My husband and kids have got this thing about getting about. We have never owned a boat in our lives and dont know where to start.

As we have four children it will need to be big enough for 6-8 people, but small enough to tow on the back of a land cruiser.

They mainly intend to use it for fishing possibly skiing/donuts etc.

Can anyone give me any idea on where to start looking for information on size and cost etc.

Would we be better buying through a shop or privately, any help please

Jacquie

Go and buy a copy of the Queensland boating regs and have a read. Here's a link to the official web site to look at whats involved.
http://www.msq.qld.gov.au/qt/msq.nsf/index/rec_licence

As for a 6/8 berth You'll be getting pretty big as there are, as you'll see on the web site, regulations governing the amount of people allowed per boat length.
There are loads of mags about boating here, you could try "trailor boat" to give you an idea of prices.
As for private or dealer buying it's a bit like choosing between a kick in the head or a kick in the balls. There are loads of pitfalls from knackered engines to osmosis and everyone will know your a boating virgin as soon as you ask what the pointy end is called
A good tip would be to take someone with you who knows a bit about boats or pay for a good survey if your going to spend big bucks.

Agree totally with Cresta, get someone to go with you who knows about boats if you can. If not & you are in Brisbane I can give you the name of the broker we used, we'd buy from him again (in fact we are selling through him), so cant be all that bad! I would also recommend a survey - it may cost you around $400 but worth every cent when you are green.

Try www.boatpoint.com.au as a guide to prices & types of boats. When you say that you need it to be for 6-8 people, I can only assume that you mean a powerboat & just going out for the day? If you want something that you can sleep on for 6-8 people you are looking at serious money :scared: . Besides which, you will never be able to tow it on the back of a Landcruiser unless its under about 20'-22' anyway. (Something that sleeps 6-8 would be around 40'+ & cost $300K upwards). Be aware that unless you are buying a new boat there will always be ongoing maintenance costs - boats arent described as holes in the ocean where you throw your money for no reason . Have a look at the thread about Social Activities here for some of the costs involved in boat ownership. Things like licences & rego are included in there. There was also a thread just the other day about boating & getting a licence if you want to check back on a couple of days posts.

Hope that helps, if you need any more specific info there are a couple of boaty people on here, just ask!

Thanks for the info,

we only want to use it as a day boat, I don't think i could put up with the sea sickness for long enough to sleep on it


Jacquie

Hi Jacquie,

If you are looking at just going out for the day then you will probably need something between 15 & 18 feet. You will need that sort of length because, as Cresta said, there are regulations on persons per boat, although children are classified as half a person, so the 6 of you would need a boat that had a carrying capacity of at least 4. I wouldnt be considering anything under 15 or 16 feet but if you go much bigger than 18 it becomes difficult to tow as well as manouvre onto & off of the trailer.

Heres what a quick search on boatpoint brought up - $5-$20K & 15-18 feet in Qld (hope this works)
http://boatpoint.ninemsn.com.au/Desk...as=boatpointau

I have owned a boat like this in the UK. I would always recommend a survey, but beware, there is always a disclaimer from the surveyor. With the Osmosis thing, it is in my opinion a new fear made up by boat repairers in order to drum up business. My service engineer had worked with boats for over 40 years, and in his words "I have never seen a boat sink from Osmosis", there you are, if you buy a boat with a few blisters underneath, just use it to get a few quid off the sale price, from then on just clean off the underside.

Peterb