lakeliving
Well-Known Member
That trailer looks completely useless with no ground clearance unless the jack is cranked way up in that picture. Michigan roads would rip that bottom bar off in about 2 miles.
The Windshield Fiasco of 2016
- Thread starter Nautical
- Start date
Nautical
Well-Known Member
Yes, not only do you need a trailer made just for that boat but the arc of movement along with the design does not allow the drive to gain very much clearance in or out of the water. It's nowhere near the amount of clearance you can gain with a conventional I/O for trailering, launching and getting/staying out of trouble when boating in shallow areas. The prop and drive shops are going to LOVE this design.
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TomS
Well-Known Member
There is always the new Mercury inboard w/joystick option. Great for wake boats, bow and stern thrusters to allow it to move sideways to the dock, pick up a downed surfer. Pretty cool technology.
Mercury inboard joystick wake boat demo
Mercury inboard joystick wake boat demo
Link
Moderator
Interesting video TomS and I can see how it would make watersports and docking easier however being a slow cruiser I spend half my time driving with my knee on the steering wheel as I relax and I love it
CapKaz
Well-Known Member
Interesting!! I still don't think that would be safe for surfing. If you fell forward you could still get hit by the prop. Surfer's that are extremely good can get on and off the rear of the boat. I agree with Nautical, prop shops will love this design.
azray007
Well-Known Member
When I went looking and test driving, I, unlike myself, actually chose the S series. (My wife gives me a hard time. Almost everything I pick is the one with the highest price!)
There were things I liked about the G, R, and Q's, but for a nice tritoon boat with a 200, the S rode well and still has me smiling. I saved a good bit of money that I put into an aftermarket stereo and all sorts of led lighting. That part was fun, and enabled me to make the boat mine.
No regrets here...still smiling knowing it's mine! Good luck on your choice! I hope you get top dollar for your Chaparral.
There were things I liked about the G, R, and Q's, but for a nice tritoon boat with a 200, the S rode well and still has me smiling. I saved a good bit of money that I put into an aftermarket stereo and all sorts of led lighting. That part was fun, and enabled me to make the boat mine.
No regrets here...still smiling knowing it's mine! Good luck on your choice! I hope you get top dollar for your Chaparral.
Link
Moderator
All about choices and finding the one that is best for you
guardrail22
Well-Known Member
If I had the money it takes to go 50mph in a pontoon, I'll keep my 20mph boat and finally get my cruise in car.
Fastest way to find a floating log is going 50.
Fastest way to find a floating log is going 50.
lakeliving
Well-Known Member
Yeah, but I haven't found a cool car where you can take 11 others along and have a sporty time.
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Jack M
Moderator
Jack M
Moderator
It think is a Challenger .
lakeliving
Well-Known Member
I hope they didn't cut a hellcat in half for that!!!! But then again it's not a GM so cut away!!!!
Jack M
Moderator
My 1st new car was a 1970 Challenger ( and only Chrysler product ) . Wish I had it now, $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ :lol:
lakeliving
Well-Known Member
My father in law had a 67 chevelle and the Burt Reynolds trans-am back in the day (brand new) with the 6.6, bird on the hood etc. Those are going for a pretty penny now.
Nautical
Well-Known Member
Just an update for anyone curious about my saga: No changes. It's pretty tough trying to compete with new boat dealers. When you're financing for EIGHTEEN YEARS, a $10,000 or $15,000 savings doesn't look like enough of a difference to "risk" it with my "terrible, beat up, used boat" (that still looks showroom new with 27 hours on it). I did get a strong call from someone the other day who seemed really interested but they are clear across the country (2800 miles away) and wanted it delivered. Anyone regularly drive from NC to OR? LOL!
Mike31406
Well-Known Member
Hang in there, it will happen. Your still fighting your way back from the “dark side.”
Nautical
Well-Known Member
I can tell all eyes have been on this thread, anxiously awaiting my fate. I can FEEL the tension and the angst. Well here is the update everyone has been waiting for with baited breath (what does baited breath mean anyway, that you eat lots of anchovies?).
THE CHAPARRAL IS SOLD!
I knew that once it was gone I would be facing a MUCH different shopping climate than I had faced both times in the past. Oh MAN, it was FAR worse than I thought it would be. If the "dark side" is Chaparral, what would you guys have called me buying a Regency or even a Aqua Patio? I bought my 2013 R class in the $50s sold it in the high $40s only to see leftover 2017s in the mid SEVENTIES!! YIKES!!! I wanted to buy my Chaparral back and drive it through their giant plate glass windows after seeing prices like that and those were the friendlier, "good" dealers. The local one wanted high $80s to low $90s. Holy crap and a half! The boating industry's answer to all of this by the way is 20 year loans. No, there's no bubble building here, nope. So I started thinking that the S class I priced a while back with SPS and 150hp was looking good in the high $30s/very low $40s but now that one was coming dangerously close to entering the $50s. I was getting sick to my stomach and started to put Bennington in the rear view. That's where all of these other brands came into the picture. We looked at all of the Godfreys, the South Bays, even a new player called "Coach" along with others. Today I was going to take another look at the Crest. Each and every one of these boats was nice but still not doing it for me. If Manitous weren't pushing that $100K mark I might have kept them on the list but not only are they completely out of their mind with their pricing, my wife noticed when she shook the bimini the entire side wall of the boat shook with it. Thinking it was just a fluke she went around and found each and every Manitou had the same affliction. The Regency (yes, made by Sun Tracker) was rock solid. The bimini moved a little, the wall moved naught.
My soul was slowing being crushed with each and every visit to these "other" boat makers to the point where I was having nightmares about walking through those double aluminum and glass doors all of the dealers seem to equip their showrooms with (would you like smoked glass or regular glass double doors with your mediocre, overpriced "boat?"). I suppose had I not been so spoiled by my first boat being an R class I might have found those boats to be nice but the damage was done and I was struggling to justify paying $60k for the better of that bunch or no less than $45k for the worst. On the other end I was facing the $75k to $90k for a basic R class and again that's just too crazy. If I was choosing the finest interiors, 10 foot beams, twin 300hp engines, giant, powered, fiberglass aches, fiberglass bodies and 12 inch computer terminal screens then maybe these fun new prices might be justified but we're talking a basic R class the way everyone here would order one. By the way the fancy boats I described above DO exist but they are $140k to $160k.
I HAD to find some peaceful place inbetween those two extremes. Well I did and it didn't even take as long as I thought it would. I found a leftover R in a floorplan I like at a price that's swallow-able (only because of what I said above) and I'm now allowed back in the forum (Carl, please send that executive washroom key over). It's got all of the options I would have chosen then maybe a couple of nice extras (like a powered bimini, wide captain's chair and a ottoman) but I lost my center tube storage. I was wondering what I "get back" for not having what I thought was an option I couldn't do without. It seems that without center tube storage the fuel tank goes where it's "supposed to go" and no more worries about a bilge or bilge pump or all of that freezing in the winter. I'm hoping the farther forward fuel tank will allow this boat to sit flatter in the water than my last Benny. It always bothered me a little that my 2275RLCP looked like it was popping a perpetual wheelie. I gave all of the blame to the heavy 250hp engine but that 70 gallon fuel tank had a little to do with it.
So I guess the moral of the story is be glad you're not an idiot like me.
All of that and I STILL don't have a windshield!!
Friggen windshield.
THE CHAPARRAL IS SOLD!
I knew that once it was gone I would be facing a MUCH different shopping climate than I had faced both times in the past. Oh MAN, it was FAR worse than I thought it would be. If the "dark side" is Chaparral, what would you guys have called me buying a Regency or even a Aqua Patio? I bought my 2013 R class in the $50s sold it in the high $40s only to see leftover 2017s in the mid SEVENTIES!! YIKES!!! I wanted to buy my Chaparral back and drive it through their giant plate glass windows after seeing prices like that and those were the friendlier, "good" dealers. The local one wanted high $80s to low $90s. Holy crap and a half! The boating industry's answer to all of this by the way is 20 year loans. No, there's no bubble building here, nope. So I started thinking that the S class I priced a while back with SPS and 150hp was looking good in the high $30s/very low $40s but now that one was coming dangerously close to entering the $50s. I was getting sick to my stomach and started to put Bennington in the rear view. That's where all of these other brands came into the picture. We looked at all of the Godfreys, the South Bays, even a new player called "Coach" along with others. Today I was going to take another look at the Crest. Each and every one of these boats was nice but still not doing it for me. If Manitous weren't pushing that $100K mark I might have kept them on the list but not only are they completely out of their mind with their pricing, my wife noticed when she shook the bimini the entire side wall of the boat shook with it. Thinking it was just a fluke she went around and found each and every Manitou had the same affliction. The Regency (yes, made by Sun Tracker) was rock solid. The bimini moved a little, the wall moved naught.
My soul was slowing being crushed with each and every visit to these "other" boat makers to the point where I was having nightmares about walking through those double aluminum and glass doors all of the dealers seem to equip their showrooms with (would you like smoked glass or regular glass double doors with your mediocre, overpriced "boat?"). I suppose had I not been so spoiled by my first boat being an R class I might have found those boats to be nice but the damage was done and I was struggling to justify paying $60k for the better of that bunch or no less than $45k for the worst. On the other end I was facing the $75k to $90k for a basic R class and again that's just too crazy. If I was choosing the finest interiors, 10 foot beams, twin 300hp engines, giant, powered, fiberglass aches, fiberglass bodies and 12 inch computer terminal screens then maybe these fun new prices might be justified but we're talking a basic R class the way everyone here would order one. By the way the fancy boats I described above DO exist but they are $140k to $160k.
I HAD to find some peaceful place inbetween those two extremes. Well I did and it didn't even take as long as I thought it would. I found a leftover R in a floorplan I like at a price that's swallow-able (only because of what I said above) and I'm now allowed back in the forum (Carl, please send that executive washroom key over). It's got all of the options I would have chosen then maybe a couple of nice extras (like a powered bimini, wide captain's chair and a ottoman) but I lost my center tube storage. I was wondering what I "get back" for not having what I thought was an option I couldn't do without. It seems that without center tube storage the fuel tank goes where it's "supposed to go" and no more worries about a bilge or bilge pump or all of that freezing in the winter. I'm hoping the farther forward fuel tank will allow this boat to sit flatter in the water than my last Benny. It always bothered me a little that my 2275RLCP looked like it was popping a perpetual wheelie. I gave all of the blame to the heavy 250hp engine but that 70 gallon fuel tank had a little to do with it.
I'll post some pics after delivery.
So I guess the moral of the story is be glad you're not an idiot like me.
All of that and I STILL don't have a windshield!!
Friggen windshield.
cwag911
Moderator
Welcome back! 
Michiman
Well-Known Member
You're not an idiot, you're a pretty vivid/funny writer...