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We fish the west coast of the NI in an older 5m stabi with 90hp Honda 4 stroke on it. They’re light and tend more to smash rather than slice through chop so won’t be as comfortable as a heavy glass boat, and might need a bit more active driving but it’s never not done what we needed it to or had any issues. Never really worrying about damaging it is really nice too.
My question is are you retired or working... If retired and have lots of time on your handes then why go fast? There are miles of fantastic waterway around the sounds, get something slow, runs on the sniff of an oily rag, comfortable for one or two to sleep on and really enjoy the wonderful waterways in the area year round. Winter boating in the area on those cool clear days is fantastic
It is great in winter! Get those magic mirror reflective days.Quote:
Originally Posted by LBD
Working for another 10 years. I don't need fast however for my water skiing I'll need power and ability to hold constant 49, 52 or 55kph. 90hp seems to be absolute minimum.
Have sent you a PM re my 6m sea ranger which i have for sale at bow to stern marine in havelock. Searangers were made by a havelock based business Newman marine specifically for the sounds. Attachment 260874
Water Skiing?
5.5 aluminium hull with 150 HP 4 stroke 3 L merc... hydraulic stearing, over 45 mph, all machinery and batteries in good reliable nick and have only seen fresh water use. Boat is in Murchison and only used on the lakes.
Long range tank... 300 km at cruising speed (30mph.)
Tandem trailer with wobble rollers
Shed stored
New transducer and will throw in a used 7" furuno sounder/plotter to be fitted.
Not the prettiest most polished boat around but solid and reliable.
Selling because I bought a yacht and I need the shed space.
Well within your budget and have plenty left over to spend on extras.
Bottom image is at 30 mph cruising.
PM me if you want to discuss, letting it go at a bargin price.
Currently have my boat up for sale as I’m going bigger.
We ski behind it no problem and well set up for fishing.
https://www.trademe.co.nz/trade-me-m...4961230830.htm
@LBD thanks, however we tending towards something with a bit higher sides for if we get into some rough water
Saw a Senator RC540 cuddy yesterday with Yamaha 90hp four stroke. Looked like it could be a good first sea boat for us. Big enough, not too big, light enough to learn with, etc. Thoughts on them?
https://www.senatorboats.com/boats/c...onsole/rc-540/
The only Senator I have had experience with was a hard top 690 but was an excellent boat. Having spent a lot of time in the Sounds in power boats, my only comment on this boat is that unless you pick your days very carefully you are likely to ship a lot of water.
The Sounds tend to be reasonably calm in the morning and the surface chop increases during the day as the wind increases. The sounds generally run north/south, and the predominant wind is a westerly, so you are quartering on to the surface chop, and it tends to come over the front of an open top boat. You can of course improve this by altering your speed and direction relative to the chop.
I have a Buccaneer 525 which is similar configuration to this boat, but a higher windscreen, and we used to get quite wet from time to time, but we were travelling long distances - out to the Strait most days. We have more recently been using a hard top Profile 635, and you certainly stay a lot drier with the hard top, but of course you pay a lot extra for it.
Done some more searching and there's so many pontoon style manufacturers. Some only bigger build bigger than we want and/or are well above budget, however Frewza made in Invercargill currently shining through on value for money.
The F17 hardtop looks particularly good value. We'd stretch it it to get new motor, warranties, peace of mind, not outgrow it, etc.
https://www.frewzaboats.co.nz/boat/frewza-f17-hardtop/
Attachment 261213Attachment 261214
Looks like a nice boat. I don't have any experience of the brand, but they seem to have a good reputation. I'd go for an engine upgrade, the cost difference is minimal and one of the main things people seem to regret about boat buying is not getting a bigger engine. Never heard anyone say I wish I had less power!
@MB 1000% agree!!!!
Then comes down to which brand is 'better'. My uneducated thought is buy Japanese so Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha over USA Mercury. But that could get argued forever! Ford vs Holden.
What I have learnt that is real is the same hp outboards of different brands have different displacement, weight, gearing and prop options so a smaller hp X brand might actually perform better than Y brand on a particular hull.
FYI during recent northern Italy holiday saw hundreds of Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and barely any Mercury. Suzuki being the most common. Also saw a couple of diesel outboards. Can't remember brand of the diesel outboards.
I deliberately avoided commenting on that one! My mate is a proper boatie with 30 years bar crossing experience. He is currently running three boats with newish four stroke Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki outboards. Each has their pros/cons, but he is happy with all of them and when it came to building his latest boat, he just went with the best deal rather than a particular brand. For my own part, when I finally decided on the boat that I wanted, I could have any brand of outboard as long as it was Mercury. I wasn't thrilled about this, but 2.5 years later and no complaints. Fuel efficiency is good.Quote:
Originally Posted by uk_exile
I changed from a thirsty 150 Johnson v6 2stroke to a 150 merc efi 4 stoke in 2013 that now motor was an absolute game changer for us never skipped a beat soo reliable 1st start every single time , waaaay better on gas so quiet when idiling i occasionally try to start the motor thats already going. I have a 12 foot starcraft with a 8hp (evinrude i grew up as a dedicated OMC fan) when we had the 2stroke we used the 12 footer around the bay setting nets ferry people about to save gas on the bigger boat. Since i got the merc the 12 ft has been left on the foreshore and not used since - must get rid of it and the motor.
Those 115 merc 4strokes have a good rep too.
When i upgraded to a new boat last year i got it priced with the 150 but my darling wonderful love her tobits wife said
“Go on get the 200 you won’t be happy if you don’t”
200 v6 is brilliant gotta make sure people are holding on when i hit the gas as the acceleration could darn near put them in the tide !
After viewing a few boats, both alloy and fibreglass, various hull styles and lengths we were still completely unsure what we want. But not wanting to dither all summer, we decided to get something in interim that can fish, can ski, should be reliable, low cost to buy and should be relatively easy to on sell once we know what we actually want/need. So here is is, our compromise interim boat.
Barchetta XC with 115hp Yamaha saltwater series 2 stroke, 180hrs, one owner, mostly freshwater use, annual services, good trailer, NZ made (Timaru), etc etc. In a couple of years once we've learnt the sea, the Marlborough Sounds area and what features we want in a boat we'll change (if necessary). It's been maintained really well by the fussy 76yr old owner. Only real fault is the fish finder doesn't work so will fit something basic for depth and GPS location. Will also add a basic bimini for some shelter from sun.
Attachment 265076 Attachment 265075
Barchetta brand isn't common but it's NZ made and however reviews are good. https://powerboatmagazine.co.nz/barchetta-502ec/
Have been out in it 3 times now. It handles well, better than expected and I suspect better than most 5m boats as the water started to rough up. Called in to visit an outer sounds farmer we know and he was impressed. Thought it was a good compromise hull and has enough height and depth that that'll get us home safe if driven sensibly.
Attachment 266316
Looks like it's got a pretty deep V hull so should handle pushing through the waves pretty good. And being fiberglass should be a bit more stable at rest than an alloy hull potentially.
I have a Garmin HDS5 sounder,fishfinder,gps with a 5 inch screen if your interested. Does all you need, except I didn't like the smaller screen with my eyes when I was running the sounder and GPS in split screen mode so upgraded to a 12inch screen. I'm about to list in in the buy/sell section but haven't got around to taking any pics yet.
@rugerman thanks however I got a Lowrance HDS7 Gen 1 from marketplace. $200 :-) Adequate for us. It's 6.4" screen and has NZ maps. Mostly using it for depth.
Lol shows how much attention I pay, mines a Lowrance too :) it's a Gen 2 but shit at that price you can't go far wrong as long as it all works. Yeah a 7 inch screen would be better than a 5, unless you were in a dingey or only running 1 screen at a time. I'm not sure how much "better" the Gen 2 would be over the 1 since when I bought it it was the middle of the pack as far as dollars go. Lol I ended up spending double on a Raymarine after trying to "save" money by spending under 2K on the Lowrance :XD:
The plotter seems to work well, once I figuured out how to tell it to use the Navionics maps and not the Lowrance maps. Seems really detailed. Currently just using it for depth indication. Will need to learn how do the other stuff. Youtube ;-)
