BOATING Consider reason for purchase

Smart shopping pays off for boat buyers
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
MIAMI -- Memo to first-time boat buyers: There are no brakes -- or turn signals.
But there are thousands of other bells and whistles that might help get you out on the water and back safely.
And many will be on display at the 63rd Miami International Boat Show, which ends Tuesday, a major event designed to boost an industry that generates about $30 billion in business annually in the United States.
Before you start peeling off the hundred-dollar bills, think about why you're buying a boat. Then consider storage, financing, insurance, fuel, maintenance, new or used, power or sail and how to avoid getting stuck in shallow water (or, in nautical terms, running aground).
The biggest mistake people make, Keith Ammons said, is buying the wrong boat.
"They want to fish, and they buy a boat for water sports," he said.
Ammons' job at the show is to run the Discover Boating Center in C Lobby of the Miami Beach Convention Center and keep customers from making those mistakes. Known as "The Boating Guy," he works for the show's producer, the National Marine Manufacturer's Association, and is on hand to answer all questions about boating without recommending any particular product.
Asks questions
He first asks three questions:
U What do you want to do -- fish, spend the night or go for an afternoon outing with the family?
U Where do you want to do your boating -- fresh water, saltwater, along the coast, at a lake?
U What kind of budget do you have?
Then he can pick a category and give a list of manufacturers.
If you have small children and just want to have fun for the day, he suggests a bowrider or deckboat. They have lots of room for family and friends and are good for tooling around the calmer waters of Biscayne Bay or the Intracoastal. The kids can go swimming off the back.
The price can range from $10,000 to $40,000 for these 17-to-22-footers.
Heavier, more powerful boats will get you over to the islands. The entry-level might come with a 130-hp sterndrive engine and some electronics. For $40,000, you get a more powerful engine, nice cushions and other equipment.
Engines can be outboard, inboard or sterndrive. Each has pluses and minuses on basic cost, fuel consumption, noise level and ease of maintenance.
"Buy something as multipurpose as possible," said David Witty, senior vice president, southeast, for MarineMax, the nation's largest boating retailer. "We're taking your living room out in hot salty water, shaking it up and then putting it away and not using it for three weeks."
If trying to involve your family, you'll want something that can go fishing or cruising, said Witty, who's based in Miami.
One of the great misconceptions in Florida, he said, is that you need a 22-foot boat with a little cabin. It's hot here. You're not likely to spend the night in an unair-conditioned cabin rarely used for anything but storage.
Family recommendation
For a family with kids, he'd also recommend a sundeck-style boat, sort of an SUV versus a bowrider, which he likens to a sports car.
Capt. Dennis Forgione, who owns the charter boat Free Spool, based at Haulover Inlet, suggests that buyers do a little research about the manufacturer before buying.
"It's so easy to just go to a show," he said. "All boat-show boats look great. Spontaneous buying is a mistake."
Open all the hatches, and examine a boat carefully. Even if you're not sure what you're looking at, you can recognize good or poor workmanship.
"They can make boats look real pretty on the outside," Forgione said.
And make sure you get the price of everything. Some boats don't always come with electronics or safety equipment, which can be thousands more.
And if you want to work with a broker, "find one you're really comfortable talking to, just like you would in real estate," said J.B. Marshall, a yacht captain and broker with Marshall Marine Group of Pompano Beach.
"Every boat's a compromise to your situation. Find the boat with the least amount of compromises."
And keep resale in mind.
"You're probably going to sell," Marshall said. "It's not important to you at the time you're buying," but it will be.
Used-boat prices
There are books and websites -- just as for used cars -- on used-boat prices. Brokers have access to recent sales figures as well.
Marshall also suggests that you deal with someone who has marine credentials, who's been around boats and the water for a while.
And once you've decided to buy, "a safe boating course would be a really good idea," Forgione said.
If buying a sailboat, take a short sailing course to learn the basics. The Marine Industries Association of South Florida offers information at www.miasf.org on boating-safety and other courses offered through such organizations as the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and the U.S. Power Squadron.
MarineMax will spend as much time with a customer as needed, Witty said, adding: "We ask you to reserve at least a half-day when you take delivery."
You will be walked through the systems on board so that you can see -- and try -- how everything operates.
Then go out on the water.
"Paying a captain for half a day is sometimes the best money you can spend," Witty said.
A captain can show you how to operate the boat and provide local knowledge about the waterways, such as the locations of dangerous inlets, shallow spots or channel markers or how to get a bridge tender's attention.
Offering seminars
To round out the buying experience, the boat show, for the first time, will offer seminars on tax and estate issues for boat owners.
"Everybody who's buying a boat probably should consider some sort of corporate ownership to protect their other assets," said Eldridge Blanton, an estate lawyer in Richmond, Va., who will be presenting the seminars with James Nici, a lawyer from Naples.
Blanton is also going to deal with offshore corporations, especially for bigger boats, to limit an owner's liability in case of accidents or other problems.
Among those problems might be an operator who doesn't know how to stop. Advice from the pros: Start slowing down well before you have to, and, if necessary, put the boat in neutral or reverse.