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Thread: Open boats offshore

  1. #16

    Re: Open boats offshore

    Quote Originally Posted by RayLamp View Post
    They certainly have a unique sound (go to 4:25)
    I love that sound and the view under the cowling is unreal .
    A bad days fishing has got to be better than any day at work......


  2. #17
    Ausfish Addict disorderly's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    In the Jungle/Mission Beach Hinterland

    Re: Open boats offshore

    You really need a cab if you are doing serious offshore fishing IMO....

    The novelty of toughing it out and being cold and wet and driving 60-70 kms home in a 15-20 knots quartering sea will wear off real quick in a CC...

    most every reef trip I do is 50-80 km's out and almost always involves afternoon sea breezes on the trip home....I hate being in a centre console or even a runabout in those conditions.....I used to plan my fishing trips based on the forecast direction of the wind for the return trip...but even then it often changes from NE to NW the closer to land we get....had one return trip that was 4 hours of getting pounded and soaked driving all the way into a head sea.....with my new rig it doesn't matter...

    its the reason I went to a heavy hulled, deep V, centre cab, hardtop...5 minutes to put the clears on for the trip home and its dry and sweet..

    Also great for keeping all your gear dry and somewhere comfy to sleep...you can toss lures from the front and its a great area if you want some space from those on the rear deck...

    We also had a Spanish wrap the line around the trolling motor shaft on the weekend..quick and easy to get along the side of the cab lift the motor with the rod in the other hand and quickly fix the line and still land the fish...would have been a different story if the line got picked up by the prop but we got lucky..

  3. #18

    Re: Open boats offshore

    I have only driven one centre console and fell i love with it it was a old quintrex 4.3m was a shallow hull so only good for rivers and the bay on a good day some wank in a cruizer was doing a good 50kph on a 8 knot zone and his wake almost swamped us

    Anyhow that is why i picked up my current project a medium sized offshore CC with a moden engine so i have the best of both worlds a big enough boat which will be easy on the pocket to take out

    You need to be realistic tho and towing weight is a consideration if u only want to own one daily and tow vehicle without driving a v8 turbo diesel... for me i had to buy a second car to tow my boat the old xtrail struggled to get up old mates street once moving was ok so purchased the turbo diesel land rover which im being told should tow it easily

    Cheapest way to get a big CC is to buy a project there was a Whaller 21 on gumtree the other week in the next suburb over to me old mate had like 4k on it than a week later wanted i think $1200 had something like a 225hp on it bargains are out there but they do take a bit of work

    Sent from my SM-G900I using Ausfish mobile app

  4. #19

    Re: Open boats offshore

    Some great reads thanks.
    One of my main concerns with an open boat was taking a big wave over the bow during bar crossing ect or even if big winds blew up while offshore. Was in a solid cuddy once and through a bar crossing we suddenly dipped the bow coming over a big wave and basically nosed dived it. I know it was probably the mistake of the driver but these things can happen, i think if it was an open boat it could have sunk us. The HT cuddy shielded the water over the top thankfully.

  5. #20

    Re: Open boats offshore

    Fisher u can install deck drains if you take a big wave the deck will empty in a minute or two by its self some prefer this method over bilge pumps and vise versa

    Sent from my SM-G900I using Ausfish mobile app

  6. #21

    Re: Open boats offshore

    Quote Originally Posted by Fisherfriend View Post
    Some great reads thanks.
    One of my main concerns with an open boat was taking a big wave over the bow during bar crossing ect or even if big winds blew up while offshore. Was in a solid cuddy once and through a bar crossing we suddenly dipped the bow coming over a big wave and basically nosed dived it. I know it was probably the mistake of the driver but these things can happen, i think if it was an open boat it could have sunk us. The HT cuddy shielded the water over the top thankfully.

    It can happen, but in IMO it isn't enough of a reason to not go the centre console if that is what you really want. I spent near enough on 20 years fishing offshore and crossing various bars in my 4.5 centre console without any major issues. Any we did have were to do with me putting myself somewhere I shouldn't have been. One could argue the centre console is less likely to dip the nose due to less weight over the bow but that would depend on the boat. That said, I have now gone to a hardtop cabin boat as I decided that I no longer enjoy getting cold and wet and now have a more comprehensive array of electronic equipment on the dash. The minister for war and finance is also much more inclined to spend time in this boat than the last one.

  7. #22
    Ausfish Addict disorderly's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    In the Jungle/Mission Beach Hinterland

    Re: Open boats offshore

    Quote Originally Posted by scottar View Post
    The minister for war and finance is also much more inclined to spend time in this boat than the last one.
    same deal here....The jury is still out for me on whether this is actually a blessing or a curse...

  8. #23

    Re: Open boats offshore

    Curse, she isn't on Ausfish so I am safe! hahahaha

    Centre cab is the boat of choice I reckon if you are thinking about a center console..

    A little bit more to hide behind in the rough stuff, a dry bed to lay your head instead of a wet deck or a swag..

    That will be my next rig, custom built 6.2m plate centre cab.....just perfect

  9. #24

    Re: Open boats offshore

    There is a Mako 22 on facebook for sale 7k looks to have a rotted transom and no trailer, twin 175 Evinrude or Johnsons looks like a beast worth 7k imo even if it is rotted cost 15k to import one plus the purchase from the usa

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