Pontoon & Deck Boat January (^201817)
By Staff

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How often will I use it?

Coming to terms with how often you’ll

be able to put the boat in the water is

vitally important. Some factors to consider:

the distance to the nearest lake, the

temperament of the local climate, how

often your family/friends will want to use

it. After all, we’ve all bought a pair of

shoes that we only wear a couple times a

year; who wants that mistake on a larger

scale?

Where will I be using it?

Do you have a local body of water

that is (relatively) easy to get to? If you’re

looking at a drive of more than, say, two

hours in one direction just to be able to

use your boat, you may not end up using

it as much as you’d like. Of course, we

hear stories about houseboaters who will

routinely drive 8 hours round trip every

weekend in the summer to use their

houseboat, so your mileage tolerance

(hah!) may vary.

What should I expect it

to cost?

Owning a boat is

not cheap, and that’s

before you take into

account the ancillary

costs of ownership,

such as mooring fees,

fuel, insurance, routine

maintenance, and so on

(a general rule is to

anticipate

paying

around

10

percent of the boat’s total cost each year).

At the absolute minimum, you’re going

to be spending $20,000-30,000, and that’s

being pretty conservative. Remember, the

outboard alone is going to cost anywhere

from $4,000 to $20,000 depending on its

horsepower, so make sure the well is deep

enough to cover your new hobby.

How much am I willing to pay?

This goes hand in hand with the

previous question. Once you have an idea

of the ballpark cost for everything, you

need to determine your upper limit and

then adjust your expectations accordingly.

Where will I store it?

Do you have a big enough garage to

house a boat?

What about a

concrete pad to the

side of the house?

Can you rent

storage space for

the winter to keep

it out of harm’s

way? Is there a

local marina you can

keep it at during the

summer?

Outfitting

With those out of the

way, you should have

narrowed down

your idea

of what

you

want

quite a bit.

Now you can

get into what

options you want

for certain things.