Reader question:
What is the saltwater boat equivalent of a Volvo? i.e. what boats are (1) well-made, long-lasting, relatively low-maintenance, (2) comfortable without being conspicuously “luxurious”, (3) family-friendly, and (4) somewhere between inexpensive and expensive, when compared to comparable budget/luxury alternatives?
Regards.
Boston Whaler for sure
ReplyDeleteNo question - Boston Whaler Montauk 17' center console
ReplyDeleteIf it flies or floats, rent it. Definition of a money pit.
ReplyDeleteYou better be somewhat mechanical or have disposable income to maintain it.
Grew up working on wooden boats. It helps to be a previous owner.
Then there’s the old observation… There are three happy days in boating:
DeleteThe day you buy the boat. The day you put the boat in the water. The day you sell the boat. Anchors away !
Or, as the mayor (RIP) who brought Providence RI back to prominence said, “never buy when you can rent.”
DeleteThis reminds me of the two definitions of ocean racing...days of sheer boredom interspersed with hours of sheer terror and standing in a cold shower tearing up $100 bills.
DeleteAs to the title question, it is clearly the Boston Whaler.
My late father-in-law had several boats and an airplane. The boats had no recognizable names but the airplane was a Mooney. He also had the canvas covered wooden canoe that his parents used on their honeymoon somewhere in the Finger Lakes region of New York. I think it may have been an Old Town.
DeleteA Boston Whaler is the correct answer however, for arguments sake I would propose an Eastern 18 or vintage Mako 17, 19, 20 etc. Well built, can take a beating, timeless, respectable, and will always get you home (with or without your fillings)..
ReplyDeleteOld Bertram 31’ or 28’ would be my vote.
ReplyDeletea catboat
ReplyDeleteYes, absolutely!
DeleteGeneral Marine 20'-22', built by a guy in Maine One of the preferred first lobster boats for young, ambitious, hard-working lobster fisherman; they are also popular for recreational use when not lobstering. We see young families enjoying them rafted up with others with a Weber gas grill board in quiet coves on sunny Sunday afternoon. (They wouldn't caught dead in Whalers.) We got one of the early "GM 19s" in 1983 and had it for 25 years. Bulletproof.
ReplyDeleteI think we're back to the Yankee vs Prep conversation.
DeleteA Boston Whaler!
ReplyDeleteWe have a 13 foot Whaler and while they are super fun and classic, comfortable they are not. At least for grownups. I second the Eastern, Bertram and General Marine (Calvin Beal 22' is gorgeous) suggestions and add Edgewater.
ReplyDeleteAny flotsam that says HINCKLEY; sail or power...
ReplyDeleteYes, and then there's the flotsam saying "Herreshoff"...
DeleteA Marshall Catboat or the ever popular Nonesuch. Nonesuch's are so loved as classics there's a whole class devoted to them in the spring and fall Off Soundings Club races held in and around New London, Stonington, Block Island, Greenport and Dering Harbor Shelter Island.
ReplyDeletePS I should have written Nonsuch and Nonsuchs. Oops.
ReplyDeleteBeetle Cats and Lymans were the family boats on Bass River during the 1970’s.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised no one has mentioned Chris-Craft, although they weren't a New England company. Their boats seem to fit the qualifications. Some luxury, some less so, have been produced for a long time, everybody had to have one, and though still manufactured, are nothing like they used to be. Just like Maytag.
ReplyDeleteCape Dory Typhoon
ReplyDeleteWe have a classic model fiberglass hulled kid boat that we throw in the St. Lawrence River, Thousand Islands region, every year and every year I have a pit in my stomach regarding the numbers of $100 bills I'll be tearing up in that cold water all summer long. Will it be a new transom? Shorn pins? Another new prop? The wiring? The wood flooring finally gave in and sank? Someone finally breached the hull? Seriously. Who thought boats were a good idea anyway...
ReplyDeleteWest Pointer
ReplyDeleteSea Craft with the Potter Hull
ReplyDelete