The Mariah Owners Club - Awesome Site!

Hello and thanks to those behind this site. When I first bought my Mariah, I searched for more information with no luck. Now I've found this site and can't stop reading!

Since I'm new, I'll give my story of how I became a Mariah owner.

My parents were raised by their parents on the lake boating as kids and my parents did the same with my sister and I. When I was about 14, my Dad decided to sell the boat and get away from boating. I still loved boats and the lake but I didn't seriously consider owning my own until 2005... about 13 years later.

There was a slight problem though, my wife had been on a pontoon for about 30 minutes in her whole life, and we now had two small children - my daughter that had just turned 2, and my son who was 11 months old. So, me buying a boat could turn out to be a bad idea since my wife gets car sickness on trips as short as 15 miles and the kids are just so little.

I had been racing 4 wheelers at both cross country and motorcross events and was doing fairly well at it... until I cased a double at the first spring practice of 2005. That injury got me to thinking about doing more with my family, and letting go of the quad. So I started talking the wife into boating.

While I wanted a nice boat, the cost of something that could be for sale after our first trip out prohibited me from buying most every boat for sale at that time. Driving to and from work I had noticed a decent little 16' I/O and decided to finally stop and see what it was like. Borrowed nothing to buy the first boat since it was cheap so I figured if all else fails, I'll get my money back.

Our first trip as a new "boating family" was in July of 2005. Work was slow so we packed up the truck with camping gear (oh yeah, we're campers too... something else I was very hesitant about with 2 young kids) and headed to the lake early on Thursday... and ended up staying until Monday. The wife loved it, the kids loved it, and I was on cloud nine. All my great childhood memories of the lake came flooding back and I could really see myself raising my kids the same way.

So we had a great summer and even got my Mom and Dad back into camping and boating again. To see how much they have enjoyed getting back into boating makes the price of the first boat well worth while. They've since bought 2 boats and a fifth-wheel camper.

Now the boating season is winding down and I've had "two-foot-itis" wanting another boat. I've watched the internet, Boat Trader, and the newspaper for our next "new" used boat. I was mainly getting a feel for the prices of boats that fit my requirements so I would be ready to shop in the spring. I wanted a well built boat in the 20 to 24 foot range, V8 I/O Mercruiser, open bow, plenty of seating, deep sides to keep the kids safe, swim platform (preferably molded-in), and if at all possible it needed to be black.

That's when I found my Mariah. It was online at a dealers website at a fair price so I decided to go take a look. Looking turning into wanting, and the more I wanted it the harder I looked at it. I couldn't believe the build quality of a boat that I had never even heard of. It was at a Fountain/Formula/Cruisers Yachts dealer and was just as new looking at 10 years old as the new boats around it. I jokingly shot a low-ball price to the salesman and he asked me to do a written offer, but just a touch higher. I did, and they accepted.

To make a long, long story short we ended up getting the boat in mid-September of 05. The end of the boating season is the very worst time to buy a boat. We sqeaked in 2 trips before the cold sent the boat to bed for winter. That was one looonnnnggggg winter just looking at the boat and not being able to hit the lake.

It has been an awesome boat. It has nice top end speed for it's weight, it handles great, takes rough water nicely, and most importantly it fits my family and our lake activities perfectly. We're now coming up on our 4th full season with it and I have no intentions of selling anytime soon.

Now the most common thing asked by the kids is "When are we going to the lake again?" And it can be asked at any time. Sometimes it's on the way home from the lake, usually asked all thru winter, and it really gets asked often when I get it out in the spring and start cleaning/de-winterizing.

As a Dad, a Husband, and a Son, one of the best things I have done to bring my family closer is to buy that first little used 16' I/O and head out to the lake.