www.iFourWinns.com

I have recently purchased a Horizon 200 this year and just love the boat. My wife and I have decided to move up to a larger vessel and are looking at the 258 and the 278 cruisers.

We live in Southern British Columbia just outside of Vancouver, BC and boat on Harrison Lake which is just about 50 miles long. There's lots of bays and fantastic scenery, and at the end of the day, we just hate leaving the water, hence the move to a larger boat. Being new to boating and being completely satisfied with our Four Winns we are looking to staying with the product.

We are looking at a number of options for the boat, one of which is to have the gen set etc. as we wil be looking to stay aboard for 4- 7 nights and a annual trip to the Pacific to cruise the gulf islands. Suggestions on water systems etc or any other advise etc from experienced four winns vista owners would be appreciated.

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Randy B

Randy,

I too am looking to upgrade to a Vista. I currently own a 225 Sundowner that I purchased last March. My wife and myself have done some overnighters but would like to have a little more room. We do the majority of our boating up Indian Arm and on the Sunshine Coast (Gibsons to Pender Harbour).

I will keep an eye on this post as any info will be of use to me aswell. I figure I will have to upgrade my truck to a 3/4 ton first as I want the option of towing.

You should check the link below, alot of Vistas for sale in the states for what seems to be pretty good pricing. I bought my Sundowner just east of Vancouver, Wash. and brought it across the line. Easy to do, if you want info on how, let me know.

http://www.boattraderonline.com

Rod

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2010 278 Vista
5.7 GXi DP

Past:
1999 225 Sundowner
5.7 GSi SX

Thanks Rod.

I will check out the website. We have been surfing the web and noted that there is a lot of selection in the states. We will have a good look to see what is available.

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Randy B

We have a 1995 258. Love it but,

if we had to do it again we would have gone with the 278 for two reasons.

twin engines and more room.

I have an OMC outdrive as well and have read many articles about avoiding them from the early 90's.

otherwise we love it !!

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1995 258 Vista

If you want a newer boat, the first with twins is the 288 Vista which can be towed, do it all the time.

The 278 and below have a 8'6" beam, the 288's bean jumps to 9'8", a huge difference in cockpit and cabin space.

We overnight all the time on our 288, two adults, 9 yrs old and a 2 yr old. We did a week long trip on our previous, a 2000 248 Vista (Daytona to Savannah). It worked but more space would have been greatly appreciated. We did a week on the 288 and the added storage space made life mor enjoyable because there was much less clutter for a week trip lying about the cabin. I can say this, the wife had yet to fill all the storage in the cabin of our 288 Vista. I find it amazing some of the storage almost never get's used.

Boating like you suggest, I would point you to a twin engine boat for the redundance and added safety. Sure, maintenance is a bit more but compared to the advantages including two engines are under less stress that one big one at cruise speed, the added oil, etc IMHO will be offset by the redused strain and wear and tear.

You mention a genset. I've seen the installation on the 268, the engine space IMHO is near impossible to work in. It's just too cramped. The 288's genset is a pain to service the raw water pump the way it's mounted but that should only be a two year issue. Other service points on the engines points with the genset installed are all easily accessible. As you go up in size aboive the 288, the space should only get better.

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

John is correct for the most part about the 258 and 278. The current 278 is basically a re-badged 268 Vista. Same length, same beam. It was not mentioned that the "real" 278 Vista does not have an 8'6" beam. They did make a 278 Vista for several years with twins and a 9'4" beam. An excellent boat that is trailerable and quite roomy. You can get a used one for under 30K(US). There are 3 of these in our marina ,and a co-worker owns a 1996.
They all are very happy with them.

1996 278 Vista w/twin 5.0L V-8's




http://www.everyboat.com/c/s/1996-four-winns-278-vista_5971.htm

We are on our 3rd season with our 268, and have just loved it. If you plan on spending extended time on the boat, a 9' or 10' beam would be my recommendation. It can become "cave like" with only 8'6" beam.

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

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

Thanks everyone, your boating experience is making sense and I will now be widening my search for a larger boat.

I have already committed this weekend to look at a 2000 - 268 that has about 250 hours on in. It is a bare bones vessel with not any options and looks like it was just a taxi vessel from the dock to the cabin.

The search continues.

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Randy B

Randy:

You definitely want to go just a bit larger than you think because that dreaded disease called 2-footitis can be an expensive disease.

Good luck on the search.

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"