Anyone familiar with the Hewes 21' Redfisher. How well can it take fairly
rough water in the event you are caught out in rough weather of a Florida
summer. Live in Punta Gorda and want to use the boat in Charlotte Harbour.

clarke & eileen wrote:
Anyone familiar with the Hewes 21' Redfisher. How well can it take fairly
rough water in the event you are caught out in rough weather of a Florida
summer. Live in Punta Gorda and want to use the boat in Charlotte Harbour.


These are great boats, really, but not for choppy water. If you're
careful, you'll get in okay, but you'll take some water over the bow.
They don't have much freeboard.

--
We today have a president of the United States who looks like he is the
son of Howdy Doody or Alfred E. Newman, who isn't smarter than either of
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incompetent, and whose backers are turning the United States into a pariah.

What, me worry?

On Tue, 21 Sep 2004 16:06:30 -0400, "clarke & eileen"
wrote:

Anyone familiar with the Hewes 21' Redfisher. How well can it take fairly
rough water in the event you are caught out in rough weather of a Florida
summer. Live in Punta Gorda and want to use the boat in Charlotte Harbour.

They look a lot like the Action Craft.

My first thought, based on driving a Ranger flats boat on a test
drive, is that you are gonna get wet in mild wave action. These
things are not meant for any sort of wave action - they are strictly a
back bay kind of boat - in short, nice day on the flats. I wouldn't
expect to stay dry in a heavy chop.

Now, having said that, I have been on the Action Craft twin to this
boat and can tell you, heavy chop on Narragansett Bay you is gonna
get bounced around and VERY wet. Been there, done that. These boats
have very little trim action to them and it's hard to find the right
balance of speed and bow angle to keep a good ride and relatively dry.
The particular boat I was on also had a hydraulic jack plate (which
was a total waste by the way) and it just wouldn't trim properly to
smooth out the ride. The strange thing about these boats is that once
you set the trim, it's good forever. There is almost zero bow lift,
so once you find it's best running angle on calm water, leave the trim
button alone. Nothing you are going to do is going to change
anything. :)

If I were you, and I don't know your particular situation, I'd look
more toward the bay boat side of the product line or failing that,
look at other brands and their bay boats. I have a Ranger 200 C
Sportfisherman which is a 20 foot CC and it's a great boat, but it has
the same tendency as the flats boat - not a lot of trim and the ride
isn't all that wonderful. But it's a dry ride.

The 2180 and 2300 Ranger are nice Bay Boats that will handle heavy
chop easily, smooth ride, plenty of trim - just very nice. Another
boat that I've tested in these conditions (up around Cape Ann in MA)
are the Polar bay boats. I was very impressed with those - they have
a nice long forefoot which helps the bow move through the wave. I
wouldn't give you ten cents for the Triton or Nitro models. Those are
just speed machines for flat water. Fully expect to have your kidneys
up around your eyeballs with those two manufacturers.

Hydra-Sports has developed a bay boat based on the Vector hull and
while I've heard good things about them, I can't speak to them
directly.

Just my .02¢.

All the best,

Tom
--------------

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