My New Surtees Takes Shape

[Moonlighter]

My new boat is starting to really take shape!!!

I placed the order for a new Workmate 5.5 with Surtees in NZ in mid February, and the alloy work is now completed and the boat is back from the paint shop and sitting on its own custom Surtees trailer.

Work on the fitout started today.;D ;D

Having given approval for the $, the Minister for Finance exercised her option and chose the colour: "Cerulean Blue" which is a Honda Jazz colour. I will concede that it was indeed an inspired choice as I'm sure you'll all agree. :D

The sides are painted and the rest is done with "Nyalic" which as you'd probably know is a clear finish. The Kiwi's love that stuff and in fact many of their boats are done in Nyalic all over. I think it looks really good.

Completion will be on 29 March and the 20ft container arrives at the factory on that day, and the boat/trailer is slipped inside and secured for the trip to Aussie. We estimate it will take somewhere around 3-4 weeks after that before we have her in our hot little hands.:P :P

Then its off to Mr Suzuki to have 115 of his best new ponies attached to the transom.8-) 8-)
Then yours truly fits up the eletronics and we're ready to hit the water.:) :)

Can't wait!!

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/Fitoutstarts.jpg

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/Backfrompaintshop.jpg

[MattyDucati]

Nice, keep us informed how she go's.

[Jarrah Jack]

Good looking boat with a design for those rugged NZ type conditions. Would be interested to know the deadrise and the thickness of the bottom. Great choice of motor...........

[rcfisher]

Yeah congrats on a great looking rig. How did it work out price wise compared to buying a barcrusher localy? Is ther much difference between the 2?

[borryking]

Good looking boat with a design for those rugged NZ type conditions. Would be interested to know the deadrise and the thickness of the bottom. Great choice of motor...........

4mm bottom and 3mm top/sides with 18 degree deadrise if I remember correctly. When trimmed right they land beautifully.Nice colour mate! Certainly looks the goods, bet you are hanging for that container to clear customs :)

[Moonlighter]

The deal compared very very favourably with what I could get locally. Not only in $ but in service and quality of the product.

Note that I am in Qld where there are no Surtees dealers so was able to deal directly with the factory in NZ. Still I understand that prices via the excellent Surtees dealers in southern states make the competition look a bit on the pricey side. (BTW it costs about $2K to get a boat trucked to Bris from Melbourne, it's only costing me around $3K, maybe a touch less, to get it shipped here from Aukland!)

The Aussie $ was at close to record levels when I got my exchange rate - nearly $1.29, so that helped. Basically, imagine a really good price in Aussie $ that you'd jump at, and then divide it by 1.29 and see what you get. You will like the answer.

I optioned the boat up from the basic standard and am pretty confident that it would match or better similar packages offered here. Hyd steering, deck wash pump, cabin and deck lighting, paint job, bilge pump, burley pot, bait board, rocket launchers, nice seats on seat boxes and rear removable/foldable lounge, folding toughened glass windscreen to help get it into the garage, and so on.

Everything I could think of. Only thing I haven't got is a live bait tank, but will sort something out when I get it on the water.

I must also say that the whole process so far has been a pleasure - the Surtees team respond promptly to questions and requests. They were also very accommodating with making a couple of critical changes that for me were "deal breakers. First, I am 6'6" tall or 198cm in the new money. They were happy to lift the height of the folding hardtop 100mm to accommodate my height.

Secondly, upgraded to HD alloy rod holders from the std plastic ones.

Next, increased fuel tank size to 100l - you'll find most Kiwi boats have much less fuel capacity than boats here - they seem to travel less distances and don't need big tanks.

Then all quality BEP electrical fittings, and fully marinised wiring, including a dual battery VSR setup (3 switches I believe).

And a couple of bonuses you don't see locally:

1. A removable folding electronics bracket that basically connects onto the side of the dashboard, into which you flush mount your electronics. Simply unplug the electronics at the rear and the whole bracket comes out in one piece and can be taken inside for safety/security.

2. The flooding keel has a door that can be closed. This means that when launching or retrieving in shallow water it can be kept closed to allow the boat to float in less water. It can also be closed to keep the keel full to help the ride when conditions are really bad.

3. The boat/trailer comes with a special quick release clip that allows one person to launch and retrieve the boat by driving on/off without the need for a second person to release/catch the boat. The Leader of the Opposition no longer has to get wet feet! These catches are available here as aftermarket extras for several hundred $, but standard on a Surtees boat on a Surtees trailer.

4. Trailer comes with hydraulic override disc brakes with stainless steel calipers instead of the cheaper cable actuated brakes that are std on Aussie trailers. Asked one trailer manufacturer here how much for that - at least $1000 extra.

So all good to this point, and looking good for the remainder.

Cheers

ML

(PS The next 4-5 weeks are going to take forever....)

[RJ5023]

ML,

I got the first 5.5 here that was fitted with seat pedestals. Yours look the same as mine were. I thnk you'll find that when you fit a swivelling base to the pedestals, and then the seats over the top of the bases that the whole lot is way too high. I'm over 6' as well, and I couldn't get my bum in the seat without jumping up. My wife had NO chance!

Also had some problems looking through the screen from that height - there was no way that I could have driven the boat with the top pulled down to the screen (as it's designed to do). Couldn't stand, couldn't sit.

Worth keeping your options open about the height of the pedestals - if it's not too late. In the end mine were cut down to the line of the "occy" straps and new tops fitted (at the dealers cost). They're about the right height now.

Nice boat.

Cheers,
RJ

[Moonlighter]

More pictures came thru today of the progress with fitout:

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/Steeringin.jpg

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/Hardtopon.jpg

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/Hatchfitted.jpg

[pickenshovel]

i was in kiwi land for a month over xmas , they make gr8 boats thats for sure , very very impressive , the weather we call rough is everyday fishing weather over there , just brought a new quintrex , never even thought of getting a kiwi made one , darn it.......
hope it all works out good for ya.
steve

[Argle]

Looking the goods mate thats for sure, have seen the Surtees in a couple of the F&B mags and they look like a bloody well built boat, I like the look of their trailers too - very nice. Keep countin the days mate ;D

Cheers
Scott

[Ross_685]

Loving the photos mate!

Awesome stuff, looks like a great package.

[Moonlighter]

Heres' the latest pics received this morning.
:)
She's very close to finished, just Surtees stickers and stripes to go on, back bench seat and bunk infills to go in, then its all done.:D :D

Goes into the shipping contianer on Monday. The next few weeks when in transit will be very slow going I think ..... Aaaaaarrrrgggghhhhh:P :P :P

Cheers

ML

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/DSC03114.jpg

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/DSC03115.jpg

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/DSC03118.jpg

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/DSC03119.jpg

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/Behinddash.jpg

[Daisy Burnett]

Looks the goods. Congrats on the new boat.

Daisy

[Moonlighter]

Got the final set of pics today from the factory just before she's loaded into the container. Everthing is folded down and the boat is pulled forward onto the trailer with the winch post temporarily moved forward about 400mm to get it all in the 20ft container. Still, looks pretty good to me! http://pbafishing.com/forum2/Smileys/default/cheesy.gif http://pbafishing.com/forum2/Smileys/default/cheesy.gif http://pbafishing.com/forum2/Smileys/default/grin.gif http://pbafishing.com/forum2/Smileys/default/grin.gif

We might possibly get her onto a ship tomorrow - if so should be in my possession mid next week http://pbafishing.com/forum2/Smileys/default/cheesy.gif- if we miss tomorrow's ship, then its another week away. http://pbafishing.com/forum2/Smileys/default/sad.gif http://pbafishing.com/forum2/Smileys/default/sad.gif

Cheers

Grant

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/AllFinishedandpackedup.jpg

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/DSC03130.jpg

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/Done.jpg

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/Stickerson1.jpg

[MattyDucati]

Very nice color!!

[kingslander]

G'day, I have just been catching up on your story - and the great photos - and have joined the forum hoping to learn a bit more. I am really interested in the import arrangements you had to make.
Due to recent family circumstances I have some $ in NZ and was about to transfer them to Tassie to buy a Surtees 5.5. While I was doing my research about the boat on the NZ fishing sites I read about your project and it seemed like it might work for me too. I have been worried about the exchange rate so it would be good to make it an advantage instead of a disadvantage. Where do you go to find out about import duties, do you pay GST (in NZ or Aust) etc? ...or, can you give me an idea of what the costs are over and above the freight?
There is now a dealer in Tassie so I can't deal direct with the factory, but my fisho brother in Auckland would love to look at some boats on my behalf.

I hope you can help.

Cheers.

[Moonlighter]

Hi Kings - hope the following info helps:

Import duties: Nil - there is a free trade agreement between Aust and NZ. All you need is a certificate stating that the boat/trailer is manufactured in NZ, which the builders will supply, and no duty, simple as that.

GST: You don't pay the 12.5% NZ GST so that is deducted from the price. But you do pay Aust 10% GST on the purchase price plus the freight cost when it gets to Australia.

Exchange rate: is very good at the moment - to work out the price in A$, divide the NZ$ by 1.30 or whatever the current rate is.

Apart from freight there are some customs fees and a fee for your logistics agent - I haven't been billed these yet but am assured that a few hundred dollars will cover them.

If you get it ona Surtees Trailer you also need to get a "Permit to import a small road trailer" from the Commonwealth Transport Dept - $50 fee, should be straightforward for a boat trailer from NZ. My application is being processed as we speak, you need this permit before the trailer lands in Aust otherwise Customs wont let it off the wharf and you will incur $big storage fees. On the same website there is quite a bit of info about importing etc.

Thats about it.

I understand that the Tas dealer is very good - Surtees send a lot of 4.7M Workmates to them and I believe their service/prices are pretty good and may not make the self-import worth the trouble - I know several people in SA who found that to be the case when they bought their boats thru the local dealers.

Maybe you could come to an arrangement with the local dealer where you pay the factory direct in $NZ and pay him his fee for the service he provides to you? Would be worth talking to them anyway.

Regardless of which way you go, Surtees have been excellent to deal with, they respond quickly to e-mails and are very helpful answering lots of questions. They are fully CE certified and meet ISO standards for design and construction which all says something about their committment to and delivery of a quality job.

Good luck!

ML

[Travesso]

ML,

That is a mad looking boat mate! I love the folding roof, I wish I designed something similar for my longboat when I re-did the roof, then I would have had heaps less grief trying to fit it into a booth to two pack the hull! Hahaha... All the best!

Trav

[kingslander]

Thanks heaps for all that info. I do like your suggestion of talking to the Tassie dealer and seeing if we can work something out.

My financial advisor loves your colour too - as we aren't likelt to meet at the boat ramp I hope you don't mind if we copy it.

Cheers
Kingslander

[Moonlighter]

Hi Kings'der

No problems.

The colour details are as follows:

Colour: “Cerulean Blue”
Paint Code as supplied by Honda: 53M1

Cheers

ML

[Moonlighter]

Well she's now in my possession and I am one happy boy!

Got her out of the container on Friday morning, then straight to Transport to register the trailer (another story but now sorted) and then headed to Underwood to meet Jon Eadie to have the new Suzuki fitted.

All went well and we finally fired her up at about 5.30pm and were finished and tidied up by 6.30pm, had a couple of beers to wet her head and then off home.

She's looking every bit as good as I expected, even better.

Plenty of head room for extra-tall skippers ;D
Everything fitted as per my order :D
neatest wiring job I've seen behind a dashboard in years ;)

Smick trailer:'(

I've done most of the electronic/safety gear installation on Sunday - installed compass, EPIRB, fire extinguisher, VHF radio and antenna, Lowrance HDS5X sounder.

Only jobs still to be finished off are installthe Lowrance HDS5M GPS and install the transducer. Am hoping to get that done during the evening sometime this week.
Anyway here's some pictures for you.

Enjoy! ;D ;D ;D
Grant
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/IMG_2771.jpg
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/IMG_2793.jpg
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/IMG_2826.jpg
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/IMG_2908.jpg

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/IMG_2910.jpg
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/IMG_2913.jpg

[MattyDucati]

Niice mate, nice!

[kingslander]

G'day ML, You must be rapt. I guess you have a few scales scattered around by now?

I have ordered my 5.5 through the Tassie dealer - who has been great to deal with. I was up there over the weekend to sort out electronics and other details and am counting the weeks now.

If it's OK I'd be keen to see a couple of photos of how you laid out your radio, sounder, plotter - and where you fitted the fire extinguisher, epirb etc.

Cheers Kingslander

[cormorant]

Nice boat and a great finish

I can never work out why manuacturers do seat boxes like that. Why not make them full width to the gunnel ( or close bar room for a long rod ) and you end with much more usale storage that is dry underneath them and a sealed door to the stern would mean dry life jackets and stuff.. You only need a gap between them large enough to walk between.

Great anchor access but hell what a barn door to have on the front!!!!! Could keep it vertical and use it as a sail!!

Yeah yeah they are a great size boat and I would love one.


Was the Suzuki going to be more expensive in NZ? Though it would be cheaper an dwould there have been a warranty issue as I thought it was teh same distributer?

[Moonlighter]

Hi Kings

Yep, we've blooded her several times now, so I can say that they do catch fish!. This weekend, weather permitting, will be at Rainbow and offshore from Double Island Pt after some reds and big pearlies!

After quite a bit of debate, I fitted the EPIRB and fire extinguisher in the passenger side seat box where they are quickly able to be grabbed. I've had other boats where they were attached elsewhere and to be honest, they just tended to catch on things, get knocked off or generally were in the way. So under the seat is where they will stay.

I'll get some photos of the dash now that I've got it all fitted and post it up after the weekend. Basically, I had the "removable electronics bracket" supplied with the boat and have flush mounted the sounder in it and have the VHF on the bottom of it. Works well.

The HDS5m GPS is on the dashboard mounted on one of those "RAM" brackets - those things are brilliant!! You can adjust the angle and height to every conceivable angle - great stuff, and good value (BIA$ sells them - about $60 I think).

Many people said to me that I would need to get an external antenna for the HDS5m because of the Surtees ally roof, but that, in my experience, is rubbish. I get excellent sat lock on almost instantly and haven't had any issues with HDOP etc.

One of the really nice things you will find with the Surtees is behind the dash.

When you open it up, have a look and you will find wiring looms already waiting for you to connect to and labelled for the sounder, VHF, compass, radio, accessories (ie GPS) - all you need to do is put the end of the pos/neg wires from the relevant units into the crimp that's there and crimp it closed - or you can cut the crimp off and solder/heatshrink which is what I did. Easy as pie!

Each of these connections is wired back to its own fuse which is individually labelled as well. A totally professional job that other boat manufacturers should have a think about.

Cormorant - when youre 6ft 6 and 120 kg a door like that is a godsend compared to the usual ones you see that the 7 dwarfs probably designed!

Seatboxes - yeah, I tend to agree, would be great to have a arrangement that you can slip an esky underneath etc - but boats are all a compromise in some way I guess. I'm happy with mine how it is so far.

I didn't actually price the motor in NZ but was told by a number of people there that they cost a fair bit more than here - even though, as you say, the Aust outboard distributors of all makes all distribute to NZ as well, so warrantly is not an issue. Probably the freight goes from US/Japan to Aust then to NZ so that would inevitably add cost.

Cheers

ML

[RJ5023]

Blue is nice - red is better ;D

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x292/Still_trying/100_7249.jpg

[Steeler]

Hi RJ

Even better if you paint that white thing hanging off the back black,just pull'n ya chain buddy.They certainly are quality look'n thing those hulls.


Steeler

[Rhinoc]

Great thread to have followed - the new rig looks fantastic Moonlighter, I'm certain you'll get many years of enjoyment and hopefully productivity out of her.


RJ5023, Looks great also - I like those stainless rod holders that fit into the boats gunnel holders. Are they from Surtees or elsewhere?

Cheers,

Rhino...

[RJ5023]

Steeler - maybe I should have bought the blue one instead? Etec's have been good to me in the past, so I bought another one. Pretty hard to find a crook outboard these days though - all brands are excellent and all can fail. :P

Rhinoc - bought those from a chandler here in Adelaide. Seen them around in other shops as well. You need to get ali rod holders for them though - like Moonlighters. The plastic bases can't take the stress very well.

Surtees make great boats.

Cheers,

[Moonlighter]

Hey RJ

Good to catch up again!

I remember you mentioned to me easry on that heights of the seat boxes could be an issue. Just thought I'd mention that mine ended up just about perfect height - Surtees supplied and fitted the seats - and as you can see they fit very close to the top of the seat boxes.

They fit them differently at the factory to what Ive seen anywhere else - They have a piece of ply fitted between seat and box with a large single bolt thru the middle of the lot that fixes seat to the box. The seat swivels on the wood - quite tight but works fine, and this means that the seat fits very close to the top of the seat box as you can see in the pic. I must add that the Surtees seats are very comfortable too!

Cheers

ML

[RJ5023]

Nice to see that you're out and about ML. Boat looks really good.

Your seat mounts sound like a typical Kiwi approach - simple and effective. Mine are Oz made and have springs and levers up the gazoo just to get the same result.

Everything on the Surtees has been very well built to the same KISS rule. Pity we seem to have lost the plot a bit over this side of the pond. These are fishing boats.

I looked long and hard to find an affordable alternative made in Oz - and couldn't.


Cheers,

[Moonlighter]

Hi Kings

Here's a shot of the electronics setup as described earlier.

The GPS is set on a RAM bracket and can be swung around, height and angles adjusted quite easily. It can also be very simply removed by unplugging and undoing the RAM bracket - one large wing nut style nut you unscrew in the centre and all that's left on the dash is the small balljoint.

The sounder and VHF can also be swung away behing the dash, as the panel they are mounted on is hinged. Also, it can be easily removed in one piece so if the boat has to be left in a carpark etc you can quickly and easily remove all the really expensive electronics and store them somewhere more secure.

Hope it helps.

Cheers

ML

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww298/Moonlighters_album/Surtees/IMG_3091.jpg

[Prowl n Wolf]

congrats on the boat mate, but gees that looks just like my 560c barcrusher?

[RJ5023]

congrats on the boat mate, but gees that looks just like my 560c barcrusher?

Exactly right TC - your boat is a NZ designed Surtees (with minor local changes).

All the early Barcrushers were built in NZ, imported to OZ and sold by here by a Vic based company.

ML's boat is called a Surtees Workmate 5.5. The larger Surtees boats of this same design are still called Surtees Barcrushers in NZ.

http://www.marinews.com/details.php?recordid=263

Cheers,

[Moonlighter]

Hi Tsumani

As RJ said, Surtees ARE the originals!;D

So actually, it would be more accurate to say that your BC looks just like our Surtees';) :-X

When you look closer the Surtees are quite different in many ways to your boat, with Surtees having continued the development of the boats from the hull up. But as RJ has said, the one diffeence that stands out most is quality of workmanship - in particular the welding is the best I have seen on any alloy boat.

Surtees offer the added advantage of being happy to supply the boats in a full range of fitout standard from "el basico" with basically just an empty hull right up to fully fitted out and optioned up pretty much like I ordered mine. They will also make some custom changes to suit you, within limits of course!

They do all the work on the boat in-house - metal work, fitout and upholstery all within their premises and quality control systems, the only exception being painting and they have a long established business partner who does that. Not too may plate boat builders in Aust who can claim that (actually, are there any at all????). Even the trailers are built to their design and standards.

Cheers

ML

[bennyboy]

Live bair tank, transom door, a hell or alot better trailer, decent seat swivels, hella lighting, yes they both have options to close off the ballast. Decent size fuel tank. Circuit breaker on the dual batteries. stress free anchor winch ready, propper bow rails, decent ladder off the back. tackle draws in the seats. Hydraulic steering standard. BC design trim tab plates, Yes they may have come from the same design but your kidding yourself if you think Surtees have developed the design more than Bar Crusher.
One is no frills, the other is the ducks nutts

[RJ5023]

Live bair tank, transom door, a hell or alot better trailer, decent seat swivels, hella lighting, yes they both have options to close off the ballast. Decent size fuel tank. Circuit breaker on the dual batteries. stress free anchor winch ready, propper bow rails, decent ladder off the back. tackle draws in the seats. Hydraulic steering standard. BC design trim tab plates, Yes they may have come from the same design but your kidding yourself if you think Surtees have developed the design more than Bar Crusher.
One is no frills, the other is the ducks nutts

Bennyboy,

I'm not here to sell Surtees and I guess you're not here to sell Barcrusher.

Surtees from my dealer:
Live bait well
Trim tab mountings
VSR and switches when dual batteries are fitted (optional)
CTEC battery monitoring system
Hydraulic steering
Excellent tailor made trailer with stainless hydraulic disc brakes, LED lights and integrated drive on/off latch included.
Ladder works fine - what's wrong with it?
Bow rails are good - don't know what "proper" relates to.
Fuel tank is 80 litres and that might be too small - depends where you are.
Exactly the same seats as Barcrusher
Anchor well had to be modified to fit the Stressfree - this is definitely a disadvantage for Surtees.
Don't know if drawers in the seat pedestals is an option or not - didn't ask.

Biggest flaw in the Surtees is the Nyalic finish that they use on the cabin etc. It's supposed to be the ducks nuts but I've found it to be a pain in the butt.

What's the biggest flaw you've found with the Barcrusher?

I think the Barcrusher is an excellent boat too - but it's not the original, and it's not the best.

It's kind of pointless to compare the boats we own since we've already made our choice and paid our money, but maybe prospective buyers should be given accurate info?

Cheers,

[Moonlighter]

Live bair tank, transom door, a hell or alot better trailer, decent seat swivels, hella lighting, yes they both have options to close off the ballast. Decent size fuel tank. Circuit breaker on the dual batteries. stress free anchor winch ready, propper bow rails, decent ladder off the back. tackle draws in the seats. Hydraulic steering standard. BC design trim tab plates, Yes they may have come from the same design but your kidding yourself if you think Surtees have developed the design more than Bar Crusher.
One is no frills, the other is the ducks nutts

Again RJ has nailed it nicely.

I'll add a couple of things:


Transom door: Option on Surtees, I chose not to have this. I dislike them because they always let water in and are, in my opinion, overated. But that's just me, if you want one, go for it! By the way, if you don't want one on your BC can you order it without?
Trailer: matter of opinion whether the BC or Surtees trailer is better. My opinion is that the Surtees is better - Hydraulic brakes which typically are a $900 option on Aust boat trailers, SS calipers, integrated latch and LED lighting as RJ said, plus its design is such that there are no closed off RHS sections that you cant easily flush out, plus its TARE weight, due to innovative design, is more than 100kg less, making it easier to tow.
Hella lighting - do you mean in the boat? I have LED's throughout the boat, cabin, under gunwhales, under roof etc. Do the job nicely.
Surtees standard with ballast close-off
Better swivel seats than BC - have you looked at the pictures of mine?
Fuel tank - Options available, standard 80l, mine is 100l. Can get even more if required
Dual battery BEP VSR system an option, I got this on mine, plus the neat CETEK battery monitors are std! Do BC's come with these?
Hyd steering available - Hydrive brand too.....
Tackle draws - Surtees have a deluxe bait board that has this covered off easily. Also am sure that if you asked them they'd put them in the seat boxes if that's what you want.
Anchor winch - could have got Surtees custom anchor winch if I wanted it, but didn't.I optioned my Surtees towards the top of the list and there is only one thing of any note I couldnt get that the BC does have - a live bait tank. But I get around that by using the flooding underfloor kill tank, and it works fine. Anyway, dealers will fit them here as RJ noted.

For a $10K saving I can deal with that. $10K!

Like other BC people, you make out that Surtees is no-frills and BC somehow is the ducks nuts. The facts do not support that position. As I noted, Surtees will supply you with the boat in a range of fitout standards and with options that suit you and your budget. Its about providing a choice!

Surtees will also make changes whereas BC will not. I asked BC if they would raise the height of the folding roof to suit me because I am tall - NO was the answer! Surtees were happy to oblige.

Us kidding ourselves? The facts say otherwise.

Cheers

ML

[RJ5023]

Although this report is 10 months old now it's worth thinking about.

It's strange that the Surtees name has hardly been seen in Oz before - but the boats that they designed have been sold here for 10 years? Kind of like having a BMW made by Holden without acknowledging where the design and manufacturing techniques came from.

http://www.fishingmonthly.com.au/Articles/Display/8751-Surtees-Workmate-55

I'm not a dealer - or connected with any dealer.

Cheers,

[Prowl n Wolf]

g'day moonlighter, regarding your 10k saving, was wondering whether re-sale value ever came into your considerations when choosing a surtees over a crusher. the crusher and surtees may be the same type of boat but the bar crusher brand has well and truly established itself here in oz. it sounds like your trying to convince people your holden is a bmw?

[Moonlighter]

Tsumani

Whilst Surtees may not be all that well known in Aus at the moment, it will not be long before that situation changes, big time.;) For a start they have now appointed dealers in every mainland state and Tassie.

I think, actually I know, my $10K is money in the bank.;D

Look - enjoy your boat as I will mine. This thread is not a debate about who's is biggest or best, it is simply an expression of my happiness with my new boat and the whole purchase and import process that I thought I'd share.

I did my research. I found out that Surtees designed and built the original BC's and as I've always been impressed with the BC, that was helpful in making me sure I was getting a quality well designed boat. The fact that I was purchasing from the original designer and builder who's won, and continues to win, just about every major industry award they offer in NZ, just added to my confidence. That plus the $10K in my pocket!:D

Further research showed that Surtees have been awarded CE and ISO certification for their boatbuilding process and their high standards now allow them to export into EU countries - further assurance of the quality of their operation.

Enough said, go enjoy your boating!

Cheers

ML

[Heath]

Agree ML,
When looking for our boat back in 2003 it basically come down to the Cruise Craft Explorer 600 & the 6.1 Bar Crusher..... what also was in the equation was the fact that we knew the BC's were the same as Surtees at the time and had we decided to go with the Bar Crusher we would have almost certainly bought a Surtees in preference due to the savings.

In the end though we went with the Cruise Craft & the rest is history.

Glad its all turned out good for you!

[Prowl n Wolf]

g'day moonlighter, i think you have an awsome boat and was just having a little play with my original blog to see who would bite. i hope to see you in the bay sometime to say g'day. maybe we could unite and start a fight with the glass owners?

[Moonlighter]

That's more like it! Plate Vs Plastic :o - hang on, I think that debate might have already been had..... and more than once, too!;D ;D

Cheers

Ml