Get rid of it or not

[Blueliner]

Now that my two boys and their friends are leaving this fall or next fall for College/University and they all have jobs with opposite hours we are just not using our boat as much as we did in the past. So far this summer I think we have put on about 14 hours. May and June were also much cooler than usual. last year and the year before we put on about 40 hrs.

So the pressure is there from my wife to get rid of it while it is still a marketable item, in good condition..mechanically and appearance wise. At any rate the boat is not a financial burden,

Will a year make a difference in the value of this boat at this stage? There are some special considerations: geographically where we are there are not a lot of used wakeboats on the market. There is either wore out 20 year old ski-boats, or un-affordable new or late model units (Nautiques, Malibus, or MCs). Then you have the exchange rate....which makes shopping for a used boat in the US difficult, let alone ordering a new one.

I fear once we are out, that could be it for awhile, there wont be much choice out there at a price Im willing to pay. And Id hate to have to look at a bunch of unhappy bored teens next summer if they coordinate better and have more time. (I really enjoy my time with these kids...other adults my age or sooooo boring).




Let me know what you think.
Regards
Blueliner

[5:00]

You will miss it come summer.

[snyderaaron]

Think about when your boys get out of college. Would they still take it out? I know I would if I was a college kid.

[MJHSupra]

Good points on the old boats and the price of new boats.

When asking this question to myself, if I were to sell and buy another used boat, what are you getting? someone's issues? more to fix? how was it maintained?
With your current boat, you know exactly what you have.

With and 07, I doubt a year will make that big of a difference on your low hour boat.

[Blueliner]

Think about when your boys get out of college. Would they still take it out? I know I would if I was a college kid.

It so hard to say really. At some point I am sure they dont want there old man going out with them especially if they start to have more young ladies around. I must be cool cause they want me around :)

They are both going to universities that are several hours away, or more. In order to get a good job afterwards they will likely be in a distant city as well...we are in a rural area...not much here for young educated folks starting out.

I was hoping to have more of a network of my own friends that I could go out with but no one my age (50) is in to it really. If they go out on a boat its to fish, or to pontoon around....so FN boring.

[snyderaaron]

Get them into surfing!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Blueliner]

Get them into surfing!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That would be nice. I think the key here is getting the wife surfing. She is the designated observer (DO) but she wont go when we surf cause she is scared of the list.

[kaneboats]

Make a surf gate. It will be much easier for her to drive. And, get some younger friends who like to wakeboard/surf.

The first question should be if YOU still want the boat. I know I do/will. I'm planning on paying mine off and keeping it. My youngest son is almost 11. So, he'll be around for 7 more years and my go to college in town here like my #2 daughter. My oldest daughter is 22. In 7-10 more years I could be taking grandkids out on it. I'm never going to be without a boat.

[trayson]

It so hard to say really. At some point I am sure they dont want there old man going out with them especially if they start to have more young ladies around. I must be cool cause they want me around :)

They are both going to universities that are several hours away, or more. In order to get a good job afterwards they will likely be in a distant city as well...we are in a rural area...not much here for young educated folks starting out.

I was hoping to have more of a network of my own friends that I could go out with but no one my age (50) is in to it really. If they go out on a boat its to fish, or to pontoon around....so FN boring.

We end up going out on our boat with people that are younger almost exclusively. I'm 44 and my wife was born before me; but tons of our friends are in their early 40's, mid 30's and even mid 20's. We just attract younger fun people because that's how we act. It helps that my wife looks 10 to 15 years younger than she is and as long as I wear a hat to cover the thinning hairline, I'm the same way. We're great hosts, and really make it a point to have the music on point for a rad time on the water. It really sets the tone for the day.


That would be nice. I think the key here is getting the wife surfing. She is the designated observer (DO) but she wont go when we surf cause she is scared of the list.

Like Kane said, make yourself a "suck gate" and you'll be golden. You'll likely want upgraded rear and playpen bags if you haven't already, but you'll easily be able to get a surfable wave with only a little trial and error. and you'll be able to do it with minimal listing.

Just show her pictures of my wife surfing. she's right around your age and when we bought our first boat 3 years ago, she'd never been behind the wheel of a boat and was afraid to get in the water (because she almost drown in the ocean as a kid). Fast forward to now, she's a very competent surf/wake/ski driver. I remember the first time she got behind the wheel of the boat, we couldn't find a 3rd and it was just the two of us. We used that time to have a "boat driving clinic" and showed her all the in's and out's.

During our first summer of owning a boat, our transmission needed rebuilt and we were without a boat. Through this forum, we hooked up with some fellow boat owners and went out on the water with them. The wife saw how fun it was for us and while hesitant mentioned that she wouldn't mind trying surfing. It took me getting in the water with her (to get her to release her death grip of fear on the swim platform) and to position her relative to the boat and to flip her board for her so she could get up for the first time. She did and she rode maybe 75 feet and was incredibly stoked. We kept working with her (with patience and encouragement) and she progressed through some key milestones. Getting up, getting a solid line ride, getting her first legit free ride, and now she's on to carving on the board. She can't wait to get on the water and feels ecstatic after she takes a nice long surf set. Again, I'm on point with the music making sure that I play a mix of the songs that she loves when she's out behind the boat. She also has "her" surf board, and we make sure she has good gear dialed in to make things comfortable (wetsuits, drysuit, etc)

Of course, what wife doesn't like to shop? Well, I'm quite supportive and encouraging in that area and my wife had a great collection of bikinis, board shorts and rash guards now. We take boating vacations during the summer. We don't have an RV anymore so we find lakes with cabins on them, or in a week and half we'll be partnering with another family and going to a campground--we bring the boat, they bring the 5th wheel.

And another thing I've done is to be VERY encouraging for my wife to bring her girlfriends on the boat. In fact, one time I told my wife that she could invite all her girlfriends out on the boat and I'd be their captain and DJ for the evening. They brought snacks and drinks and had a wonderful time. And me? Well, I had to deal with an evening of me being the only guy surrounded by my wife and al her hot friends! LOL!!!!

The wife often brings girlfriends on the boat that aren't going to play behind the boat. That's cool, they're people ballast and fun to be around. Plus when the wife surfs, she gets to look like a superhero to the people we have on the boat. yeah, everyone expects me to go out and rip it up, but when she does it; she's getting some really cool affirmation.

[newbie1993]

Make a surf gate. It will be much easier for her to drive. And, get some younger friends who like to wakeboard/surf.

The first question should be if YOU still want the boat. I know I do/will.

I'm planning on paying mine off and keeping it. I'm never going to be without a boat.

ditto my grandfather bought a 87, 2001 nautique new and the family still has it to this day. i grew up on that boat skiing, boarding and kneeboarding. as did my sister, cousins etc.

[zabooda]

I've gone through your scenario and more. Prior to my daughter's high school graduation in 2007, the family would spend some time on boating vacations and with the local beach trips and water ski runs I would rack up about 100 hours a year. Since then I would get in 15-25 hours per year as I stayed locally and go out for the day. I would recommend keeping the boat if you still enjoy boating, it is the type of boat you would be using as you get older (skiing, wakeboarding or surfing) and you get it out and put some hours on it each year. The depreciation at this point is done as my boat hasn't depreciated in the last five years thanks to the new boats being extremely overpriced. You will have replacement items over time such as the trailer tires, battery and boat cover. I had knee surgery in 2013 and 2014 that limited my skiing and I just put on 15 hours each year. This year I had another knee surgery and I've just started skiing again and I haven't even burned through the first tank of gas. I'm hoping my daughter will have kids someday and do the stuff that we did when she was young. With the age of the boat, registration and trailer tabs are dirt cheap now. Insurance is cheap and I drop it when I winterize and put the boat behind a locked gate.

Up North, it is hard to justify the expense of a boat because of the short season and that is why we see the older boats around and you already have yours and it is something you don't have to go through again. It is also a magnet to get the kids back in the summer. I have altered my life after daughter got out of high school and that is I have a group of skiers some with boats and some without that we get some ski runs in in the evening or weekend mornings and I would miss that.

[psycho-heico]

I too live in Canada and our season is much shorter than our Moomba friends in the USA, BUT even the years I only put 20-30 hours on it each season , I too have the same thoughts. I bought the boat in 2010 and from the USA when the dollar was close to par for a smoking price. I've had it 6 years now and could sell it for more than what I paid for it, so it owes me nothing yet...Just to see my 2 girls age 15 and 21 get out and have fun,surf, and cliff jump that is worth every penny or lack of hours on it...That being said I also pay no storage and do all the maintenance myself....I will keep mine for many years to come....mine is an 08 with only 190 hours on it.....So I say keep it and enjoy those summers with your kids even the few hours you get on it.....

[Blueliner]

Good points on the old boats and the price of new boats.

When asking this question to myself, if I were to sell and buy another used boat, what are you getting? someone's issues? more to fix? how was it maintained?
With your current boat, you know exactly what you have.

With and 07, I doubt a year will make that big of a difference on your low hour boat.

Agreed, not sold on the newer look of the boats either, this thing has a classic dagger through the water look about it. Not the stubby, blunt front. It has a new battery , new alternator, new circ pump, 1100lb bags, 2 spare tires for the trailer. The carpet needs to be replaced...not sure what to do about that yet...hate carpet anyway.

[Dandy21]

Here is my story and hopefully it will help you out in some way with your decision.

I had my first taste of Wake Surfing in 2008. I was on a trip to San Diego with our company and our families were included. On one of our free days, my wife and I (along with our 5 year old daughter), set up a wake boarding session on Mission Bay. Normally they take our groups of several riders, in our case, we had 2. They asked if we wanted to try wake surfing and I thought "why not". After some long hard pulls and falling in love with Slingshot wake boards, I was wore out. They brought out the surfer, the instructor hopped on and showed us how to do it. I got up and went ropeless the first run and it's been much of what I think about since.

We go to the local boat show just about every year and we had always looked at the wake boats (how I wish I could by one at '09 pricing) and just couldn't talk my wife into it. 2013 rolls around and just my daughter (now 10) and I go. We send a bunch of pictures back to my wife of my daughter on the boats and told her we ordered one. I came home with a BUNCH of materials on the boats and did a TON of research and she finally said, make a decision and order the damn thing. So, 2013 we bought our first wakeboat. Had a few frustrations with it and traded it for a 2014 G23...the latest and greatest wakeboat at the time. As our daughter is getting older and into more sports and activities as wells as friends that have kids of similar age we just could not justify making payments on the G23...so we sold it in 2015. We were not boatless this spring, we also have a 15' Boston Whaler and love it, but it doesn't surf. This year, we found a 2007 boat that we could pay cash for and purchased it. It has been on the water twice...yep, just 2 times this year and at this rate I won't even have to buy gas since it was full when we got it. Unless we really need the $$$ we will just hang onto it. Sadly, we paid almost as much for this used as it was new in '07, but I don't see it depreciating fast.

We have quite a few friends and acquaintances with boats, but they won't allow us to do what we love and enjoy. Having our 10 year old paid off boat that I don't have to worry about putting the 1st ding in will. Just knowing that if we get free time and good MN weather I can hook up and go for a surf has value to me. It give me something to look forward to and hopefully...hopefully as our daughter gets older and her friends get more adventurous we will start using it more because they can do things behind our boat that they cannot others.

I realize that everyone's situation is different, but having the boat and knowing that I have the ability to take it out and do something that I love and look forward to provides a value that is tough to put a price on.

Long story short, KEEP THE BOAT!

[parrothd]

Sounds like you guys(multiple posters) need to work on getting new regular riders instead of waiting on family members.. :)

I learned my lesson pretty quick not to rely on family/friends if you want to boat often. Everyone has their priories in life and if you have a healthy bunch of riders you'll have plenty of use. Just depends if you really want to boat and how often. I have a meet-up group, and boating email group with 20+ riders. Anyone that I meet that boats or wants too gets recruited and added to my list. It took a year or so to get rolling, but I'm constantly trying to add new people.

[Darter]

I ended up using my dad's boat a fair amount in college. Even took it back to college with me one summer week to take friends out. Other times it was to take friends up to the cabin for a week here and there. It didn't log as many hours during those years, but it got used. It got the least use when my kids were newborn until about 3 years. From then on, the cycle (and hours) started again.

[TheDude]

I feel the pain. I have no one to ride with. Haven't surfed in a month but stare at the boat every weekend. Looking at selling and getting a Jet Surf board or an Onean so I can get on the water whenever I feel like it.

[kaneboats]

Have you guys tried posting your location in the Moomba Meets thread? You never know who shows up till you try.

[Blueliner]

Me and the missus talked a little more last night. Her reasoning is that we have no idea exactly what two kids at university is going to cost us. The discussion went that we should peddle this boat and if we are obviously "ahead" after the completion of their first year we could go shopping for a late model boat..a longer term solution...one or two years old, and a bit smaller (mondo...)so it can stay in our driveway. This would mean not having a boat for next summer though. So if we don't use the boat much for the remainder of the summer and don't really miss it next....then the answer is obvious. Besides a family we know just bought a brand new wakeboat, with zero prior experience of owning one before so I see possible temporary solution cause they are already reaching out to us for some help.

[TheDude]

Pulling the boat in about three weeks. 6 hours on it this year. There's gonna be a real nice '15 OBV in someone else's lake next spring. No point when I'm like a beggar looking for people to ride my wake and my equipment. Central NY is void of riders