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Living on a Houseboat
The 1960s and 70s was a time for hippies, disco, tie-dye, bell-bottom jeans, the fight for equality, and you guessed it, houseboats. OK, so maybe you didn’t guess houseboats, but during this time period there were actually three manufacturers leading the way for the growth of the industry: Sumerset… [more]
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Five Overlooked Used Runabout Brands
Before you label me a flip-flopper, yes, I have previously in this space advocated focusing your search on big name brands. And that's still a good approach. However, like any skilled politician (if you can think of one) will tell you — I’m not a flip-flopper. I just adjust my opinion based on new… [more]
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Bottom Stripping Basics
Scene 1: A kitchen, springtime. A couple sits drinking coffee. Man (looking miserable): “I can’t hold out any longer. It’s been years.” Woman: “What has, dear?” Man: “There’s no way I can keep covering it up. It’s embarrassing as hell.” Woman (alarmed): “What? What’s going… [more]
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AIS for Boaters: Part 1
“When was the most scared you’ve ever been aboard a boat?” I get asked that question a lot, and every single time I remember a cold November evening in 1994 when a 40-knot gale frothed up the mouth of Chesapeake Bay during a boat delivery to Miami, FL. But it wasn’t the weather that was… [more]
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Boat Trailers 101: Materials, Brakes, Hardware
You might think a trailer is a trailer is a trailer. Uh, no. Like so many other products, the quality of trailers varies widely, and if you look closely in all the right places, you can spot the differences. As simple as it sounds, a decent rule of thumb when trailer shopping is, “you get what you… [more]
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Towing Safety: The Art of Getting There
Of course, we all want to get on the water as soon as possible. That leads to hurrying, which in turn leads to mistakes. So while the water is frozen (at least for a lot of us), let’s pause for a moment to consider our routine in packing and setting off for a day or weekend of boating. We've covered… [more]
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Choosing a Boat: Ski and Wakeboard Boat Pros and Cons
It has been said time and again that all boats are compromises. That logic applies probably most pointedly to tow boats: ski boats and wakeboard boats, and we can now add wake-surf boats to the equation, too. Tow boats are so purpose-built that it’s practically impossible to use them for anything… [more]
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High-Tech Towboat Electronics
Over the last several years, a quiet revolution has been taking place on the dashboards of premium towboats, industry-wide. Virtually all of them, it seems, are now available with digital displays with the capability of not only aiding in navigation, but also controlling nearly every system on the boat.… [more]
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Replumbing Your Used Boat Engine
You never know what you’ll find when you open the engine hatch on a used boat. One thing you can count on finding is the need to replace a few items. Hoses and fittings are usually among them, because typically the last guy to touch them was the one who installed them—at the factory. These are critical… [more]
Latest Posts

FINAL RESULTS: Boat Trader’s Inaugural ‘Boating Madness’: Finding America’s Favorite Boat Brand
April 3, 2018 by Staff · Leave a Comment
Editor's Note: Boat Trader's Editorial Team will be consistently updating this story to share the results from the inaugural Boating Madness tournament. This will be your new headquarters for all recaps … [Read More...]

Skater 388 is Offshore Racer’s Dream Pleasure Boat
March 30, 2018 by Matt Trulio · Leave a Comment
A former offshore powerboat racing world champion, Danny DeSantis has owned every catamaran model Skater Powerboats in Douglas, Mich., has ever built—except the coveted 388. The 38-footer, which is based … [Read More...]

Where to Sell Your Boat Online
March 23, 2018 by John Burnham · Leave a Comment
To sell your boat, you only need one buyer, but if you are like most sellers, you’ll need an online advertisement with local, national, or even international reach. Editor's Note: This article … [Read More...]

Best Spring Break Destinations for Watersports Junkies
March 16, 2018 by Brett Becker · Leave a Comment
The very words “spring break” conjure images of campy 1980s movies featuring beer-swilling co-eds in board shorts and bikinis. Of course, it might still mean the same thing to a new generation of co-eds—Ah, … [Read More...]

Scout 355 LXF Review
March 9, 2018 by Lenny Rudow · Leave a Comment
It’s fair to say that upon its introduction in 2014, the Scout 350 LXF was a ground-breaking boat, yet just a few short years later it’s already being topped by the 355 LXF. What was so new in 2014—the … [Read More...]

Boat Trader’s Inaugural ‘Boating Madness’: Bracket Revealed
March 1, 2018 by Staff · Leave a Comment
We’re proud to announce the bracket for the inaugural Boat Trader Boating Madness, which can be downloaded here. The seeding was straight-forward. We pulled the top 64 brands on Boat Trader by detail … [Read More...]