www.iFourWinns.com

Hi all!

A long time reader but virgin writer so here it goes. Lovin' my 268 Vista so much want another.....bigger Vista. Focusing on the 298, 318, and 328. Finding impressive pricing on all in Florida and wondering why that so. Is it because the salt tears them up so much they lose life and value quicker or might it be so many boats there, the laws of supply and demand are in play. Maybe both? Something else? Thanks!

Do your due diligence. Salt will eat up a boat in no time, so I'd steer clear of older boats. I ended up with an '08 318 that was rack stored.

There is a lot of boats down there which helps on the pricing aspect, but mainly due to the salt and sun eating them up

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2007 358 T-5.7GXi IB
Previous Boats
'08 H240, '08 V318, '04 268, '04 225

I live in Florida. Boats are really cheap here because we can boat 365 days a year. They're not a luxury like they are up north where you can only boat a few months and pay thousands to winterize and store. Everyone has a boat and most of those people own at least 2 of them. One for salt one for fresh. We have 30,000 freshwater lakes and a river system that goes up most of the state. 99% of boating here is fresh water unless you own a center console and go fishing. The Atlantic is a very rough ocean, only people that want to be on the news go salt with a pleasure boat.

That being said there are a few metro areas that have protected salt waters where it's trendy to go up and down the intercoastal trolling for women. So chances are if the boat you're looking at is from South Florida (Miami, Ft Lauderdale, etc) it's a pure salt boat. If it's from Jacksonville it's brackish (where the river meets the ocean), and Tampa (salt protected bay).

If you can find a cruiser in the Orlando, Sanford, Ocala, Gainesville, Palatka, etc area it's almost guaranteed it's been 100% fresh it's whole life. Any city that's along the St. John's River really.

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1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

So some of the only 1% of boating done in salt in Florida must include this small gathering in Destin ?


And these few boats we saw in Ft Myers beach last spring.


I think it's who you hang with, rather than pure knowledge of the saltwater boaters in Florida. I have a half dozen friends and relatives on both coasts of Florida, they all boat and 95% of their boating is in salt water. 1/2 of them own 22 to 26 foot bowriders, the other half own express cruisers. None of them are fishermen.

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

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

+1 Capn

We have only done Salt since we got here. Don't want to fight the Gators in the fresh.....lol

That is just with the wife's pontoon though. The 38 Special has not seen any action down here yet. Would like to keep it fresh, but they think deep water is 4 foot down here. Draggin and Scaggin

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1992 Baja 38 Special Twin 502 Mags

03 Stingray 3.0
88 261 Liberator 460 King Cobras
95 Bayliner 1850 3.0
77 Fiber Form 20ft 350/385hp
70 Wescraft 1800 SS 455 Jet

Lead, Follow, or get the Hell out of the Way!

Don't forget about the Nile Crocodile that is making an appearance in Florida lately. They did a news report on wsvn today and it was downright scary!