www.iFourWinns.com

If you're in salt water and the boat is going to be slipped in the water for the season...consider a boat with straight inboards...sterndrives are a maintenance headache in salt water because if you are in a high fouling area...the anti fouling paints for aluminum do not work well and you will have a barnacle farm in there (pivot housing, trim rams, trim hoses...bellows...etc) unless you have the drives cleaned by a diver once a month...on a nearly 30 Foot boat NO WAY would I want I/Os, one is bad enough in salt water let alone having to maintain 2....you do get better performance and fuel economy with I/Os but that advantage will get eaten up in maintenance...trust me....
The same size boat with inboards will cost less to maintain, be more reliable and have better resale in a salt water region...those are facts that you pretty much can't argue with....

_________________
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

Thanks for the link but that one is a little out of our current comfortable price range. The one we're looking at is a 2001 and literally half the price. The owner is upgrading to a "motor yacht" and wants this boat gone. He had the engine, drive, and generator surveys done already to avoid any surprises and it all checks out....and he used my mechanic so I can verify the survey results.

_________________
'01 Vista 298

2001 should literally be half that price. Enjoy, and wear your raincoat.

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

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

Our 1999 298 has the 250 hp 5.0 engines. With full fuel, water, and a family of 4 aboard I could not ask for better performance. Two years ago I gave a couple of full boat loads of adults rides at a church affair at the lake. With 9 full size adults, it did take awhile to get on plane. Once there she was happy, but it did take noticably longer.

All in all, I'm happy with my 5.0's, but I tend to agree that few people complain about having more power.

_________________
1999 Four Winns Vista 298, 5.0 VP DP
Goosepond Marina
Lake Guntersville
Scottsboro, Alabama

Ill sell you mind for half that price

_________________
1999 298 Vista [color=#FF0000]Sold!!!
twin Volvo 5.7GXI

Woody: Pour you a beer, Mr. Peterson?
Norm: Alright, but stop me at one...make that one-thirty

My 298 has the 270hp 5.0GXIs. The "ultimate test" was packing 13 ( t-h-i-r-t-e-e-n! ) people for a trip out to the sand bar. One of the people aboard weighed about 350lbs and of course the tanks happened to be full. It was almost embarrassing dropping the hammer and watching her squat, but she got on plane! Took about a full minute... but she got on plane! LOL

Loaded with enough food and water for 2 weeks, two adults, four kids, and a dog the boat handles great even in 2 to 4 foot seas. Plenty of juice!

_________________

2002 Vista 298
Video of boating from The Florida Keys, to Miami, to Bimini/Bahamas

6 people, a dog, and two weeks worth of supplies!! Wow! Now that's a boating family. I'm happy if I can get my wife out for a night on the hook...then again, she promises that with a bigger boat it'll be more comfortable for a family of 4 to spend the night out there and it'll happen more often.

_________________
'01 Vista 298

Getting closer....the numbers look like they're going to work so time to press on with surveys. Luckily the engine survey was done by the current owner and the engines, drives, and generator all checked out. The guy unknowningly used my mechanic so a quick phone call to my mechanic confirmed everything checks out...and saved me $$$ in the process. The hull survey is scheduled for next week and my current boat will get a full trade-in inspection early next week. Assuming all goes well on inspections I should be the proud owner of a new (to me) 298 a week from today!! Here's to hoping Murphy doesn't rear his ugly head....

_________________
'01 Vista 298