Great read ranmar850. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I am in a similar position as I turn 64 this year and wonder how I can set myself up for retirement fishing. Are you planning to launch and retrieve solo or will you have reliable crew to help? This is a game changer for me as I will be solo most of the time. Will be interested to see the final package. Hope you get many years of well deserved enjoyment from this decision. SSAfter a lot of soul searching, and looking at finances, I've bitten the bullet and put a new boat on order. I've just turned 65, have a little super, and am still working, still fishing hard. realistically, there is no point in putting this off--I want to fish hard, health allowing, for as long as I can. I like to chase billfish on my annual pilgrimage north, and, after snagging a 180kg Blue out of Exmouth late last year on someone elses's boat, realised I can just do the 9 hour run up from home and do it again. You can't take it with you.
My current boat is a 5.65m Swiftcraft Dominator. It's a great little boat--I bought it from the original owner, who was just not using it , due to age. Spent a fair bit of money and time bringing it up to date, and caught a lgood variety of fish in the less than 3 years I have owned it. Don't look for any Red Emperor, I'm not a bottom basher But plenty of good reef species there caught floating boats down, and I will actually do a bit of sinker bashing at home, offshore, with the new rig--no shortage of Reds out there nowadays. Certainly a more comfortable boat than the 600 Quintrex CC it replaced. Got me my first marlin, a 130kg Black, and lots besides. I did a little reminiscing on our WA forum, in a thread called "the Dominator Retrospective http://fishwrecked.com/forum/dominat...ed-new-species Have a look at it for some good WA fish.
I can probably blame Darren253 for all this, because it was his build thread that really got me thinking. That, and the desire to cover more sea miles than I could reasonably ask the Dominator to do in comfort. So the idea took shape, my impending 65th birthday meant I could dip into a bit of super, and here we are. The boat and trailer is on order, the outboard has been paid for. I was lucky to snag a 150 4s Mercury on the last day of the special which finished in December, at a considerable saving over the RRP. Aftergoing for a run on Darren's, the performance is much more than adequate, I can't find a single person on the net with anything but praise, and the simple low-stressed big block design should keep long-term ownership costs down. The motor will be hung by Midwest Marine, Mercury agents in Geraldton, after I have finished my instal work on everything else. The bluetooth module to enable you to record and monitor performance figures and codes on your phone was thrown in with the deal.
Currently awaiting a quote on a good electronics setup. I'm looking at Raymarine gear, consisting of a Axiom 9RVX Pro, and an Axiom 7 RV. Reason for the smaller one is that I can't quite get a 9RVX and a 9RV side by side on the dash. This will give me the ability to run a 1kw transducer with no extra modules, and the 7 will be dedicated as a chartplotter, with maybe a sidebar of engine info.
Transducer looks like being a thru-hull B175M with tilted element, as the RV-100 already has high chirp, as well as the sidescan/downscan/3D functions with the stabilisation built in. These are a transom mount, and will likely be mounted on a sliding bracket to keep it out of the wway when required. I'm also going for an autopilot, probably the Raymarine EV-100.
An electric capstan will be mounted on a removable bracket, with a stainless tipper, and, as I ended up selling my Maxwell HRC-6FF with the old boat, I'll likely go for a Lonestar GX2, as the instal on the drums on these hulls is far easier than it would have been on my old boat.
This will all be powered by a dual battery setup, with VSR and parallelling switch. A good size House electrical feed of 13.2mm2 will run to a main panel to feed all the goodies without voltage drop. The two winches will be powered separately.
As for the hull,I'm opting for the walkthrough transom, not cheap, but I've had enough of climbing over transoms. One boarding platform with underslung telescopic ladder will be fitted. The no-cost raised hardtop option is being taken up, and it will be fitted with two Bowmar hatches for ventilation. Under the passenger seat, there will be the standard storage box, but, on the helm side, I'm fitting a stainless seat support bracket to fit an icebox under. My reasoning for fitting it under the helm seat is that when you are trolling for billfish with 3 on board, the two observers will have a seat each. I'll make the box myself, fitted with a lid that can open without pulling the box out of position. The long 1440mm long underfloor space which can be opened up when you remove the little divider will do for day tripping, and the big madfish bag may become redundant. We'll see how it goes for holding ice. A large L&R Boatlatch has been scored courtesy of the Fishwrecked economy. On the subject of trailers, I have opted for a larger one than normally supplied,C-channel, as the whole weight thing would be decidedly iffy for going away, IMO--going for a 2400kg Easytow, with breakaway brakes.
All the usual hull fruit will be added, such as washdown, live bait tank, and fresh water with its own pump. LED lighting for under gunwhales has been ordered, and overhead LED worklights and an LED spotlight are being decided on. Rod holders in trolling positions will be heavy duty, with a couple of slimlines added for storage and downrigger duties. I'm sticking with the standard non-skid deck for now--my reasoning is that I'll give it a go, as retrofitting a covering won't be any harder than doing it first up. I will fit a couple of bits of Z-tread or the like on the boarding platform and walkthrough if they look slippery. But certainly no carpet. Full bunk infills for those overnighters, but no built-in toilet. After a lot of thinking, I came to the conclusion that, while they may be a winner for day tripping, they would be bloody useless for overnighting--who wants to pull the bed up to get to the dunny in the middle of the night? Our current porta-potty will continue to do duty, and at least we have a door you can close.
4.5 m outriggers are planned, still deciding on the form they will take, but a kiwi-made set by Reel Rods, hardtop mounted , has taken my fancy. I'll just need to confirm the hardtop will be strong enough.
Bennet trim tabs are being fitted by Mansfields, as is the rocket launcher ,the walk-through transom, the boat latch, and the s/sbait board. All the rest will be my work. Our place will start looking like xmas at the post office over the next month as all the orders start arriving.
I intend to do it once, and do it right.
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