ch1ppy
15-08-2013, 07:29 PM
G'day all
wondering if some of you blokes may be able to offer some insight to help me decide.
i am considering whether a seafarer CC late 90's or up till they stopped making them (mid 2000's?), the mid sized ones (of course it appears they still make a 6+m but new or newish that is out of my price range (my price range is, cheap as i can get it !(hec, i still need a new car), mid 20's better than more, maybe 30k at a stretch and if it was a fantastic boat maybe sell one of the kids (young adults really) to get to 35k or so, not the whole kid, cos i like them, just a kidney or something ;)
reason i am looking at the seafarer , is 1) is looks cool/fun/sporty to me 2) would just fit in my carport/garage ,i don't have a lot of clearance 3) has its practical aspect of being capable fishing boat and good storage solutions (not that i am a mad keen fisherman, probably because in years gone by i've put lot of time and effort, not to mention money on fuel for little to no return, however boating in general i enjoy, if i actually caught fish i would like it more too! 4) say a 5.5 vogue, would not look out of place on the Murray river or on a lake, not that there are any lakes in SA, closest is probably Horsham in VIC for trout .
it would no doubt be ok in bays such a coffin bay, a place i like to go, perhaps good in the bay at Pt Lincoln and all other bays around the state, streaky, venus etc etc...and off the coast of adelaide if the weather is suitable.
however, one of the lads likes the idea of fishing out reasonably far offshore from Moonta and other places in the Spencer Gulf ( not that far compared to what banana benders are used to) for Snapper and such, maybe venture outside the bays of Coffin bay etc after yellow tail kingfish or tuna etc and also fish around Kangaroo island which is close to Adelaide but has some big seas i think. i guess i wouldnt mind those places either so long as i catch something lol
so a couple of questions; how would a CC ,open bow boats cope with larger seas? (or how large can they cope with?) and say a 5.5m vogue only seem to be rated to 115hp 4 stroke or 150hp 2 stroke, is that plenty or just barely enough.
i wonder because i used to own an american boat for many years, a long time ago, a Formula Thunderbird 18 (late 70's which was not that old back then) that had about 200+hp mercruiser, i would take it across St Vincents gulf to the other side, do a bit of fishing, catch bugger all, visit the pub, walk to the servo and get some fuel in a jerry and come back, in summer sometimes the gulf was like glass flying back at great speed where hitting a small ripple left from a dolphin would send the boat airborne, great fun.
other times the waves and swells might be 2.5m or so. on the odd occasion the front deck in front of the window would have water come over, not often, but i remember it! also getting caught in a following sea could be somewhat hair-raising , very much so on some days, even with 200hp the boat had to work flat out to keep stable (just), i used to watch the back and dam near see, the wave climbing over the back trying to get in, freaky stuff! think some people have their boats lose it an go sideways but mine never did but you never forget those following waters, comming out of the Port river into the gulf can sometime have big waves when the waters meet weird, but having a bit of juice my old boat used to just jump em like a surf rescue boat, many a time doing that i scared a few mates visiting from the outback who wanted to see some water (payback for their antics when they used to take me spotlighting out bush haha)
i vaguely remember taking a new seafarer vamp 5.0m for a test run about ten or so years ago, i nearly bought it (that long time established dealer has since disappeared), cant quite remember why i didnt, i do remember it was quite a wet ride (though i expected that a bit) in small but very choppy water the guy took us on, normally those shallow back waters behind garden island up to St Kilda (SA not VIC) are quite protected but it was not the best of days so quite choppy, so it was a wet ride unless you were behind the wheel, since it would be my boat i figure i would be mostly dry and everyone else can get the excileration of the sea spray ;D . i didnt have enough money for the larger boat which was along side the vamp in the showroom ...its for, four people, me, two young men and my young adult daughter would love to be having some boating fun come xmas..
any thoughts?
cheers
chippy
wondering if some of you blokes may be able to offer some insight to help me decide.
i am considering whether a seafarer CC late 90's or up till they stopped making them (mid 2000's?), the mid sized ones (of course it appears they still make a 6+m but new or newish that is out of my price range (my price range is, cheap as i can get it !(hec, i still need a new car), mid 20's better than more, maybe 30k at a stretch and if it was a fantastic boat maybe sell one of the kids (young adults really) to get to 35k or so, not the whole kid, cos i like them, just a kidney or something ;)
reason i am looking at the seafarer , is 1) is looks cool/fun/sporty to me 2) would just fit in my carport/garage ,i don't have a lot of clearance 3) has its practical aspect of being capable fishing boat and good storage solutions (not that i am a mad keen fisherman, probably because in years gone by i've put lot of time and effort, not to mention money on fuel for little to no return, however boating in general i enjoy, if i actually caught fish i would like it more too! 4) say a 5.5 vogue, would not look out of place on the Murray river or on a lake, not that there are any lakes in SA, closest is probably Horsham in VIC for trout .
it would no doubt be ok in bays such a coffin bay, a place i like to go, perhaps good in the bay at Pt Lincoln and all other bays around the state, streaky, venus etc etc...and off the coast of adelaide if the weather is suitable.
however, one of the lads likes the idea of fishing out reasonably far offshore from Moonta and other places in the Spencer Gulf ( not that far compared to what banana benders are used to) for Snapper and such, maybe venture outside the bays of Coffin bay etc after yellow tail kingfish or tuna etc and also fish around Kangaroo island which is close to Adelaide but has some big seas i think. i guess i wouldnt mind those places either so long as i catch something lol
so a couple of questions; how would a CC ,open bow boats cope with larger seas? (or how large can they cope with?) and say a 5.5m vogue only seem to be rated to 115hp 4 stroke or 150hp 2 stroke, is that plenty or just barely enough.
i wonder because i used to own an american boat for many years, a long time ago, a Formula Thunderbird 18 (late 70's which was not that old back then) that had about 200+hp mercruiser, i would take it across St Vincents gulf to the other side, do a bit of fishing, catch bugger all, visit the pub, walk to the servo and get some fuel in a jerry and come back, in summer sometimes the gulf was like glass flying back at great speed where hitting a small ripple left from a dolphin would send the boat airborne, great fun.
other times the waves and swells might be 2.5m or so. on the odd occasion the front deck in front of the window would have water come over, not often, but i remember it! also getting caught in a following sea could be somewhat hair-raising , very much so on some days, even with 200hp the boat had to work flat out to keep stable (just), i used to watch the back and dam near see, the wave climbing over the back trying to get in, freaky stuff! think some people have their boats lose it an go sideways but mine never did but you never forget those following waters, comming out of the Port river into the gulf can sometime have big waves when the waters meet weird, but having a bit of juice my old boat used to just jump em like a surf rescue boat, many a time doing that i scared a few mates visiting from the outback who wanted to see some water (payback for their antics when they used to take me spotlighting out bush haha)
i vaguely remember taking a new seafarer vamp 5.0m for a test run about ten or so years ago, i nearly bought it (that long time established dealer has since disappeared), cant quite remember why i didnt, i do remember it was quite a wet ride (though i expected that a bit) in small but very choppy water the guy took us on, normally those shallow back waters behind garden island up to St Kilda (SA not VIC) are quite protected but it was not the best of days so quite choppy, so it was a wet ride unless you were behind the wheel, since it would be my boat i figure i would be mostly dry and everyone else can get the excileration of the sea spray ;D . i didnt have enough money for the larger boat which was along side the vamp in the showroom ...its for, four people, me, two young men and my young adult daughter would love to be having some boating fun come xmas..
any thoughts?
cheers
chippy