Thinking About a Boat

SoonerAviator said:
I'd be going over to some of the dedicated forums on "the great loop". You'll find tons of info on what the best route is, minimum bridge clearances and drafts, as well as good rest stops/fuel stops. From my understanding, the upper Mississippi River is pretty easy with several good fuel stops. The lower Mississippi is much more difficult due to lack of many places to hold up for the night and few fuel options between long distances, I believe there may only be one fuel stop on a 400+mile section somewhere. Most people opt to use the Tenn-Tom waterway instead of the lower Mississippi because there are lots of good stops and fuel sources along the way (spits you out in the Gulf in Alabama instead of Louisiana).

My father and I have talked about running it from Tulsa (Port of Catoosa) and going down to the gulf. I'm not sure there's much information on that run, though, as it's not part of "the loop". It does run through a few small lakes and such, so fuel might be easier than the Lower Mississippi. However, I don't think our ski boat is going to be the best option for that trip, even with the aft curtain on. The 25 gallon fuel tank won't likely get us too far, either, without a bunch of jerry cans or an aux fuel tank.
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That sounds like the exact sort of thing we'd want to do. Our boat has a ~75 gallon tank and I think could actually do the trip (and it's actually pretty efficient), but not big enough for the 5 of us, would prefer diesels for it, etc.

That strikes me as a great way to spend a summer vacation with the kids.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
That sounds like the exact sort of thing we'd want to do. Our boat has a ~75 gallon tank and I think could actually do the trip (and it's actually pretty efficient), but not big enough for the 5 of us, would prefer diesels for it, etc.

That strikes me as a great way to spend a summer vacation with the kids.
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Yeah, I think it'd be a great trip. Stop into the big places where able to sight-see, etc., bring some fishing gear and a small gas/alcohol grill (don't use on boat!) and troll along. From what I understand, you can move along just above idle downstream (just have to be faster than the current to maintain steerage) and you'll be getting along at 6-8mph just sipping fuel. Takes something like 2.5 weeks if you run about 50 miles per day. This is where the smaller cruisers would excel. It'd be a blast with a 30-40' cruiser. Actually doing the entire loop would be the trip of a lifetime, but would involve a pretty large chunk of time and money.
 
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SoonerAviator said:
This is where the smaller cruisers would excel. It'd be a blast with a 30-40' cruiser. Actually doing the entire loop would be the trip of a lifetime, but would involve a pretty large chunk of time and money.
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If I had the cash and time, I'd be looking for a tug style boat for the great loop. Diesel, lots of tankage.

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SoonerAviator said:
Yeah, I think it'd be a great trip. Stop into the big places where able to sight-see, etc., bring some fishing gear and a small gas/alcohol grill (don't use on boat!) and troll along. From what I understand, you can move along just above idle downstream (just have to be faster than the current to maintain steerage) and you'll be getting along at 6-8mph just sipping fuel. Takes something like 2.5 weeks if you run about 50 miles per day. This is where the smaller cruisers would excel. It'd be a blast with a 30-40' cruiser. Actually doing the entire loop would be the trip of a lifetime, but would involve a pretty large chunk of time and money.
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Looks like about 6,000 miles for the full loop. So really, it depends on how fast you cruise and how many hours per day you'd go. If you do 100 miles per day, you could do it in roughly 2 months. 50 miles per day, 4 months. But those have to be average numbers, and of course if you do a trip like that you'd want to stop and smell the roses some.

It's an interesting prospect to consider. I've always enjoyed trips that are about both the journey and the destination. Part of why I don't like flying commercial.
 
I was thinking more Sedan-style, personally. I'd rather be outside while driving, with the ability to put up the Eisenglass enclosures if weather is crappy.

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That would do, and even better if it's diesel. I have friends to did the GL in a 34ft sailboat.
 
Bill Jennings said:
That would do, and even better if it's diesel. I have friends to did the GL in a 34ft sailboat.
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Yeah, the sailboat seems to be a popular option. I think as long as you can drop the mast (or any other obstruction) to get down to around 17' bridge clearance, you can get just about anywhere on the loop. There are a few routes that can handle 20', but I think the Tenn-Tom requires 17' or less. Finding diesels can be difficult in the sub-40' class sometimes, but they are out there. They work especially well with non-planing hulls.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Yeah, the sailboat seems to be a popular option. I think as long as you can drop the mast (or any other obstruction) to get down to around 17' bridge clearance, you can get just about anywhere on the loop. There are a few routes that can handle 20', but I think the Tenn-Tom requires 17' or less. Finding diesels can be difficult in the sub-40' class sometimes, but they are out there. They work especially well with non-planing hulls.
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The sailboat option is romantic (and cheap from a fuel perspective), but I wonder about the practicality if you have any sort of schedule. Main thing with diesels for me being the cost aspect, but again depends on your general goals. A nice compromise would be replacing a 350/454 with something like a 6.5 or a Duramax, but from what I can find the Alpha/Bravo outdrives are rated for half the horsepower with a diesel. If you didn't care about top speed, that might still be fine. I'm almost never getting my boat above 3,000 RPM and finding that most of it is around 2,500 RPM, which is enough to get on-plane. Given that, even a 6.5 could probably do fine and be roughly the weight of a 454 while probably still let you get away with an Alpha outdrive.
 
Well, don't think they rate Alpha/Bravo drives separately based on power plant, but they are HP-rated. Most Alphas are 300HP max, bravos are 400HP, and the B1X is 450HP. Anything higher and you go to the XR-drives up to 600HP. I'm not sure where the torque ratings come into play, which is where the diesel vs gasser becomes relevent. I'd much rather go with a Cat/Volvo, or Yanmar diesel vs a Duramax, they're proven in the marine world.
 
I was making some assumptions, which of course could be incorrect. I found this:

https://www.mercurymarine.com/en/us/engines/diesel/diesel-drives/alpha-oner/

which listed diesels as half horsepower. My guess is that their horsepower ratings are more or less based off of the torque profiles of the engines they normally pair to.

What I was referring to was more of a "roll your own" setup, where I took something like my boat (which has a 350) and then put in an engine that would more or less bolt in/bolt up to the Alpha One I have on there now. It would be silly to do. The amount that it would cost would never be made up in fuel savings, not to mention the level of custom work that would be required. If I wanted to take my boat on a trip like this it might make sense, but that'd be the only time it could be considered as worth even thinking about. I'd still just buy a different boat.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I was making some assumptions, which of course could be incorrect. I found this:

https://www.mercurymarine.com/en/us/engines/diesel/diesel-drives/alpha-oner/

which listed diesels as half horsepower. My guess is that their horsepower ratings are more or less based off of the torque profiles of the engines they normally pair to.

What I was referring to was more of a "roll your own" setup, where I took something like my boat (which has a 350) and then put in an engine that would more or less bolt in/bolt up to the Alpha One I have on there now. It would be silly to do. The amount that it would cost would never be made up in fuel savings, not to mention the level of custom work that would be required. If I wanted to take my boat on a trip like this it might make sense, but that'd be the only time it could be considered as worth even thinking about. I'd still just buy a different boat.
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Gotcha, yeah I'm sure the torque is the major factor on the diesels, so I'm guessing that's why they limit the HP to 50% of gasoline engine ratings. The engine mounts, bell housing/engine coupler, spark arrested components, exhaust manifolds,etc. would all need to be sourced/fabricated to convert to the Duramax. It'd be easier just to find a new boat, not to mention all of the electronic interfaces.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Gotcha, yeah I'm sure the torque is the major factor on the diesels, so I'm guessing that's why they limit the HP to 50% of gasoline engine ratings. The engine mounts, bell housing/engine coupler, spark arrested components, exhaust manifolds,etc. would all need to be sourced/fabricated to convert to the Duramax. It'd be easier just to find a new boat, not to mention all of the electronic interfaces.
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Agreed. I was more just musing about ideas. Reality is that if I was willing to put forth that level of effort and expense, I'd be far better off buying a boat that was designed and already equipped as a diesel.
 
@SoonerAviator @Bill Jennings

This website has some interesting info. A sedan bridge in the low to mid 30s would be a good choice given what he states there (<19 ft high, <5 ft depth, ideal lengths 26-35 ft), but also some good data regarding how much range you need to have. Fuel flow gauges (and capacity) would be important there, since the minimum range listed is 250 miles.

http://captainjohn.org/GL-5-Scoop.html
 
Torque should be the same for the same HP/rpm combinations regardless of the engine that produces it. Maybe there are torque pulses wiith a diesel that you don't see with a gasser.
 
weilke said:
Torque should be the same for the same HP/rpm combinations regardless of the engine that produces it. Maybe there are torque pulses wiith a diesel that you don't see with a gasser.
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The torque pulses are the big issue. When I was running engines on dynos, it was common to see 2000 psi peak cylinder pressures for the diesels (which came up and down like a sharp peak) as opposed to <1000 psi for the gassers (which was a much more shallow curve).

You are correct that HP = torque * RPM / 5252, but you'd probably also typically go for a coarser prop given the propensity of the diesels to make more torque at lower RPM, which would increase the torque the unit saw.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
@SoonerAviator @Bill Jennings

This website has some interesting info. A sedan bridge in the low to mid 30s would be a good choice given what he states there (<19 ft high, <5 ft depth, ideal lengths 26-35 ft), but also some good data regarding how much range you need to have. Fuel flow gauges (and capacity) would be important there, since the minimum range listed is 250 miles.

http://captainjohn.org/GL-5-Scoop.html
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Yeah, the only thing I found a bit interesting is one of his reasons for staying smaller on vessel length was difficulty in control while docking. Hell, most anything from the past decade 36'+ has joystick control so that you don't even have to work the throttles, gear selector, or steering wheel. Just most the joystick in the direction you want to go, and twist it to pivot the boat in any direction. Pretty amazing stuff really, and even with wind, the engines/bow thrusters make it a cinch. I'm sure he's right on having unused extra space, but no one ever complains about a boat/aircraft too big.

I'd be lucky to get 70miles out of a tank on my boat, so I don't think I'll be running the loop in mine. ;)
 
SoonerAviator said:
Yeah, the only thing I found a bit interesting is one of his reasons for staying smaller on vessel length was difficulty in control while docking. Hell, most anything from the past decade 36'+ has joystick control so that you don't even have to work the throttles, gear selector, or steering wheel. Just most the joystick in the direction you want to go, and twist it to pivot the boat in any direction. Pretty amazing stuff really, and even with wind, the engines/bow thrusters make it a cinch. I'm sure he's right on having unused extra space, but no one ever complains about a boat/aircraft too big.

I'd be lucky to get 70miles out of a tank on my boat, so I don't think I'll be running the loop in mine. ;)
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I've seen the joystick controls. That is really an incredible piece of technology. I'm also pretty certain this guy is talking about significantly older boats made before that technology existed. Plus, he obviously is more interested in doing it on the cheap, and larger boats will add to the cost all around. It's an interesting perspective regardless.
 
weilke said:
Torque should be the same for the same HP/rpm combinations regardless of the engine that produces it. Maybe there are torque pulses wiith a diesel that you don't see with a gasser.
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Large engines that make significant horsepower at “very” low rpm’s will therefore make a tremendous amount of torque, but at extremely low rpm. For example a diesel marine engine that makes 300 Hp at 2,000 is making 788 Lb-Ft at this same rpm. Noting that the torque curve is generated in “bell form”, and therefore the maximum torque could be as high as 900 Lb-ft on this 300 Hp engine. Comparing this against a 300 Hp GM small V8 engine that makes 300 Hp at 5,000 and 375 Lb-Ft torque at 3200 rpm, this is a considerable difference. Very low rpm diesel engines typically make tremendous low rpm torque and therefore require specific gear ratios not supported by sterndrives, as well as requiring much larger diameter prop shaft’s.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I've seen the joystick controls. That is really an incredible piece of technology. I'm also pretty certain this guy is talking about significantly older boats made before that technology existed. Plus, he obviously is more interested in doing it on the cheap, and larger boats will add to the cost all around. It's an interesting perspective regardless.
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Absolutely, that was my main caveat was that the site appears to be have created prior to those technologies becoming commonplace in consumer boats. I don't know that I'd even buy a cruiser of that size (34'+) without it, as it just makes life so much easier. They have them for v-drives, sterndrives, and pod-drives, so you're not even limited by power plant manufacturer. I'm sure you can go around the loop for $2K in fuel like his son apparently did in a sailboat, but I don't think I'd be up for that challenge!
 
SoonerAviator said:
Large engines that make significant horsepower at “very” low rpm’s will therefore make a tremendous amount of torque, but at extremely low rpm. For example a diesel marine engine that makes 300 Hp at 2,000 is making 788 Lb-Ft at this same rpm. Noting that the torque curve is generated in “bell form”, and therefore the maximum torque could be as high as 900 Lb-ft on this 300 Hp engine. Comparing this against a 300 Hp GM small V8 engine that makes 300 Hp at 5,000 and 375 Lb-Ft torque at 3200 rpm, this is a considerable difference. Very low rpm diesel engines typically make tremendous low rpm torque and therefore require specific gear ratios not supported by sterndrives, as well as requiring much larger diameter prop shaft’s.
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The other issue in addition to raw torque is torque peaks. Torque is not produced in a reciprocating engine uniformly. Each power stroke from each cylinder produces a pressure (torque) peak. Diesels tend to have higher peaks for the same torque than gassers, which is part of why diesels need to be significantly tougher.

SoonerAviator said:
Absolutely, that was my main caveat was that the site appears to be have created prior to those technologies becoming commonplace in consumer boats. I don't know that I'd even buy a cruiser of that size (34'+) without it, as it just makes life so much easier. They have them for v-drives, sterndrives, and pod-drives, so you're not even limited by power plant manufacturer. I'm sure you can go around the loop for $2K in fuel like his son apparently did in a sailboat, but I don't think I'd be up for that challenge!
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A lot of it depends on what your goal, budget, and plans for the trip would include. But for me, if I were going to do it, I'd tend to want a boat that was closer to a home and have a bit more in capability, storage, etc.
 
Well, the idea of the boat vacation went over well. Thinking sometime next year. The idea would be to take a vacation (figure probably 1-2 week range) on a boat to get an idea for what we think of living on a boat. Obviously, our 23' Sea Ray cuddy cabin boat wouldn't be sufficient. So, I view a few ways we could do this:

1) Buy a bigger boat (not something that we'd do the great loop on, but something we could live on for a week), start here, and go down the river. Stop wherever, get home, drive to pick up the boat.
2) Buy a bigger boat (same as above), trailer somewhere else (such as the Gulf), do some boating there, trailer home
3) Buy a bigger boat (same as above), boat it home
4) Fly someplace (i.e. Gulf, BVI, etc.), rent a boat

What to buy? Well, something trailerable without an oversize permit. Mid 90s Sea Ray Sundancer 270 fits that bill and budget, so let's just say something of that class/size for the moment. It also would have enough room for the 5 of us (including 3 small kids) to live on for a week. The other advantage there would be an upgrade vs. our current boat.

Obviously pluses and minuses to each option. The problem I see with 3) is that it would almost certainly end up boating upriver (either the Missouri or Mississippi and Missouri), which probably rules it out. On the other hand, if we buy a boat, it will almost certainly be somewhere else where it would need to get home anyway and might come without a trailer.

Renting a boat is probably the more logical option in many ways, but I'm assuming most places that have boats we could live on wouldn't just rent us the boat, they'd rent it with a captain. While that has its advantages, a vacation that requires us to share it with someone else isn't our preference and also drives up cost.

Any thoughts appreciated, including best option, good locations to try this, best timing, etc. Since our kids aren't in school yet it's easy for us to take a vacation anytime we want.
 
One thing that's really popular in some areas (Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, the South, lol) is houseboating. You can rent a nice houseboat in a ton of different sizes to suit your needs and it may be a good trial run for a week or two just to see what you think of it. You can do so on some rivers and many lakes.

Is there a reason you're worried about the oversize permit? I've heard you can get them fairly easily and cheaply, especially for occasional use. An extra foot of beam is worth 2' of length, or so the saying goes. Getting a Sea Ray 290/300 versus a 270 (yeah, I know they are longer, too), may make a better option and many have gensets as well. As long as you've got the truck to pull one (3/4 ton or better) as they'll tip the scales at 10-12Klbs when loaded with fuel/gear+ trailer.
 
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SoonerAviator said:
One thing that's really popular in some areas (Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, the South, lol) is houseboating. You can rent a nice houseboat in a ton of different sizes to suit your needs and it may be a good trial run for a week or two just to see what you think of it. You can do so on some rivers and many lakes.
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I know a few people with houseboats. That's one idea, worth looking into. I've never been on one.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Just a site I remember: http://www.bigboats.net/location.htm.

I'm sure there's some cheaper options, especially if you have friends that might let you rent the boat for a few weeks.
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Good info, thanks.

The prices of the rentals tend to push me towards buying, since the cost of the items we were considering for our boat plus a rental would pretty easily cover the cost delta to an upgrade. The real issue is that the rental places seem to rent new boats, whereas we would go used. As such, you're paying for depreciation as part of the rental.
 
SoonerAviator said:
An extra foot of beam is worth 2' of length, or so the saying goes. Getting a Sea Ray 290/300 versus a 270 (yeah, I know they are longer, too), may make a better option and many have gensets as well.
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'Just two more feet' is the universal fix for all problems in the recreational boating world.
 
The great loop does sound fun.

I'm going to the Bahamas with my 24' boat in a couple weeks. Hauling it down to Fort Lauderdale then crossing over. Its about 50nm or 2 hours
 
Ted DuPuis said:
4) Fly someplace (i.e. Gulf, BVI, etc.), rent a boat
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I would recommend flying to the Abacos and renting a boat. You fly into Marsh Harbor Stay on Guana Cay (use VRBO to find a place) and rent a boat from Dive Guana. I would get a 21+ foot center console. You can also fly into Treasure Cay, stay on Green Turtle Cay and rent a boat from Donny's boat rentals. There are ferries to the out islands running several times per day from treasure cay and marsh harbor, transportation is pretty easy.

That is hands down the best (power) boating I have ever done. Been twice now! Very easy navigation. If you have any interest in going pick up the cruising guide to Abaco by Steve Dodge. Lots of maps and pics. You'll see whats around and what you can do. Abacos is surrounded by a huge barrier reef with mooring balls all over it in good snorkeling or fishing locations. The islands are all line of sight navigation in the sea of abaco which is protected and while it can get choppy, there is no swell.

This year i'm doing it a little bit different and going to Bimini which is more commercial. But i'm doing the trip on the cheap because i'm staying at the hilton on points, and with the price of gas now hauling my boat down there and back is only going to cost $300.

BVI is great if you want to sail. Conch Charters has the best deals. I've done that trip 4x never gets old.
 
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SoonerAviator said:
Is there a reason you're worried about the oversize permit? I've heard you can get them fairly easily and cheaply, especially for occasional use. An extra foot of beam is worth 2' of length, or so the saying goes. Getting a Sea Ray 290/300 versus a 270 (yeah, I know they are longer, too), may make a better option and many have gensets as well. As long as you've got the truck to pull one (3/4 ton or better) as they'll tip the scales at 10-12Klbs when loaded with fuel/gear+ trailer.
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I missed this initially.

Right now we don't have a slip and I'd like to keep it that way. If we bought a bigger boat right now, the point would be for something that would still work for our weekend lake use (with some degree of camping) and allow us to trailer back and forth to the house without needing a permit. Basically, a dual-use boat that could still pull tubers/skiers, albeit probably not as well.

If we do a boat upgrade, it'll likely necessitate a truck upgrade anyway. The 1/2-ton Avalanche is a poor tow vehicle and is marginal with this boat as it is, even with the suspension as upgraded as I can do using bolt-ons (bigger sway bars, air springs, better shocks, etc.). So we'd have to upgrade to a 3/4 or 1-ton.

dell30rb said:
The great loop does sound fun.

I'm going to the Bahamas with my 24' boat in a couple weeks. Hauling it down to Fort Lauderdale then crossing over. Its about 50nm or 2 hours
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Which boat is that? The one you were starting on restoring a couple years ago?

Interesting points on where to go. One extra thing I'd point out is that we have 3 small kids, so whatever the trip is, there should be some appropriate entertainment we can do with the kids. Also, a quick look at those doesn't match what we're looking for. Looks like they have boat rentals that you couldn't live on, and are smaller than what we have now.
 
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Ted DuPuis said:
Which boat is that? The one you were starting on restoring a couple years ago?

Interesting points on where to go. One extra thing I'd point out is that we have 3 small kids, so whatever the trip is, there should be some appropriate entertainment we can do with the kids.
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I would do Abacos with small kids. You can get a cottage with a dock or at least a view. I did Guana cay most recently but I know green turtle is popular and very similar. You can also stay at HopeTown on Elbow Cay if you want more shops/restaurants to go to. Its a short day trip away. On Guana there are 3-4 restaurants that serve dinner. 2 are "beach" restaurants (check out nippers!) and one is a "real" nice indoor sit down restaurant (marina, cant remember name). I would avoid nippers in the late afternoon when they have a party it can get a little rowdy, but normally its family friendly. There is a small grocery store but I would recommend bringing as much as possible with you on the ferry from the real supermarket in Marsh Harbor as the prices/selection are better.

Some places come with a golf cart or you can rent one. From most cottages the restaurants or beach will be less than a 15min ride. Same goes for the boat trip, you can find a beach to anchor up to or a great snorkeling spot within 15 mins. Take trips and visit the other islands too. The small ones all have a bar/restaurant or two and Hope Town has several places to eat/drink plus some shops with clothes, souvenirs, gifts.

From what I remember a boat rental runs about 130/day, cottage $200-300 (with a dock or view) and golf cart maybe $30-40/day. Beer is worth its weight in gold while rum is practically free.
 
Yep its the same boat I was working on. I've put a lot of hours on it this year.

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Looks good. We've had our boat out about every week since the weather got nice. So far it's been sipping fuel, only burned about 20 gallons or so.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I missed this initially.

Right now we don't have a slip and I'd like to keep it that way. If we bought a bigger boat right now, the point would be for something that would still work for our weekend lake use (with some degree of camping) and allow us to trailer back and forth to the house without needing a permit. Basically, a dual-use boat that could still pull tubers/skiers, albeit probably not as well.

If we do a boat upgrade, it'll likely necessitate a truck upgrade anyway. The 1/2-ton Avalanche is a poor tow vehicle and is marginal with this boat as it is, even with the suspension as upgraded as I can do using bolt-ons (bigger sway bars, air springs, better shocks, etc.). So we'd have to upgrade to a 3/4 or 1-ton.
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Yeah, the non-truck frame on the Avalanche didn't do it any favors. You're pretty much at the conundrum of the boating world: how can I do all things with one boat. It's difficult to get a boat big enough to live on for a week with 4-5 people, but small enough to tow with a normal vehicle without wide load permits, and sporty enough to do watersports and/or shallow water operations. Solve that problem, and you'll be a rich man. Otherwise, you'll eventually 1) compromise on one of the needs, or 2) be a poor man with multiple boats. :)

You might also investigate your state's (or others you plan on towing in) policies on oversize towing. Many have annual permits, or even monthly/per trip permits that are cheap. It may be worth it to look into so that you don't limit yourself due to a minor permit each year.
 
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SoonerAviator said:
Yeah, the non-truck frame on the Avalanche didn't do it any favors. You're pretty much at the conundrum of the boating world: how can I do all things with one boat. It's difficult to get a boat big enough to live on for a week with 4-5 people, but small enough to tow with a normal vehicle without wide load permits, and sporty enough to do watersports and/or shallow water operations. Solve that problem, and you'll be a rich man. Otherwise, you'll eventually 1) compromise on one of the needs, or 2) be a poor man with multiple boats. :)
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From what I can tell, the mid 90s Sundancer 270 looks like it'd be a reasonable compromise. Certainly not enough for a ski boat for advanced skiers, but most of what we do now is tubing and we're not the sorts that'd be doing big jumps if skiing. No oversize permit required with an 8'6" beam. While the kids are small, could live with the 5 of us on it for a week, just packing light and probably plan on restaurants or packed lunches for most of our meals (which I think we'd do anyway).

At least, it sounds good when I type it out. :)

The Avalanche's frame as I understand is the same as the Suburban. The rear coil springs and light shocks hurt its capability significantly. Plus the 700R4 (or 4L60E) has awful gearing. Add to that GM's braking department (which I've always said has the motto of "We never stop!") and you have something that can't tow the boat safely at over 60 MPH, gets 10 MPG doing it, and is always at the wrong RPM no matter what you do. So even if we wanted to use this boat for trips, it'd require a better truck. Towing it out here from Ohio last year was a loooong, slow drive. I prefer hitting the cruise at 70-75
 
My F-150 does great with the 5Klbs of boat behind me from a braking/suspension standpoint, but my highway gearing (3.55LS) just makes acceleration a bit slow for my liking. If I had 4.10's, the truck would be perfect for most everything under 8K lbs. You might search a bit in that size range to see what all is out there with the 8' beam. I know Carver had a 280 at one point, and Rinker had a 280/290 at 9' beam that you could probably get away with. To be honest, I've actually never witnessed an officer pulling over anyone with a wider cruiser and checking for the permits, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
 
I would definitely do more searching to see what options existed before buying anything. I just mentioned that Sea Ray because we like our Sea Ray, and it fits the requirements. There may be other types out there.

8'6" beam is the limit in Kansas (and most other states from what I can tell). If you go up to 10', there are a lot more options that exist. I'd probably play the odds on 9' if there was a good option there, but 10' might be pushing it a bit. I do agree that the 10' width would be very nice in terms of boat space. The decks on the 10' beam boats look far more inviting and spacious than what we have today.

I could find a boat forum to ask these questions, but this is too much fun. :)
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I would definitely do more searching to see what options existed before buying anything. I just mentioned that Sea Ray because we like our Sea Ray, and it fits the requirements. There may be other types out there.

8'6" beam is the limit in Kansas (and most other states from what I can tell). If you go up to 10', there are a lot more options that exist. I'd probably play the odds on 9' if there was a good option there, but 10' might be pushing it a bit. I do agree that the 10' width would be very nice in terms of boat space. The decks on the 10' beam boats look far more inviting and spacious than what we have today.

I could find a boat forum to ask these questions, but this is too much fun. :)
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Lol, absolutely. 8'6" is pretty standard for most states, and I'd press my luck on a 9'er, too! If you do want to search out a boating forum, iboats.com has a pretty great group of seasoned members and is very active. Several "old salts" and boat mechanics who have a wealth of knowledge to pass on (much like yourself).
 
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