Thread: what to look for in buying a boat??

A mate of mine in Darwin has a centre console 5.5m with an outboard (can't recall if it is 2 or 4 stroke). It is just the ticket for fishing up there. Large enough that 3 people are comfortable on board, small enough to easily trailer around for river or sea fishing trips.

Stevo,

10 mins from Shellharbour eh, lucky you

I used to fish there very frequently years ago, places like the Church grounds , Bass Point bommie etc as well as the Snapper reefs to the south and north.

If you are going to be launching from the harbour then unless it has changed it does suffer from a bit of surge to quite a lot of surge at times

For that reason I would be choosing an alloy hull as it will take the knocks a bit better up against the jetty/ramp and the ride as compared to a glass hull isnt that far behind these days. There are tons of good alloy hull brands out there these days from the pressed hulls like Quintrex and Stacer etc to a stack of plate manufacturers. I would think that the 5.5 to 6 mt size as ideal, any bigger will give you lots of grief on that ramp unless they have improved it plenty. Kiama aint a lot better, nor is Belambi either.


As far as motors go you cant beat a good 4 stoke these days for reliability, economy quietness and performance, I would find it very hard to go back to a 2 stroke, especially on a boat of that size.

lucky you---

it all depends on your wallet

if it was me-- and I was thinking of going "out wide"

have to be fibreglass,,

alloy hulls get punched around too much by even a moderate sea,,

but-- the weight turns against you at the ramp,,
get your mate to hold it while you get the car

have a hankering for something like this---

4 stroke Shark Cat if you want the best for both, but costly.
Having said that I like Bowriders as well.

but if you go alloy hull and second hand, make sure you check it for corrosion, especially if it has a floor in it.

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

lucky you---

it all depends on your wallet

if it was me-- and I was thinking of going "out wide"

have to be fibreglass,,

alloy hulls get punched around too much by even a moderate sea,,

but-- the weight turns against you at the ramp,,
get your mate to hold it while you get the car

have a hankering for something like this---

This is my cousins ride, that we sometimes manage to get airborne

It sure makes it a quick trip across the bay, despite the weather



6.4mt Kevlacat, twin 115hp Suzuki 4stks and does about 35knts through anything

Try to get one that doesn't leak


Martyn

I am ho expert on boats, But I would suggest the first thing to look for is holes