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I live on the water and see the daily boat traffic. The people with the big boats, rarely leave the moorage or their boat houses. If they do, the go a mile or two and anchor up.

They spend more time in their dinghies, floating around, visiting neighbors, going to the local floating cafes, swimming on the beaches. All their fun is in their small boats.

The middle sized boaters, the 25-30 foot cabin cruisers, the same thing, towing the dinghy that they actually spend more time in.

The small boaters, 17 and under, you see them doing the same thing, full of people and critters, out every nice day enjoying the river.

People always want a bigger boat but they end up having all their fun in the small boats.

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I agree. I just can't get my spouse to feel the same. It's probably a status thing.

I see huge boats all around me and I think I couldn't enjoy life more than when I am in my 13 Sport. It takes them more gas to get started than I use all day. Talk about "green"!

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I think the closer you are to the water in your boat, the more fun you have and you do it much more often.

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Totally agree, I've had my boat out every day after work except today for the last week and a half. Small boats just make it way easier.

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For sure. Typically the smaller the boat the less complicated most everything is. I own a beautifully re-fit 1970 classic 16' but still enjoy getting on a river in my canoe more than dealing with trailering, launching bouncing accross a crowded local lake then retreiving and trailering bck home. Might not be cpmparing apples to apples but is another example of bigger-isn't-always-better.

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I agree that folks in small boats have the most fun. The fellow mariners on our dock watch us come and go. Theyre always interested about our adventures and compliment us about our Dauntless. We have observed that only a small percentage of boaters actually use their rigs. Well I can say that our boat doesnt set long enough for ocean growth to buildup on the bottom .

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People in the bigger boats these days may be having trouble affording gas or diesel fuel. If you're burning 25 or more gallons per hour, that's at least $100/hour. I see the folks sitting in their big boats at the marinas every weekend.

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Well this topic is one that I am very fimiliar with right now. I just bought a 24' rampage express. This is after 3 years of running around in my 13 whaler. The ONLY thing that the big boat gets me is that it extends the amount of time I can be on the water. With 2 small kids now that need to take naps and one that needs to be breast fed I found myself needing somwhere for that to happen. The cuddy cabin on the rampage makes the perfect spot for this and it also has a porta potti which the other half loves.

So do I have MORE fun on the bigger boat? NO
Does it allow me to have the SAME amount of fun for longer or with more people? YES

P.S.
I had my 13 for sale for about 2 weeks before I realized I would be making a HUGE mistake.

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I'm still looking for "THE" Revenge 22 for my family. But after pulling the Montauk out of the slip for the season, I realized that it is such an easy boat to deal with...so, unless an amazing deal on a Revenge 22 comes through, we're fine with the 17'. Yes, my wife would like a Porta Potty, and I would like to be able to go out further whenever we wanted...but, putting around inshore on a beautiful summer day can't be be beat with an easily maintained and inexpensive small boat!

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Been there done that but never was a dockominium. Friday eve arrive at the 27 or 32 feet M/V (we changed to a 32' because it had more room and a galley and 2 inboard engines instead of 1) both were slipped. Down the river onto Lake Michigan, eat dinner, watch sunset, back to slip, watch a movie, sleep get up Saturday morning, wait for guests, spend day on the water, swimming, fishing, touring, back to slip for Saturday night, do it all over on Sunday except for sunset. We did that for many years from April to November here in Michigan. Then the gasoline price and slip/storage were getting out of hand so I changed to a 32' sailboat again with all the comforts from home. (this wasn't camping) All the while we had our dinghy (14' Achilles with 25HP Evinrude 2S) towing behind for more fun and beaching.
Then the admiral said enough with these bigger boat I love the Achilles let us get rid of the sailboat.
I wanted something that drove a little dryer on the water and would extend my season here in Michigan longer that a blowup boat that was great (and still is) for nice warm weather.
Sold the sailboat replaced it with what i thought was one of the better and safe trailerable boats a Boston Whaler, wanted a 17' Montauk but at that time tow vehicle couldn't handle the 17' so ended up with a 15-1/2 foot Montak. Which is a great boat and we seeing a lot more of the boating country.
Bottom line not all big boaters don't boat 3% do boat and therefore have more fun especially when the boat is paid for. I can honestly say that I had as much if not more fun big cabin cruiser sailing/boating plus being a bigger boat it kept me always busy year around doing something for the boat.
Now I just trailer it to where I want to boat, turn the key boat, trailer it back, park it and do it all over each weekend as long as the weather is good. (No hiding in a cozy cabin from the weather)

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I agree so much with the sentiment expressed in this thread. I love rowing around in my Nutshell Pram and Kayak. The 1975 Montauk is an extension of that less-is-more philosophy. Then again I may just be attempting to rationalize away the fact that I will never own a 40 footer!