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buying our first boat....could it be a checkmate?

S

spuds

New member
Hey all,

We're shopping for a boat to have at a newly acquired cottage. It will be used to pull folks on tubes, maybe skis, and tour around the lake. The lake is essentially round, about 3-4 miles across in any direction.

It has to fit in an 18 foot long boathouse, so it will likely be a 16' boat. And....(one of us...) wants a bowrider. Our budget tops out at $5000 (CDN). This puts us into late 1980's maybe early 90's examples of any sort of bowrider that are available.

Neither my wife or I have any boating experience other than using our dad's old aluminum boats with little outboards when we were kids. We both (well, maybe me more so than her) however appreciate sporty vehicles. We are level headed, fairly responsible folks.

I recall as a kid, up at the trailer-based campground where my family spent our summers, ocassionally these long, slender, sleek boats would show up. I recall how blown away I was by them. Having now spent a week or two scouring used boat ads, I believe that what I was seeing were examples of Checkmate boats.

Holy poop these things are gorgeous!! But, my wife, well, she needs to be convinced.

So, here on a Checkmate forum....do I dare ask? From what I've learned about checkmate, they are all about being hand-built (ergo higher quality?), and speed. Fine.

Would you buy one as your first boat? What makes these things so special (other than what I see so far?)
Thanks all
 
:welcome: I would buy a checkmate as my first or last boat. Being hand built is a great plus and if the boat has either been restored or well keep they are great machines. light and nimble compared to other boats. Also the factory can answer questions on just about any of the boats and the community here can help with just about any issue. also do not settle on a boat find the boat that is right for you.
 
:welcome: I don't think anybody around here is going to disagree with you about your taste in boats or try to steer you away.
 
Ya....likely very true Sim.

Thanks to those who responded----I will post back when we find "the" boat.
 
I loved my little Enticer. 16'6" with a 6" jackplate and about another 18" of motor and your right at 18'6". As many can attest I had my little boat on some pretty big water a number of times and that is one tough little boat. You just need to make sure you find a well loved one or you will have a resto on your hands.

I'll keep my eyes out for you.
 
Welcome to Checkmate Nation. You should be able to find a nice fun cool and reliable boat for 5k . Its a great time of year to be looking. Make sure you get a good test drive in . :thumb:
 
Welcome! Add your location to your profile. Maybe someone local to you knows oof something for sale.
 
DropTop5.0 said:
I loved my little Enticer. 16'6" with a 6" jackplate and about another 18" of motor and your right at 18'6". As many can attest I had my little boat on some pretty big water a number of times and that is one tough little boat. You just need to make sure you find a well loved one or you will have a resto on your hands.

I'll keep my eyes out for you.
Click to expand...
An excellent recommendation. Based on the Predictor with a bow
cut out for more people-room. I loooved my old Predictor.
With a swing-away tongue on the trailer you're right in your
parameters.
Seek out! Report back.
Avoid other brand botes. They are evil.:devil:
And will shrink your testicularness. I've heard.
 
:welcome:I am a new member as well.
They will help you out here, good to no for later on in cash you have any boat or motor issues.

Good luck with finding your boat. Try and get new as possible to avoid having to do rebuild.
 
:welcome:Make sure you check the boat over well. In that year span you're searching there may be some with rot issues. You will need to check the transom, floor stringers and core for rot.
 
Thanks all for the continued feedback.

That MN example is certainly a looker, and seems to be in really good condition cosmetically....looks really cared for.

We are in Ottawa Ontario. There is a blue '91 Enticer open bow with 115 Merc a couple of hours away that caught my eye as I was scouring the used boat classifieds, which started this whole Checkmate curiosity.

http://ontario.kijiji.ca/c-cars-veh...rboats-motorboats-Fun-boat-W0QQAdIdZ518964751
http://wwwa.autotrader.ca/a/Checkma...Ontario/19_7444366_/?ms=boats&showcpo=ShowCPO

Haven't gone to see it yet as I was trying to pre-determine its overall length---if it's too long to be parked in the boathouse, well.....step one I guess then is to build a bigger boathouse right???!!!!

Thanks too for the looking for looking for rot tip.

Droptop's reply mentioning the enticer's length was sadly helpful....18'6" is gonna be awfully tight in that little house. Alas, perhaps this ends my search for a Checkmate.

ah, but wait...didn't they once make a little 13 footer? Maybe it came as an open bow too? Ya...somehow my belly tells me no.

In any event, fun to shop for toys.
 
They make a 16 but with an outboard hanging off the back it's gonna be close even without a jack plate. Maybe an I/O version? It'll take away some interior room but may give you the room outside you need. Oh, and the little one was called a Playmate and only came closed bow. Maybe an MX-13 or MX-15 if you can find one but then you are getting into really old stuff and they are closed bow too.

John
 
:welcome: My MX-16 is 19' tip of bow to tip of cavitation plate with a 6" jack plate.

picture.php
 
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