www.iFourWinns.com

Anyone going?

I will be passing this year. I saw the layout and it looks to be about a quater of what it was 5 years ago. Since the local dealer only rented 2 spaces the same size as the guy selling beef jerky the only likely FW boats there will be in the used boat area, which looks bigger than any dealer space.. But they do have a gator wrestler along with a couple of guys from the show "Swamp People", but that is not enough to entice me out of $12/person and $8/parking.

The show is down to only 5 days when normally it ran 10 days. A group tried to start another show the same weekend in Sandusky but that has failed and that show has been postponed until March 2014.

Following along with present day government and social policies you must find someone to take the blame and force them off the island. Then again if Liz and Kristi wrestled gators in thong bikinis to the death I might take the bait and go.

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1985 Liberator 211

Since the Boat and RV show here in Columbus only consists of fishing and pontoon boats, my wife and I are going to make a trip up there. When I was a kid, the shows here in town used to be all boats. Now they are pretty much just RV and campers.

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2006 Vista 278
First Boat:
2005 Sundowner 205
Columbus, OH

There is also a Outdoor Adventure show going on the same weekend. You can buy a discounted combo ticket at the box office.

It used to be that the boat show took up almost the whole main floor of the IX Center, which was built as a bomber plant and later used to manufacture tanks. This year there are 3 shows running at the same time(home remodel show, outdoor show, boat show).

I took the family up to Cleveland on Saturday for the show. It wasn't bad. I was a little dissapointed that they didnt have any representation from Chapparal or Four Winns at the show! There were a couple of used Vistas there that we looked at. After looking at all the different manufacturers they had for pocket cruisers, we have decided that we still have the Vista at the top of our list. The layout and cabin size just seemed better than any of the others. I found the head room in the cabin was taller in the Vista than any of the others of the same size and class. It was also the only one that had an Aft that didnt feel like a coffin. We didnt get to see the 248 but did look at the 268 and a larger one (298 I think??).

Anyway, there was good representation from Sea Ray and Monterey. I was impressed by Monterey, but the aft cabin is VERY small. Other than that, we liked it and will consider it. Rinker was also one that kinda makes the list. I dont know too much about them, but might need to learn more.....

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2006 Vista 278
First Boat:
2005 Sundowner 205
Columbus, OH

Regal's mid cabin on their 2665 is by far the largest of any express in this size. It's a full queen size with plenty of headroom.

Nice one in Cleavland too. http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2006- ... -101918300

Rinker boats are a good bang for your buck. Their quality is much better than it was in the early 2000's. Worth a look IMO.

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

The impression I came away with from Rinker is they often lay out some clever options in nice ways. But when I started looking beyond that cleverness I found the construction, materials and design to be a little problematic. Cheaper cabinets and hardware, along with questions of how well they were put together and anchored bothered me a bit, at least when compared to other brands at a similar price point. Start digging and comparing entry level boats (pick your brand) against higher-end ones and you really start to notice things.

If you don't intend to own the boat for a long time and are prepared for the depreciation hit then I don't suppose it matters as much. Like cars, buy one and trade it in quickly, keeping the same payment figure. Some folks want to do that, and that's fine. But I'm not opening the conversation to car comparisons, as most just don't actually apply well to boats.

I'll say one thing about the Sea Rays, they really come across as well designed and constructed all the way through. FW came close enough for me, at a fair bit less; with better layouts for our needs. Same thing with Formula; their layout wasn't what we wanted in the 30-34' range. Going up to a 38' wasn't in the budget.

If you want to keep the boat for a while and want it to really hold up then you start to pay closer attention to stuff. Like how it's all put together and how it would be maintained. Better built tends to stay that way. Better designed can help make it easier to maintain in the long run.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

For the money its hard to not consider Bayliner too.....made by Brunswick...side by side with Sea Rays....with some bling options you may be impressed.

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http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/o71 ... wqm355.jpg


08' H210SS
VP 5.7Gi

One thing to consider about B-liner cruisers, they are no longer made or sold in the US. Production and sales have moved to Brazil. So it would have to be a used model, or possibly a leftover as they have not been made along side Sea Ray for months, and will never be again.

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

I dont really care for the styling on the Bayliners. My dad told me when I was younger, that they called them Bottomliners because you could get a lot of boat really cheap. He also told me that the quality of construction was very cheap and not on par with other manufacturers.

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2006 Vista 278
First Boat:
2005 Sundowner 205
Columbus, OH

Actually.....my experience with Bayliner was very good..I felt the boat was well made and fit and finish on my boat was in line with my FW. It was a lighter boat with shallower freeboard. The layout was about same....mine was a 1996 2050 SS bowrider with 5.7 and would RUN.

I've never had a cruiser though. I didn't know Brunswick moved production to Brazil....is that for Sea Ray too. I hate to dissapoint any Sea Ray enthusiast but their br models I've been in are pretty much bayliners with stainless cupholders and a few other sparkling extras.

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http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/o71 ... wqm355.jpg


08' H210SS
VP 5.7Gi

I just read up...seems they're adding jet engine line in the bowrider models......disregard the bayliner cruisers unless your first voyage will be from Brazil:)

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http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/o71 ... wqm355.jpg


08' H210SS
VP 5.7Gi