20+ mile Offsore fishing boat

SR.GRINGO · 09-07-06, 08:33 AM

So what is the best and afforable? I live in a big fish hot spot--tuna, dorado, etc. I grew up in the NW and boated on the hood canal and crossed the straits with a 17 BostonWhaler Outrage with a Yamaha 115. Some day I want to get a boat for down here--something I could keep in the water. It has to have either yamahas or diesels--this one is a pipe dream right now!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PURSU...QQcmdZViewItem

SR.GRINGO · 09-07-06, 08:40 AM

pics

uberhahn · 09-07-06, 08:46 AM

Twin engines are a must. I have a 27' Whaler Offshore in lake Michigan. I'm sure there are other alternatives - look for used first.

SR.GRINGO · 09-07-06, 09:00 AM

Used is the only way I could afford a boat like this at this point in lifetime. Boats can be a hell of a buy this time of year. Anybody have any idea what it would cost to ship something like a 21 foot Whaler from coast to coast?

fsusteve · 09-07-06, 09:04 AM

Those outboards are 8 years old, he better have alot of documentation on the service history. Tower and outriggers are nice, decent electronics, I don't care for below deck fish boxes though. I'd rather dump the money in a used Contender.

Capt. Jim · 09-07-06, 11:29 AM

Pursuits are nice boats. I had a 27' for 7 years that I kept down in the Keys before my current ride. Hardware and appointments were all yacht grade. High quality fit and finish. Had twin 225 OMC's. Mine was a mid 80's hull and quality today may not be as good.

My current boat is a 25' Bluewater open fish (see avatar). Great ride and powered with twin 200 HPDI Yamahas. I too prefer Yami's or diesel.

I have had mine offshore many times many times (30+ miles). Haven't had this one to the Bahamas yet but my 27 Pursuit was there numerous times. (It's only 2 hours away from WPB.)

I highly recommend twins, unless you go diesel. Also, go for a deep vee hull.

Good luck.

lavarunner · 09-07-06, 12:43 PM

man liveing here in kona hawaii a 17 foot skif with a honda 40 caught me two pac blues and a 180 Ahi about .5 mile out of the harbor...

how much does it cost in gas to fish 20 miles out?

Capt. Jim · 09-07-06, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lavarunner

man liveing here in kona hawaii a 17 foot skif with a honda 40 caught me two pac blues and a 180 Ahi about .5 mile out of the harbor...

how much does it cost in gas to fish 20 miles out?

Nice catch!

Especially when you're in a 17 footer.

My twins cost me about $100-$125 for a good day's fishing. That includes about $10 for some 2-stroke oil. In the summer months, I like to practice run and gun, where I run around offshore 'til something promising shows up, then we put the lines out.

Always pays to have some friends with me. Used to make 'em buy the beer, now I treat them to all the beer they can drink but they buy the gas.

lavarunner · 09-07-06, 12:58 PM

most pissed I haveever been at a guy was becuase of that boat...

3 of us own it..

one of the owners went out on it and caught a 762 LB pacific blue with is buddy and the guy pulled it on board.. I was so pissed about that coulda sank my boat.

Capt. Jim · 09-07-06, 01:00 PM

OLD MAN AND THE SEA comes to mind................

SR.GRINGO · 09-07-06, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Capt. Jim

Pursuits are nice boats. I had a 27' for 7 years that I kept down in the Keys before my current ride. Hardware and appointments were all yacht grade. High quality fit and finish. Had twin 225 OMC's. Mine was a mid 80's hull and quality today may not be as good.

My current boat is a 25' Bluewater open fish (see avatar). Great ride and powered with twin 200 HPDI Yamahas. I too prefer Yami's or diesel.

I have had mine offshore many times many times (30+ miles). Haven't had this one to the Bahamas yet but my 27 Pursuit was there numerous times. (It's only 2 hours away from WPB.)

I highly recommend twins, unless you go diesel. Also, go for a deep vee hull.

Good luck.

Thanks Jim,

I'm still figuring out what I want and when I can make my budget work. When I was in college I worked for West Marine for 5 years. Boat=break out another thousand. One other idea I have had is to pick up an early 90's grady white hard top and repower it with either twin Yamahas or Hondas. Back home I have an Outrage with a 115 Yamaha--need bigger here. So far in my head for used is Grady white, Whaler, Pursuit. I need to make the decision center console vs. something with a cabin. Are mako's, or wahoos good boats? How is the bluewater in terms of quality? It sounds like yours must fly--how fast?

SR.GRINGO · 09-07-06, 01:14 PM

something like this would be pretty solid with twins....

wob · 09-07-06, 01:17 PM

If you are worried about a budget, forget the boat.

Capt. Jim · 09-07-06, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SR.GRINGO

Thanks Jim,

I'm still figuring out what I want and when I can make my budget work. When I was in college I worked for West Marine for 5 years. Boat=break out another thousand. One other idea I have had is to pick up an early 90's grady white hard top and repower it with either twin Yamahas or Hondas. Back home I have an Outrage with a 115 Yamaha--need bigger here. So far in my head for used is Grady white, Whaler, Pursuit. I need to make the decision center console vs. something with a cabin. Are mako's, or wahoos good boats? How is the bluewater in terms of quality? It sounds like yours must fly--how fast?

Makos are good. There are a lot of older ones around that can be refitted nicely. The older ones are better, as is the case with all things in life.

Wahoo I know little about but they were popular here 10-15 years ago. Don't see much of them lately.

I like my Bluewater and feel it is a quality boat. (I am, however, biased

) Bluewater is a locally built boat, not very high production numbers. Mostly see them here in Florida and the Southeast US. There are some I see for sale up in the NE also.

Boats like Mako, Boston Whaler, Grady-White are all good and seem to hold re-sale values good because of that. Other good hulls are Sea-Vee, Contender, Regulator. I am assuming you are looking for a center console.

Capt. Jim · 09-07-06, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SR.GRINGO

It sounds like yours must fly--how fast?

Full-throttle I can get up to about 47 knots (about 55 MPH)
Unfortunately at that speed, my gas gages go down too fast.

I like to cruise about 37 knots, (About 42 MPH)

Speed is good on the water for out-running a storm or making back home in time to see the kick-off.

srplus · 09-07-06, 01:36 PM

gotta watch out for A LOT of Makos... friend of mine used to be production foreman... he was brought in from Bertram because they were having so many problems with the piece rate system they had been using for hull production. Lots of boats went out with bad lamination in the hulls. I can not remember the years but IIRC it was late 80's and early 90's. I saw one at the coast that it was damn lucky the guy got in at all. The entire 1/3 of the bottom of the hull had peeled back and some of it got chopped off by the motors. When they loaded it on the trailer he had to take ropes and tie up the gelcoat and the first couple of lams so they could haul the boat to a fiberglass repairman. If you get one of the cherry hulls that were produced when he was there you will be in good shape. Do a lot of tapping on the bottom with your knuckles or a mallet and if something is a little funky look elsewhere.

Mako and a couple of other South Florida manufacturers were paying piece rate labor for hull construction. I ran into a similar problem with an Aquasport where the connection of the fiberglass stringers to the inside of the hull was poor and they separated. It was a giant pain to cut out the entire deck and redo all the attachment of the stringers to the hull from the transom to the bow.

fsusteve · 09-07-06, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Capt. Jim

Full-throttle I can get up to about 47 knots (about 55 MPH)
Unfortunately at that speed, my gas gages go down too fast.

I like to cruise about 37 knots, (About 42 MPH)

Speed is good on the water for out-running a storm or making back home in time to see the kick-off.

That's hauling ass in a bigger boat. I've got a fishing buddy with a 22' Shearwater that'll do about 55mph with a 225 yami hpdi on it. 60mph before the t-top. I'm just not mature enough to have that much power on the water

fsusteve · 09-07-06, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by srplus

gotta watch out for A LOT of Makos... friend of mine used to be production foreman... he was brought in from Bertram because they were having so many problems with the piece rate system they had been using for hull production. Lots of boats went out with bad lamination in the hulls. I can not remember the years but IIRC it was late 80's and early 90's. I saw one at the coast that it was damn lucky the guy got in at all. The entire 1/3 of the bottom of the hull had peeled back and some of it got chopped off by the motors. When they loaded it on the trailer he had to take ropes and tie up the gelcoat and the first couple of lams so they could haul the boat to a fiberglass repairman. If you get one of the cherry hulls that were produced when he was there you will be in good shape. Do a lot of tapping on the bottom with your knuckles or a mallet and if something is a little funky look elsewhere.

Mako and a couple of other South Florida manufacturers were paying piece rate labor for hull construction. I ran into a similar problem with an Aquasport where the connection of the fiberglass stringers to the inside of the hull was poor and they separated. It was a giant pain to cut out the entire deck and redo all the attachment of the stringers to the hull from the transom to the bow.

Those were two manufacturers that sold out in the late 80's, early 90's and the quality went out the window. I've seen every large production boat company have issues, including GW, BW, Sterling, lake and bay, everyone. I like the Bluewaters, Jupiters, Contenders but even they have problems, like my boat mechanic sezs when it comes to saltwater, it ain't if but when....

wob · 09-07-06, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fsusteve

Those were two manufacturers that sold out in the late 80's, early 90's and the quality went out the window. I've seen every large production boat company have issues, including GW, BW, Sterling, lake and bay, everyone. I like the Bluewaters, Jupiters, Contenders but even they have problems, like my boat mechanic sezs when it comes to saltwater, it ain't if but when....

X2

I think those were the "dark ages" for boat manufacturers.

Gold Boy · 09-07-06, 01:59 PM

EagleCraft - make aluminum boats for the north west coast here in BC.

http://www.eaglecraft.bc.ca/index.html

You may enjoy these videos, showing how the boats are constructed.

http://www.eaglecraft.bc.ca/vid.html

GB