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What ever happen to ski boats

doubleeagle

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I watched the boat show post If your not a baller why would you go There is nothing there for you If you don't have a 100 grand to spend why go. What happened to the 18' ski boat Just a average go getter. White hull and a single color cap a stanard 454 chevy 405 horse a 60 mile per hour fun boat you can take your kids out in We see it all the time a guy picks up a 1970's jet spends 10'000 to make it right He has spent 13000,00 but he can't buy a new one for that kind of money. Why don't we have any boats like that. For 15,000 you can buy a nice boat and have somthing new We have got to the point where a average JOE can't buy a boat Its pretty sad but its the reason that the LA BOAT show doesn't have boat buyers I can remember selling 50 or 60 boats at a show The show gets smaller every year I don't know if they are making more money or not but we use to fill the bottom hall with ski boats we don't do this anymore. So whats wrong
 

HALLETT BOY

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Boating is not a cheap or even reasonably priced activity anymore . Factor in all the costs , and most people are
unable or unwilling to spend the dough . look around , even the ski resorts are facing declining sales every year .
 

Skyskier

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As an "old man" that's been going to Parker for 50 + years, here's how I see it,..............I've watched the "evolution " of the boating life, gone are the day's when Dad loaded all the kids (an at LEAST one friend of each "kid") into the back of the pickup truck, with the "homemade" plywood camper shell, set out on the 5 1/2 to 6 hour drive across the desert, AT NIGHT, cuz most likely NO AC :D......... get to "the river/lake about midnight or later, roll everybody outta the camper, unload ALL OF THE STUFF, set up the tent's/canopies etc. an go to sleep on the beach. Wake up at dawn's early light, take a dip to rinse the sand outta your asscrack :D, set up the coleman so Mom can start makin some bacon & eggs ( back then, only the "ballers" traveled with a "coleman", we cooked over a firepit :cool. After breakfast , unhook the boat trailer and EVERYBODY push the boat & trailer into the water then pull the trailer out and go "WATERSKIING", 1st learning on 2 ski's, then go to one ski, some of us with more "adventerous" Dad's let them talk us into barefooting :D:thumbsup, cuz they saw it done on "You Asked For It" :D there were NO tubey pully things, say for an old inner tube, the ones with those big ass STEEL valves ( I STILL have a couple scars from one of those things :skull. Some of our Dad's bought "kits from Glenn L and actually "built" the boats, same with the "ski's" :cool, my Pop's bought a "glasspar" with a 35 HP Evinrude, some considered HIM a baller :D...... His 1st "inboard" was 16 ft. rayson Craft, bought a bare hull from Rudy AFTER he got the measurements and built his own trailer, single axle, then him an his pals rigged the boat even though NONE of them were "boat builder's". After 2 full day's of WATERSKIING, camping under the stars, sunburnt to a crisp, reload ALL OF THE STUFF, set out for home, another 5 1/2 6 hour drive at night, Sunday night , ( NO AC ), the best they had was a couple of soaked towels on the floor board that would be dry by the time we hit Vidal, MAYBE a stop at Rice for a frosty, ICE COLD coke outta the coke machine IF they had enough "dimes" for ALL the kids :D, get home LATE Sunday night, park the boat, get up EARLY monday morning , unload ALL THE STUFF, Pop went to work, we went to school, and could NOT wait till the next trip to the river :thumbsup

Today ? it's a whole different boating expierence, I see some of the "kids" rolling into town with $60,$70 $80K "tow rigs", towing a $100, $120, $130 K "boat" check into the hotel/resort etc., get up about 9 or 10, go to the "restaurant" for a "sit down" breakfast, get on the water about noon, the little kids sporting the latest hairstyle, all jelled up, matching trunks T shirts & caps, matching oakley sunglasses, got a Ipad/Iphone whatever, only interested in playing video games , ABSOLUTELY no interest in waterskiing, wakeboarding, barefootin etc., at most they just wanna "tube" then get to the sandbar or the channel an sit the rest of the day while Mom & Dad "socialize" ..............I dunno ? like said, I'm old, I just really don't see a lot of these little kids taking up the boating life when they grow up. I do the river with anywhere from 2 to 16,18 or more little kids in our group, my grandkids, nephew's & neice's and THEIR kids, I ask the little ones, 'so whaddaya think, you gonna have a boat an come to the river when YOU grow up ?..........the answer more often than not is a resounding "HELL YEAH :D"............................just my 2 cents worth.
 

Scott E

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You need to remember that you're on a site that is geared more towards the performance boater as opposed to the tournament ski boat boater.

While the pictures may not have showed it, I did not read the second part thread, easily 60-70% of the show was pontoons, tournament boats, or Yamaha jet boats. Total 'west coast customs' numbered ~20.
 

TX Foilhead

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Same here, Austin Boat Show was completely dead this year. They had about half the dealers so they added RV's to fill the space but there were less people on Sat afternoon than I've seen on week nights in the past. My wife worked a booth for the local C of C (we're an hour west of Austin) and they had a drawing for a pair of weekend passes to the Lucas Dragboat Race and only had 2 people enter.

I wish all that meant that I was going to have the lake to myself this summer, but I think it really means not too many people want a new boat.
 

RiverDave

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Not true at all.. We covered and will be uploading SEVERAL 25' and under boats. :)

RD
 

fmo24

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As an "old man" that's been going to Parker for 50 + years, here's how I see it,..............I've watched the "evolution " of the boating life, gone are the day's when Dad loaded all the kids (an at LEAST one friend of each "kid") into the back of the pickup truck, with the "homemade" plywood camper shell, set out on the 5 1/2 to 6 hour drive across the desert, AT NIGHT, cuz most likely NO AC :D......... get to "the river/lake about midnight or later, roll everybody outta the camper, unload ALL OF THE STUFF, set up the tent's/canopies etc. an go to sleep on the beach. Wake up at dawn's early light, take a dip to rinse the sand outta your asscrack :D, set up the coleman so Mom can start makin some bacon & eggs ( back then, only the "ballers" traveled with a "coleman", we cooked over a firepit :cool. After breakfast , unhook the boat trailer and EVERYBODY push the boat & trailer into the water then pull the trailer out and go "WATERSKIING", 1st learning on 2 ski's, then go to one ski, some of us with more "adventerous" Dad's let them talk us into barefooting :D:thumbsup, cuz they saw it done on "You Asked For It" :D there were NO tubey pully things, say for an old inner tube, the ones with those big ass STEEL valves ( I STILL have a couple scars from one of those things :skull. Some of our Dad's bought "kits from Glenn L and actually "built" the boats, same with the "ski's" :cool, my Pop's bought a "glasspar" with a 35 HP Evinrude, some considered HIM a baller :D...... His 1st "inboard" was 16 ft. rayson Craft, bought a bare hull from Rudy AFTER he got the measurements and built his own trailer, single axle, then him an his pals rigged the boat even though NONE of them were "boat builder's". After 2 full day's of WATERSKIING, camping under the stars, sunburnt to a crisp, reload ALL OF THE STUFF, set out for home, another 5 1/2 6 hour drive at night, Sunday night , ( NO AC ), the best they had was a couple of soaked towels on the floor board that would be dry by the time we hit Vidal, MAYBE a stop at Rice for a frosty, ICE COLD coke outta the coke machine IF they had enough "dimes" for ALL the kids :D, get home LATE Sunday night, park the boat, get up EARLY monday morning , unload ALL THE STUFF, Pop went to work, we went to school, and could NOT wait till the next trip to the river :thumbsup

Today ? it's a whole different boating expierence, I see some of the "kids" rolling into town with $60,$70 $80K "tow rigs", towing a $100, $120, $130 K "boat" check into the hotel/resort etc., get up about 9 or 10, go to the "restaurant" for a "sit down" breakfast, get on the water about noon, the little kids sporting the latest hairstyle, all jelled up, matching trunks T shirts & caps, matching oakley sunglasses, got a Ipad/Iphone whatever, only interested in playing video games , ABSOLUTELY no interest in waterskiing, wakeboarding, barefootin etc., at most they just wanna "tube" then get to the sandbar or the channel an sit the rest of the day while Mom & Dad "socialize" ..............I dunno ? like said, I'm old, I just really don't see a lot of these little kids taking up the boating life when they grow up. I do the river with anywhere from 2 to 16,18 or more little kids in our group, my grandkids, nephew's & neice's and THEIR kids, I ask the little ones, 'so whaddaya think, you gonna have a boat an come to the river when YOU grow up ?..........the answer more often than not is a resounding "HELL YEAH :D"............................just my 2 cents worth.
In our family Mom always got the first ski ride in the morning then she would start breakfast while the rest of us four ride. I don't think my dad ever got out of the boat again till lunch where he would fall asleep until we woke him to take us on the surfboard or disc which was a hunk of plywood cut in a circle and fiberglassed. Good times!
 

KENDOG689

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Family camping,a 18' boat and you were big time.I remember being woken up by the wild horses while sleeping on the indian land in Mohave valley.Scorpian alert at night in camp,all the good stuff.Now all I see are a bunch of folks with the big boats just cruizin or floating?My Dad had a B-52 inner tube that we would pull around for any takers,it bearly fit in the van half filled.Give me an old school river boat all day long.:thumbup:
 

CampbellCarl

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Anybody else?...................that's me on the right (1968)......................
 

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brgrcru

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We rolled the same way. The boat was hooked up to the 67 mustang back in 67'. Mom would drive car with boat in tow to dads shop. Pick him up at 4pm. Off we were to pine flats or the river. Dad would put boat in water at night. Fold out the seats, dad on one side, mom on other, I would be sleeping in the front under the deck, sister in between mom and dad on the floor. That boat ran all day trying to get people up skiing and finally people skiing. There was always a line of people waiting for my dad to come back to pick up the next crew. My greatest memories. Finally in 73' my parents bought a bubble top van, of course color to match boat. Every other weekend we were at the lake or river. My parents had a lot of friends that came along and they all started buying boats and campers. At times we had 100-125 people together. Most all immigrated from Germany after the war. So to them this was just great time to get together and party and sing late into the nights. While us kids put all our lounge chairs ( the ones that you had to click to make it flat, but never did, by morning most of us were sleeping on the floor.) we still get good group together but most of the parents are older. I thank my dad every time, I come back from boating / waterskiing, for getting us into this activity. We never called it going boating or to the river, we just called it you want to go waterskiing.
 

tkrrox

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Anybody else?...................that's me on the right (1968)......................

that's funny my sister and i used to lay out the seats in my dad's 18' glastron with a 135 rude on the back...that was the best laying on our backs watching shooting stars...
 

Tommy Gun Images

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As an "old man" that's been going to Parker for 50 + years, here's how I see it,..............I've watched the "evolution " of the boating life, gone are the day's when Dad loaded all the kids (an at LEAST one friend of each "kid") into the back of the pickup truck, with the "homemade" plywood camper shell, set out on the 5 1/2 to 6 hour drive across the desert, AT NIGHT, cuz most likely NO AC :D......... get to "the river/lake about midnight or later, roll everybody outta the camper, unload ALL OF THE STUFF, set up the tent's/canopies etc. an go to sleep on the beach. Wake up at dawn's early light, take a dip to rinse the sand outta your asscrack :D, set up the coleman so Mom can start makin some bacon & eggs ( back then, only the "ballers" traveled with a "coleman", we cooked over a firepit :cool. After breakfast , unhook the boat trailer and EVERYBODY push the boat & trailer into the water then pull the trailer out and go "WATERSKIING", 1st learning on 2 ski's, then go to one ski, some of us with more "adventerous" Dad's let them talk us into barefooting :D:thumbsup, cuz they saw it done on "You Asked For It" :D there were NO tubey pully things, say for an old inner tube, the ones with those big ass STEEL valves ( I STILL have a couple scars from one of those things :skull. Some of our Dad's bought "kits from Glenn L and actually "built" the boats, same with the "ski's" :cool, my Pop's bought a "glasspar" with a 35 HP Evinrude, some considered HIM a baller :D...... His 1st "inboard" was 16 ft. rayson Craft, bought a bare hull from Rudy AFTER he got the measurements and built his own trailer, single axle, then him an his pals rigged the boat even though NONE of them were "boat builder's". After 2 full day's of WATERSKIING, camping under the stars, sunburnt to a crisp, reload ALL OF THE STUFF, set out for home, another 5 1/2 6 hour drive at night, Sunday night , ( NO AC ), the best they had was a couple of soaked towels on the floor board that would be dry by the time we hit Vidal, MAYBE a stop at Rice for a frosty, ICE COLD coke outta the coke machine IF they had enough "dimes" for ALL the kids :D, get home LATE Sunday night, park the boat, get up EARLY monday morning , unload ALL THE STUFF, Pop went to work, we went to school, and could NOT wait till the next trip to the river :thumbsup

Today ? it's a whole different boating expierence, I see some of the "kids" rolling into town with $60,$70 $80K "tow rigs", towing a $100, $120, $130 K "boat" check into the hotel/resort etc., get up about 9 or 10, go to the "restaurant" for a "sit down" breakfast, get on the water about noon, the little kids sporting the latest hairstyle, all jelled up, matching trunks T shirts & caps, matching oakley sunglasses, got a Ipad/Iphone whatever, only interested in playing video games , ABSOLUTELY no interest in waterskiing, wakeboarding, barefootin etc., at most they just wanna "tube" then get to the sandbar or the channel an sit the rest of the day while Mom & Dad "socialize" ..............I dunno ? like said, I'm old, I just really don't see a lot of these little kids taking up the boating life when they grow up. I do the river with anywhere from 2 to 16,18 or more little kids in our group, my grandkids, nephew's & neice's and THEIR kids, I ask the little ones, 'so whaddaya think, you gonna have a boat an come to the river when YOU grow up ?..........the answer more often than not is a resounding "HELL YEAH :D"............................just my 2 cents worth.


Awesome post! My folks never had the money when I was growing up to do the boat thing so I always hitched a ride with friends whose families were boaters. When I was in high school I would go to Powell with my girlfriend's family and the group that they hung out with. It was the same deal, leave after work Friday, drive 4.5 hours to Powell and sleep in the boats in the parking lot at Wahweap. In the morning we'd pack all our gear into the boats and head 20 miles up lake to make camp. My girl's dad had the "big" boat which was a 22 ft Regal Cuddy. Some other friends had a matching Regal, but the other boats consisted in an 18' Biesmeyer jet, and a Carrera 20.5 Elite (yes we went 20 miles up lake with 2 small jets and no one died).
Those trips solidified my love for the water and boats. I fell in love with that Carrera... someday I will own one of those things just because of the nostalgia. I saved for a couple years in my twenties to buy the Pink Taco and never regretted it for a second. I've had more fun in that little boat than should be legal and it only cost me 8900 bucks. :thumbsup
I think the big bad ass rides are amazing machines and I would LOVE to take a ride in one but I don't know that I'd ever be able to own one. If I do cool... But if I don't you can guarantee I'll find some way to be on the water :D
 

Tom Brown

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Ski boats are still around, they just ride a lot lower in the water.
 

Willie B

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...We would head to the River or Pine Flat almost every weekend during the summer... ...Utter simplicity,...a cot,..a sleeping bag,...throw a change of cloths in a brown paper grocery bag... ...Pretty much the same routine for ten or fifteen years... ...Took a 16 ft Guasti 50 miles in at Powell... ...I would still be good with a pickup,...a camper shell and a flatbottom,..but have escalated to a Dodge Ram Diesel and an 11ft Lance...
 

spectras only

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Pretty much everybody wanting to trade up to a bigger/better;)boat but I'd be happy to go back to my old roots>

Mahogany%20boat%2060's%20copy.jpg


Only thing I'd do is replacing the crappy russian O/B that was hangin on the back.Some nice vintage Merc or Rude would compliment the boat.:thumbup:
Wonder if the ol' gal still floats on the Danube River?
 
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kiethco

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Thanks, Skyskier, for that post. I woke my wife up to read it to her. It so reminds me of the days back in the 70's at Red Rooster in Blythe, then building the place at Big River and all the shenanigans that went with it. Stan Rife was our friend that started it all at red Rooster back then, he'd always welcome us with open arms, at all hours of those Friday nights, to his cool old single wide at the Rooster. It was amazing how many people we'd stuff in there since it was nice and cool with the swamp cooler chillin it down. I miss those days, the boats and the attitude of river people back then.
 

Rexone

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Thanks, Skyskier, for that post. I woke my wife up to read it to her. It so reminds me of the days back in the 70's at Red Rooster in Blythe, then building the place at Big River and all the shenanigans that went with it. Stan Rife was our friend that started it all at red Rooster back then, he'd always welcome us with open arms, at all hours of those Friday nights, to his cool old single wide at the Rooster. It was amazing how many people we'd stuff in there since it was nice and cool with the swamp cooler chillin it down. I miss those days, the boats and the attitude of river people back then.

I spent a lot of time at the red rooster I'm guessing in the 69 to early 70's period. One of my best buddies parents had a trailer there and we'd head out across the desert in my 56 chevy most any time of night (cooler at night and no AC). They had a Glastron with a 115 ob. and amazingly it was pretty cool for the time period. Started going to Parker with my older brother in the early 70's and learned to ski behind a Hondo runner bottom. Continued going both areas for quite awhile then mainly to Parker. After I got married in 79 started going to Needles cause Parker was a little nuts back then before Havasu got popular. Had a blown Sanger Flat for a couple years that I couldn't afford, sold it and used a Carribean jet boat for many years of skiing. Around 87 or so bought a Hallett 19 outboard and used that for 15 or so years. My ex still has the boat. Many good times back then and a much simpler life in boating. Camping mostly, camp stoves, slept on cots, watched the sun come up, and sprayed insect repellent or get eaten by skeetters. Wild donkeys in camp, no stereo in any boat I've ever owned. My later boats couldn't have heard it anyway. Back then we boated, skied, camped and drank beer on the beach. No gettin up at 10, no restaurants, no standin around a sandbar gettin hammered with 1200 other hammerees. The day revolved around boating and skiing and all else was secondary, much unlike the average today.

I know where the OP was going and it wasn't talking about the under 25 offerings at the LA show contained. It was 18 ft low profile jets, I/O's and flats maybe daycruisers 21 max. Back then 21 was a "big" boat. 24's were just stupid for the river. New boats were 10-12K, not 30-70K and a good used jet boat was a couple grand. Tournament boats weren't part of the scene, those were for "serious" slalom skiers only, not us river bums.

Times they have changed. I'd revert back to those days in a heartbeat given the option.
 

coz

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Not true at all.. We covered and will be uploading SEVERAL 25' and under boats. :)

RD

Will they be like this? or are you talking i/o's that claim to be ski boats? :D The ob ski race boats are cool but someone like me that just wants to carve around and spray curtains of water those don't work :D

This is a ski boat in my eyes, and a very nice one at that :thumbup:

521658_449473248458768_1549431761_n.jpg
 

scootin newton

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Will they be like this? or are you talking i/o's that claim to be ski boats? :D The ob ski race boats are cool but someone like me that just wants to carve around and spray curtains of water those don't work :D

This is a ski boat in my eyes, and a very nice one at that :thumbup:

View attachment 250245

again though, msrp $68,000! mine was $4,500 and we are on the water 2-3 days every week.
 

AzGeo

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On Parker, Havasu, or the Kings River, this or an 18' jet with exposed motor were the shit. With a 3 blade prop, you could ski Havasu from 6AM til about noon, non stop. (less than 20 gallons) Go back to camp at Red Rock, clean up, lunch, rest 'till 3.30PM. Throw on the "2 blade" and head out to do a little 'river racing', in front of Fox's from 4PM til dark. (or you ran out of fuel) No stereos, no bimini tops, hell no floors either. Just lots of fun, sun and single girls.
 

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coz

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On Parker, Havasu, or the Kings River, this or an 18' jet with exposed motor were the shit. With a 3 blade prop, you could ski Havasu from 6AM til about noon, non stop. (less than 20 gallons) Go back to camp at Red Rock, clean up, lunch, rest 'till 3.30PM. Throw on the "2 blade" and head out to do a little 'river racing', in front of Fox's from 4PM til dark. (or you ran out of fuel) No stereos, no bimini tops, hell no floors either. Just lots of fun, sun and single girls.

Our original ski boat was a 19' Hallett with a 427 and Bassett headers like those, then we got tired of burning ropes and people so we installed an indmar through hull exhaust. And speaking of red rock campground :rolleyes I actually sank that boat in front of red rock back in the mid 80's, didn't actually go down but I was bow up floating down river, a bunch of people came out from the campground and helped me drag it to shore and bail it out, all my seats, gear and friends were floating too, the good ol days :D :thumbup:
 

cave

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Cool Story Skiskier.
From what I remember, back in the late 60s early 70s, 5 grand was like 20 grand. Gas was 25 cents for Ethyl. 20 cents for regular. Gas stations were allot closer together. All my male family members were in Vietnam or on their way to Vietnam. Even 2800 was a stretch.

Can you even buy the material for a boat today for less than 10 grand? Talking to a few who do still build the smaller boats, like Ron Baker here in Phoenix. The cost to build a few colors hull is around 10 grand. That's just the hull. Rons doing it like back in the day when you called up and said, I want to build a boat. Then you pretty much rigged it yourself with the help of Coors and a few good buddies.

This is Ron Baker of Topless Racing. Not the Ron that had issues building the Ultra Cheyanne. Baker has that mold too.

You wont see these boats at any boat show. But they are out there. To some these are ski boats :D
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I imagine the Yamaha's are the new to boaters boat.
There are other out there who are building boats. The legend, Greg Shoemaker & Mike D. Maybe not the Ski boats the OP was speaking of but at one time they were.
 

oldschool

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As an "old man" that's been going to Parker for 50 + years, here's how I see it,..............I've watched the "evolution " of the boating life, gone are the day's when Dad loaded all the kids (an at LEAST one friend of each "kid") into the back of the pickup truck, with the "homemade" plywood camper shell, set out on the 5 1/2 to 6 hour drive across the desert, AT NIGHT, cuz most likely NO AC :D......... get to "the river/lake about midnight or later, roll everybody outta the camper, unload ALL OF THE STUFF, set up the tent's/canopies etc. an go to sleep on the beach. Wake up at dawn's early light, take a dip to rinse the sand outta your asscrack :D, set up the coleman so Mom can start makin some bacon & eggs ( back then, only the "ballers" traveled with a "coleman", we cooked over a firepit :cool. After breakfast , unhook the boat trailer and EVERYBODY push the boat & trailer into the water then pull the trailer out and go "WATERSKIING", 1st learning on 2 ski's, then go to one ski, some of us with more "adventerous" Dad's let them talk us into barefooting :D:thumbsup, cuz they saw it done on "You Asked For It" :D there were NO tubey pully things, say for an old inner tube, the ones with those big ass STEEL valves ( I STILL have a couple scars from one of those things :skull. Some of our Dad's bought "kits from Glenn L and actually "built" the boats, same with the "ski's" :cool, my Pop's bought a "glasspar" with a 35 HP Evinrude, some considered HIM a baller :D...... His 1st "inboard" was 16 ft. rayson Craft, bought a bare hull from Rudy AFTER he got the measurements and built his own trailer, single axle, then him an his pals rigged the boat even though NONE of them were "boat builder's". After 2 full day's of WATERSKIING, camping under the stars, sunburnt to a crisp, reload ALL OF THE STUFF, set out for home, another 5 1/2 6 hour drive at night, Sunday night , ( NO AC ), the best they had was a couple of soaked towels on the floor board that would be dry by the time we hit Vidal, MAYBE a stop at Rice for a frosty, ICE COLD coke outta the coke machine IF they had enough "dimes" for ALL the kids :D, get home LATE Sunday night, park the boat, get up EARLY monday morning , unload ALL THE STUFF, Pop went to work, we went to school, and could NOT wait till the next trip to the river :thumbsup

Today ? it's a whole different boating expierence, I see some of the "kids" rolling into town with $60,$70 $80K "tow rigs", towing a $100, $120, $130 K "boat" check into the hotel/resort etc., get up about 9 or 10, go to the "restaurant" for a "sit down" breakfast, get on the water about noon, the little kids sporting the latest hairstyle, all jelled up, matching trunks T shirts & caps, matching oakley sunglasses, got a Ipad/Iphone whatever, only interested in playing video games , ABSOLUTELY no interest in waterskiing, wakeboarding, barefootin etc., at most they just wanna "tube" then get to the sandbar or the channel an sit the rest of the day while Mom & Dad "socialize" ..............I dunno ? like said, I'm old, I just really don't see a lot of these little kids taking up the boating life when they grow up. I do the river with anywhere from 2 to 16,18 or more little kids in our group, my grandkids, nephew's & neice's and THEIR kids, I ask the little ones, 'so whaddaya think, you gonna have a boat an come to the river when YOU grow up ?..........the answer more often than not is a resounding "HELL YEAH :D"............................just my 2 cents worth.

That pretty much sums it up. :thumbup:
 

wildone

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Not true at all.. We covered and will be uploading SEVERAL 25' and under boats. :)

RD

Does't Nordic's 22 open bow start right around 50k? I know its not cheap over all, but for the package, its a pretty awesome option.
 

ductape1000

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Does't Nordic's 22 open bow start right around 50k? I know its not cheap over all, but for the package, its a pretty awesome option.

I have a 21' Ebbtide. Production boat w/a small block. If I tried to replace it new, my boat on trailer goes for 50k now. I would absolutely be looking at the Nordic at that price.

If someone wants to spend 30k on a boat, Bayliner has some options 20' and under still.

sent from a van at the waters edge.
 

HotRod82

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Great post....Why would you even go to the river if you don't ski? I can get drunk at home! Boating does not have to be expensive....we boat in an old 74 Eliminator daycruiser that we bought for $4500. 13 seasons on the 330HP 454 and it has never missed a beat. Like PT said...we have had more fun than should be legal in that old boat. I've had the go fast tunnel, a v-drive flat, a pontoon, jet ski's, you name it......none of them were any more fun than the old daycruiser.
 

guest hs

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This made me think of my earliest times going boating as a a kid growing up in the 70's. We lived in Temple City so lake Elsinore was the closest lake for us. My dad's first boat was a 72 Kona 17 foot with a 115 h.p. merc. outboard he paid $2800 for it. The boat was green and white and we had the 72 Dodge surf style van that was green to match. My Dad used the hell out of this boat for sking. It was a really nice boat back then. My dad got a wild hair when Bruce Nescher introduced the 23 Sleek Craft Executive jet. He bought one of the first ones from the mold. Yellow and brown,455 olds and jacuzzi. He went and bought another Dodge surf style van this one yellow with mag wheels and the single port hole towards the rear side. We were the shit no doubt about it.We spent every weekend at that lake sleeping in the van and sking behind that boat. Man those were the days! I feel like a sell out now with my 28 Advantage and 33 pace Arrow motorhome. The big power boats are nice but theres nothing like seing a blown flatbottom running down the river. I sure wish we could go back to the simpler days where we all had smaller boats 18-20 foot. Thats not very ideal now with all the oversized boats down at Parker and Havasu tearing the water up. I guess you have to roll with the times.
 

Tamalewagon

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That's me in the front passenger seat with my grandfather in the back, cousins and great uncle. We used to inundate Clear Lake (Willow Point) with 20-25 17-18' v-drives and jet boats on our family trips. Almost everyone in the family had a boat. This is around 1976 :thumbup: 24999_370391102144_5299357_n.jpg
 

CampbellCarl

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Found a couple more..........early morning, just about daybreak..........Lake Powell............
 

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Sleek-Jet

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Thanks for the post Skyskier.

We grew up on Powell. Dad had an 8 foot camper and a 3/4 ton GMC truck that pulled our 18 foot Concord. The camper was to small for all of us so one brother would sleep in the cab (bench seats are awesome) and the other two would sleep in the boat. After a couple years dad bought an old 12 foot camper, but we still slept outside.

At sun-up we'd go ski, come back for a quick breakfast the load the cooler with sandwich stuff and pop and we'd be gone till early evening. Pretty much every weekend for several summers in a row.

In the afternoons we would find a side canyon and beech the boat. Dad would take a nap, mom would read and we would fish and play in the water. No one would be within a half mile of us. It was great.

After that dad came into a little money and bought a motor home. We kept the boat but things were different with the bigger rig. Eventually my brothers and got summer jobs and such and our lake trips got fewer and fewer, but this first five or six years he had that boat were probably the best summers of my life.

Which reminds me, I need to get my boat out of moth-balls before my daughter gets to much older...
 

Skyskier

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Boating is not a cheap or even reasonably priced activity anymore . Factor in all the costs , and most people are
unable or unwilling to spend the dough . look around , even the ski resorts are facing declining sales every year .

Boating was not a cheap or even reasonably priced activity back then. Factor in all the cost's : gasoline 30 + cents a gallon, entry level "inboard boat" $3,000 to maybe $6,000, food cost's for a "group" of 8 to ten people for the whole weekend $25.00 to maybe $40.00 or more, hell, a dam waterski off the rack at Sears like a Velmar was over $20.00, my Pop's was knockin down about $75 a week at his steelyard ...............as my Pop sez, "it's ALL relevant.

In our family Mom always got the first ski ride in the morning then she would start breakfast while the rest of us four ride. I don't think my dad ever got out of the boat again till lunch where he would fall asleep until we woke him to take us on the surfboard or disc which was a hunk of plywood cut in a circle and fiberglassed. Good times!

Have you heard about the latest "craze" on the water ? ......they call it "wake surfing" , ya take a surfboard for riding waves n shit,...........:D:thumbup:

We rolled the same way. The boat was hooked up to the 67 mustang back in 67'. Mom would drive car with boat in tow to dads shop. Pick him up at 4pm. Off we were to pine flats or the river. Dad would put boat in water at night. Fold out the seats, dad on one side, mom on other, I would be sleeping in the front under the deck, sister in between mom and dad on the floor. That boat ran all day trying to get people up skiing and finally people skiing. There was always a line of people waiting for my dad to come back to pick up the next crew. My greatest memories. Finally in 73' my parents bought a bubble top van, of course color to match boat. Every other weekend we were at the lake or river. My parents had a lot of friends that came along and they all started buying boats and campers. At times we had 100-125 people together. Most all immigrated from Germany after the war. So to them this was just great time to get together and party and sing late into the nights. While us kids put all our lounge chairs ( the ones that you had to click to make it flat, but never did, by morning most of us were sleeping on the floor.) we still get good group together but most of the parents are older. I thank my dad every time, I come back from boating / waterskiing, for getting us into this activity. We never called it going boating or to the river, we just called it you want to go waterskiing.

spent many a weekend at Pine Flats, Lake Millerton, and Bass Lake , probably "seen" you guy's there a time or 2

Awesome post! My folks never had the money when I was growing up to do the boat thing so I always hitched a ride with friends whose families were boaters. When I was in high school I would go to Powell with my girlfriend's family and the group that they hung out with. It was the same deal, leave after work Friday, drive 4.5 hours to Powell and sleep in the boats in the parking lot at Wahweap. In the morning we'd pack all our gear into the boats and head 20 miles up lake to make camp. My girl's dad had the "big" boat which was a 22 ft Regal Cuddy. Some other friends had a matching Regal, but the other boats consisted in an 18' Biesmeyer jet, and a Carrera 20.5 Elite (yes we went 20 miles up lake with 2 small jets and no one died).
Those trips solidified my love for the water and boats. I fell in love with that Carrera... someday I will own one of those things just because of the nostalgia. I saved for a couple years in my twenties to buy the Pink Taco and never regretted it for a second. I've had more fun in that little boat than should be legal and it only cost me 8900 bucks. :thumbsup
I think the big bad ass rides are amazing machines and I would LOVE to take a ride in one but I don't know that I'd ever be able to own one. If I do cool... But if I don't you can guarantee I'll find some way to be on the water :D

I took a golf buddy of mine's "kid" too Havasu 30 some years ago, 1st time he'd ever seen ANYTHING like that lifestyle, he was 12 or 13 at the time :D apparently he liked it !! A LOT :cool...........about a month after I bought our 1st place up on beanpot hill, him and his wife bought one down the street from us :D He WAS going to Havasu so I was surprised he choose Parker to build HIS riverpad , he's got a bitchen Shockwave deckboat an 3 kids of his own.

...We would head to the River or Pine Flat almost every weekend during the summer... ...Utter simplicity,...a cot,..a sleeping bag,...throw a change of cloths in a brown paper grocery bag... ...Pretty much the same routine for ten or fifteen years... ...Took a 16 ft Guasti 50 miles in at Powell... ...I would still be good with a pickup,...a camper shell and a flatbottom,..but have escalated to a Dodge Ram Diesel and an 11ft Lance...

you MUST have hit Millerton & Bass Lakes also ?

Thanks, Skyskier, for that post. I woke my wife up to read it to her. It so reminds me of the days back in the 70's at Red Rooster in Blythe, then building the place at Big River and all the shenanigans that went with it. Stan Rife was our friend that started it all at red Rooster back then, he'd always welcome us with open arms, at all hours of those Friday nights, to his cool old single wide at the Rooster. It was amazing how many people we'd stuff in there since it was nice and cool with the swamp cooler chillin it down. I miss those days, the boats and the attitude of river people back then.

You guy's had a SWAMP COOLER ??,.................one word, BALLER's :D.................J/K ....I also miss those days, the boats and the attitude of river people back then, those are thing's money can't buy, IMHO.

Cool Story Skiskier.
From what I remember, back in the late 60s early 70s, 5 grand was like 20 grand. Gas was 25 cents for Ethyl. 20 cents for regular. Gas stations were allot closer together. All my male family members were in Vietnam or on their way to Vietnam. Even 2800 was a stretch.

Can you even buy the material for a boat today for less than 10 grand? Talking to a few who do still build the smaller boats, like Ron Baker here in Phoenix. The cost to build a few colors hull is around 10 grand. That's just the hull. Rons doing it like back in the day when you called up and said, I want to build a boat. Then you pretty much rigged it yourself with the help of Coors and a few good buddies.

This is Ron Baker of Topless Racing. Not the Ron that had issues building the Ultra Cheyanne. Baker has that mold too.

You wont see these boats at any boat show. But they are out there. To some these are ski boats :D

I imagine the Yamaha's are the new to boaters boat.
There are other out there who are building boats. The legend, Greg Shoemaker & Mike D. Maybe not the Ski boats the OP was speaking of but at one time they were.

I was talking to my Pop's today, said he's got a "flyer" on his "Bunky" Boat, ( Ralph Muirhead, unlimited marine ), I'll post it up when he gets back to the ranch from Parker.

Great post....Why would you even go to the river if you don't ski? I can get drunk at home! Boating does not have to be expensive....we boat in an old 74 Eliminator daycruiser that we bought for $4500. 13 seasons on the 330HP 454 and it has never missed a beat. Like PT said...we have had more fun than should be legal in that old boat. I've had the go fast tunnel, a v-drive flat, a pontoon, jet ski's, you name it......none of them were any more fun than the old daycruiser.

To this day, I STILL miss my Spectra '20, olds/jacuuzi jet , had that boat for 20 + years.

Thanks for the post Skyskier.

We grew up on Powell. Dad had an 8 foot camper and a 3/4 ton GMC truck that pulled our 18 foot Concord. The camper was to small for all of us so one brother would sleep in the cab (bench seats are awesome) and the other two would sleep in the boat. After a couple years dad bought an old 12 foot camper, but we still slept outside.

At sun-up we'd go ski, come back for a quick breakfast the load the cooler with sandwich stuff and pop and we'd be gone till early evening. Pretty much every weekend for several summers in a row.

In the afternoons we would find a side canyon and beech the boat. Dad would take a nap, mom would read and we would fish and play in the water. No one would be within a half mile of us. It was great.

After that dad came into a little money and bought a motor home. We kept the boat but things were different with the bigger rig. Eventually my brothers and got summer jobs and such and our lake trips got fewer and fewer, but this first five or six years he had that boat were probably the best summers of my life.

Which reminds me, I need to get my boat out of moth-balls before my daughter gets to much older...

I REALLY don't even have to ask, I already know the answer BUT, did your Dad EVER think about pullin into an occupied beach an ask, "hey, can ya move yer boat so we can beach here with ya ? :rolleyes................my pet peeve about boating today.

chuck stearns rig.jpg

This pic is at Bluewater, where the casino is today, that's Chuck Stearns's Dad,Bill, and their 18 ft. Aqua Craft, pretty sure Skip Volk gave it too Bill for racing/promo. If I have to tell you who Chuck Stearns an his family are to waterskiing, ..............keep on "tubing" :D................I looked and could NOT find a better photo of what it meant to "go to the river" for a weekend WAS all about. My hat is off to ALL you guy's AND our Dad's for "TEACHING" us what family boating IS :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:..............If any of ya see me & mine on the lake, pull on in,..........I'll move my boat for ya :D
 

Sleek-Jet

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I REALLY don't even have to ask, I already know the answer BUT, did your Dad EVER think about pullin into an occupied beach an ask, "hey, can ya move yer boat so we can beach here with ya ? ................my pet peeve about boating today.

Well, there was a lot more water in Powell back then, but on that end of the lake if you saw someone in a canyon beached, you just kept on going. I can't remember being on the shore with another boat outside our group till I started going to the lake as an adult.
 
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LuauLounge

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If this is a repost, so be it, it's a story that need to be repeated often.

[video=youtube;IeE92WVe_so]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeE92WVe_so[/video]
 

Hammer

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On Parker, Havasu, or the Kings River, this or an 18' jet with exposed motor were the shit. With a 3 blade prop, you could ski Havasu from 6AM til about noon, non stop. (less than 20 gallons) Go back to camp at Red Rock, clean up, lunch, rest 'till 3.30PM. Throw on the "2 blade" and head out to do a little 'river racing', in front of Fox's from 4PM til dark. (or you ran out of fuel) No stereos, no bimini tops, hell no floors either. Just lots of fun, sun and single girls.

That's how I grew up, the big boats and wakeboard boats with ballasts keep me from buying a 18' Flatty, I wanna be able to run it all day no matter the weekend. That's the only thing in my financial picture. No way I'm financing a boat again.
 

hallett21

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That's how I grew up, the big boats and wakeboard boats with ballasts keep me from buying a 18' Flatty, I wanna be able to run it all day no matter the weekend. That's the only thing in my financial picture. No way I'm financing a boat again.

Hey there radar lol
 

Sharp Shooter

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As an "old man" that's been going to Parker for 50 + years, here's how I see it,..............I've watched the "evolution " of the boating life, gone are the day's when Dad loaded all the kids (an at LEAST one friend of each "kid") into the back of the pickup truck, with the "homemade" plywood camper shell, set out on the 5 1/2 to 6 hour drive across the desert, AT NIGHT, cuz most likely NO AC :D......... get to "the river/lake about midnight or later, roll everybody outta the camper, unload ALL OF THE STUFF, set up the tent's/canopies etc. an go to sleep on the beach. Wake up at dawn's early light, take a dip to rinse the sand outta your asscrack :D, set up the coleman so Mom can start makin some bacon & eggs ( back then, only the "ballers" traveled with a "coleman", we cooked over a firepit :cool. After breakfast , unhook the boat trailer and EVERYBODY push the boat & trailer into the water then pull the trailer out and go "WATERSKIING", 1st learning on 2 ski's, then go to one ski, some of us with more "adventerous" Dad's let them talk us into barefooting :D:thumbsup, cuz they saw it done on "You Asked For It" :D there were NO tubey pully things, say for an old inner tube, the ones with those big ass STEEL valves ( I STILL have a couple scars from one of those things :skull. Some of our Dad's bought "kits from Glenn L and actually "built" the boats, same with the "ski's" :cool, my Pop's bought a "glasspar" with a 35 HP Evinrude, some considered HIM a baller :D...... His 1st "inboard" was 16 ft. rayson Craft, bought a bare hull from Rudy AFTER he got the measurements and built his own trailer, single axle, then him an his pals rigged the boat even though NONE of them were "boat builder's". After 2 full day's of WATERSKIING, camping under the stars, sunburnt to a crisp, reload ALL OF THE STUFF, set out for home, another 5 1/2 6 hour drive at night, Sunday night , ( NO AC ), the best they had was a couple of soaked towels on the floor board that would be dry by the time we hit Vidal, MAYBE a stop at Rice for a frosty, ICE COLD coke outta the coke machine IF they had enough "dimes" for ALL the kids :D, get home LATE Sunday night, park the boat, get up EARLY monday morning , unload ALL THE STUFF, Pop went to work, we went to school, and could NOT wait till the next trip to the river :thumbsup

Today ? it's a whole different boating expierence, I see some of the "kids" rolling into town with $60,$70 $80K "tow rigs", towing a $100, $120, $130 K "boat" check into the hotel/resort etc., get up about 9 or 10, go to the "restaurant" for a "sit down" breakfast, get on the water about noon, the little kids sporting the latest hairstyle, all jelled up, matching trunks T shirts & caps, matching oakley sunglasses, got a Ipad/Iphone whatever, only interested in playing video games , ABSOLUTELY no interest in waterskiing, wakeboarding, barefootin etc., at most they just wanna "tube" then get to the sandbar or the channel an sit the rest of the day while Mom & Dad "socialize" ..............I dunno ? like said, I'm old, I just really don't see a lot of these little kids taking up the boating life when they grow up. I do the river with anywhere from 2 to 16,18 or more little kids in our group, my grandkids, nephew's & neice's and THEIR kids, I ask the little ones, 'so whaddaya think, you gonna have a boat an come to the river when YOU grow up ?..........the answer more often than not is a resounding "HELL YEAH :D"............................just my 2 cents worth.


:thumbup:
 

ductape1000

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So a quick tid bit on my story... I was born in Nov 70. My first Havasu trip was spring of 71! Uncle Johnny took us. My Dad is the youngest of 4 and his oldest sister married Johnny. We camped on the shore like Skyskier described. I have been hooked ever since. I took some time off when I couldnt afford to be involved, but I got back to making it happen! Now, I will stay where I have to to make it all work.

We had a memorial for Uncle Johnny yesterday afternoon and it was way really cool!! Lots of river stories to be told!!

My Dad told me that the family has pulled together some early river pics that he will get me and when they come in I will share them.

We will do a celebration for Uncle Johnny and Aunt Margie this spring in Havasu.

The River has been a major part of my life, and Im glad to be doing it again with good friends Old School Style!! :thumbup::thumbup:

:beer::beer:

sent from a van at the waters edge.
 

Hammer

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So a quick tid bit on my story... I was born in Nov 70. My first Havasu trip was spring of 71! Uncle Johnny took us. My Dad is the youngest of 4 and his oldest sister married Johnny. We camped on the shore like Skyskier described. I have been hooked ever since. I took some time off when I couldnt afford to be involved, but I got back to making it happen! Now, I will stay where I have to to make it all work.

We had a memorial for Uncle Johnny yesterday afternoon and it was way really cool!! Lots of river stories to be told!!

My Dad told me that the family has pulled together some early river pics that he will get me and when they come in I will share them.

We will do a celebration for Uncle Johnny and Aunt Margie this spring in Havasu.

The River has been a major part of my life, and Im glad to be doing it again with good friends Old School Style!! :thumbup::thumbup:

:beer::beer:

sent from a van at the waters edge.

Sorry for your loss Tony. My parents have a shit ton of old pics . Need to get them on a DVD to share
 

Rexone

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View attachment 250464

This pic is at Bluewater, where the casino is today, that's Chuck Stearns's Dad,Bill, and their 18 ft. Aqua Craft, pretty sure Skip Volk gave it too Bill for racing/promo. If I have to tell you who Chuck Stearns an his family are to waterskiing, ..............keep on "tubing" :D................I looked and could NOT find a better photo of what it meant to "go to the river" for a weekend WAS all about. My hat is off to ALL you guy's AND our Dad's for "TEACHING" us what family boating IS :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:..............If any of ya see me & mine on the lake, pull on in,..........I'll move my boat for ya :D

Not far off from the condition of our old jet boat when we'd head to Park Moabi for a long weekend or week. Wish I had some pics but don't think I do. The old jet was kind of a beater but ran well and skied the holy shit out of that thing for many years. 460 ford with a jacuzzi w, just ran and ran and ran.
 

Twisted Liquid Marine

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All these old pictures are awesome. Takes me right back to when my kids were young and we still camped on the beach and burned to a crisp. We had a 16' Avenger with an 85hp Merc. We'd load it down like the Beverley Hillbillies and run up river from Cottonwood. Always camped around Owl's Point on Mohave for many, many years. The kids grow up and move on, but they always come back to the river.

My favorite picture, late 1990's:

image.jpg
 

2FORCEFULL

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I watched the boat show post If your not a baller why would you go There is nothing there for you If you don't have a 100 grand to spend why go. What happened to the 18' ski boat Just a average go getter. White hull and a single color cap a stanard 454 chevy 405 horse a 60 mile per hour fun boat you can take your kids out in We see it all the time a guy picks up a 1970's jet spends 10'000 to make it right He has spent 13000,00 but he can't buy a new one for that kind of money. Why don't we have any boats like that. For 15,000 you can buy a nice boat and have somthing new We have got to the point where a average JOE can't buy a boat Its pretty sad but its the reason that the LA BOAT show doesn't have boat buyers I can remember selling 50 or 60 boats at a show The show gets smaller every year I don't know if they are making more money or not but we use to fill the bottom hall with ski boats we don't do this anymore. So whats wrong

actually its supply and demand...it cost close to the same to build a 19' ft'r as a 22'..and a little more for 23/24,,

you can buy a little v8 powered used ski boat with low hours for way south of 10k ,cost 20k k plus new..
 

2FORCEFULL

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I bought this boat new for 12k...stepped way up thinking I would own it forever..as the family grew, and I could no longer ski..(operation)
the little ski boat wasn't so much pleasure as a run about... so I stepped up to the 22' baja deep v...

boat just keep getting bigger around my house.... got the 270 now... and would like to down size to the 240 hallett... and maybe even the 210

but, mead gets nasty quick

 

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