RV vs Boat? - Thoughts?

I've probably come full circle on this because 20 years ago I bought my first cruiser and rented a slip at a marina. That led to the purchase of waterfront property on which I built a home and boat dock. Sold that a few years ago, bought a pickup and a travel trailer and go down to the coast a lot (Matagorda Bay and Mustang Island) for a week or two at a time and play on the beach or fish. We log about 40-50 nights a year that way and every time we do so I benchmark our stay at state or LCRA or COE parks against the cost of a local Holiday Inn Express. As of last month the travel trailer paid for itself in hotel savings alone and we get to sleep in our own bed every night.

BUT - this month I am buying another cruiser and will keep it in a slip at a local marina. I'm not going back to waterfront property with a dock simply because of the outrageous carrying costs and property taxes.

Point is, the two are completely different experiences. If you can find a way to do both, I would recommend it because when you go camping at a lake you'll wish you had a boat :)
 
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Interesting as I'm debating this same issue for a slightly different reason. After buying a Polaris RZR XP1000 last year I've grown to love the off roading adventures we go on. To the point now where boating almost seems boring to me! I know blasphemy and I never thought I'd utter those words. I love boating and thought about going back to a larger cruiser for the bigger bath and berth amenities and full time slipping. Trailing again takes it toll at times but gives me all sorts of options. BUT I love the mountains, the thrill and the pure fun of off-roading on beautiful mountain trails. It never gets old and it's never the same. The RZR life as they say is just a blast. We ride all day and I'm lucky if I burn 5 gallons of gas!
So getting back to the RV the one thing we are dealing with is constant hotel rooms or renting cabins. We miss sitting around a camp fire after a long day of riding. So we are considering a Class A that we would also rent to recoup some costs. A neighbor does it and he has done very well. So anyway to me the RV would allow me to enjoy a sport even more. I could also see going to tailgates for Buckeye games and even just cruising America. Something I did as a kid and loved. It's a tough call but I think I'll be keeping my trailer boat and adding some sort of RV to the equation. Maybe even class C.
 
Cincy, Love your RZR. My son bought one a year or so ago, then right after he got it he put another $5 boat bucks (are those RZR Bucks????) into it to put in a killer stereo, GPS, and make it faster. I got a chance to drive it a couple of weeks ago and that thing FLIES! He said it will hit 80 on a smooth gravel road. Wowzers!

I can see why you would want a Class A to tow the RZR. What a kick butt way to spend a weekend....or a couple of weeks.
 
I don't mean to hijack but GFC - RZR bucks (except for gas) aren't much different than boat bucks when it comes to accessories. I've already done new wheels and bigger tires, winch, skidplate, stereo, high clearance arms and the list goes on. Still want to do an aftermarket cage and new springs on the shocks. Yep, 80 is doable but we average 10-15 on the trails.

I am looking to rent a Class A diesel pusher next time. We did a 38 footer with a V10. It was slow through the mountains.
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Great last few posts! Glad to see I'm not the only one here feeling similar thoughts... or at least wondering anyway.

Love the RZR's! Looks like a blast.

Stay tuned... may have some pics shortly...
 
My wife made a good point when we were discussing it -

You get funny looks walking around an RV park in a bikini...


My in laws are living in an RV while their retirement house is being built. They normally go once a month to some park somewhere and as has been mentioned, they have to live with all things related to RV parks.

For me, when we travel by boat, the autopilot is on, we are going slow and we get to enjoy the ride.
 
5th wheel owner here. For the most part it stays at a campsite on a private lake so we get to have our RV and our boat every weekend and don't have to travel anywhere. Mind you, we don't have a cruiser, just a 21' open bow but what that does allow us to do is to tow our RV and boat (using two vehicles) and head to any campground at any lake in the country any time we want.

I can be at Lake Norris in 4 hours, Cumberland in 3, or head north to the great lakes and be at lake Erie or Michigan in about the same time frame. If there is a campground and a boat dock, we are good to go.

Boating is what you do during the day. RV-ing is what you do at night around a campfire.
 
Well the deal is completed!! We ended up settling on a rig that was near the beginning of the search after looking at about 20+ units. I have begun to go through the entire thing from a maintenance perspective while we continue to use it. The rig has a 350hp CAT C7 with 860 lb ft of torque. 3000 series Allison trans 6 speed. Plenty of power for sure. The sheer size was somewhat daunting at first, but after a few weekends, it's becoming second nature. The biggest thing to get used to is not over correcting while driving. The best way I can describe it is that when you correct with a car, the correction is immediate. In the bus, if you correct and wait for the reaction, you've already waited too long and you'll end up chasing your tail. Again it's hard to describe but the best way I've found is to almost go about 'half of what you normally would' for any correction and get used to a plush/floating sensation. It's no BMW M3 glued to the street, that's for sure. We've been having a blast with it thus far. We've been to several state parks and hiked, fished, and grilled out. My son seems to be enjoying spending time outdoors, so that's a plus. The rig has this cool slide out which allows you to grill and prep food right outside. The other cool feature about this model is that it has a full wall slide. It really opens up the salon area instead of having individual slides for the salon and bedroom.

Anyway, onto some of the pics.


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Very nice. Enjoy the new ride!

Thanks!

Shawn
What is insurance like compared to a boat?

Obviously it depends highly on your region but an agreed value policy on a 2002 Sea Ray 380 was around $1600-$1700 annually and the RV is a 2006 Fleetwood 39S anywhere from $900-$1400 depending on levels of coverage (deductible, glass replacement options, etc). Most insurance carriers don't offer agreed value policies on RV's. Some do but their pricing is astronomical. Insurance carriers treat RV's like normal vehicles from an accident standpoint and depreciation/replacement cost, but they treat them like boats at times for some repairs/losses (engine failure, transmission, leaks, etc). Again, it's very carrier dependent, so shop around.
 
That is a great layout. I really like the seat in the master. Dinettes are great too, and the L shaped sofa is perfect. Put a set of bunk beds in there and that would be my ideal layout.
 
Thanks. The seat in the master has an ottoman that slides out from underneath. And that ottoman opens up for more storage. The storage on these things is amazing. Highly impressed. Some other features that some may find interesting....

1. Fridge operates off AC, the inverter, and on board propane.
2. Propane tank has a hookup for the external grill that attaches to the slide out.
3. Water heater operates off AC and propane.
4. Similar to a boat, the generator can run while driving down the road to operate loads like the AC or fridge.
5. Master bed flips up for storage under the entire thing.
6. Full master closet. Full size dresser. Full size bath vanity with storage.
7. Kitchen has storage everywhere. Overhead, side of fridge, underneath fridge, over the dinette, etc.
8. Shower and head are full size. Sink vanity is outside the shower area so someone can get ready while someone cleans up.
9. Storage outside and underneath the rig is pretty massive. Some rigs have pass through storage, unfortunately this one does not. Either way, more than enough storage for me. One box I have dedicated to the grill, another to firewood, another to tools and chairs. The complete other side is open for whatever goods you desire. Towards the back are the shorepower, battery, and water connections.
10. There is a remote controlled spotlight on the roof towards the front to spot areas in the evening.
11. The awning(s) are remote controlled with a fob on your key chain. There's also a side light to flip on for additional light under the awning. The entire rig can be parked, leveled, slide outs extended, awning extended, and shorepower/water hooked up in under 10 mins. Pretty impressive honestly.

I only have two complaints thus far... 1. The are several fuse and breaker locations. Freightliner designs the chassis and they send it off to the builder. So for the chassis itself there is a group of fuses. Then when Fleetwood receives it, they put on the body and other components. There you have AC breakers and DC fuses. They aren't all in the same place and it's not very intuitive what's responsible for what load. And of course you have the GFCI outlets which also control random things completely across the rig. I will have to sit down sometime and draw out some diagrams so I can better troubleshoot when I'm broken down in EBF. 2. This rig doesn't utilize a side radiator or basement AC setup. The radiator is directly in the back which means if you need to access the front of the engine (or rear depending on how you look at it), the radiator needs to come out. Whereas if the radiator was a side mount on the rig, you can fully access the engine. The current AC units are roof mounted, whereas with a basement AC, they would be mounted in a storage compartment. This seems to be popular with the Winnebago lines. Easier to access I'm sure.

Here's a pic with the grill setup for reference.



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I'm going back and forth on this almost daily right now. I'm coaching and managing our 10u tournament baseball team and we've been moving up the ranks, about ready to start traveling more and the RV just makes sense... and it would be way cool. We've been using the boat less due to the baseball commitment.

About 10 years ago, we had a 34' boat and a 40' 5th wheel toy hauler. We'd do the lake and boat thing in the summer and in the winter was the RV and dune thing. It ended up being way too much work. There was never any down time, always messing with something, whether cleaning, maintenance or improving. One Memorial Day, I took both the 40' trailer and 34' boat to the lake... that is what took me out of the performance boat (34' cat) and into the performance cruisers. Combining both in a weekend was a total pain... took 5 days of preparation to have fun for 3.

I'm contemplating selling the Sea Ray now and going full stupid on a 45' pusher. I can pick up a 2010 or 2011 Monaco or Entegra for basically what our slip payment is every month. My wife is actually the one throwing the brakes at the moment which is surprising, but she loves the boat.
 
I'm going back and forth on this almost daily right now. I'm coaching and managing our 10u tournament baseball team and we've been moving up the ranks, about ready to start traveling more and the RV just makes sense... and it would be way cool. We've been using the boat less due to the baseball commitment.

About 10 years ago, we had a 34' boat and a 40' 5th wheel toy hauler. We'd do the lake and boat thing in the summer and in the winter was the RV and dune thing. It ended up being way too much work. There was never any down time, always messing with something, whether cleaning, maintenance or improving. One Memorial Day, I took both the 40' trailer and 34' boat to the lake... that is what took me out of the performance boat (34' cat) and into the performance cruisers. Combining both in a weekend was a total pain... took 5 days of preparation to have fun for 3.

I'm contemplating selling the Sea Ray now and going full stupid on a 45' pusher. I can pick up a 2010 or 2011 Monaco or Entegra for basically what our slip payment is every month. My wife is actually the one throwing the brakes at the moment which is surprising, but she loves the boat.

After spending another great weekend in the DP, I don't think you can go wrong. I don't think I'll ever fully give up boating, but this definitely 'feels right' for now. The thing I like about camping is that when you're away from the house, you're unable to get sucked into any projects. No house maintenance. No vehicles maintenance, etc. Just hang out and enjoy some time off. We hiked about 3-4 miles on Saturday. Came back, relaxed, took a little snooze, made some dinner, and had s'mores by the fire. Fun times for sure. The place we stayed had equestrian trails, so there were quite a few families that had their horses tied up to take on the trails. We snapped a couple of pictures. The 2.5 hour ride back sucked with 20 mph winds. I actually saw another DP pulling a jeep at the fuel stop. I asked him if he was getting pushed around by the wind and he said he was flat out exhausted from the drive. That's the only negative thing I can I see at times. The drive can be somewhat tiring and while slowing down can make it more manageable, it also can extend your trip by a while.
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Interesting read. I too have been considering an RV. Although we would still be boating, we would be looking at a little different boating lifestyle. We would most likely sell the 400 and downsize to something that we can trailer and a different kind of boat vs a cruiser. Looking at a move to SW Florida in a couple of years and a different boating environment than the Midwest. Although, boating in the Midwest would still be an option. We have looked at many RV's and kind of settling in on a class A diesel pusher. Sill tons of options there as well. Any opinions on drag axle vs no drag axle? Also, the layout is important. Mainly looking at how the main living area is appointed for viewing TV and managing the kitchen as well as the main bedroom arrangement. I too thought there looked like there was plenty of storage underneath, but until you start packing things in there, who knows. Good to know there truly does seem to be lots of storage. I've never driven one and the wind did concern me and that sounds legit. I suppose I could just pull over if I didn't like it. At that point in time I wouldn't be in a hurry anyway. Good post. I have enjoyed reading and the feedback.
 
Interesting read. I too have been considering an RV. Although we would still be boating, we would be looking at a little different boating lifestyle. We would most likely sell the 400 and downsize to something that we can trailer and a different kind of boat vs a cruiser. Looking at a move to SW Florida in a couple of years and a different boating environment than the Midwest. Although, boating in the Midwest would still be an option. We have looked at many RV's and kind of settling in on a class A diesel pusher. Sill tons of options there as well. Any opinions on drag axle vs no drag axle? Also, the layout is important. Mainly looking at how the main living area is appointed for viewing TV and managing the kitchen as well as the main bedroom arrangement. I too thought there looked like there was plenty of storage underneath, but until you start packing things in there, who knows. Good to know there truly does seem to be lots of storage. I've never driven one and the wind did concern me and that sounds legit. I suppose I could just pull over if I didn't like it. At that point in time I wouldn't be in a hurry anyway. Good post. I have enjoyed reading and the feedback.

A tag axle will help with overall stability from the teeter totter effect, tail wagging the dog (yaw), etc. A lot of those scenarios are based on where the force is exerted (wind, bumps in the road and center of gravity/mass depending on force) and a tag axle helps with most of them. Keep in mind tag axles usually start in the 40'-45' range. It's a lot of coach but it may be exactly what you're looking for. The tag axle also implies you'll be spending additional dollars on tires... and that isn't cheap either. Tag axles increase turning radius but typically they can be raised up to avoid dragging during parking lot maneuvers. Concerning the layout, there are some newer rigs that have the entertainment center situated in the center of the coach at the center line vs. the overhead front (where mine currently is). I preferred the center layout because it feels a little more like a family room, but in the end, I couldn't justify the cost differential of over $30k-60k for a slight difference in layout. I also wasn't sure long term if this would be a good fit or not for the family, so the rig we bought price wise just made sense. At the end of the day, if you buy a $20k rig, a $100k rig, or a $400k rig, you get the 'same' thing... albeit a lot nicer amenities as the price goes up. You can still purchase a 40' rig on the lower end of the price range. If you're on the fence, I would suggest buying one that's at the end of the depreciation curve that is as nice as you can afford. Right now the market for RV's is HOT. Like I mentioned earlier, rigs are going in hours to days from the time they are on the market. With the two big hurricanes that hit recently in Houston and Florida, many folks are opting for RV's while their houses are rebuilt. I am confident I could sell my rig tomorrow for $20k-$30k over what I paid.

Any questions, let me know.
 
both are expensive...

i think major factor is where you live and whats available.

we have lived in FL most our lives... just sold a 30' travel trailer we used to go racing quads in cow fields, was great... also went to a lot of camping places in FL. some great memories and pictures.

have had and have a day boat but just bought a 260 DA. As a child i have fond memories of a similar express cruiser, Formula, the family had and spent most weekends overnight. priceless memories even as a single child.

so currently we live in Sarasota and the water is close and beautiful... we plan to spend most weekends overnight for more priceless family memories with my daughters!

if i lived inland where only lakes were available i would probably choose the RV...
 

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