

[AllianceBJJ]

Ask Riley or Phil at Buxton if they know of anyone looking to sell whatever boat you are looking for...

There are a bunch of people that want to buy a new boat, but won't until theirs sells....A lot of those types are not on their website...This is how I got rid of my last 2 boats....

[ClemsonDave]

I wanna see the $4800 boat cover! ;-)

[swc5150]

I wanna see the $4800 boat cover! ;-)

That was my first thought, until seeing the pic of the dock! I'm assuming it's the dock canopy structure?

[jjackkrash]

Ask Riley or Phil at Buxton if they know of anyone looking to sell whatever boat you are looking for...

There are a bunch of people that want to buy a new boat, but won't until theirs sells....A lot of those types are not on their website...This is how I got rid of my last 2 boats....

I agree with this.