TALKING BOATS

[gator]

good stuff here.

LODI - was hoping you'd respond.......gooooood thoughts, thanks.

mudhog and cwink, what i have in mind won't be used in that 40-60 mile range, but i DO like the idea of twin engines (this is getting expensive fast )...this boat, when used in such areas (oceans and great lakes, or any big water - just for laughs mind you) will still be used w/in site of land/islands/rocky points....so a more apt description could very well be "bay boat"

torch - deltaduckman (vickers) and i talked a long time last week about what i have in mind........and, he kept coming back to "look, just call F and F and tell em what you are thinking." they do make one helluva boat........and, i'm assuming they will do a "custom job" for a hand that's got some ideas jotted down on a napkin?

thanks everyone..............would love to hear more!

gator

[MudHog]

gaytor,

that's where it helps to define your uses. I know when I first read ocean, I was thinking your wanting to head out into deep water with it.

If your not heading out that far, I wouldn't be concerned about dual motor. There is a brand of bay boat with dual motors, look up Gator Bay Boats.

I think something like that Tracker Deep Vee style hull would be what you'd be looking towards. Something in the 18 to 20' range, more toward the longer side. Maybe a walk through windshield with a bolt on cabin that can be removed. Would certainly consider a hydro jack plate being your considering using it in different water depths.

[gator]

DO A JACK PLATE HINDER PERFORMANCE AT ALL?

gator

[LODI QUACKER]

Yep you Need to talk to Doug over at F&F I was over there last weekend picking a boat up from him. He has a customers boat out of LA ready to be picked up. Let me tell you that was a NICE boat. He built mine, mine is about as close to a do it all as I could come up with. I just realize I should have done a few things differently. He can do every little detailed thing that you can think of and will come up with some great ideas on things that you just have inclination to do. He can and will build you whatever you want to he told me that until my rig he hadnt built many cabin boats but in the last couple of years he has been building the hell out of them.

One piece of advice, price comparable boats with and without trailers at other builders. I looked for a couple of years before I was able to build mine, but at the time he was HALF the price of some of the other custom boat builders. Let me tell you they build thier boats like a tank. They def will not be the lightest boat around but for where and when you will be using it who wants the LIGHTest boat?


If you do order one, just dont get in a hurry, they are busy as I have ever seen them.


I ahve a jack plate on mine and I would get an electric jack plate if I was building again. They do nothing but help performance.

[kris Schaumburg]

hah! I thought it was a joke at first when Justin admitted he wasn't the most knowlegable person on some subject.

man I sold my gravois this summer would have cut you a buddy deal.

gravois bow on.jpg

You can't be going a million directions with this like you do with most other things. Drop the ocean part or drop the shallow water part. I personally think you should drop the ocean part, the handful of east coast states that allow NR to hunt seaducks are way the heck up there (RI DE ME). I think an aluminum 18-20 fter will do what you want (still not sure I understand what that is). Goes as wide as you can, girth matters here. I assume your not trying to get to tuna

kevin tuna.jpg

. but one never knows with your crazyass. You do not need dual motors for what you want to do. At best maybe a kicker. Heck maybe you need a mud rig with a pirogue

em w go devil.jpg

when you pin down what it is you want to do, call me. i've got some seatime.

[gator]

Dear Kris..............bite me

kidding.

i have my reasons for the big water criteria

gator

[gator]

GOOD POINT THOUGH.......i hadn't thought about all those blue states up there keeping the gun toting out of state hunter down.

sigh.........................i just wanna shoot some seaducks and divers on my own terms

gator

[TODO]

Gator, high tech F & F is not, but they can build about anything. I got an 1860 and Doug literally drew it out on a napkin. I would give them a shout.

Are you wanting to duck hunt out of it too? If so that would pretty much eliminate a cab.

If i were to build a boat just to go touring in i would get a v'd cab boat with a/c heat and a bed.

Every tunnel ive ever been in rode like chit in rough water. If your gonna be in big water i would rule the tunnel out.

You might be good with a semi v'd boat with a big windshield across the front. Dino Lamb in rosedale has one like that, its an F & F. You could hunt and ride to mobile and back in it if you wanted.

If your gonna do some serious traveling i would go bigger than 18. Prolly 22 or so. Put as big a motor as you can afford, i would go four stroke if i were going to go on big trips.

[LODI QUACKER]

Eloborate on the non resident crapola.

[Beaudog1]

+1 on the 4-stroke. Gas will already be as high as giraffe "BEARDED CLAM" with a real motor . . . no need making it worse with a 2-stroke.

[cwink]

If your not going to go offshore, then I would stay under 20' otherwise storing the thing becomes an issue as well. If your like me your "toys" need to be covered and if you get 18' or less with a fold away tounge you can usually get them in the garage..

I had a 16' ski barge back in the late 90's it was a Center Console bay boat with a 90hp motor on the back. That was an awesome little boat. You could'nt sink it, it would run in about 18" of water and would pull slalom skiers and tube like a dream.. The only thing you could do was hunt out of it cause it was WHITE as all get out.. I think a aluminum Center Console in a 16-18' range would fit the bill for me as long as I could get it in a good drap color.

[DanP]

Lot of good advice so far, nothing at all wrong with F&F, but I would also recomend Life Tyme and Hanko's. I would rate their quality and durability equivalent if not slightly higher than F&F.

http://www.hankos.com/

http://www.lifetymeboats.com/index.html

James Lynn builds a good river boat too - http://www.lynncustomboats.com/

Friend has a 19' shallow-vee Hankos with a tunnel and yamaha 125 on jack plate. Its a bad dude, if you took all his bowfishing crap out of it it would draft 8" or so. Its a very smooth ride as well.

[DanP]

DO A JACK PLATE HINDER PERFORMANCE AT ALL?

gator

Not really (they can actually enhance), but a tunnel hull can. Regardless, my next boat will be a 19x66 deep front vee to flat bottom in rear with at least 5' tunnel and minimum 150 hp on jack plate.

[kris Schaumburg]

i don't really no all the particulars to elaborate on the east coast deal. But most of them will not allow a nonresident to hunt from a boat in their coastal or seaduck zones, unless a resident is also present in the boat.

if you decide to go bigger rather than smaller, my buddy's hanko is for sale.

p1287372861755227.jpg

it has probably killed 20 lifetimes of ducks

venice ducks.jpg

[chevy01234]

Lot of good advice so far, nothing at all wrong with F&F, but I would also recomend Life Tyme and Hanko's. I would rate their quality and durability equivalent if not slightly higher than F&F.

http://www.hankos.com/

http://www.lifetymeboats.com/index.html

James Lynn builds a good river boat too - http://www.lynncustomboats.com/

Friend has a 19' shallow-vee Hankos with a tunnel and yamaha 125 on jack plate. Its a bad dude, if you took all his bowfishing crap out of it it would draft 8" or so. Its a very smooth ride as well.

This..Which is what I was going to type but didn't get around to it!