posted 06-20-2006 02:11 PM ET (US)            

- Fishing – I have fished for walleye in Lake Erie; salmon in Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, and the St. Clair River; and flounder in Intracoastal Waterway in North Carolina. When fishing for salmon, I use two downriggers with gimble mounts in the outside rear rodholders. The boat is comfortable for 3 adult fisherman. Although I have a livewell under the reversible pilot seat, I rarely use if for holding fish. I tried it once while walleye fishing, but water kept coming over the top edge and leaking into the cockpit area. The livewell is now used primarily for dry storage. I also have a baitwell in the port transom area. I have used it a couple of time for live bait, and it works well.

- Tubing/Skiing – I have used my boat to pull my nephews around on tube on a couple of different small lakes. My nephews were 8 and 11 at the time, and the boat performed well. With regard to skiing, I have attempted to pull somebody on two skis, but that person was not successful in getting up. This was because the person was a poor skier, not because of any problem with the boat. Nobody has attempted to slalom ski behind my boat, but I think it would be a lot of work for a 250 skier to get up on one ski. A 150 hp motor would be better suited to that task. Otherwise, a large skier can use two skis to get up, and then drop one.

- Scuba Diving – My wife and I have used the boat as a scuba diving platform in Lake Huron, Lake Charlevoix, and Union Lake, all in Michigan. The boat is well-suited to this task. There is plenty of room for our scuba gear and two tanks each, as well as plenty of room for both of us to get suited up. Any more than two divers and would be getting crowded.

- Boating/Cruising – I have used the boat in all types of water for boating and cruising, including Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, the St. Clair River, Lake Erie, several inland lakes of varying sizes, Lake Murray in South Carolina, and the Intracoastal Waterway and the Cape Fear River in North Carolina. The boat will comfortably seat four to five adults when cruising, and will handle six if necessary, although it gets a little crowded with six. The hull design makes the boat good for boating in relatively shallow water. Also, the boat performs fairly well in moderately choppy conditions.

- Duck Hunting – I used the boat once as a tender boat on a layout duck hunt in Lake St. Clair. While the guys I hunted with certainly appreciated the comfort of my boat, they didn’t care much about treating my boat gently. More damages was done to my boat that one day in terms of nicks and scratches then was done in all of the other days I’ve owned put together. The boat performed well, but took a beating.

I have had a few minor problems with the boat and motor during my four years of ownership. All of these were easily/cheaply fixed, and none of them resulted in the loss of any boating time. These included the following:

- A cross-threaded spark plug hole – It was not clear whether this was my fault or the fault of my dealership. However, Mercury provided a free replacement cylinder head by overnight mail, and the dealership only charged me for the labor to replace it. This took approximately two days to repair.

- Lag screws on the center console – the center console is held to the deck/hull by approximately seven lag screws. The head of one of my lag screws has broken off. The other lag screws would often vibrate loose. I have remedied this by removing the remaining lag screws, applying some 3M 4200, and reinserting the lag screws. So far this appears to be working.

- Delamination of the fold-up stern seat – the original fold-up stern seat on my boat was made of two separate pieces of fiberglass. After a few years, they began to split apart, and there was a large, visible, and very unsightly gap along the top edge of the seat. Boston Whaler replaced the seat back free of charge, under warranty, with an updated version. The problem has not returned.

I have also had a number of small fit-and-finish type issues. These include:

- Rod holder straps on the gunwale-mounted rod holders - All of the plastic hardware on the gunwale-mounted rod holders appears to be badly sun-faded, even though my boat is stored in my garage. One day while working with the rod holder strap, it broke off near the mounting point. This may be the result of a deterioration of the material due to ultraviolet exposure, or it may simply have been because the piece is made of relatively thin plastic.

- Boston Whaler steering wheel cap/emblem – the steering wheel cap is held in place by small set screw. The set screw came loose after about a year and half, and the cap fell out while I was boating. I put the cap back in place and re-tightened the screw, and the cap remained in place for the next couple of years. Last month, however, the screw apparently came loose while I was pulling the boat down the highway, and the cap flew out. I am currently waiting for a replacement cap from dealer.

- Plastic cooler tie-down clips – my boat has the comfort package, which includes a removable cooler seat. The cooler is held in place by nylon webbing straps with plastic buckles. The buckles are very easy to break by stepping on them, and it is very difficult to find replacement buckles. The buckles are one-inch dual ladderloc buckles, which are sometimes available at West Marine. I have checked numerous other on-line sources and various hiking and camping supply stores, and while they all carry single ladderloc buckles, the dual ladderloc buckles are almost impossible to find. The whalerparts.com web page does not list a separate part number for the buckles, and it appears that in order to get them from Boston Whaler, you would need to order the entire cooler seat mounting assembly. I was able to track down the manufacturer of the buckles, but they will only sell them in lots of 1,000. I just need one.

posted 06-20-2006 06:59 PM ET (US)            

I love this boat for cruising, and it is even well setup for small children. we recently spent the day on lake ouachita (arkansas) with my children (5 and 1). fyi this is a 40,000 acre inland lake with a fair amount of chop from wakes on summer weekends. the high gunnels and seating are a big plus if you are expecting children.

as many have posted, the ride is greatly improved by addition of at least a hydrofoil. ( . .doelfin. . .se300 on mine).

i'm not sure you will be pleased pulling a 250 lb waterskier behind most post-classic whalers, as they don't seem to be maximally powered. back when i skied, we used 350 v8 i/o's to pull 250 lbs of slalom skier. the boat tends to ride bow high, and this will further complicate getting up and getting the boat on-plane. honestly, i would want 200 hp on a boat like this to waterski. perhaps others have had specific experiences skiing behind this boat, and they might be more helpful.

overall i'm very pleased, but would be hesitant if your primary focus is waterskiing.

as far as pricing, i expect you will pay over 20000 for the boat you mention. mine was 15000 last year. . .good condition, freshwater use only with top, comfort and fishing packages. I would watch boattrader.com and consider comparable models in size. . .nantucket, ventura 18. whalers seem popular in the great lakes region. . .so i would look for a freshwater boat there.

posted 06-26-2006 09:30 PM ET (US)            

I use mine mainly for fishing, but also for water sports (swimming, snorkling, skiing, tubing) etc. I do a lot of inshore and nearshore fishing, and it can handle just about any kind of water. You may not be comfortable in some conditions, but the boat can certainly take it.

Mine's a 1998, and I like the layout of the hull. It has a stern bench seat, but you can take it out (unlike the newer hulls). 90% of the time, I don't have the bench seat in.

I would make some changes to the hull if I had my way. First, I don't like the cheapo reversible pilot seat. The RPS on the classics is much nicer and more functional. I also don't like the plastic cooler cleats (cheapo). In my opinion, the console is too close to the RPS, making it difficult to stand up while operating the boat unless you have one prop your right knee on the RPS. But all of those things can be changed. Of course, I bought mine used, and got it for much less than I would have paid for a new one, so I'm probably more tolerant of these imperfections that someone who spent over $30K for a new one.

posted 06-29-2006 09:57 PM ET (US)            

More than anything, I think the storage it offers versus some of the other Whalers I've been look in to (Montauk mainly) is what is leaning me in its direction. Of course the price tag is a little steep at $42k on the one I saw at MarineMax. Is $40k going to be about the norm for one of these off the lot? If I could find one new or slightly used in the low to mid $30k's I would definitely have a better chance talking the wife into it :-).