www.iFourWinns.com

Some of you might recognize me from my previous swim platform posts but I wanted to tell this story for the others out here who might be looking at four winns to save them some of the time and decision making I went through.

I was last summer that I first commented to my wife we need to look at a boat. We have been married 5 years and have a son that is just now 2 1/2 years old. We own two businesses and NEVER seem to take a break. At funerals for my grandfather and grandmother I recalled that 70% of the stories told about them had to do with the lake and my grandfather teaching the entire county how to ski. This was a memory I didn't get as our family struggled when I was young and a boat was never in the cards.

My roommate in college had a boat so I was quite familar of the great times we had during those years. (See TX's pictures of naked coeds) But as I get older in life I was looking for those special bonding moments with my family so decided a boat was in the cards.

You must know that I am a horribly religious shopper when it comes to big items. Dozens of hours researching the internet then driving up to 180 miles from home to see every brand, variety, and option of boat available.

I did know one thing, and that was I wanted nothing more than a nice entry level boat. Knowing I could always go bigger I decided to look at the $20,000 price range and determine if we were a "boating" family. Obviously if the wife and kid hated the lake I could sell the boat and be done. (not to skip ahead but three weeks after buying my wife looked at me and said "I think this is the best thing we've ever bought" and for those of you thinking about boating my wife complains about EVERYTHING we ever buy so thats a big statement.

After looking at all varieties, prices, models, options, and brands it came down to three possible choices. All three were in the same general price range purchase prices ranging from 16 - 19 grand.

Bayliner
Tahoe
and
Four Winns

The tahoe boat peaked my immediate curiousity. It seemed to have many options and seim platform at a price of a little over $19,000. The interior was better than Bayliner and immediately my decision was to look between Tahoe and Bayliner and see if the options Tahoe had would warrant the extra $3,000.

My immediate inspection of Bayliner determined that they sold a quality boat at a great price. I was sure it would handle my needs of a family boat and I would love the price. On the other hand I've learned great lessons in my life about buying. I never buy the best and never buy the worst. And my personal feeling was even for a starter boat I just didn't feel like I was getting anything better than a basic or stripped down version.

Then I met Max. (note I had driven from big city to big city in search of great deals. Then looked at home last. Max at the Boat House in Topeka sold both Four Winns and Tahoes so I was in the right place. Now for any of you who know Max it doesn't take long for you to realize he LOVES Four Winns and thinks Tahoe should be sold about $4,000 less than Four Winns but thats a different story.

Max was the salesman's salesman. He walked me around both boats and started showing me differences. I started to get extremely worried about this situation because I was in love with the Four Winns. The design, seating, attention to detail was plain unmatched. I was starting to gear myself to explain to him that I didn't have $25,000 to spend when Max informed me that they had two 180's left (red and blue) and he could sell them for $17,000.

We tool delivery in two days and couldn't be happier. For anybody looking at their first boat and for something in a starting price range you can NOT do better than these boats. The little four cyl. in this thing still gets me to 40mph and pulled a 240 pound guy on a slalom out like nothing.

We are extrememly happy.

_________________
2008 Four Winns 224 Funship 5.0 GXI/DP Black w/ Tower
2007 GMC Crew Cab Short Bed / Bose Ed.
2007 Fourwinns H180 (SOLD)

"There are no stupid questions, only stupid people"

That's a great story! Max is a heckuva good guy. Even though all my dealings were with Matt, Max always remembers my name (even though I only see him briefly twice a year) and he always sees to it that my boat is well cared for while it's there.

_________________


Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Thanks for sharing that Marc. In three weeks time I will be signing up for exactly what you have bought. I have been researching for the last six months myself and keep coming back to the H180 as the best all round for my needs. Enjoy your new boat and all the fun times that go with.
Ardy
South Australia

_________________
Ardy
Adelaide South Australia
Red H180 3.0 Merc

Oh yeah dont tell us what color it is just post some photos we are all getting impatient here
hehe
Ardy

_________________
Ardy
Adelaide South Australia
Red H180 3.0 Merc

Really nice post & piece of history there Tackle; brands aside (FW is still the best though ).
My father was a commercial diver but wasn't much of a boater as he never really spent much time at home during the early years of his kids. However, I still remember as a child when we would go offshore in the zodiac and "explore undiscovered islands". They seemed so far away when I was young.
Like you I had the epihony earlier. I got out of the offshore before my son turned 1. I settled for a much smaller home situated on a little piece of waterfront and started my boy in swimming lessons soon after he learned to walk. He's 8 now and his swimming is wiked-awesome. Our hobby - no lifestyle just took a big jump from our sea-doo plaything to our new FW which will much better accomodate our exploring undiscovered islands.
My wife far more enjoys the scocial aspects of living by the water and boating but fully supports without question just about any crazy notion I can dream up (the "safety pole" from TX's gang was quickly shot down though )
So, anyway because I have been fortunate enough in life to get where I am now (and I'm not anywhere near finacially rich) was why I picked the handle "Blessed".
Congrats on your new lifestyle (moreso than the obvious great taste in boats). Good on ya. A novel of memories your young fella will have that begin with - me an my Dad . . ."

This vid was the first thing that came to mind when I read your post . . .

http://www.discoverboating.com/viral/goodrun.aspx

P.S. Don't think for a minute you've distracted us that we haven't noticed there are no pics . . .

_________________
2008 Four Winns 210 5.7 GI/SX
2007 GMC Sierra 2500 Crew
1966 Fed-Up Wife

Ok, ok, I get it pictures. The boat is in storage for the moment waiting on the ESP to be installed. Just the second it is I'll get a new pic w/ the boy. Afterall he won't come out from behind the helm for anything. Everyday we drive by the lake and it's either....daddy golf....or daddy boat.....the weather finally turned here and the water whould just now be getting warm enough to jump in. Can't wait and pictures will follow.

_________________
2008 Four Winns 224 Funship 5.0 GXI/DP Black w/ Tower
2007 GMC Crew Cab Short Bed / Bose Ed.
2007 Fourwinns H180 (SOLD)

"There are no stupid questions, only stupid people"