Hi All -

I'm looking for a small aluminum boat for my son and I to go fishing
at a nearby lake. I'd like to be able to hold at least 4 adults on
the boat from time to time. I was also thinking of buying a used one
with just a trolling motor on it.

What brand/model would you recommend? How much do you think it will
cost?

I've never owned a boat before so I don't know what things I should
look out for when buying one.

Thanks.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi All -

I'm looking for a small aluminum boat for my son and I to go fishing
at a nearby lake. I'd like to be able to hold at least 4 adults on
the boat from time to time. I was also thinking of buying a used one
with just a trolling motor on it.

What brand/model would you recommend? How much do you think it will
cost?

I've never owned a boat before so I don't know what things I should
look out for when buying one.

Thanks.


Include Lund boats in your shopping process. I've got a WC-14 yacht that
works well for me. It's built like a tank. In 1999, it cost me $1600 with
trailer, but without a motor. I don't know prices on new motors. I got a
mint-condition used 15 hp Johnson for $1200, if I recall correctly.

We all have different criteria for these decisions. Mine was a boat that was
capable of handling nasty wave conditions, maybe not smoothly, but safely,
which this boat does. Click the bottom picture at this link, which also
shows other boats in their "Adventure" series. They also make a 16 ft boat
in the WC series:
http://www.lundboats.com/adventureseries_2007.html

You mentioned 4 adults, though, and for more than one reason, that raises
issues. First of all, all boats have a limit to how much passenger & gear
weight they are designed to carry safely. You'll have to check the specs on
these boats, vs. what kind of weight you expect to carry. You also need to
take into account "luggage", and the types of people you will take on the
boat.

Luggage: With 3 people in my boat, an ice chest, and multiple tackle boxes,
things are crowded, especially if any of the people are clueless about
keeping their stuff out from underfoot. Two hours of fishing and this gets
tedious & cramped. So, for the typical 8 to 10 hour fishing marathon, I'll
only take one passenger, unless I know I'm dealing with wide awake people.
Take a really close look at the floor & storage space in whatever boat you
find interesting. Don't estimate ANYTHING. If you intend to have 4 people in
the boat, bring the family when you're shopping. Get volunteers from the
store's staff to climb in the boat and see what things are really like with
that many people, in terms of space.

Types of people: Just once, the wind caught the side of my boat at the exact
moment that a large teenager decided he wanted to lean over the low side of
the boat to look at the water, or something. Scary moment! I leaned into the
wind and corrected the boat's angle. These small boats are sensitive to
shifting weight, especially with enough wind or interesting wave patterns.
If you can foresee having passengers who are totally blind to the world
around them, you should be thinking about a bigger boat that's less
sensitive to surprises.

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...

Include Lund boats in your shopping process. I've got a WC-14 yacht that
works well for me. It's built like a tank. In 1999, it cost me $1600 with
trailer, but without a motor. I don't know prices on new motors. I got a
mint-condition used 15 hp Johnson for $1200, if I recall correctly.


more good stuff snipped


I am genuinely impressed! Nice post! On Topic, no politics, no cynical
observations, no quizzes.

You *do* have a life. g

Eisboch

"Eisboch" wrote in message
news

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...

Include Lund boats in your shopping process. I've got a WC-14 yacht that
works well for me. It's built like a tank. In 1999, it cost me $1600 with
trailer, but without a motor. I don't know prices on new motors. I got a
mint-condition used 15 hp Johnson for $1200, if I recall correctly.


more good stuff snipped


I am genuinely impressed! Nice post! On Topic, no politics, no cynical
observations, no quizzes.

You *do* have a life. g

Eisboch


I have a yacht. It's funny, actually - take a look at the WC-14 at that web
link. It's the simplest boat imaginable. But, about 1 out of 10 times I'm at
boat launches, some guy with a gorgeous $30,000 bass boat comes over and
says "Nice boat", and gives it a long look-see. Maybe it's something about
the lines of the boat. I dunno....

On Mar 27, 11:56�am, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:
wrote in message

oups.com...

Hi All -

I'm looking for a small aluminum boat for my son and I to go fishing
at a nearby lake. *I'd like to be able to hold at least 4 adults on
the boat from time to time. *I was also thinking of buying a used one
with just a trolling motor on it.

What brand/model would you recommend? *How much do you think it will
cost?

I've never owned a boat before so I don't know what things I should
look out for when buying one.

Thanks.

Include Lund boats in your shopping process. I've got a WC-14 yacht that
works well for me. It's built like a tank. In 1999, it cost me $1600 with
trailer, but without a motor. I don't know prices on new motors. I got a
mint-condition used 15 hp Johnson for $1200, if I recall correctly.

We all have different criteria for these decisions. Mine was a boat that was
capable of handling nasty wave conditions, maybe not smoothly, but safely,
which this boat does. Click the bottom picture at this link, which also
shows other boats in their "Adventure" series. They also make a 16 ft boat
in the WC series:http://www.lundboats.com/adventureseries_2007.html

You mentioned 4 adults, though, and for more than one reason, that raises
issues. First of all, all boats have a limit to how much passenger & gear
weight they are designed to carry safely. You'll have to check the specs on
these boats, vs. what kind of weight you expect to carry. You also need to
take into account "luggage", and the types of people you will take on the
boat.

Luggage: With 3 people in my boat, an ice chest, and multiple tackle boxes,
things are crowded, especially if any of the people are clueless about
keeping their stuff out from underfoot. Two hours of fishing and this gets
tedious & cramped. So, for the typical 8 to 10 hour fishing marathon, I'll
only take one passenger, unless I know I'm dealing with wide awake people.
Take a really close look at the floor & storage space in whatever boat you
find interesting. Don't estimate ANYTHING. If you intend to have 4 people in
the boat, bring the family when you're shopping. Get volunteers from the
store's staff to climb in the boat and see what things are really like with
that many people, in terms of space.

Types of people: Just once, the wind caught the side of my boat at the exact
moment that a large teenager decided he wanted to lean over the low side of
the boat to look at the water, or something. Scary moment! I leaned into the
wind and corrected the boat's angle. These small boats are sensitive to
shifting weight, especially with enough wind or interesting wave patterns.
If you can foresee having passengers who are totally blind to the world
around them, you should be thinking about a bigger boat that's less
sensitive to surprises.

I agree. If I were looking for a small aluminum boat, Lund would be
somewhere near the head of the list.

On Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:01:04 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:

I am genuinely impressed! Nice post! On Topic, no politics, no cynical
observations, no quizzes.

You *do* have a life. g

There must be some signs of spring in upstate NY. I wonder if the ice
is off of Lake Ontario yet.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:01:04 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:

I am genuinely impressed! Nice post! On Topic, no politics, no cynical
observations, no quizzes.

You *do* have a life. g

There must be some signs of spring in upstate NY. I wonder if the ice
is off of Lake Ontario yet.


It's gone. Only the estuaries and shallowest bays freeze. The rest is too
deep. The Finger Lakes are pretty much open, too. Perch & crappies are wide
awake in parts of Canandaigua Lake.

On Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:56:14 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

wrote in message
roups.com...
Hi All -

I'm looking for a small aluminum boat for my son and I to go fishing
at a nearby lake. I'd like to be able to hold at least 4 adults on
the boat from time to time. I was also thinking of buying a used one
with just a trolling motor on it.

What brand/model would you recommend? How much do you think it will
cost?

I've never owned a boat before so I don't know what things I should
look out for when buying one.

Thanks.


Include Lund boats in your shopping process. I've got a WC-14 yacht that
works well for me. It's built like a tank. In 1999, it cost me $1600 with
trailer, but without a motor. I don't know prices on new motors. I got a
mint-condition used 15 hp Johnson for $1200, if I recall correctly.

~~ I second Doug ~~

Two additional brands you might want to look at. Princecraft - in
terms of manufacturing quality, they are even steven with Lund and
make a great boat.

This is the one I have (mine's a 2004) and I like it. I knock mine
around a lot - it visits small, back tree lot ponds and water that
have unimproved ramps

http://www.princecraft.com/Content/e...?ProductID=319

I owned it's Lund equivilent years ago and the guy I sold it to is
still using it - at 30 years old, it still looks in mint condition.
I've seen some older Princecraft's in similar condition.

The other is Polarkraft boats.

http://tinyurl.com/2o6cqu

Godfrey Marine has been making aluminum boats for a long time and they
are another manufacturer that build a high quality, no nonsense boat
at the base model. I had the opportunity to mess around with their 15
footer in this model last year and was suitably impressed. Very sound
boat, excellant fit and finish - I don't think Godgrey is capable of
building a crappy boat - it's just not in them. I know a few guys who
have the bigger Polarkrafts and they wouldn't trade them for love or
money.

New /w trailer for a boat in the 14/15' class is going to be around
$5/$6000, 25 horse engine $3,000 to $3700. These are general figures
and don't take into account left overs or demo boats.

Used (two to four years old) - $4/$4500 w/trailer and engine.

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:


~~ I second Doug ~~

Two additional brands you might want to look at. Princecraft - in
terms of manufacturing quality, they are even steven with Lund and
make a great boat.

This is the one I have (mine's a 2004) and I like it. I knock mine
around a lot - it visits small, back tree lot ponds and water that
have unimproved ramps

http://www.princecraft.com/Content/e...?ProductID=319

I owned it's Lund equivilent years ago and the guy I sold it to is
still using it - at 30 years old, it still looks in mint condition.
I've seen some older Princecraft's in similar condition.

The other is Polarkraft boats.

http://tinyurl.com/2o6cqu

Godfrey Marine has been making aluminum boats for a long time and they
are another manufacturer that build a high quality, no nonsense boat
at the base model. I had the opportunity to mess around with their 15
footer in this model last year and was suitably impressed. Very sound
boat, excellant fit and finish - I don't think Godgrey is capable of
building a crappy boat - it's just not in them. I know a few guys who
have the bigger Polarkrafts and they wouldn't trade them for love or
money.

New /w trailer for a boat in the 14/15' class is going to be around
$5/$6000, 25 horse engine $3,000 to $3700. These are general figures
and don't take into account left overs or demo boats.

Used (two to four years old) - $4/$4500 w/trailer and engine.

Add Sylvan/Smokercraft to the list. I had a SeaBreeze 14 on a small
lake for a few years. I paid $700 for the boat and $500 for the trailer
- brand new a little over ten years ago.

http://www.sylvanmarine.com/utility/index.htm

Whatever you do, skip the jon boats if you won't have a gas motor.
You'll need something with a keel or you will have a tough time pointing
the boat where you want it to go.

Dan

Hi Dad,

Buy a boat for what you will be doing with it 80% of the time.

For you and one other on small water this could be a 14' open aluminum boat
with a 15-25hp tiller out board. Small simple fishing boats can be $5000 to
$10,000 new. They are wonderful.

A boat that will comfortable fish 4 adults is going to be a 16' simple
aluminum open tiller boat but you will need 40hp to get that all up on
plane. With accessories can be $15,000.

Now if the "gals" want nice seats, cold weather top and a wind sheild you
are looking at around $30,000 for an 18' with a 150hp outboard.

Wow.....it can get out of hand fast.

PS: Buy somehting used to save money and also have somehting to work on. Not
a good idea for most.

--
Bill Kiene

Kiene's Fly Shop
Sacramento, CA, USA

Web site: www.kiene.com


wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi All -

I'm looking for a small aluminum boat for my son and I to go fishing
at a nearby lake. I'd like to be able to hold at least 4 adults on
the boat from time to time. I was also thinking of buying a used one
with just a trolling motor on it.

What brand/model would you recommend? How much do you think it will
cost?

I've never owned a boat before so I don't know what things I should
look out for when buying one.

Thanks.