Help me pick my next boat....

[niceguyeddie]

When I was looking last spring the 210 Hallett was on the top of my list. However I couldn't find one in a closed bow. My goal was a 21-23' boat, closed bow, I/o, not dated looking for around $20k. Ted at Boater's Outlet had a bitchin open bow that I came really close to pulling the trigger on. The seller wanted $18k. I fell in love with the gel coat design and it was well taken care of, but I was weary buying from Ted, the boat was in desperate need of a stereo and it was an open bow.

The only 22's I could find were Lasers which are a 21 with a molded in swim step and the only 23's I found were dated Eliminators and Cheetahs. Sorry I just cant get over teal and checkers.

The 21 Lavey Crafts are nice too and in this price range but everyone I found had a gel coat I hated.

I ended up buying another Ultra with a 502 and jet. It had a gel coat I really liked, closed bow, huge stereo and very low hours. Boat was very well taken care of! Oh and I bought it from a board member which made me feel a lil more at ease. I ended up having to put about $4500 into the boat: new headers, starter, 3 batteries, new tow cover, shift cable, interior lighting and a few other things I wanted.....annnnnd I had to drive to Norcal to get it. I'm pretty happy with the boat I got. I owned a 21 Shockwave Skier Open Bow jet w/ 454 previous to this one. My Ultra with the 502 has much more response, gets far better mpgs (no more smaller engine struggling to push the same weight) and cruises 55-60.

What I realized in my search is that it's really hard to find a clean boat that doesn't have a dated look for around $20k. All the good deals dried up. I shopped my ass off for months! I'd say for your price range call Jerry at Hallett. He always has boats coming in and out of there (especially 210s) and they actually go through the entire boat before selling it. My buddy bought a 28 Deck from Jerry and was very pleased with the process. You can find 210's all day long for around 20k. The only reason I didn't buy a Hallett was because I didn't want an open bow. For me it came down to whether I wanted an I/O or a closed bow...

Good luck.