Wanted To Buy: Trailerable 28 ft+ Cabin Cruiser $70-$90k

[Marley]

Looking for a good used cabin cruiser 26-30 feet, sleeps 4+, 2005 or newer, fresh water boat, closed cooling system if possible etc. Any recommendations on brand, model, experience, and/or have one for sale - info appreciated.

 

[Bogger]

four wins are a really nice boat, as well as crown line, I'd avoid bayliner they have some real nice boats but carry an entry level stigma.

Save a lot of $$$$ by looking in Washington/Idaho/Utah cross border for the boat is easy, just need to have the paperwork to the customs guys 48 hours prior to entry into Canada just need to have the trailer inspected once you are home. there is a real nice FW 248 in Calgary for $29K it's only a 25' but my FW 23.5' feels much bigger than other makes 26 footers & sleeps 4

2003 - FOUR WINNS - $29900 (Calgary) - Alberta Powerboats, Motorboats For Sale - Kijiji Alberta Canada.

but south of the border is your best bet....

 

[Marley]

four wins are a really nice boat, as well as crown line, I'd avoid bayliner they have some real nice boats but carry an entry level stigma.

Save a lot of $$$$ by looking in Washington/Idaho/Utah cross border for the boat is easy, just need to have the paperwork to the customs guys 48 hours prior to entry into Canada just need to have the trailer inspected once you are home. there is a real nice FW 248 in Calgary for $29K it's only a 25' but my FW 23.5' feels much bigger than other makes 26 footers & sleeps 4

2003 - FOUR WINNS - $29900 (Calgary) - Alberta Powerboats, Motorboats For Sale - Kijiji Alberta Canada.

but south of the border is your best bet....

Thanks for the info. Would be real easy to go to the states from where we are - 20 minutes to the border.

I had a bad experience trying to buy a fixer-upper in Seattle about 12 years back. It was a Sea-Ray Express Cruiser and I was told it was in good shape but needed a bit of work (perfect for what I wanted). Drive from the Okotoks area to Vancouver and hang out with a friend for a few and then head to Seattle.
The boat was parked in a dark back alley way and it was night time. The guy was talking it up and it looked good from a distance. Went to get on board from the swim platform and the first thing that happens is the steps pull away from the transom…then the first thing I notice was the engine cover was missing…not good. Get the flashlight out and see the the Chevy V8 thermostat housing doesn't look right - go to touch it and my finger goes right through a half inch of rusted steel…again not good.
Go from the cockpit down below and the there was a good 12" of water sitting there. The guy now is willing to drop his price…
I know this is a mistake and get off the boat and take a look at the trailer as we are leaving - someone has reinforced it by welding rebar in places so it could handle the weight…!
I was so sick about it we drove to the closest steak joint and had a couple of good strong drinks. Next day went looking in Vancouver for something and realized we were not going to get something worthy that had been in salt water for the price we wanted to pay. Ended up buying a 26' Chris Craft from the Great Lakes and having it shipped out west on a semi. Fresh water boat that had been taken care of.

Anyway now we are moving on to finding a newer one with a couple more feet of length. One of the things I like about the Chris Craft is that it has a 9'6" beam and you can walk around the deck of the whole boat without having to go through the windshield area. Tough to find the perfect boat but we will try…again...

 

[Marley]

Chaparral Signature 270 - 2007 Used Boats For Sale | Kelowna, British Columbia

This is what we are looking at...

 

[jeremy]

IMO I would go with twins at that size

 

[Marley]

IMO I would go with twins at that size

Twin V6 Mercruisers would probably be ideal I agree.

Right now I have an older Chris Craft 26'. Great boat. I love the fact that you can walk around the entire boat on the deck i.e. you could have a fishing rod in hand and walk up the port side, across the bow, down the starboard side and go across the swim platform or through the cockpit and around again (without having to climb over the windshield etc) Hard to find that feature on a newer boat.