Hey all,
It's been a while. You all helped be decided between a Monterey and a Chaparral. I went with Monterey but after many delays with my new order, I cancelled it.
I was suppose to arrive this past September but now maybe in July or later.
I have switched up my thinking a bit and I am looking at a Sea Fox 226 Traveler. Would love a Boston Whaler or Grady White but they are out of my price range.
Any thoughts on the Sea Fox?
Thanks,
Mitch

I have no knowledge of Sea Fox, and little experience with fishy boats, but I do think that the dual console would be a more flexible boat than a single console.

Sea Fox is a price point boat. so the fit and finish and materials are not going to be as good as a high end boat like a Grady, a Whaler or a Robalo, but they are not bad boats. I did some electrical work on a Sea Fox earlier this year and it was rigged more like a typical bow rider than the salty fishing boat that it looks like. The wires were not tinned and were not as well-supported as I'd prefer.

What's your intended use? If you plan to use it like a bow rider, it will be great. If you plan to smash it though Haulover inlet every weekend, it will likely have some problems...

We live on the Siuslaw River in Oregon and just plan to cruise the river and some local lakes. No ocean.
The other issue I have is living on the west coast everything is more expensive. I have found some Sea Fox 226 Travelers and Boston Whaler 230 Vantage on the east coast or south in my price range but would not be able to check them out.
Any thoughts?
Also, I spoke to a guy selling his 2015 Boston Whaler 230 Vantage for $65k though a place called https://www.primeautohouse.com/inventory/205985/
They offer a guarantee etc.
Any one heard of them?

Don't be afraid to travel to see and buy the boat you want. I live in New Hampshire and bought my last two boats in Indiana and Michigan. The trip home can be a fun adventure, even if you are just towing the boat on a trailer.

I don't know anything about primeautohouse, but a guarantee/waranty on a used boat would be tough to utilize unless the boat was near the repair facility that performs the work. It would not make any difference to me in a purchase decision.

I should clarify...it has a 7 day money back guarantee if after the boat is delivered I don't like it.
I live on the Oregon coast and would have to travel to Tennessee or Florida for the boats I like. That's at least 4 days of travel in each direction.
Not sure I want to do that. :-)

Long road trips aren't for everyone, but I love them. Instead of thinking of it as 8 days of boring travel, plan a two week (16 day if add you start on Saturday morning and add the third weekend) cross-country vacation, partially with a boat that you drop into various lakes and rivers along the way. There's gotta be 500 or more interesting places to day boat between TN and OR.

I bought a truck in Denver (no rust) and drove it home to New Hampshire with my wife in 2015. It was a fun adventure and it took 5 days since we did a little sight-seeing in Chicago (wife had never been there) along the way and stopped in NJ to visit friends.

My current boat is too big to tow, so we cruised it 1000 miles home from Lake Erie, via the Erie Canal, Hudson River, and Atlantic coast. Took us 17 days, but it was a fantastic trip and a great way to learn a new-to-us boat. By the time I backed it into our home slip for the first time, I had 100 hours of experience at the helm; that's two years worth for most pleasure boaters.

SCAM ALERT - on primeautohouse.com

So be careful.

There are a bunch of scam auto/boat/RV websites that have very attractive prices, but they are fake and no-one ever gets their boat/car/RV, but their money is long gone.

The domain name (website) was created on Oct 31 2021 and the registration contact address is Reykjavik, Iceland

If I try to go to their website I get a malicious software warning.

Have you considered using a mutual trade as a benefit for you and the right person.

My thought is based on some things that you have said.
1. Boats of your preference are considerably less expensive on the east coast.
2. Motor vehicles in the west are currently extremely high perceived value. And, they are not used in the salt belt, so the they are in pretty high demand .

Are you starting to see where this is going?

3. If you find the right boat on the East Coast, float the idea that you have a pristine SUV that you might be interested in trading your car to him and his boat to you.
4. Net cost to you and him may be a wash, if you work it right.

As always, keep us informed how things are going.

Hey, I've decided not to pursue this boat. Thanks