Muskoka

Hi guys,

I'm starting to research old ski boats. I'm spending more time up north, and I'm sick of skiing behind super heavy i/o boats. Plus, I have two little boys who will likely be getting into watersports in the coming years. New ski/watersport boats are crazy expensive, and frankly, I don't want a boat with a bunch of gizmo's. Solid design/hull/engine with minimal extras. So I'm looking around at old (~circa 2000) Mastercraft, Ski Nautique or Malibu boats. My question for any of you who have these types of boats, or have done some research, is mainly around engine/throttle.

Do any of you have experience with these types of boats? Any links, or thoughts on what the most reliable motor is? I'm basically looking for the 350 smallblock chevy of boat engines.

There is so much less literature on used boats as used cars...

Any thoughts and experiences would be appreciated. And, before I get the question, yes, I'll sign up to the boat forums too

Imo000

Can you do all your work that an older boat might need?

There is a saying "A boat owner is the happiest twice......The first and the last day of ownership! This is exceptionally true where the work had to be paid for. I had a boat for 4 years but I did all my work and loved it.

Muskoka

Can? Maybe. Will? no. I'm happy to do spark plugs and replace filters when needed. What I want to avoid is any engine that has notorious failures.

That's why I'm looking for a basic, mechanical boat. good hull design, solid engine, limited/no electronics/ballast/wake shaping/heaters/fancy tower, etc.

steam_mill

Dedicated ski boats are great for skiing and with a tower for wake boarding, The pretty much suck for anything else. My neighbour has a Malibu. Stroked 350. Gorgeous boat. He bought new in 2003. He skis every morning and even spends a week in Florida for skiing.

personally, I dislike I/O’s. Gimbal bearing, bellows, complicated winterizing. I am an outboard guy. Boat has a proper ski pole used for all matters of water sport. The kids scream. If I need to make a big boy ski, I have a lower pitched prop that will tear your arms from shoulders.

if your boys really get into water sports, I would be looking at wake board boat with tower and bladders. Most are I/O or jet. If they are just out to goof around, I would stick with an outboard. Much more maneuverable and easy to maintain.

There are 3 Malibu boats within site of my cottage. They also set up a dedicated ski circuit for the season. Bare footing stopped a couple of years ago when the boys turned 50. Unfortunately, I stopped skiing as a teen when my hip deteriorated leading to a hip replacement at 34.

991.2 GTS

My brother’s situation is similar with two young kids 6 and 8. His thinking was similar to yours to go with a used wake or ski boat. In the end this year he broke the bank and went with a new V Drive “Wake Surf” boat, which does all of the above plus is setup for making big Surf. Wake Surfing is the latest thing and your kids will want in on it as well soon enough. Also Wake Surfing is slow and much easier older bodies. He knew if he didn’t go with a boat with Wake Surf ability he’d be selling it the next year. These are just notes that I took from his purchase, I’m a PWC guy with two newer Waverunner FXs that I spend my time on the water. As commented ski and wake boats are purpose built and not great for speed or cruising.

Ksdaoski

Hard to beat a Mastercraft. Engines and transmissions seldom have issues as long as basic maintenance, nothin to worry about there.

Direct drive will be better for skiing, but at bad in choppy water
V drive will be better for wakeboarding or surfing and handle chop much better

991.2 GTS

Our new V Drive boat has an Indmar Raptor 6.2 litre. At 10 Hours I did all the Fluids with my extractor; 8 litres of Engine Oil & filter, 1 litre of Tranny Fluid & 1 litre of Gear Oil for the V Drive. It's not very hard to do basic maintenance. Winterization looks easy too as the engine is closed loop, there are just 5 places to drain the open loop section and they are all marked with Blue Tags. For extra insurance I'd still run some RV antifreeze into the open loop

Turbodan

great idea. I also have been looking at the same. nautique, mastercraft can't really go wrong. I disagree about these boats not being good for other uses. I have spent many many hours on these and they are great for most purposes. maybe not for crossing Lake Ontario in heavy chop. Go with a brand name and you will be able to resell when done. Very reliable too. I used to teach water skiing and nothing compares to a competition boat. You should go by Mcclintocks in Cambridge (lake Punslinch) and talk to them but their boats are too new and $. For under 20k you should be able to get a boat with a solid hull (most important thing), for an older model.
Rennlist ski day?

Henley1

air nautique 216. 330pcm. work horse of a boat. can pull anything. awsome for cruising after dinner. get a good one less then 45k. perfect pass. and so on. build quality is great. mine has not one stitch pulled out. never misses a beat.

steam_mill

I can host. Would love see a bunch of Porsche’s at the cottage.

Muskoka

Thanks guys. Don't have to worry about the other capabilities. Agreed on mastercraft and nautique. Not really thinking of v drive, as we have an inboard/outboard, and a major purpose of this boat is to have a decent boat to ski behind.

Cosmo Kramer

B - Break
O - Out
A - Another
T - Thousand

Heard this many times on my recent trip down the Trent Canal haha.

BIG smoke

As kid, a ski boat had the smallest wave. Kona, sidewinder, Mastercraft.
Now ski boats are wakeboard based. Towers, tanks, stereo's and waves 3 feet high.
Those waves roll over the top of my dock and sink my boats. While I appreciate the tech, why do they always have to be off my dock?

If you are looking at a Y2K boat. Get it inspected. If it was a floating boat, there is going to be some osmosis. A trailer queen, should have a trailer included.
If your shopping? Get out of Muskoka. Muskoka tax is real. But at the same time, the bloom is off the rose for a water ski boat. You should be able to find a nice one.
I bet even the boat dealers don't want them. I was tubing with the kids in August. In the bay were 4 wakeboard boats. My passenger was a wakeboard boat aficionado.
He said one of the boats was $500k .
https://www.thecove.ca/inventory/200...-1h0-10697932i $25k
https://www.thecove.ca/inventory/201...-1h0-10669916i $105k
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-powerboat-mo...9303?undefined 25k

My brother has an X9. It does most things... ok. I think the dealer just offered him $35k on trade.

Muskoka

Thanks. Good point on Muskoka.

The thing I don't know, is say that Mastercraft you shared for $25k. Firstly, I have no idea what an MCX motor is, nor how expensive it is to maintain or how reliable it is. There doesn't seem to be a sample size big enough to really understand how good these motors are. Secondly, it still has all those ballasts and electronics, which seem like they will just break all the time (i suppose I could just not fix them, as long as leaking isn't the issue).

I'll never own a moomba. I've skied and wakeboarded behind them, and they were always terrible. May as well go behind the inboard/outboard.

Muskoka

anybody hosting a ski day, I'll be there! that would be awesome.

Just did some more research. There is some good traffic on the Mastercraft forums. The MCX appears to be a 350 smallblock chevy, which is great, but also, the shower option runs off the same system as the water that cools the motor. So if the shower messes up, your engine overheats... weird.