With the help of info that people shared with me in this newsgroup, I
have found that the _smallest_ boat for 4 persons in a boat is 18-ft,
and I have already got it in my driveway

Actually, it is a 17-1/2-ft center console. Seem like all the
manufacturers like to round up the number.

A 16-1/2-ft center console (manufacturer called it a 17-ft boat) is
just too small for 4 persons. I didn't know that one foot difference
could make such a large impact until I stood on top of the 16-1/2-ft
boat and looked around. I estimate that the 16-1/2-ft is probably good
for 3 adults.

Thanks again for the info that I have received here.

Jay Chan

On Mon, 07 Nov 2005 08:15:27 -0800, jaykchan wrote:

With the help of info that people shared with me in this newsgroup, I
have found that the _smallest_ boat for 4 persons in a boat is 18-ft,
and I have already got it in my driveway


Hmmm... I wonder how I managed to survive having 4 people in my 14-footer
all those years...

Lloyd Sumpter
"Dave" Walker Bay 8 (seats 3 in a pinch)

Hmmm... I wonder how I managed to survive having 4 people in my
14-footer all those years...

I am talking about having 4 persons on a 18-ft boat and be relatively
safe in a protected sal****er bay. I am sure I can add more people
onto the boat (max. 6 persons) if I run the boat in a small lake on a
calm day. But I want the boat to be able to handle both situations
with 4 persons on board.

On the other hand, 4 persons sitting close to each other in a cold day
may keep everyone warm

Jay Chan

Around 11/8/2005 11:42 AM, Lloyd wrote:

On Mon, 07 Nov 2005 08:15:27 -0800, jaykchan wrote:


With the help of info that people shared with me in this newsgroup, I
have found that the _smallest_ boat for 4 persons in a boat is 18-ft,
and I have already got it in my driveway



Hmmm... I wonder how I managed to survive having 4 people in my 14-footer
all those years...

Heck, my 14' only has seats for two... Four is doable, if two don't mind
sitting on some Type-IV cushions on the floor.


--
~/Garth - 1966 Glastron V-142 Skiflite: "Blue-Boat"
"There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing about in boats."
-Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

On Tue, 08 Nov 2005 18:13:35 -0800, Garth Almgren wrote:

Around 11/8/2005 11:42 AM, Lloyd wrote:

On Mon, 07 Nov 2005 08:15:27 -0800, jaykchan wrote:


With the help of info that people shared with me in this newsgroup, I
have found that the _smallest_ boat for 4 persons in a boat is 18-ft,
and I have already got it in my driveway



Hmmm... I wonder how I managed to survive having 4 people in my 14-footer
all those years...

Heck, my 14' only has seats for two... Four is doable, if two don't mind
sitting on some Type-IV cushions on the floor.

http://www.user.dccnet.com/lsumpter/boats/Stinky03.jpg

I see four seats...
OK, when I redid the interior I only put in three seats:
http://www.user.dccnet.com/lsumpter/boats/Stinky06.jpg

But there was room for four.

Lloyd Sumpter

http://www.user.dccnet.com/lsumpter/boats/Stinky03.jpg

I see four seats...
OK, when I redid the interior I only put in three seats:
http://www.user.dccnet.com/lsumpter/boats/Stinky06.jpg

But there was room for four.

I see how you manage to put 4 persons on the boat. You guys are
sitting quite close to each other, like sitting in a car.

I prefer people to stay an arm length away from each other, and be able
to move around in the boat (such as when my wife hooks a fish and I
need to move over there to help her to unhook the fish, or just want to
stretch my legs after sitting in a car for a long while and then
sitting on a boat for a while again). I guess we have a different
requirement in mind.

Jay Chan

On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 06:43:44 -0800, jaykchan wrote:

http://www.user.dccnet.com/lsumpter/boats/Stinky03.jpg

I see four seats...
OK, when I redid the interior I only put in three seats:
http://www.user.dccnet.com/lsumpter/boats/Stinky06.jpg

But there was room for four.

I see how you manage to put 4 persons on the boat. You guys are
sitting quite close to each other, like sitting in a car.

I prefer people to stay an arm length away from each other, and be able
to move around in the boat (such as when my wife hooks a fish and I
need to move over there to help her to unhook the fish, or just want to
stretch my legs after sitting in a car for a long while and then
sitting on a boat for a while again). I guess we have a different
requirement in mind.

Jay Chan

I understand. What I was "compaining" about was your working that 18ft is
the MINIMUM for four people.

When I was a kid on Harrison Lake, a 16-ft boat was considered Quite
Large. We had our family of 4 in our 12-ft runabout (with 20hp engine)
quite often. We didn't get places very fast, and on one occasion had to
turn and duck into Green Point when the waves were 2-3ft, but in general
it was OK for 4 people.

It's a common recommendation here that 18ft is about the MINIMUM anybody
recommends. Makes people looking at this NG to think that they need $20K
or so to go boating, and that's simply not the case. It's like saying the
MINIMUM car you can have for 4 people is an Impala (when there's lots of
people happy with an Echo)

Lloyd