26 footer recommendations
 

I'm thinking about a "next" boat.

It should have a modest cuddy cabin with a head, preferably a "real"
head.

It should be trailerable, i.e., 8'6'' max beam, max dry weight less
than about 5,500 pounds, LOA about 26', Inboard/Outboard.

It should have a very good ride in a chop, i.e. lots of dead rise and
a fine entry.

It should be decently fast but quiet, something like a single 454 or
twin 350s, well muffled of course.

I'm thinking in terms of a used boat, 5 to 10 years old, preferably
with a reputation for quality and decent construction.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 19:09:06 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

I'm thinking about a "next" boat.

It should have a modest cuddy cabin with a head, preferably a "real"
head.

It should be trailerable, i.e., 8'6'' max beam, max dry weight less
than about 5,500 pounds, LOA about 26', Inboard/Outboard.

It should have a very good ride in a chop, i.e. lots of dead rise and
a fine entry.

It should be decently fast but quiet, something like a single 454 or
twin 350s, well muffled of course.

I'm thinking in terms of a used boat, 5 to 10 years old, preferably
with a reputation for quality and decent construction.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Sportsfisher, express or family? I'll guess sportfisher. :)

If I were in the hands down used market, I'd look to Pursuit - they
make some remarkable boats in that range and some are trailerable
without much fuss or muss. The only problem is power - these aren't
inboards.

Gotta be inboards huh?

Dang.

Take care.

Tom

"The beatings will stop when morale improves."
E. Teach, 1717

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 23:36:10 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

Sportsfisher, express or family? I'll guess sportfisher.

=========================================

I'm open on that question as long as there is a half decent cuddy
cabin and head. Most of the time, vast majority in fact, it will be a
day boat with 2 to 4 people on board. I'd prefer I/O(s) but would not
rule out twin OBs if they were Mercs or Yamahas in demonstrably good
condition.

My dad has a 22' Trophy with a walk around cuddy cabin. Its a great
trailerable boat and it handles moderate water waves and chop fairly well.
I know its smaller than you were looking at, but the reason I commented is
because it is an outboard driven boat. With no inboard motor in the way it
is very spacious. For quality it is fair, but he has fixed all its problems
over the years. I'm not particularly reccomending a Bayliner just saying
that you shouldn't over look outboards. (Some here would say Bayliners
aren't real boats.)

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"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 23:36:10 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

Sportsfisher, express or family? I'll guess sportfisher.

=========================================

I'm open on that question as long as there is a half decent cuddy
cabin and head. Most of the time, vast majority in fact, it will be a
day boat with 2 to 4 people on board. I'd prefer I/O(s) but would not
rule out twin OBs if they were Mercs or Yamahas in demonstrably good
condition.

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 20:32:22 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 23:36:10 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

Sportsfisher, express or family? I'll guess sportfisher.

=========================================

I'm open on that question as long as there is a half decent cuddy
cabin and head. Most of the time, vast majority in fact, it will be a
day boat with 2 to 4 people on board. I'd prefer I/O(s) but would not
rule out twin OBs if they were Mercs or Yamahas in demonstrably good
condition.

Well, Hydra-Sports are a good place to start looking. You might want
to look around for Pursuit or Tiara.

The problem is the trailering. Most of the good boats with a full
head are wider than 8'6". Oddly, older boats like the 24/25'
Marathons of late '80s vintage have that feature.

Some of the mid-'80s Pursuits were fully trailerable having a 8'9"
beam on a special trailer and Black Watch (the ones built in
Marblehead, MA) were also trailerable, but it was close on the 9'
limit.

I can't really come up with a specific recommendation and am at
somewhat of a loss concerning the trailerability. I just went through
this all summer long looking for some thing between the Ranger and the
Contender that was trailerable - in short, exactly what you are
looking for. The only ones I came up with were a Pursuit and a Tiara
and those had Yamahas which I wouldn't want.

The one resource I found that was very helpful in my search was
yachtworld.com. Sometimes you can link out to a broker site and come
up with some real gems.

I just thought - You might also want to look at Uniflites in that
length.

Sorry I couldn't help more, but for some reason, I'm drawing a blank.

All the best,

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

"What the hell's the deal with this newsgroup...
is there a computer terminal in the day room of
some looney bin somewhere?"

Bilgeman - circa 2004

Bartender with straight inboard.
G
"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
I'm thinking about a "next" boat.

It should have a modest cuddy cabin with a head, preferably a "real"
head.

It should be trailerable, i.e., 8'6'' max beam, max dry weight less
than about 5,500 pounds, LOA about 26', Inboard/Outboard.

It should have a very good ride in a chop, i.e. lots of dead rise and
a fine entry.

It should be decently fast but quiet, something like a single 454 or
twin 350s, well muffled of course.

I'm thinking in terms of a used boat, 5 to 10 years old, preferably
with a reputation for quality and decent construction.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Why I/O? Bad choice.
G

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
I'm thinking about a "next" boat.

It should have a modest cuddy cabin with a head, preferably a "real"
head.

It should be trailerable, i.e., 8'6'' max beam, max dry weight less
than about 5,500 pounds, LOA about 26', Inboard/Outboard.

It should have a very good ride in a chop, i.e. lots of dead rise and
a fine entry.

It should be decently fast but quiet, something like a single 454 or
twin 350s, well muffled of course.

I'm thinking in terms of a used boat, 5 to 10 years old, preferably
with a reputation for quality and decent construction.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

On Fri, 29 Oct 2004 13:10:04 GMT, "Gordon" wrote:

Why I/O? Bad choice.
G

============================

Ease of trailering, launching and prop replacement. We have a lot of
"thin" water here, some charted, some not. The boat will be stored in
a lift so corrosion is not a major issue.

On Fri, 29 Oct 2004 13:09:10 GMT, "Gordon" wrote:

Bartender with straight inboard.

============================

That's an interesting recommendation, too bad the overall design looks
a little dated at this point. Does anybody make one in fiberglass
with a more up to date appearance?

Your comments about prop, trailering, etc can all also be addressed with an
outboard that weighs a lot less for the same horsepower. Even a 4 stroke OB
will weigh a lot less than an I/O of the same SHP.

--
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"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 29 Oct 2004 13:10:04 GMT, "Gordon" wrote:

Why I/O? Bad choice.
G

============================

Ease of trailering, launching and prop replacement. We have a lot of
"thin" water here, some charted, some not. The boat will be stored in
a lift so corrosion is not a major issue.

On Fri, 29 Oct 2004 18:50:04 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:
Your comments about prop, trailering, etc can all also be addressed with an
outboard that weighs a lot less for the same horsepower. Even a 4 stroke OB
will weigh a lot less than an I/O of the same SHP.
=========================================

That's true of course, and outboards are very popular around here.
It's probably about 50/50 when you look around. I think I have a mind
set against outboards for some reason and I'm not sure if it's
justified or not. My sense of things is that OBs are more expensive,
less reliable, and shorter lived. That may or may not be true, and
I'm sure there are persuasive arguments on both sides. I know that
in the case of my present boat which has a small block Chevy and an
Alpha I/O, parts are readily available, reasonably priced, and the
engine is well understood by virtually everyone. That does not always
seem to be the case with OBs in my experience. Prior to the
availability of 4 stroke OBs, I also believe that I/Os had the edge
on fuel economy.

The fuel economy edge goes to fuel injected engines.

--
** FREE Fishing Lures
** Weekly drawing
** Public Fishing and Boating Forums
** www.YumaBassMan.com


"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 29 Oct 2004 18:50:04 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:
Your comments about prop, trailering, etc can all also be addressed with
an
outboard that weighs a lot less for the same horsepower. Even a 4 stroke
OB
will weigh a lot less than an I/O of the same SHP.
=========================================

That's true of course, and outboards are very popular around here.
It's probably about 50/50 when you look around. I think I have a mind
set against outboards for some reason and I'm not sure if it's
justified or not. My sense of things is that OBs are more expensive,
less reliable, and shorter lived. That may or may not be true, and
I'm sure there are persuasive arguments on both sides. I know that
in the case of my present boat which has a small block Chevy and an
Alpha I/O, parts are readily available, reasonably priced, and the
engine is well understood by virtually everyone. That does not always
seem to be the case with OBs in my experience. Prior to the
availability of 4 stroke OBs, I also believe that I/Os had the edge
on fuel economy.

Dated design? I thought the idea was a functional boat. There is talk of
a fiberglass hull. See the yahoo "Bartender" group.
Gordon
"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 29 Oct 2004 13:09:10 GMT, "Gordon" wrote:

Bartender with straight inboard.

============================

That's an interesting recommendation, too bad the overall design looks
a little dated at this point. Does anybody make one in fiberglass
with a more up to date appearance?

My 2 cents ... for costs reasons, I went with I/O when I picked up my old
beater. I wanted a 4 stroke and used 4 strokes in the 200hp range are for me
big bucks ... and new is completely out of the question ... like $20K cdn
each. About used I/Os ... buying used could also be expensive ... for
example if there is riser or manifold corrosion for example, a used engine
could end up requiring a rebuild as well as new risers and manifolds.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 29 Oct 2004 18:50:04 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:
Your comments about prop, trailering, etc can all also be addressed with
an
outboard that weighs a lot less for the same horsepower. Even a 4 stroke
OB
will weigh a lot less than an I/O of the same SHP.
=========================================

That's true of course, and outboards are very popular around here.
It's probably about 50/50 when you look around. I think I have a mind
set against outboards for some reason and I'm not sure if it's
justified or not. My sense of things is that OBs are more expensive,
less reliable, and shorter lived. That may or may not be true, and
I'm sure there are persuasive arguments on both sides. I know that
in the case of my present boat which has a small block Chevy and an
Alpha I/O, parts are readily available, reasonably priced, and the
engine is well understood by virtually everyone. That does not always
seem to be the case with OBs in my experience. Prior to the
availability of 4 stroke OBs, I also believe that I/Os had the edge
on fuel economy.

OSPREY best of the best, look for the diesel w/the bravo 3 outdrive
I'll bet the sportfisherman will agree. good luck.
35' jason, Noank Ct.