Going to take the plunge!!!

We have decided to upgrade out boat from a inboard/outboard Bayliner to a V-Drive boat of some kind... still looking. However i have a couple questions.... The lake that i'm at is fairly shallow and i'm wondering what kind of depth the bottom part of the boat would be at while wakesurfing?? Wakesurfing is one the things i want to do a lot of... got a chance to try it behind a friends Wakesetter VLX and man is that fun!! Our lake has a lot of rocks so i'm a little nervous about that. Average depth where i go usually is around 13ft.

On a side note it is absolutely mindboggling the amount of choices that are out there for V-Drive boats!!! quite overwhelming....

Geoff

Good luck choosing. We begin to notice size issues when we get in less than 12 feet and have concluded it is pretty much useless to try to surf in less than 8 or 9' of depth in our boat. 13' will not be a problem.

13ft you'll be fine.

if you're at 13ft, I think you may have sunk

I don't know what you have in mind but I have upgraded this one a lot and keep adding stuff. I have new rims, tires, and winch on the way now. I just installed the monster cargo bimini and fulton f2 jack also. Also upgraded the prop the the new OJ fusion edge and added the seadeck pad to the swim deck. It also has upgraded stereo system and graphics package. Let me know if you are interested.

that is a sweet boat.... i have to sell mine first or if i haven't sold it by the end of the season then i'll look at trading it off instead... way better for me if it sells privately though!!

You will not be sorry getting out of the I/O into a V-drive. There is a learning curve especially in reverse and when docking but, once you get used to it you will love it.

TO ANSWER YOU DEPTH QUESTION. you can probably get by with 5'to6' of water without worring about hitting bottom. wakeboarders like to have at least 10' of water surfers prefer more the deeper the water the bigger the wake.

Originally Posted by ssmith

I don't know what you have in mind but I have upgraded this one a lot and keep adding stuff. I have new rims, tires, and winch on the way now. I just installed the monster cargo bimini and fulton f2 jack also. Also upgraded the prop the the new OJ fusion edge and added the seadeck pad to the swim deck. It also has upgraded stereo system and graphics package. Let me know if you are interested.

Nice looking Supra. I would look into it if practical for me.
Supra's are a sweet Inboard.

If you want to buy new, and you're on a budget, check out the Axis lineup. I've ridden behind the A22 and A20 and loved both boats. I've also owned several new nautique 230's, an older mastercraft XStar (205v hull), and an '07 VLX. I enjoyed all of those boats. Just make sure you test drive and ride behind many boats before you pull the trigger. You're going to love any vdrive you test when coming from your current boat, but there are very noticable and practical differences between various vdrives. You really need to spend some time in various boats to hone in on what boat fits your needs the best and suits your riding style.

Well... that was a heck of a lot faster that i expected!!!! Sold my boat this weekend, got what i was asking for to... kinda feels nice to... the boat is going to a young family that has 5 kids so i know that it's going to get used lots. Kind of having anxiety right now tho... not having a boat to be in!!! lol!! As for test driving all kinds of diff. boats, it's not really an option as i live way out in the boonies so i'm going to do a lot of research and rely on people on here as well... I've been behind a 2003 Wakesetter VLX with the wake hull and loved it... docking is a BIG adjustment for sure but not to bad

Geoff

Well we are here to help but we are probably going to need some more info before we can really help. What size boat are you looking for? What is your price range? Is wakeboarding or wake surfing more important? I am guessing wake surfing based on your original post. Are you going to store the boat in a standard size garage etc....

go to a boat show to get an idea what you like. if buying used try only inboards and boat trader also ebay and craigs list but watch out for scams and get boat checked by marine mechanic.

Bruizza -- here are my search parameters....
Budget -- 40K Canadian so about 35-38 USD
Preferences -- wakesurfing, wakeboarding
Year Range -- 2003 to as new as i can get

Options
Ballast , tower speakers & lights, board racks, perfect pass, bimini top

of course depending on the boat i'd be willing to deal with adding options after the fact but i'd refer to be able to "plug and play" so to speak.

Boat has to be a V-Drive -- no compromise on that one

Geoff

Is there not many in your area? If you are going to travel in order to get it, just use craiglook, or look here on the classifieds or on onlyinboards...which I can only imagine you've done???

I come up with TONS in that price range.

Regarding speakers and lights on the tower...That is a super simple upgrade for a few grand if the right boat comes without them. I'd pay more attention to condition of everything than just getting all the easy to add stuff. Perfect pass is also nice, but I just added Stargazer to my boat - spent about 2 hours hanging out in the boat before the season started installing it myself. About a grand, and super easy to install.

Ballast systems is probably something I would pay attention to, as they are fairly involved in installing (since you can't just buy a "kit" normally).

ive wakeboarded in 4-5 ft of water. never had any issues albeit the wake is a little smaller. just get your draft info for your boat

TC .... ya i'm on only inboards about 20 times a day lol.... The ballast was the most important as i'd really prefer not to have to install that stuff myself... as for the other stuff your right .. it's an easier install afterwards.

well that didn't take long... i picked up a 2005 Moomba Mobius LSV from Edmonton for 26K, it doesn't have perfect pass or a heater but it has everything else so i'm really happy... the weather finally smartened up enough that i was able to ride behind it last night. woohooo so much fun!!!

Nice Looking boat!!! good price too.

nice looking new ride. congrats!

Hey! congrats on the new boat man! hope you've been getting out lots with it! i just bought a new boat too, though nothing like yours, I got a old ski nautique. Where do you put in on long lake? I am from Regina and put all over that lake. Wee Too Beach or Saskatchewan Beach usually.

you bet... we have a cabin up at the north end in the regional park. I've been getting out as much as the weather will allow which isn't to much right now!!

Geoff