• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

Talk to me about boats and boating

My wife grew up on boats and has been kind of agitating to get one for years. I have come around to the point where I am seriously considering it. I have many questions and I'm hoping there are boaters here who can help me.

1. The boat will need to be based at a lake because I've no place to keep it at home and no desire to trailer it. I live in Greensboro. I am looking for good information on slips for rent and marinas who will store and maintain the boat for me.

2. Which lake? Probably boils down to Badin, High Rock, or maybe Smith Mountain. Needs to be close to home so we can get to and from the boat easily, so about an hour or hour and a half from GSO is the max to get to the marina where the boat lives.

3. Dealers that you have had good or bad experiences with.

4. The boat will probably be a moderately priced triple log pontoon suitable for partying, family stuff and possibly towing a skier. Good brands? Brands I should stay away from?

5. Other general tips and advice. I plan to take a Power Squadron or similar boating safety course.

First, determine the lake you want to be on and the marina you will use. Marinas can be strange places with their own cultures - hedonistic, family oriented, community picnics, or maybe just a place to keep boats where nobody knows anyone else.

Next, ask the marina about the boat mechanics that service the boats they store. Also get some advice from some of the other boat owners at the marina. Figure out what boats are common on the lake and figure out why that is the case.

Then ask the marina and the mechanic for some boat suggestions, including the possibility of any boats that are for sale.

Finally, if there is a rental or club option on the lake where you want to be, that is a great choice to make sure you want to buy and maintain a boat. It is a big commitment. Insurance, maintenance and storage will probably set you back a couple thousand a year.

FWIW, I have a SeaRay Sundeck 240 that I keep on Lake James. My wife and girls like the bathroom on board. In my mind, it is the perfect boat for hanging out and a good enough boat for pulling a wakeboard or skier. Some of the tri-toons are nice. Every boat has trade offs. I have an entirely different (and more modest) boat for fishing, designed for inshore saltwater flats and marshes.
 
First, determine the lake you want to be on and the marina you will use. Marinas can be strange places with their own cultures - hedonistic, family oriented, community picnics, or maybe just a place to keep boats where nobody knows anyone else.

Next, ask the marina about the boat mechanics that service the boats they store. Also get some advice from some of the other boat owners at the marina. Figure out what boats are common on the lake and figure out why that is the case.

Then ask the marina and the mechanic for some boat suggestions, including the possibility of any boats that are for sale.

Finally, if there is a rental or club option on the lake where you want to be, that is a great choice to make sure you want to buy and maintain a boat. It is a big commitment. Insurance, maintenance and storage will probably set you back a couple thousand a year.

FWIW, I have a SeaRay Sundeck 240 that I keep on Lake James. My wife and girls like the bathroom on board. In my mind, it is the perfect boat for hanging out and a good enough boat for pulling a wakeboard or skier. Some of the tri-toons are nice. Every boat has trade offs. I have an entirely different (and more modest) boat for fishing, designed for inshore saltwater flats and marshes.

Lake James is the shit. Love that place. It doesn't get much better than a few slalom runs on a Sunday evening at that place.
 
Fun to see this thread pop back up. Read through it for the nostalgia. 2&2 with a ton of great advice. I have followed most of it.

We bought an Avalon tri-toon in 2016. It came with an Evinrude E-Tec 135 hp bolted on and we got a great deal on it. So far, the engine has been reliable. It's got some overly complicated tech in it and when that goes bad, it will be a decision between paying to fix it or just buying a Yamaha. It will pull an adult skier just fine.

The dealer we bought it from turned out to be worse than worthless after the sale. They stored it for us over the winter of 2016-2017, and actually lost the boat for two days in the spring of 2017. We never let them touch it again. Found a great, honest set of good 'ol country folk boat mechanics near Badin and they have taken care of everything we need since then.

We kept it at a marina at Badin Lake for 3 years, and then last year went completely nuts and became property owners at Badin. We thoroughly enjoy it, and while I am confident I will lose a lot of money on this whole arrangement in the near, mid, and long term, I'm glad we did it. Looking forward to warmer weather so we can get back down there more often.
 
Lake James is the shit. Love that place. It doesn't get much better than a few slalom runs on a Sunday evening at that place.

What is the deal with Lake James? I used to get those cheap real estate mailings all the time for lots on a mountain lake and, upon inquiring, would learn that it was Lake James. That is too far from my house for me to be interested - but I also always figured it must kind of suck because they were trying to give away real estate on it?? Mountain lakes are beautiful but I always figured the water would be cold a lot of the year??
But - it sounds like you like the place so it must have some things going for it...
 
What is the deal with Lake James? I used to get those cheap real estate mailings all the time for lots on a mountain lake and, upon inquiring, would learn that it was Lake James. That is too far from my house for me to be interested - but I also always figured it must kind of suck because they were trying to give away real estate on it?? Mountain lakes are beautiful but I always figured the water would be cold a lot of the year??
But - it sounds like you like the place so it must have some things going for it...

Yeah the power company owns most of the real estate and it gets released in controlled quantities. Almost all of the lots are in developments with super strict HOA's. The water is pretty chilly from October through late May, but it has a pretty blueish green tint and you can see 15 - 25 feet down. We sold our place in 2010 and spend our summers at Lake Norman now. It's a lot closer, but I miss Lake James.
 
Yeah the power company owns most of the real estate and it gets released in controlled quantities. Almost all of the lots are in developments with super strict HOA's. The water is pretty chilly from October through late May, but it has a pretty blueish green tint and you can see 15 - 25 feet down. We sold our place in 2010 and spend our summers at Lake Norman now. It's a lot closer, but I miss Lake James.

Grew up on Lake Norman. I love it, but the lake isn't what it used to be. Lake Travis/Austin are also cluster fucks. What's different about lakes down here is the wind, you can think you are going to get a evening/morning wakeboard session in and everything is blown out. Travis is worse than Lake Austin.
 
Lake James is the shit. Love that place. It doesn't get much better than a few slalom runs on a Sunday evening at that place.

Bro big up's to you. I'm to big a puss these days to hit the slalom, if have wrecked myself so bad in my times it's just not worth it to me. I wakeboard in the morning and evenings and surf/drink heavily the rest of the time.
 
What is the deal with Lake James? I used to get those cheap real estate mailings all the time for lots on a mountain lake and, upon inquiring, would learn that it was Lake James. That is too far from my house for me to be interested - but I also always figured it must kind of suck because they were trying to give away real estate on it?? Mountain lakes are beautiful but I always figured the water would be cold a lot of the year??
But - it sounds like you like the place so it must have some things going for it...

Ha! Never did figure out the deal on those flyers. I assume they are for some of the larger developments on the McDowell/Catawba side.

I have had a lot there for 20 years and a dock for most of that time. I have had the boat for only 3 years. Someday I will sell in Charlotte and retire to Lake James but that is a long way off. In the meantime, we have a small cabin just past Brown Mountain Overlook - that’s an easy enough place to stay for summer lake weekends.
 
Bro big up's to you. I'm to big a puss these days to hit the slalom, if have wrecked myself so bad in my times it's just not worth it to me. I wakeboard in the morning and evenings and surf/drink heavily the rest of the time.

I'm not out running courses, but I still eat it every now and then. Water hurts at 35mph.

I have injured myself pretty bad on a wakeboard. I gave that thing up around 5 years ago.
 
I'm not out running courses, but I still eat it every now and then. Water hurts at 35mph.

I have injured myself pretty bad on a wakeboard. I gave that thing up around 5 years ago.

I used to slalom as a kid. It was easy. So I bought another one last summer. Not so easy any more. Maybe I will get it next summer.
 
I had the seats replaced on both of my 1997 Seadoos this week. From 23 years of sitting out in the sun the vinyl had cracked, split, and erupted like a baked potato with all of the padding pouring out . I wrapped them in Flexseal tape to try to hold it together, but that was a horrible idea as the stickiness of the tape melted in the sun, so every time I sat on them I ended up with a hot sticky mess all over my ass (which I usually try to save for the wife). So by the end of last summer I had to put down old towels on the seats every time I wanted to ride. Excited to get them back in the water and fired up in a few months. To me they are the perfect machines - just a 2-stroke engine with a throttle and a seat, with no computer controls, brakes, or other bullshit. Pours out smoke and smells like an engine is supposed to smell. So easy/cheap to maintain and seemingly run forever.
 
I had the seats replaced on both of my 1997 Seadoos this week. From 23 years of sitting out in the sun the vinyl had cracked, split, and erupted like a baked potato with all of the padding pouring out . I wrapped them in Flexseal tape to try to hold it together, but that was a horrible idea as the stickiness of the tape melted in the sun, so every time I sat on them I ended up with a hot sticky mess all over my ass (which I usually try to save for the wife). So by the end of last summer I had to put down old towels on the seats every time I wanted to ride. Excited to get them back in the water and fired up in a few months. To me they are the perfect machines - just a 2-stroke engine with a throttle and a seat, with no computer controls, brakes, or other bullshit. Pours out smoke and smells like an engine is supposed to smell. So easy/cheap to maintain and seemingly run forever.

Green GTX by chance? Those late 90's Seadoos were tough as nails. I had one (96 model I think) with a mechanical reverse. At 20mph, you could pull the reverse lever up and the whole thing would go under water. As soon as it was submerged, push the lever down and it would shoot out of the water like a dolphin.
 
No, a yellow GTI and a purple GS. They are basically indestructible. I use the GTI to tow the kids on the tube a lot rather than get the boat out, and also taught them how to get up on a wakeboard with it. So easy to drive and can do pretty much anything.
 
Fun to see this thread pop back up. Read through it for the nostalgia. 2&2 with a ton of great advice. I have followed most of it.

We bought an Avalon tri-toon in 2016. It came with an Evinrude E-Tec 135 hp bolted on and we got a great deal on it. So far, the engine has been reliable. It's got some overly complicated tech in it and when that goes bad, it will be a decision between paying to fix it or just buying a Yamaha. It will pull an adult skier just fine.

The dealer we bought it from turned out to be worse than worthless after the sale. They stored it for us over the winter of 2016-2017, and actually lost the boat for two days in the spring of 2017. We never let them touch it again. Found a great, honest set of good 'ol country folk boat mechanics near Badin and they have taken care of everything we need since then.

We kept it at a marina at Badin Lake for 3 years, and then last year went completely nuts and became property owners at Badin. We thoroughly enjoy it, and while I am confident I will lose a lot of money on this whole arrangement in the near, mid, and long term, I'm glad we did it. Looking forward to warmer weather so we can get back down there more often.

E-Tec's are badass, reliable motors. I have a 2007 90 hp on my 18' center console. I run the shit out of it and it hasn't had a single problem. They're actually far more simple than their 4-stroke brethren, and have so much more torque down low.
 
I live in Lake Norman and I HATE MY BOAT. I grew up on this lake and grew up boating here and there is nothing I hate more than my boat. I’ve hated every boat I’ve owned. Here’s why: The kids and their friends or just your own friends want to go out on the boat Saturday. So that means YOU have to get the boat ready, loaded, are sure it’s good to go, gas it up, take the damn top off, carry all the shit down the dock to the boat such as coolers and drinks and food etc. All of which YOU paid for. Including the damn boat. Then everyone shows up 30 seconds before it’s time to head out on the lake. You’re seating your ass off from all you just did to get out there.

You spend all day out there burning a million dollars in gas, trying not to get everyone killed from the idiot boaters out here, working your ass off with the anchor and ropes and making sure everyone is having a great time. They all have a great time except YOU, and you head back to the dock. As soon as you dock it, everyone takes off and you’re left cleaning the boat, unloading crap, and snapping that fucking top back on until your fingers bleed.

I’m literally doing all of the above TODAY. And I’m pissed. As one might be able to surmise.

People say the two best days with a boat are the day you buy it and the day you sell it. I disagree. I HATED the day I bought every boat I’ve ever owned.
 
Typos I can’t fix. Obviously I don’t live IN lake Norman. Although I might want to tie a cinderblock to my ankle and DIE in Lake Norman.
 
I live in Lake Norman and I HATE MY BOAT. I grew up on this lake and grew up boating here and there is nothing I hate more than my boat. I’ve hated every boat I’ve owned. Here’s why: The kids and their friends or just your own friends want to go out on the boat Saturday. So that means YOU have to get the boat ready, loaded, are sure it’s good to go, gas it up, take the damn top off, carry all the shit down the dock to the boat such as coolers and drinks and food etc. All of which YOU paid for. Including the damn boat. Then everyone shows up 30 seconds before it’s time to head out on the lake. You’re seating your ass off from all you just did to get out there.

You spend all day out there burning a million dollars in gas, trying not to get everyone killed from the idiot boaters out here, working your ass off with the anchor and ropes and making sure everyone is having a great time. They all have a great time except YOU, and you head back to the dock. As soon as you dock it, everyone takes off and you’re left cleaning the boat, unloading crap, and snapping that fucking top back on until your fingers bleed.

I’m literally doing all of the above TODAY. And I’m pissed. As one might be able to surmise.

People say the two best days with a boat are the day you buy it and the day you sell it. I disagree. I HATED the day I bought every boat I’ve ever owned.

I don’t think the problem is with the boat the problem is your friends.

I have some reliable people that usually help me with all that shit. Some chicks definitely do exactly what you said but if their hot to me that’s a wash. Also a good test on whether or not there someone I want to be around on a regular basis.
 
E-Tec's are badass, reliable motors. I have a 2007 90 hp on my 18' center console. I run the shit out of it and it hasn't had a single problem. They're actually far more simple than their 4-stroke brethren, and have so much more torque down low.
I'm glad to hear you've had a good experience. Hope mine works out too. Definitely a lot of mixed reviews. My repair guy says they are awesome until a specific electronic component breaks (can't remember what it is called). Apparently it's expensive as hell and also a ton of labor to fix. But 3.5 years in it's doing great.

Guitar Deac: the captain has the right to boss around all crew members. I use this power liberally and make sure the crew pulls some weight.
 
Yeah we bought a lake place and boat in 2018 and have loved every second of it. Never had issues with my peeps not pulling their weight.
 
Back
Top