AlexB wrote:The REVENGE line is definitely intriguing, but I don't know much about them or even whether they are light enough to be towed behind our 4Runner
The REVENGE Walk-Through models are great Boston Whaler designs with real cabins. There are three hull lengths: 20, 22, and 25. The older and odd-numbered REVENGE boats (the 19 and 21) really are not cabin boats. They just have a forward deck under which you can throw some gear.
Towing even a REVENGE 20 for any distance with a vehicle only rated for 5,000-lbs would be less than optimum. You could do it, but I think you will be right at maximum capacity or a bit over.
I towed my REVENGE 20 with a GMC Suburban rated at 7,000-lbs, and it was a very good rig. The 22-foot is basically the same boat only two feet longer. The 25-foot is wider and five feet longer. I own a REVENGE 22 Walk-Through Whaler Drive. This is a 24-foot 6-inch boat. I have trailered it extensively to the Atlantic Coast, to the Gulf of Mexico, and to all five Great Lakes, from my home port in southeast Michigan, many tens of thousands of highway miles. The REVENGE 22 W-T Whaler Drive and trailer are a load that is close to the 7,000-lbs rating of my GMC Suburban. I tow it slowly and carefully, and the trailer has four-wheel brakes.
REVENGE 22 Walk-Through Whaler Drive with Mills Flying Top, Windshield, and Side CurtainsI think towing will be your limiting factor. The towed weight is the combined weight of the trailer and the boat, and the rated weight must be reduced by any weight added to the towing vehicle other than the driver. When you add more two adults, an 80-lbs dog, and some gear to the tow vehicle, its tow rating probably decreases 500-lbs or more. A trailer will weight at least 500-lbs and probably more. So the real boat weight you can tow is more like 4,000-lbs. That has to include the engine, fuel, and all added gear. It is quite common that the "dry weight" of a hull will be doubled by time the boat is set up with an engine and necessary gear. On that basis, the boat you want should weigh less than 2,000-lbs as the dry hull weight
There are plenty of opportunities to buy nice classic-era (c.1980s) Boston Whaler boats for under $30,000.
Re-powering is expensive if you buy a new engine.
The principal factor that attracts everyone to a Boston Whaler is the enormous reserve buoyancy created by the double-bottom foam-filled hull construction. Boston Whaler boats just do not sink. They also have excellent residual value, and are easy to sell if you want to move to a different boat.
If you do not really need a hard forward deck and cabin, you can get an open cockpit boat like an OUTRAGE and rig it with a canvas forward shelter. This gives the boat a weather protected forward area that can be folded out of the way when not needed. However, canvas is not cheap.
Here are some examples of OUTRAGE models with the Wm. J. Mills & Co. weather canvas system:
OUTRAGE 22 with Forward Shelter, Windshield, Side Curtains, Aft Drop CurtainOUTRAGE 18 with Forward Shelter, Windshield, Side Curtains, underwayOUTRAGE V-20 with Forward Shelter, Windshield, Side Curtains, Drop Curtain