thylacene
29-09-2010, 11:17 PM
Took a trip to the Sydney Boat show, I went to look, the wench had other ideas. Being dead keen on a Haines, she walked away disappointed in the layout of these, as we fish as a family of four, and while luxurious to look at, had minimal deck room, and seating impinged on fishing space. I also had concerns about the kindergarten controls, being 6'2", the low mounting of the wheel and throttle meant I was hunched over standing at the helm, and I find the same in the Quintrex. The Haines are a good looking boat, but eventually the determination was made that form would follow function, and she took a look at the Reef Runner. Another vessel that almost made the grade was the Arvor 215
After four trips around the show she came back to the Caribbean Reef Runner again and again. As we left I heard the phrase "I think we'll have one of them".
Put the Quintrex on the market, and banked the cheque today. Bought well as we sold it for what we paid for it 18 mths ago. Cost us service, fuel and rego to own it.
Rang a mate of mine a couple of weeks ago who owns one of these and took it for a run out of Bermagui and the wench was sold. Even made him an offer but he wouldn't part with his.
So after a suitable amount of research and procrastination, we finally bit the bullet and ordered a new one after unsuccessfully negotiating on three secondhand boats.
Paid the deposit on an assurance that everything that can be done to get it here by Xmas will be done. Vinyl is prepared and waiting, and on arrival it will be christened "Bait Raped" at its naming ceremony.
Specs
175 Suzuki 4st
Rocket Launchers
Deckwash
Plumbed live bait tank
Clears & storm cover
Garmin GPS750S - used for engine instrumentation also via NMEA2000
VHF Radio
EasyTow Trailer with keel rollers, spare & mesh
Marine flush toilet (so the wench can pee in comfort)
Dual batteries
Bait board
1250GPH bilge
Negotiated a reasonable discount (better than boat show prices)
Our reasons for selecting the Reef Runner are;
Hard Top - we fish out of Bermi on the south coast, and it gets a bit brisk/damp occasionally, and providing some shelter from the sun over summer.
The rear seats lift out allowing ready access to the rear corners of the boat and ease of fishing over the outboard
Ride - definitely better than the Quinnie, I am certain there are other boats that ride better, but on our test run we had a couple of meters of swell, and there was a point where the ride "flattened" out at a particular speed running into the swell, which was also quicker than we would usually travel in the Quintrex.
Just big enough to fish four of us, and still small enough for me to be confident driving it on the trailer.
Chose the Suzuki because we are both 4 stroke fans, picking the 175 over the 200 due to the weight. Another 45Kg on the transom seems to negate a fair bit of the return on the additional 25HP.
Cabin space - with an expressed desire to do a few all nighters on the shelf, and with both of us north of 6 foot, there is room for both of us to sleep in relative comfort (with a mate at the helm) when we need a few zeds.
225L fuel tank provides a good safety margin for a long days trolling.
So now we sit and wait for Xmas to roll around getting irritated reading fishing reports and watching the weather down the coast ;^)
Hopefully this will provide a good solid fishing platform that keeps the wench happy for the next ten years (I was happy to just go fishing).
Anyway, hope this helps other out there weighing up what they want in a boat. There are many options about, this one just met our requirements, YMMV.
Cheers
Thy
After four trips around the show she came back to the Caribbean Reef Runner again and again. As we left I heard the phrase "I think we'll have one of them".
Put the Quintrex on the market, and banked the cheque today. Bought well as we sold it for what we paid for it 18 mths ago. Cost us service, fuel and rego to own it.
Rang a mate of mine a couple of weeks ago who owns one of these and took it for a run out of Bermagui and the wench was sold. Even made him an offer but he wouldn't part with his.
So after a suitable amount of research and procrastination, we finally bit the bullet and ordered a new one after unsuccessfully negotiating on three secondhand boats.
Paid the deposit on an assurance that everything that can be done to get it here by Xmas will be done. Vinyl is prepared and waiting, and on arrival it will be christened "Bait Raped" at its naming ceremony.
Specs
175 Suzuki 4st
Rocket Launchers
Deckwash
Plumbed live bait tank
Clears & storm cover
Garmin GPS750S - used for engine instrumentation also via NMEA2000
VHF Radio
EasyTow Trailer with keel rollers, spare & mesh
Marine flush toilet (so the wench can pee in comfort)
Dual batteries
Bait board
1250GPH bilge
Negotiated a reasonable discount (better than boat show prices)
Our reasons for selecting the Reef Runner are;
Hard Top - we fish out of Bermi on the south coast, and it gets a bit brisk/damp occasionally, and providing some shelter from the sun over summer.
The rear seats lift out allowing ready access to the rear corners of the boat and ease of fishing over the outboard
Ride - definitely better than the Quinnie, I am certain there are other boats that ride better, but on our test run we had a couple of meters of swell, and there was a point where the ride "flattened" out at a particular speed running into the swell, which was also quicker than we would usually travel in the Quintrex.
Just big enough to fish four of us, and still small enough for me to be confident driving it on the trailer.
Chose the Suzuki because we are both 4 stroke fans, picking the 175 over the 200 due to the weight. Another 45Kg on the transom seems to negate a fair bit of the return on the additional 25HP.
Cabin space - with an expressed desire to do a few all nighters on the shelf, and with both of us north of 6 foot, there is room for both of us to sleep in relative comfort (with a mate at the helm) when we need a few zeds.
225L fuel tank provides a good safety margin for a long days trolling.
So now we sit and wait for Xmas to roll around getting irritated reading fishing reports and watching the weather down the coast ;^)
Hopefully this will provide a good solid fishing platform that keeps the wench happy for the next ten years (I was happy to just go fishing).
Anyway, hope this helps other out there weighing up what they want in a boat. There are many options about, this one just met our requirements, YMMV.
Cheers
Thy