Lowest maintenance boat - does it exist?

"Sure, low maintenance boats exist - those are the ones that never gets used" - famous quote by me, 10 December 2020 😅

I have a dinghy. It's a Raeline 3.2 metre fibreglass job with a 9.9hp Mariner outboard which cost me $2400 on a reg'd and wof'd galvanised road trailer. Goes fine with just me in it but add another person and all of a sudden it won't get up 'on the plane'. That's fine if we are fishing close to our launch location but not much good if we want to go further afield. My friend has a slightly longer aluminium dinghy with an 18hp Tohatsu outboard. His goes much faster (and gets up on the plane) even with 2 people in it, but he paid more for it.

I'm also a 50% owner of an 18.5 foot Bayliner Capri ski boat with a 4.3litre V6 210hp Mercruiser sternleg. I've co-owned it for 10 years which has been great because whenever it's needed money spent on it, I've only ever had to come up with half the cash lol. I own it with my best friend of 40 years and we do everything together anyway, so owning a boat together has been no hassle, but it's not a solution for everyone I guess. The last thing you want is to share a boat with someone who hogs the use of it or worse, continually damages it.

But I digress. I've had plenty of boats in my time and it all comes down to what you want versus what you need versus what you can afford (both upfront and in terms of upkeep). From what I read into your post above, you may have originally wanted a dinghy, but you also want to carry up to 5 people - which automatically cancels out most dinghy sized boats.

That places you firmly in the small runabout category. First up, for someone starting out I'd recommend something like an old Fi-Glass Fireball. They are on the smaller end but as the original design is quite old they are generally cheap(ish) to get into. The thing is they come with a variety of engine options. The really cheap ones might still have the original motor from 40 years ago - I'd probably stay away from those. Ideally you want one with a newer motor - at least late 80's - which in my opinion strikes a good balance between price and reliability. Here is an example of a cheap one, but that motor is positively prehistoric so not something I'd go for. Personally when I was starting out with my first powerboat, I looked for a tired hull that I could do some basic tidying up on, but with the newest motor I could afford.

Transmissions? Well yes even small outboards have gearboxes - they all generally have forward and reverse gears and a lever to switch between the two. I've never heard of an automatic though....

For the record, 50 hours of motor running between servicing represents a lot of time for the average person. We use the Bayliner all the time over summer (we have a bach by a large lake), but a lot of "use" is when it's parked up on the beach. I'd be very surprised if between both owners we even managed to clock up 50 hours of engine running over an entire year.

And yes, whilst a dinghy motor of 10-20hp can be removed from the boat and carried into the service centre, anything bigger than that is usually permanently attached to your boat so you have to take the whole rig in for servicing. Even if you could remove them, they weigh a tonne so why would you want to? Just tow the whole rig in for servicing.

Boat trailers are exempt from continuous registration, so you can keep the registration on hold indefinitely if you aren't using it on the road. WOF is a bit more tricky - some boaties take the risk of not wof'ing the trailer if they only take it on the road just to get it serviced. But also worth mentioning that you need to service the trailer too. The number 1 cause of boat trailer accidents is due to failed wheel bearings. They get wet everytime you back into the water, and they are usually hot from driving when you do that, which results in water being drawn into the bearings. I recommend bearing buddies which keep your bearings well lubricated and semi dry, but you need to check for bearing wear regularly. It's worth learning how to change bearings yourself to save serious money.

And don't forget safety. Lifejackets that fit everyone onboard, a fire extinguisher, 2 forms of communication (cellphone in a ziplock bag and a handheld VHF radio) paddles/oars - even on a power boat, and a Coastguard membership. And always tell someone where you're going and when you'll be back.

And for Pete's sake learn the "rules of the road" on water. The number of boaties (and particularly jetskiers) who barrel towards me coming up the wrong side of the river is truly terrifying. For the record, if you are travelling along a river for example, you should be on the right hand side, and people going the other way should pass to your left (ie it's the opposite of the actual road). The Coastguard has online courses you can do if you are a complete novice or have no experienced friends to learn off.

If you want to know more please ask. I don't pretend to know it all but I've grown up sailing competitively and worked on the Interislander for years, so I guess I know more than a lot of people, particularly when it comes to safety at sea.

Batman

Wheelbarrow01