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Thanks for everyone's responses, it's truly appreciated. We went and viewed one yesterday and loved it. It was in mint condition and looked brand new. We were able to climb on board and reviewed seating arrangements. We considered the kids growing and still figured we would have room. It was slightly snug going past the console but not as bad as I had imagined. We're an active family so it may be easier for us so I could see why larger adults would complain.

I've been on friends' 19-23' CC boats for fishing excursions and with their fishing rod mounts on the side of the console plus the support bars for their T-tops taking up room, theirs felt no different in passing. If they had railings on the side of their boat, keeping you from swinging out, I think it would have felt similar. I've also been on friend's 20-21' bowriders. The seating was great and the storage way too much, but still you had to kind of get out of someones way in order for them to pass by or get to the storage compartments. It was frustrating since they were such large boats but more storage than people space. I was disappointed with the large engine that guzzled away a significant amount of fuel for such heavy displacement that wouldn't start planing until 20mph. Also experienced the large V-8 of their tow vehicle trying to pull such a weight and listened to stories of trailer brake maintenance, wood floor and carpet replacement. Just didn't fit what we want for us.

We come from a 15' Zodiac Inflatable so we're use to fitting into tight quarters. That boat is about 13' from transom forward with a 6' beam. We store everything we need back behind the last bench. It's like my '85 Jeep CJ7 with no top or doors or someone with a motorcycle. You feel more connected to the environment and scenery. We also grew up on a 16' bow rider style that seated 8. We typically had about 6-7 of us along for all day trips of skiing and site seeing. We're use to not being able to bring a lot on board so the Montauk probably had more storage space than what we need or what we're use to. I think the comparison is like someone who is accustomed to living in a tiny house vs someone who lives in a 3-bedroom house and then moves into a 1-bedroom apartment. Can be a positive for one and a negative for the other, who is the majority.

Again, we appreciate everyone's input. I think your recommendations are spot on. I think we're a rare case in which this will work. If, after a couple of years, it turns out we've out grown it, I know we won't have a problem selling it. We'll have had a great time in between though exploring rivers, lakes and the coast. We're still good with the space of the Zodiac but it's starting to be a little under-powered for us, so time to upgrade. Out of all the boats we've reviewed, besides our current boat, it was the first I've heard my wife talk positive about. We'll greatly miss heading up through the rapids of the river but we're excited for what more this boat could bring.

* forgot to mention. Researched the suggested models and found them to be very difficult to locate near us. Seemed they were all along the East Coast/South Florida or over 1k miles from us. Montauk 17s seem to be the most common and in better shape when compared to their counterparts. Wouldn't mind the 170 but have a feeling it would be years before we'd see one in this area. Maybe then might be the time for an upgrade for an extra 3-5" all around... ;)