I have been doing quite a bit of research and after wandering all over the place have narrowed my next boat - well really first - not sure you can count 200+ hp PWCs as a boat down to a Moomba Mobius. I am now trying to decide on which one, the LSV or the XLV.
My concern is that a lot of people seem to move from the "smaller" to "bigger" boats as an often cited reason for selling. I really want my first acquisition to be something I can be happy with for a long time.
Here are a few considerations...
The boat will spend a vast majority of it's time on Lake Entiat and be used for water sports - some skiing, more tubing, knee boarding, wake boarding, wake surfing. We don't have a lot of experience doing much other than skiing, tubing, and knee boarding with the little ones, but excited to get out there and experience it all.
We have 4 kids, a big extended family (lots of nieces/nephews) and many friends. Our group tends to "multiply with water" The wive wants "room for everyone" - this partly makes me lean towards the bigger XLV, but I really do not have an appreciation for the actual size difference. My friend let us take out his XLV a couple of weekends ago and it fit a big crew nicely - 5 smaller kids up front 7 adults in the main area.
Lake Entiat has no marina's with fuel, so it's a matter of filling up with gas cans = fuel capacity consideration, but then does the bigger boat with bigger tank just compensate for the larger size and weight, or can you actually run longer?
My winter storage would be in my garage - an older home with 7' tall garage doors and 107 1/4" width. It's going to be a tight fit through the door -it may or may not require removal of the tower and/or deflating the tires a bit to get it through the door. I have 8' 9" clear once you are through the door and it is 2 1/2 cars deep, so length isn't a consideration.
I really like the playpen feature that seems to be prevalent on the XLVs, although I have seen at least one LSV with the Bow fill in cushion, but didn't know if those are readily available from Moomba or the after market.
I also notice that the number of LSV's outnumber the number of XLVs. This seems to be reflected in price and availability and the XLV's seem to be in Texas, Florida, MN, or the Northeast which is a fair distance from Washington State (transportation costs). I am not looking to buy a boat this season, unless the right opportunity came along.
Speaking of opportunities, I have been watching the following boat
http://www.welfringerwholesale.com/v...v-1609053.cfml
and would have an opportunity to see it tomorrow if I decide to drive an hour from Portland (where I will be tomorrow). Is it worth 3 hours out of my life to look at an LSV or should I be concentrating on finding the right XLV? He has slowly lowered his price over the last few weeks and I believe it is still available because he seems to be high (NADA suggests 4 to 5K too high - any thoughts on price?)
That's likely enough info to get the conversation started.
My max budget is in the low 30's, with the potential to go higher for the perfect boat...
I am really looking forward to joining the Moomba family!