Grandpa Looking for a Boat

[E-RevoVXL]

Hey Everybody,

Well, my grandpa lives down in Myrtle Beach, SC, and he has some kind of lagoon in the back of his house (he lives in some senior center). Anyways, he says that one of his relatives that's younger (like 10- years old or something like that) is coming over and he wants to buy him an R/C boat!! So, he's going to me for advice about what kind of boat he should get this kid.

Hmmm.. well, I don't know exactly how much he's willing to spend, but this is a guy that goes on cruises every year and is retired, but must have tons of $$ in the bank. Anyways, let's not get too personal...

So, he has a lagoon in the back of his house, so it must not be too HUGE, but not too small, either. It probably doesn't have a little bit of choppy water, but a R/C boat is going to need some good range, and I'm sure that a New Bright boat or some cheap thing isn't going to get really a lot of range from my previous experience with cheap R/Cs...

So, what boat should I suggest for my grandpa to get for his younger relative? I don't want to suggest something like a Traxxas Spartan for such a young kid, but I don't want to end up disappointing him with a $50 cheapo piece of junk. I'm thinking the Traxxas Blast, as it comes with the easy stick remote (I'm sure that this kid probably has no experience with pistol grip transmitters) and it only uses one battery pack, for simplicity. It's also a skill level 1. For $140, plus a battery and charger for about $250.

Also, how many hobby shops are there around Myrtle Beach, SC? Or will he have to buy online? I found ED'S HOBBY SHOP, LLC from the Traxxas Find Your Dealer thing, by the way. Only 7 miles to drive? Great!!

Thanks for any advice or tips.



E'VXL

[MotorStuff]

I just my grandpa a blast and its great. Now i'm gonna have to get one for myself. Definitely recommend it!

[zanek]

I have heard that the traxxas boats are good, and for a 10 year old I would get one of the brushed models. Me and my friends have had bad experiences with aquacraft minis. Try to stay away from them. But I have heard that their blackjack is a nice one http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CFwQ8wIwAA
But I think that it is a little bit out of lagoon/resthome/10 year old league.

[E-RevoVXL]

I don't think he wants nitro... probably just stay with under $300 and electric- nothing faster than 25 MPH should be fine.

[Draggin97S10]

You could call bandits hobby shop?
http://www.banditshobbies.com/

[bauerjac]

not trying to bash traxxas but i askd bout spartans a while ago and everyone said they were havingproblems of some sort. the blast however would be good

[pavmentsurfer]

I bought a Villain EX from ED's last year when I was in Myrtle Beach on holidays... I ran it in a lagoon at Pirate Land trailer park (where we parked our 5th wheel) and it was sweet... NOT slow though. I would seriously say get him a blast. That would be fast enough to be fun, cheap enough to be affordable, simple enough to fix and work on. SIngle motor/single battery means its pretty cheap to setup also. Plus, traxxas stuff is waterproof so WHEN it flips and he has to go swimming for it (which will eventually happen) it wont hurt anything. The blast is... well... a blast for a young kid.