How To Choose a Dayboat

Perfection is always in the eye of the beholder. And when it comes to shopping for a new boat, it’s also at least a little bit in the beholder’s wallet. These three couples took similar approaches when they set out to find the best dayboat within their budgets. Each couple made a wish list, looked at multiple brands, and ultimately found the perfect boat for them. Here’s how they narrowed down the choices.

Linda & Frank CARDILE VALHALLA V-37

The Cardiles (pictured above) have been boating since the early 1990s, so when they went shopping for a new boat last fall, it was their fourth time they approached the process. Frank had a well-thought-out plan when they walked through the gates at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. “We would look at three boat brands: Everglades, Grady-White and Valhalla.” 

Their ideal size range, he figured, was the mid-30s, something a bit bigger than the 22-foot Aquasport, 24-foot Triton and 30-foot Grady-White that he and his wife, Linda, had owned. Their family, including the grandkids, is now 11 strong, and they needed more space for their crew when they cruised out of their homeport in Ocean City, New Jersey.

On their wish list, a top consideration was a seating arrangement that would suit the whole family. Frank also wanted a joystick at the helm, upgraded electronics including Starlink and night-vision cameras, and outriggers. Triple 400-hp Mercury engines were also on the list, because of performance he’d seen from those engines on other boats.

“I loved my Grady-White. It was in great shape. I had it for 10 years and loved it,” Frank says. “But the family started to say the grandsons wanted to go offshore for fishing, so we felt we needed  more boat to go 70 miles out.”

Their first stop at the boat show was the Grady-White display, where Frank liked what he saw. The quality, the brand’s reputation and his personal experience as an owner left him leaning early toward buying another boat from this builder. Still, they stuck with the plan to comparison shop and looked at the Everglades next. Frank liked some of what he saw there—including the general style and seating layout in a boat in the mid-30-foot range. 

Then came the last stop, at the Valhalla display. “A friend of mine has a 46-foot Valhalla,” Frank says. “He said maybe I wanted to look at them.” 

Their tour guide through the Valhalla lineup was Justin Healey, the son of Viking president and CEO Pat Healey. “He was unbelievable,” Frank says. “We were in the middle of the boat show, and he took his time. He answered every one of my questions. It was never a case of: ‘We can’t do that.’ So, it was the quality of the boat and Justin who put it over the top. Before I knew it, I was adding things to the boat because I felt that good about it.”

Frank says he considered the Valhalla V-33 and V-37. The couple went with the 37 because Linda wanted the speed they’d get with the triple Mercury engines. The couple considered their grandchildren too. “They wanted a boat that looked like it was cool, and the Valhalla was cool,” says Frank. “The lines on the exterior, for sure. The workmanship, the finishes, the wood grain—everything is gorgeous.”

Pricewise, he says, the couple did stay within their budget, sort of. The initial plan was to spend $600,000 to $700,000, but after adding a Seakeeper, a custom transom seat and some other options on Family Tides, they paid more than $1 million for the Valhalla V-37. “I figured that if I was going to do it, I wanted to do it right,” Frank says. “There was some special pricing for the boat show, so I got good value on it.

WISH LIST

• LOA in the mid-30-foot range

• Suitable for serious offshore fishing

• Seating for children and grandchildren

• Triple 400-hp outboards w/joystick

• Upgraded electronics

Sandra & Paul COSTELLO SOLARA S-310 CW

Paul and Sandra Costello have had about 16 boats, each one tailored to a certain lifestyle on the water. They started with runabouts and personal watercraft, got into speed for a while, then family cruisers with the purchase of a Sea Ray. When they wanted to fish more, they bought an EdgeWater 280CC.

Now in his early 60s, Paul says they wanted a day boat with a cabin for shelter, but still with an open bow, great fishability and double outboards that were easy to maintain. “We put together a list,” he says. “We wanted a windlass so we didn’t have to mess with the anchor. We wanted a head.” Their goal was to spend $400,000 or less on a boat that ideally would also have twin Garmin screens.

In autumn 2022, they walked into the Atlantic City Boat Show and saw the Solara S-310 CW right inside the entrance. They’d never heard of the Solara brand, which the owner of Ranger Tugs and Cutwater Boats had founded that same year.

“It was one of the first things we saw, and we thought, what is this thing?” Paul recalls. 

Paul and Sandra then walked all around the show, looking at center console models and other styles in the mid-30-foot range. They took their time going through Chaparrals and Pursuits, but they both kept thinking about the Solara S-310 CW. “It has a full windshield, which a lot of the other boats don’t have,” Paul says. “It also has the upper windows in the windshield, so if it gets a little warm, you can open them up. That’s a nice feature.”

After making their way all around the docks, Paul and Sandra headed back toward the entrance. They stopped again at the Solara display and asked to speak with a salesman. “My wife said, ‘Let’s go look at our boat,’” Paul recalls. 

They took delivery in July 2023 of Sunshine & Whiskey, which they cruise along the New Jersey coast from Point Pleasant to Atlantic City. The price ended up being about $377,000, Paul says, after adding a few things. He’s especially happy with what he calls the “bonus” of a Yamaha package that includes autopilot and a pattern-steering feature. “You can do a zigzag and other things automatically when you push the button,” he says. “We use the autopilot a lot when we’re offshore. Let’s say we’re going from reef to reef. I push the button and the autopilot takes me there.”

Paul says their hull was among Solara’s first to be completed, and so far, the brand has been phenomenal.

“There were little things I wanted fixed, and the dealership [Clark’s Landing in Point Pleasant, New Jersey] was great,” he says. “I had a little problem with some water leakage in a  window. And the original boat I test drove had lithium-ion batteries all on the starboard side. But in production, the builder moved them to port. I preferred them on the other side, so the dealer moved them for me. They were great to deal with.”

While the Costellos are always happy to shop for a new boat, they’re not currently looking. “In another three years or so, maybe we’ll get into something different for that particular stage of our life,” Paul says. “We loved our performance boats and running around at 80 mph. Now, we love to go day cruising and fishing.”

WISH LIST

• LOA in the 30-foot range

• Cabin with head for shelter 

• Open bow and great fishability

• Twin outboards that are easy to maintain

Bri & RicK Kuertz Sea ray 190 SPX 

Rick Kuertz has been out on the water since he was a kid. He says that throughout all his years of boating, one brand has stood out as his gold standard. “Sea Ray was always the top of the line for me, the best boat you could own,” he says. So, in 2001, he bought a Sea Ray 270 Sundancer cruiser.

That was a different time in Rick’s life. Today, he and Bri are both on their second marriage. They’re based in Venice, Florida. Their kids are older,  but they didn’t have a boat.

“He’d been wanting to get a boat for a while,” recalls Bri. “I said, ‘You know, you might be right.’”

Bri’s first thought, after seeing what boats cost nowadays, was that they would be purchasing one used. She looked online at a couple of brands but found them too expensive. Rick, meanwhile, took minutes to formulate a plan. “When Bri said ‘OK, we should buy a boat,’ I immediately packed everything up and we drove to the Sea Ray dealership,” he says. “And I said, ‘Look, if you buy used, you usually buy somebody else’s problems. Sea Ray has the guarantee. The warranty. It’s a turnkey operation.’”

They first checked out a 24-footer about a year ago, and were quoted a price around $78,000. Budget wasn’t so much the issue, Rick says, but value for the price was important. “I knew I could buy a used boat just a couple years older for half that amount.” When they looked a year later, at the time when Miami boat show specials were in play, the price had dropped to around $57,000. That’s what got the couple motivated to buy.

While Rick is not new to boating, he is new to coastal cruising, so the couple focused on three Sea Ray models they thought they could manage together: the 190, 210 and 230 in the builder’s SPX line. They liked the larger models, but decided the 190 was plenty of boat for their needs. 

“It has more than enough power to get us where we want to go,” Rick says. “We like to shoot out the Intracoastal, turn off the engine and have lunch. It’s the perfect fit for us. And I’m confident that she can take it out. Pretty soon, she will have that confidence.”

A must-have feature for the couple was a chartplotter at the helm, since they are both new to coastal cruising. The new boat has a Simrad multifunction display. 

Docking has been Bri’s biggest concern since they took delivery of Us ii in January. She’s excited about a free docking class that their local MarineMax dealership offers on weeknights, when there’s less traffic in and around the marina. 

The Kuertzes are also practicing skills on their own. “I was always on a lake, so things like tides, this is a whole new world that we’re learning together,” Rick says. “We tried to anchor around 20 feet deep, and we’re doing all right.” Their goal for this spring is to take a 5-hour cruise down the Florida coastline to Cabbage Key. 

They recently had a moment, Rick says, when they knew they’d made the right choice. 

“One day we were out on the ocean, and I looked at her, and she was just so relaxed. She said, ‘I get it now. This is heaven.’”

The only problem, Rick adds, is that Bri is starting to look around at other boats. From their 19-footer, she’s getting ideas about their retirement five or 10 years from now, and the boat they’ll want then. “She’s looking at the Aquila 42,” Rick says with a laugh. 

WISH LIST

• Entry-level dayboat for coastal cruising

• Easy operation and handling 

• Good quality for a competitive price

• Chartplotter and good hull warranty

June 2025