Hi Benny,
You could say I know a little about 'em, and I definitely have preferences.
Now, light and fast is nifty, except that light and fast means they are lousy seaboats and if you need to carry a load you’re …ahm, I think ‘screwed’ covers it. Let alone if the weather goes to hell all of a sudden, as it does.
First off, avoid cathedral hulls like Whalers and similar as if they would give you leprosy. They are miserable in a head sea and have the handling characteristics in a seaway or a breeze of a drunken shoebox.
Avoid foam-core, again like whalers ( whalers really suck, y’know? Good, lets make sure everybody knows it. Advertising budget does not equal quality) , Carolina Skiffs and similar. They can be lightweight, but even a pinhole means it takes on water and gets heavy and delams. Sound familiar? Right. And fixing 'em and getting all the wet out is just about as much of a forlorn hope. Though balsa-core is even worse.
Solid glass, preferably hand laid woven roving, that’s the way to go…except welded aluminum is quite nice indeed.
Don’t worry so much about dings in aluminum, by the way, or glass. Boats are not only built a lot heavier ( or should be) than surfboards, there should be lots more room to work in. The hairy spots are in harbors, where the other boats ae, plus piers and so on. Oh, and welding AL with MIG is more getting the right gear than anything else. Nice thing about aluminum is that if ya hit something, ya can mostly beat it back out. If you need to, usually welded AL involves 1/4" plate, and it takes some effort to ding that.
Like I said, light and fast isn’t too good, especially if you plan on carrying stuff ( like crab pots or people ) and operating in the open sea. Heavier, rounded chine means you won’t beat yourself up too much in chop. A deeper vee hull is often much the same way.
See what all the hotshots have? You know, the ones trailering their boats behind the $50,000 four door un-trucks? Boats that have about as much power as a jet fighter aircraft? They are idiots, so take careful note of what they have and make sure your boat has nothing in common with that.
Instead, see what the local commercial fishermen are using in similar uses. That’s what you want, a boat that’ll work for you day in and day out. Ask the local commercial fishermen what’s good and bad about what they are using.
Now, as for power. Best, of course, is inboard diesel. Then there is a long, long gap and then you get to medium-sized ( less than 80 HP or so) four-stroke outboards. Bigger than 80 HP, you should have an inboard. Then, medium sized two-stroke outboards. A two stroke, well, at less than 3/4 throttle or so a two stroke is wasting half its fuel. Might be better with some of the new ones, but still, the life of a two stroke engine is less than half that of a four-stroke with equal maintainance. For what it’s worth, 4 stroke outboards are a lot torquier than 2 strokes of the same rated power, so use smaller engines.
What make is best? Ask locally, as it’s all about who sells and services them locally. Some lousy motors can be kept sweet by a good mechanic and vice versa. Oh, and don’t ask 50 Grand Truck Idiot, he thinks spending big bucks is the same as good.
You will note that I don’t mention inboard-outboards above. They are miserable things. Like an outboard, all the weight is on the stern, so in a following sea life gets…interesting. Engine access ain’t so great, cramped into the stern. The gears and linkage and so on - well, as bad as any outboard. No keel at all, so they love to broach. And what keeps the water out of that big-ass hole in the stern the thing sticks through is a rubber membrane, which gets old and cracks and oh dearie me, can ya tread water?. Oh, and the only disadvantage of the straight inboard engine: you can’t easily pluck it off the boat and take it to the mechanic, that is shared by the inboard-outboard. Executive summary: ya don’t want one.
Jet drives…real useful if you are going fast in shallow water. Otherwise, no conceivable use except for our pal 50K Truck Idiot who has to have the latest and greatest.
Center consoles- I have been working with one of those of late, and I hate it with a passion. It is smack in the middle of the work deck and it’s only function is ‘Hey, lookit me, I have a steering wheel like a real boat’ but it’s not. Routing the controls is a hassle, either on or diving down under the deck. Shelter from the elements? Nil. Ease of working around the thing? Negative. Consoles suck. You are better off with a tiller outboard than a console, as is borne out by a guy who has a boat with an identical hull, tiller outboard ( of half the horsepower) and no stinkin’ console. He has a nice boat.
You want something either open or else with a forward covered area, like a workboat. It leaves the stern free for fishing, gear and people.
Oh, and what do I have? It’s similar to http://www.easternboats.com/boats/eastern_18.php, but no f***ing console. You will note that the company suggests at least a 50 HP Honda, which is asinine, the boat goes fine with a 25 and I currently am very happy with a 30 horse two stroke. It’ll carry a ton, literally, in calm water.
Hope that’s of use
doc…
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