www.iFourWinns.com

Hi everyone! I've been a lurker here for quite a while now but wasn't a boat owner until this morning. Well, still not a boat owner but we did put a deposit on a 2008 H200 and should have the transaction finished on Monday after our credit union opens. I can't honestly remember what color it was (blue I think with the classic color band - I'll post pics once we pick it up on Thursday) but I know it has the 5.0Gxi VP and the SunSport seating. I was originally looking for a cuddy but have come to the conclusion that I can buy brand new for a few bucks more than what people were asking for 5 year old boats and that we'll get more use out of the open bow. Once the kids grow up and move away (our youngest is 12 and our oldest is 17 so about 6 years or so) I'm hoping my wife will want to move up to a Vista. We'll be boating mainly on Silver Lake in Traverse City, MI.

Gotta go looking for a tube, tow rope, a couple anchors, and a tiny bikini for my wife now.

Tom

A 20' bowrider is a great first boat and a cuddy in that size boat would be too small to be useful anyway....the open bow makes it easy to trailer and dock...but keep in mind they are not big water boats....anything more than 2 ft waves and you're going home...we like our old one and it's still chugging along at 21 years old....enjoy it!!

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Congrats! I'm also in TC. Hopefully, Action didn't take you too bad. I haven't been to thrilled with them of course I'm not in the market for a new boat, just parts sometimes. I wish Hall's was still around. We boat mostly over on Elk Lake, Skegamog, and Torch. It's not too bad to trailer ther and the launch is decent. Silver lake is nice, but a tad small IMHO, albeit warmer. Long lake is nice too, but watch out for the shallow areas around the islands plus the launches aren't great. Lake Leelanau is a nice place to boat too. We go there sometimes. Haven't yet made it out to crystal lake or PLatte lake. We're planning to cruise the inland waterway from crooked lake/river up to cheboygan here coming up after the 4th. Should be a nice cruise. Maybe we'll run into you some time. Oh yeah, check out gander mtn for tow ropes. They seem to be a decent price. Meijer's has some airhead tubes. You're probably going to have to hit up West Marine for anchors or maybe one of the boat shops. You could keep an eye on craigslist. Sometimes there's some deals there, maybe posted in wanted. Post some pics when you get your new boat!

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'99 Horizon 200

Thanks for the welcome! As far as Action goes, I think we got a pretty good deal. I was in Grand Rapids doing some work for another boat dealer (one with a location here in TC) and while I was waiting for spyware to clean off a computer I took a good look at a Regal 1900. When I was finished with the job I picked my wife up from her sister's house and took her back so she could look at the Regal. After that we stopped at Hall's and looked at what they had on the floor. They had a bunch of H200s with the 4.3GXi for what I thought was a decent price (high-mid $20s). We went to Action this morning and picked up the same boat with the classic color band and graphics on the side for about $600 more than the boat at Hall's would've cost us. We gave up the full tank of gas and a 20 hour checkup to get it there but I figure we saved a little over $2k. Now I can't wait for Thursday! I'll use the next couple days to pick up all of the assorted things we'll need. The best part is that we're taking Friday off! I'll have to get the boat over to Elk and Torch after we get used to it. Both of my boys are at camp the week of the 12th so I'm hoping to get up to the inland waterway for a day. I'd love to hit Mackinac Island but that would require the right weather.

Tom

Sounds like you got a good deal at Action. We have some friends that picked up a H190 there about a month ago, so they must be dealing pretty good on new boats. Shoot me a pm if you need any help or have questions...I'll be glad to help out. I'm not the most experienced boater, but I can definately help you get comfortable with the boat if its your first one as well as make some recommendations to make things less stressful. The first year we had a boat, it was very stressful everytime we were at the launch. Now that I have a few years under my belt and done some more reading, it's much more enjoyable. The key is patience, take your time, and ask fellow boaters questions or for help.

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'99 Horizon 200

Congrats on the new boat and welcome to the forum and don't forget the picx

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Ardy
Adelaide South Australia
Red H180 3.0 Merc

Woohoo! Got our insurance quote and am heading to the bank to finalize their end of things! Waiting until Thursday to take delivery is going to be difficult!

Tom

I assume your boat is at their lot...I might just have to swing out and take a glance

I was thinking this weekend about being a new boat owner...make sure that they give you a sea trial to show you the new boat. Plus they should be able to take you right up to the silver lake launch which is where you will boat primarily anyhow. I would try to get them to throw in some things like coast guard package, anchor, etc as well. Might was well get as much out of them as possible....all those little things add up quick.

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'99 Horizon 200

Remember....pics, or it never happened!

Welcome aboard and I am SURE you will love your new toy.

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Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4

So while you're waiting tell us about the options, cover(s), trailer, etc. Seems like years ago that I was waiting on my 2007 - now the only wait is for the annual spring thaw. The 5.0 GXi is a Volvo, did the dealer throw in the Volvo 5 year extended warranty? Don't forget to ask for extras like anchors, fenders, throwables, horseshoe pfds - anything that will get you out on the water that much quicker. Does your dealer do an in water delivery/ check ride? - worth the time and effort if they do. In any case great buy, hope you enjoy yours as much as I am my '07.

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2007 Horizon 200
4.3L GXi/ SX 225 HP

It's Thursday! It might be cold and rainy here, but you owe us some pics.

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'99 Horizon 200

Ok, I've got info and pics! We went out on Silver Lake yesterday with the delivery specialist from Action Water Sports and he went through everything with us. I got to drive for a while and so did my wife. We hit 52mph or so at one point according to the speedo. Thankfully there were only two other people on the lake and they weren't anywhere near us when we were testing out the acceleration.

The boat came with the 5.0GXi engine with a single three blade prop, a bimini and trailer cover. I read about the ipod interface for the Sony stereo so I found one on ebay for $19.95 and it arrived today. I installed it this morning and must say that it is awesome except for the fact that it won't charge my iphone. Stupid interface!

I can't wait for tomorrow so I can get back out on the water! I wanted to go earlier but we realized we're missing a type IV throwable and now we've got to run around doing crap all night. On that note, the band I'm in is playing a party on the shores of Silver Lake tonight so at least I'll be near the water!

I can't get inline images to work with Picasa so here is a link to the gallery of the boat and my tow vehicle - a 2006 Nissan Armada LE.

http://picasaweb.google.com/hbsmurf/2008FourWinnsH200?feat=directlink

Tom

Welcome! And nice looking boat! You'll enjoy it! Be safe out there.

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Troy
2008 Centurion Avalanche
1994 Four Winns Horizon 180 SE 5.0L OMC Cobra (Sold)
2002 Ford F150 Harley Davidson Edition (http://www.nhtoc.com) 378 hp & 465 tq at rear wheels
2008 Honda Accord EX-L w/Nav

So how's the new boat treating you Tom? It hasn't been the best of weather around here lately. We did a run from Alanson up crooked river to burt lake to indian river and up to mullet lake on the 4th weekend. That was a good trip, but burt lake gets dang rough and indian river looked like stop and go traffic on any city freeway. Still a fun trip though. Last weekend we tried our hand at long lake again. Once again, found out that I don't care to go there. Neither launch is great and of course we had that great wind from the north. Only stayed out a bit over an hour and packed it in. I think we're going to keep to elk/torch lakes for our primary boating.

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'99 Horizon 200

The weather has sucked but the times we've been out have been awesome! Well, except for the other night on Silver Lake when the wind was so bad waves were splashing over the front of the boat. That was a short outing. I had Tuesday off so we took the boat out to Power Island and the water was gorgeous! Almost like glass on West Bay! Spent a couple hours relaxing out there and came back in to grab some lunch. Tied up in Clinch and when we returned the wind had swung around the waves were getting big. Putted around for a bit and then took her home. I'm hoping to get out tonight after work but we'll most likely be on Silver Lake again. We were talking about hitting Long Lake since it's right around the corner but the only launch I've seen sucks. If the weater is nice this weekend we'll head out to Torch. My wife and I were going to do the inland waterway on Monday but the weather sucked. Hopefully we can get up there in the next week or two. We've got 10.2 or so hours on the motor and we've had the boat about three weeks I think? I love it! The best part is that my wife loves it too!

Tom