2 replies to this topic

[Andrew123]

I have been hunting for some advice about buying a boat. I have seen the Islandia Sea Doo boat which looks to me really great and perfect for my needs, but i really don't know much about the pro's and con's of buying this boat vs the other Sea Doos (eg the Challenger series) or other brands. can anyone give me some advice? i want a boat for a freshwater lake in South Carolina where i have just recently bought a house; The boat is for recreational purposes eg water ski-ing and trips around the lake. Will probably only be used 7 weeks per year over the summer holidays.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Andrew

[Kevin Leclair]

Have a look at this, http://www.sea-doo.c....Of.Boating.htm. This should help learn more about how SeaDoo's are different versus other boats. If you decide you want to go with a jet boat then it will be up to you to decide which model meets you needs. All the boats in the SeaDoo lineup are great boats, it just matters what is most important to you.

For example our needs were to get a larger boat from our 160 Speedster without spending a significant amount more and still sticking with a SeaDoo, which is why we went to the 180 Challenger. This boat has ample storage and seats 8 passengers so it was a no brainer for us.

If you are looking for something larger then I would suggest like you are considering, the Islandia. Others comparable in size would be the 230 Challenger and the 230 Wake. If you are going to be doing a lot of wake boarding then I would recommend the 230 Wake, if not stick with the 230 Challenger or Islandia so you don't waste the extra money that you are not going to be using. Hope this helps some.

[keviseeb]

Andrew, step one is to decide how many people you want to accomodate, once you decide your needs in that area then you can narrow it down; 5 to 8 people would put you in a 180 Challenger, 200 Speedster, or 205 Utopia. Select between them based on performance and budget. If you will be going out with over 8 people then the Islandia and 230 Challenger are the 2 to chose from. Both of those perform the same assuming you opt for the 430 HP package in the 230, the Islandia has the 430 HP package anyway. For skiing and wakeboarding the Islandia is easier to use because of the transom ski pole and walk through. One consideration is to decide whether you want to "be in the wind" or sit behind a windshield. Many people don't give that the thought it deserves, lots of cruising calls for a windshield, short distance travel for local skiing or boarding may aim you at a 200 Speedster for example. If skiing or boarding is not important then the 180 Challenger or 205 Utopia might be choices as neither has a pop up ski pole as all of the other models do. Save room in the budget for toys and maintenance, total seasonal maintenance for a twin engine is under $400 and for a single engine under $300. Good luck and safe boating!

Kevin Seeber
Kingsland Marine