Thread: I need advice for buying a fishing boat

Originally Posted by uk_exile

90hp seems to be common size but I do need to ski behind one to see if its enough (I slalom ski to high level, do some waterski coaching, etc. No pro but really enjoy slalom course. It's my happy place)
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Hey mate I'm no fantastic skier but have a little alloy 4.8 with a 60 that I ski behind, I do have to start on 2, won't pull me on 1. once it's away it gets me my fix
There some really nice senator boats in your price range on the face ache boat pages at the moment
Hope that's helpful

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Ok so here's something to ponder. You looking at a fishing boat that you can ski behind...but you love your skiing. Maybe you will be happier with a slightly more ski friendly boat that you can fish out of??? A bit of blood n gore is fine unless it's wall to wall carpet n leather. Depending on how serious you intend to be about fishing.a dingy of say 13 foot with a 15hp MIGHT be ideal for tootooing around in and catching fish,your ski type boat could be pressed into use if more people along for the ride.from little I know about ski boats,adding extra water as blast to make them sit deeper in water to create more wake....could assist in ride when sitting and pump it out for fuel economy on trip out n back??? Loved lake fishing in mates buccaneer but our wee tinny far nicer to fish from and a hell of a lot cheaper to run. Foid for thought maybe. Will you be fishing solo or more than 3 people??? That really dictates boat size. A few hours or all day dictates how much comfort you need. Not hard to make a tinny very comfortable and stepping up to smaller size trailer tinny upps comfort etc by heaps.

Originally Posted by uk_exile

@MB hadn’t thought of that! Assume ride through chop since we’d choose a calm place to fish, or would go out another day.

Small boats can be tippy at anchor if for example everyone onboard stands on one side. Unless it's a small tinny, tipping it over is not an issue, but it can be uncomfortable. Pontoon boats and cats don't have this problem, but they don't ride well in a chop either (in my opinion). Everything is a compromise.

To my mind, if I was planning to travel any significant distance through choppy water, I'd want a V-shaped hull that rides well. Fibreglass or aluminium depending on other requirements. If I was going to stay in sheltered water, I'd go for a pontoon boat like Stabicraft.

2s vs 4s... Fours are usually more expensive as you have noted - but they are the way of the future as shortly under the new rules for environmental protection no manufacturer will be able to fit a 2s to a new boat (above a certain HP rating).

As far as hours - this is hard as I have seen some 2s in commercial do horrendous hours that you'd think would be a destroyed engine but in reality if they are serviced and used they are still OK. On the other hand, outboards do not like being used only once a twice a year and then ignored for the other 363 days. Things like the raw water trunking and exhaust shroud between the gearbox and powerhead corrode out, and other places narf up as well. I've driven commercial boats with 4s Hondas and Suzuki's with more than 6000 hours on them, similar deal really.

It's all about the maintenance, and an engine that only does 20 hours a year still needs the love and this is where it all falls over for most of them as it's out of sight out of mind when they aren't being used. As you noted, engines that aren't used often succumb to the "I ain't gunna plays" disease. I suspect it's mostly 2s that you've seen in this bracket due to the price range, and 4s is generally a more expensive bracket. Also, engines that do this are the liability category and aren't worth what a lot of recreational owners expect they are going to get for the boat.

Get the outboard checked, and properly checked so you can buy the engine and boat not the story and the dream!

Hi Uk Exile

Exciting times moving from CHCH to live in/near Havelock and Pelorus Sound! Our plan is to retire in Blenheim as we have our boat in Havelock and a Bach around 27 Km down the sound.

You mentioned that you don't have a lot of knowledge about sea boats and outboards

Hopefully I can help a little as I have been boating up and around the Pelorus sound for over 50 years and we have our fair share of adventures and downright frightening trips up and out. The sound is beautiful and on a great day is a paradise, but there are two factors to be aware of 'Wind against the tide'. Pelorus has a very strong tidal flow - I reckon we get over 3m of fall at our jetty sometimes more and we get the same sort of northerly winds that they get in Wellington. So, when you get an outgoing tide into a good northerly blow the waves stand right up and they are a handful. Hikapu reach which runs from Turn Point to Black Point can be 10Ks of trouble in those conditions - especially near the Turn Point end where its shallower than the rest of the reach and the waves can really stand up. You will end up taking one over the top heading into it and bury your nose in a following sea - so a cabin and canopy or hard top is advised. Those Trade me boats for sale should all be ok except for the last fi-glass one.

Tawhitinui Reach is another spot where the waves can get troublesome - we used to fish a lot in Beatrix Bay, nice and calm when we went in, but by late afternoon the northerly had got up and the waves would come rolling down the reach and you had to get through them to get home.

In summary you want a boat that can handle the worst of the conditions the sound can sometimes throw at you and get you all back safely. Those 5.6m boats your linked are an adequate size and ok protection from the weather/spray.

Alloy vs. glass and outboard vs sterndrive. There are 12 power boats 7m and under in our bay, 10 are alloy and none are stern drive and only 1 is a 2 stroke and even then, it's an Etec. 4 stroke motors are an even mix of Yamaha, Honda and Merc - they are all good motors. A sample of boat owners with decades of sounds boating.

Our family boat was a 6m Sea Ranger designed for the sounds by what was then Newman Marine its a good sounds boat - I repowered it in 2013 with a 150 4 Stroke Merc and man what a change that made - started first time every time and fantastic on the gas, so quiet I would leave it running while drift fishing for cod around reefs and occasionally I would turn the key when it was going. That merc has tons or torque and never had a problem popping my large lads boys up onto skis.

I brought a new boat last year 6.65m hard top with a 200 merc on the back - fantastic rig for Pelorus and because we fish out past the heads a lot it can cope with a turn in the weather.

Oh and the fishing in Pelorus is bloody great too (now that I have worked out how to catch snapper on soft baits and lures).

Cheers

AMac

Thanks for the great info and thoughts @BRADS @Micky Duck @MB @No.3 @AMac I'll reply properly tomorrow. Really appreciate it

@BRADS I can’t start on 2 skis due to my slalom binding setup. Did ski behind one of those new Fireball’s with a 75hp last summer. Took a long long long to get up. The driver said steering was ‘interesting’ To me the pull was very soft and I could see the boat rolling a lot! Similar when I get towed by an old Savage with 90hp Suzuki 4 stroke.
Find me one of those really nice senator boats �� They do look good!
@mickey Duck
This won’t be a ski focused boat as we have access to the competition level 340hp direct drive for proper slalom skiing. If we were focused on getting a glassy day sea waterskiing boat it’d be a magnum, bullet or similar but we’re note doing that as want something more versatile. I quite like the idea of a tinny as very budget friendly however my Mrs, who love seas fishing, will want shelter and safety. Also seems we’ll be flooded by Canterbury visitors so need to fit 4, sometimes 5 people.
@MB tending towards an alloy Stabicraft or similar as looks like it’d be long term buy and won’t weather as badly. Does seems like brand/model effects ride a lot though.
@No.3 Had a week this winter and last in Pelorus in a friend’s CSB Huntsman Crusader with 250hp 4 stroke Yamaha. Impressive! Can see the advantage of 4 stroke. Will come down to budget and value comparing each. Understand your comments re maintenance. A bit scared by the outboard failure horror stories. Part of the reason we’ve always had V8s. Lazy lightly loaded, easy low cost maintenance or repair, etc). For sure will get anything checked at boat shop.
@AMac it’s long been our plan to retire having bach in mid Canterbury and bach in Marlborough. That’s happening early due to some compromises, decision to downsize house now and my ability to work from home next 10 years. Why wait, do it now! We stayed in Wilson Bay for a 1week in July this year and last year so travelled most days went across to Beatris Bay or through Tawhitinui Reach to fish in Waitata Reach. Lot of tide flow in Waitata Reach. Fishing was great! Easy legal size blue cod and occasional gurnard. That was in friend’s CSB Huntsman Crusader with 250hp 4 stroke Yamaha. Above our budget and discussion with my wife tending towards something a bit tougher, probably alloy, but not ruling out glass like Haines Hunters either. Good to know about the rough stretches. All days except one we’ve been out were glass or low wind so little chop. Only one rougher day and the Crusader ate it up. Current feeling is if weather/condition isn’t great we’ll go another day, but suspect when friend’s visit there will be pressure to go out so something safe and smooth riding seems like a necessity.

Originally Posted by uk_exile

@MB tending towards an alloy Stabicraft or similar as looks like it’d be long term buy and won’t weather as badly. Does seems like brand/model effects ride a lot though.

Check out Ollie Craig and RoKKiT KiT on YouTube and see what they get up to on Senator and Stabicraft boats respectively. My boat is a fairly traditional V hull, but I'm impressed by what these little boats can do. YouTube product placement is clearly working on me!

We are over the hill from Wilsons Bay. Days especially spring and summer can start out beautiful sunny and calm but by the afternoon its still beautiful and sunny but bloody rough.

Boat only access bach’s in pelorus are not that expensive compared to those up here! I think it had to do with it being easier to drive to a bach in a car therefore more demand.

If you decide to go ali then make sure you look at Surtees. Very good boats. Have a central ballast flood chamber which gives added stability at rest. Ride in a sea or chop way better the Stabi

Originally Posted by AMac

We are over the hill from Wilsons Bay. Days especially spring and summer can start out beautiful sunny and calm but by the afternoon its still beautiful and sunny but bloody rough.

Boat only access bach’s in pelorus are not that expensive compared to those up here! I think it had to do with it being easier to drive to a bach in a car therefore more demand.

Even in Marlborough there's quite a price difference between road accessible and boat only. As boat only distance gets longer price falls even more. Saying that there was a pretty attractively priced properties off Kenepuru Road where the absent owners are finding interest rates a challenge and the broken road a significant problem. Heard that it was only recently the council etc committed to repairing Kenepuru road. They were considering abandoning it! We looked near Lochmara in Queen Charlotte sound but boat access only ended up putting us off. Not a problem now but we know in 15-20yrs it could become a problem. Opted for off Queen Charlotte Drive as the Picton Havelock road will never be abandoned since it's on tourist route.

Originally Posted by chainsaw

If you decide to go ali then make sure you look at Surtees. Very good boats. Have a central ballast flood chamber which gives added stability at rest. Ride in a sea or chop way better the Stabi

Will do

FC Boats are worth a look.

Very good local knowledge comments from AMac. As a Marlborough Sounds boater and someone who works in the Maritime industry, I've seen too many underestimate the "bad Sounds day". Any 5m tinny will serve you well in good weather conditions, the good hulls will get you home safely and without incident...

Buy a Senator with a 4 stroke, you will never regret it!

I have and know plenty of mates that catch 20lb+ Snapper in 8 meters or less of water in alloy pontoon boats.... noisy alloy boats... that's ya wife's tale...