Should I buy a power boat or sailboat?

sailboat. sleep on the deck. plus they pollute less. thats an extremely good thing compared to what the world is today!

I vote for a power boat. Sailing takes a bit of a learning curve that must also be passed to your crew. On a sailboat, all your passengers are crew and must learn to pull thier weight. Power boating is much easier and you can float around and anchor without using gas. I love my power boat & am probably too old to want to learn how to sail. Also, no matter what you decide, whether it is required are not, I strongly suggest taking a boating safety course. It is important to respect the water and other watercraft.

judging by your experience level, go with a power boat...it's not too bad if you don't fly across the lakes if you want to sail, start with a small boat/windsurf and move up from there...don't start with a huge boat and risk ruining it

Most larger sailboats have small motors for navigating small lakes and rivers. I vote sailboat.

You need a sail boat. Smaller lakes are fine. Rivers, watch the depth. Take a sailing course, or teach yourself. If you just like being on the water, get a sail boat. If you want to always be on the go from one place to another, spend the gas money. SAIL

Get a sailboat with a motor for those calm days.

Power boats have the benefit of going boating when you wish, not only when the conditions are favorable. I boat on the Mississippi river, so I have miles and miles of water. There have been occasions when a storm blows up out of no where, it is very comforting to turn the key(s) and let those dirty old engines carry me home to safety. In that case, it is not about the trip, it is about the destination. You will also find that if you want to be "one with the water" you can turn the engines off and drift. There is no rule that says you must run the engine to float on the water. My family and I ofter drift on the rivers current for hours while swimming and relaxing. There is one more benefit to a power boat if you have kids, water sports. Water skiing and tubing are pretty tough to do behind a sail boat.

get a Hobie cat and play with it before you dump a bundle on a big sailboat

If you want to have a really good time, get the sailboat and learn to sail. If all you want to do is drive around on water, and pay $5 a gallon for gas, and get 3 miles to the gallon, then get the power boat.