First Boat advice Quintrex 420 Explorer

[Webby08]

I have recently decided to buy a boat since I have some change left over from selling my Xr8 and would appreciate some opinions on the following.

I had a look around at various seajay, allycraft, stacer and Quintrex tinnies and have decided that I like the overall size and look of the bare ally Quintrex 420 Explorer.
I chatted to the fella at the shop and thought I would add extruded side decks and a full floor to it also.

Then came motor time. I would love a etec but that would smash the budget I reckon. So the motor choices from that dealer came down to.
Yamaha 30HMHL
Yamaha 30DMHL
Yamaha 40VMHDL (Max Hp)

Would be used mainly throughout the rivers and in the broadwater for fishing 95% of the time.
Carrying 2 people most the time and occasionally 3-4.
Has to be some thing that can handle a hit from the posers wake in the broadwater. (have seen some tinnies get smashed)
Size, stability, hows it handle chop, regrets, HP etc

I'm pretty green still being new to boats and dont want to end up getting the wrong thing.

Does anyone have anything similar to this set up that could give me feedback ?



Thanks Guys and Gals

[Dan5]

Mate i had the 385 explorer and it was a top little barra boat the 4.2 is a fair bit bigger i have used them but have never owned one.The 40 would be the go for sure i had a 40 on my 385,if your gunna do a bit of running around where there's a bit of chop you might wanna look at the 4.2 dory but if your going to stick to sheltered water only go the explorer.They are better value for money than the hornet in my opinion and i have used both,for the extra few thousand there's just not enough difference.Is the 40vmhdl have leccy start,trim,tilt? i would strongly suggest looking at getting it if it does'nt.
Cheer's Dan...........

[Chimo]

Hi W 08

Can you indicate what the total budget is please?

Cheers
Chimo

[fivefishes]

Hey,

Bought a 40hp VMHD bout 6 months ago, great motor. It's a 3 Cylinder model it's quieter and smoother than the 2 Cyl. Suggest getting most power you can afford/handle. After you throw the gear the kids and the wifes handbag in there you'll need it.
Agree with previous the Dory's are great if you're going outside occasionally (i got the 445), otherwise explorer is fine.

Matt

[Webby08]

Mate i had the 385 explorer and it was a top little barra boat the 4.2 is a fair bit bigger i have used them but have never owned one.The 40 would be the go for sure i had a 40 on my 385,if your gunna do a bit of running around where there's a bit of chop you might wanna look at the 4.2 dory but if your going to stick to sheltered water only go the explorer.They are better value for money than the hornet in my opinion and i have used both,for the extra few thousand there's just not enough difference.Is the 40vmhdl have leccy start,trim,tilt? i would strongly suggest looking at getting it if it does'nt.
Cheer's Dan...........

No the model above it has the electric tilt, start etc on it. I was definately looking towards the 40hp so I will price that up also then thanks.


Yeah that was one of my concerns stability vs chop ability/ dory vs explorer. I still want the stability but want to be able to fish the broadwater without hassle.



CHIMO I'm only looking up to max out 13k on water with everything.

[fivefishes]

Webby08,

If you can afford then get the Elec. Trim/Tilt etc, i don't have it, wish i had of spent the extra. 13k should be heaps, i got 445 Dory 40VMHD Trailer Regos etc for $11,500.

Matt

[Webby08]

Matt, How stable do you find the 445 dory and does the 40hp get it up and going enough ? I dont want to get out there and hate it cause the explorer is slapping hard.

Its difficult to judge with out riding in one and the next test days seem to be ages away and this stage. So what every info you guys can give me is appreciated.

[fivefishes]

Webby08,

The 40 is great with the 445. With just me, my fishing gear, esky, safety gear and the usual crap i get 52km/hr in calm stuff. Stick another body and more gear and still get 47-48k's.
The boat is very stable, i've been outside (10k's offshore from Cairns) in 10-15kts and had it blow up to 15-20 and it has been ok. good rig to fish from, i take the kid's out without a second thought and remember we have creeks full of croc's up here so i don't take the safety/stability question lightly.
Travelling in a bit of swell ie .5-.8m you'll still do 30-35k's without getting too wet, bump that up to metre and slow down to mid to high 20's and that's fine.
You'll get wet in just about any open tinny in certain conditions depending on swell direction etc.
As a comparison a mate has a 4.5m Bluefin, just the basic pressed hull open boat, very similar to 445 Dory and they compare well in similar conditions.
Watch the fuel consumption though if there's a little swell, seems the 40 is a little thirsty when it works hard, it won't send you broke but last thing you want to do is run short on the water.
Hope that helps,
Matt

[Webby08]

I'll keep the 445 dory in my sights for now then also. How many litres of fuel would you say would be a safe amount to carry for full day trips. 40 - 50L ???

[fivefishes]

Webby08,

I take 2 x 25L tanks when i go offshore, rarely hit the 2nd tank but i don't travel that far, you'd def need 40-50l for a day out, allowing to have spare.
My first run out of cairns was into 15-20Kts SE 1-1.2m swell and i used about 13L to go 12miles, book says max fuel consumption is around 18L/hr remember thats full pelt and you'll travel 40-50k's in that time, i assume that's also perfect conditions though.

Matt

[Dan5]

Mate just to throw another spanner in the work's, but have you considered the 40 fourstroke at all?Only last week here in Cairn's my mate was quoted $6,800 with electric start and power trim/tilt i'm not sure how much the 2 banger's are worth but i know when i bought my 60fstrk there was only about $800 difference to the 2strk.
Dan.........

[fivefishes]

Dan5,

You're right the 60 is bugger all different 2st to 4 st, Bill's Marine reckon they rarely sell a 60 2st cause of that fact, 40 is still a bit of a difference, my 40 was bout $4800 roughly.

Matt

[RobCass]

I'm also looking to buy a boat that will handle some chop in the Redlands area and the surrounding islands. I am currently looking at a second hand Hornet 4.35 with a 40HP. It looks like I cannot consider an explorer but maybe a Dory would do a better job than the Hornet. Still not sure if it will be slapped around. Any ideas are moslty welcome. Thanks to everyone for your feedback.
As they say, experience counts:)

[fivefishes]

RobCass,

If you want to know if she'll slap check out the hull design. The flatter punt style hulls are great in the creek/river but slap like hell in a swell. The Dory range has a nice sharp entry with a moderate V shape tapering off towards the stern, handles the chop heaps better. From my early days in Bris. the MB chop can be short and sharp, a little like the chop inside the reef up here so the Dory will handle a lot better. Dory's need a good fitout though they are fairly basic ex-boatyard.

Matt

[Webby08]

Mate just to throw another spanner in the work's, but have you considered the 40 fourstroke at all?Only last week here in Cairn's my mate was quoted $6,800 with electric start and power trim/tilt i'm not sure how much the 2 banger's are worth but i know when i bought my 60fstrk there was only about $800 difference to the 2strk.
Dan.........


I am still learning my way around at the moment but have thought about the 4 strokes and also the etecs etc. I'm basicly trying to get the boat it's self sorted then move onto the motor.

On the weekend I'll go back in and price up a 445 Dory with a elec start/tilt/trim 40HP in 2stroke/4stroke. I know they had one in there with a full floor extruded sides and compartments down the insides for the similar sort of money the explorer was (11k with the 40).
I'm still about a month off at this stage and want to get it right first time around.

[CreelReaper]

Hey Webby08,
Just a few thoughts for your consideration.....
I have a 4.0m Bluefin Outlaw bare bones with a 30hp long shaft yammie. One up its top speed is 29 knotts. Lovely little unit. My son has done a few trips Manly to Moreton quite OK on around 25 litres of juice.
You have certainly done some homewark but for mine the better name brands whilst being great boats carry a fair amount of "Name" price. I found the ride in the Bluefin to be as good or better as most of the top brands. Its very beamie and deep.
Price for me was also a consideration also and I found that by taking my time and shopping around I managed to save a couple of thousand by not buying a package.
Clark and Quinnie Catcher are two others that impressed me at the time but for between $800 to a $1000 dearer for hull only I couldn't justify the extra.
One other thought is the weigh difference between 2st and 4st. Not sure if there is any on the smaller motors but I know the larger units certainly differ. I would also go with the 3 stroke.
Hope this is helpful.....

Cheers

Shane

[Dan5]

Hmm,look maybe you had better get a price on a Blue Fin 4.5 Viking (about $6000) it come's with the side deck's/pocket's etc as standard.Now i'll sound a bit bias here but the blufin is alot more solid than the dory,bluefin has 3mm side's,fully bulkheaded.fully ribbed,3mm side deck's as opposed to 2mm side's no bulkhead's and only a couple of rib's and 1.6mm side deck's.I went through all of this last august when searching for a new tinny,the 4.6 quinny was top dollar with no extra's and i got quoted an outragous figure to have the side deck's and pocket's fitted.I ended up with the blufin warrior 4.5 with all the fruit for $8,500 hull only (checkout there web site for spec's) The quinny was something like $7,100 bare bone's hull. I'd have to say the bluey's one of the best 4.5 boat's i've ever been in for it's size and i've been in lot's em'.

Cheer's Dan........

[STUIE63]

Webby whatever you end up getting for a hull and i think you should get a dory style hull. get the max hp on it . i had a 4.5m bluefin warrior with a 40 hp 3 cly 2st yammie on it and halved my fuel when i went to a 60hp 4 stroke and the boat came alive . everywhere i went with the 40 it would be max throttle because the boat was underpowered with the 60 it was half to threequarter throttle therefore the better economy
Stuie

[RobCass]

thanks FiveFishes, that was helpful. Everybody talks about the waves in the Redlands, so I will have to go for a Dory or similar (bluefin got some good feedback in this post). It looks like a 40HP Yammie, 2 st will do the job. I will need electric tilt as it helps in navigating as well.
thanks again, will continue on my steep learning curve. I don't wish to end up with an unappropriate boat, being my first one! It's easy to get excited and end up with the wrong boat for the area I will fish.