Looking for an Island hopping fishing boat.

[steve2024]

Hi all, I know this has probably been asked a million times, apologies if it has. I'm just looking for a few opinions on buying a boat.

I've never had a boat before, love land based fishing and want to go boat fishing with my 2 boys. The wife hates fishing but wants a boat to beach up on Straddie, peel, Coochie etc.

What boat, engine size would I want to look for? I have around a $8000 to $10000 budget.

For passengers it would be myself, the wife, a teen and a 10 year old. Ideally room for the inlaws too. So 5.5 to 6 people max.

I'm not bothered with speed, but want it to safely make it to and from straddie on a reasonably good day and not have to wait for a glassy day to go out.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks all

[mangajack]

Getting a boat legal to carry 6 people for the budget you have is not an easy task today....you are talking a 6 metre plus boat....You would be looking for at least 90hp.

Drop the number of people or increase the kitty out to nearly double what you currently have.

If you buy with the budget you have you will definitely be buying a boat load of problems and repair costs.

6 people I suggest you spend 25k minimum.

Also remember that 2 strokes are no longer for sale new in Australia....spare parts for 2 strokes will likely dry up in the next ten years.

[Rebel]

Buy a four-stroke motor only. Not cheap.

[Huxstang]

You are playing with the end of the market that is fraught with risk.  An older glass hull and you risk the inevitable soft spots where moisture has gotten in.  An older ally hull and you risk pin hole corrosion.

And we all know about old motors in any form of transport.  

In reality you might be able to get something decent @ 4m length with a smallish motor but its just going to fit you and the two kids.

[steve2024]

Thanks all, may have to wait and increase the budget, I'm going to look at a few to get a feel. What red flags do you see with these? 

[Ed.]

Hi, due to the age of the boat, I suspect that most insurance companies will require you to supply a boat inspection by a certifier/surveyor before they will consider insuring it. That should find any obvious major issues, not 100% guarantee that it won't have issues but better than you having a look at it without any idea on what to look for.

[mangajack]

Raise the outboard to about 1/2 height then stand on the cav plate....there should be ZERO flext in tha transom with that amount of stress. If it has any movement walk away....that's about 8k of repairs right there.

Check the drain bung and the screws holding it in....it should not have any tannin stained water or tannin marks near the bungs.

Check the floor for movement when standing on it....it should be solid.

Check the wiring for any signs of corrosion at any terminal, if you find some green crusty in the easy to see spots you can bet it is needing a rewire in the hidden areas.

Check the trailer for rust & or new paint.....trailers rust out from the inside.....if you fee any rust at all in the chassis you will be up for majors within 3 years.

Check the condition of the fuel tank hold...slide your fingers under the tank...it should not come out greasy or slimy or smell of fuel.

Check the keel for repair marks or damages.

Check the transom for siliconed up transducer screw holes....you can bet your arse if there are old screw holes that there will be a wet spot in the timber in the transom.

Check the steering is free and easy to use.

Just a couple of things to look for.

Neither of these boats will be 6 person legal.

[Rebel]

@steve2024  They were great boats in their day. As @mangajack points out it can be costly if you buy the wrong boat. You can hire an experienced boat person to have a look at a boat. Might save you a lot of money.

Good luck.

[MattInOz]

Hey Steve, welcome to the site.

I'm still a bit of a noob in boating... I've had my first boat for a bit over a year now. I get it out into Moreton Bay, the Broadwater, and  Bribie Passage as often as I can, and have even done a trip to Turkey Beach for a week's fishing. Happy to share what I've learned.

- Fibreglass is more comfortable and quiet than aluminium, but it's a lot heavier which means a bigger motor and more fuel. It's also more prone to "hidden damage"... rotting transoms, stringers, cracked gelcoat, etc that aren't easily visible. At least you can usually see corrosion, dents, etc on aluminium. Glass also needs a bigger towing vehicle. Aluminium can corrode, but the only bit prone to rotting is the floor - fairly easily replaced. It can also be welded, unlike glass.

- This leads into my next observation... age. The marine environment is a harsh one and salt water doubly so. You can be as proactive with maintenence as possible and things will still break, wear, or corrode... and usually somewhere you can't see and at the most inoppourtune moment. I've had two seat swivels break on me while at sea within six months which is inconvenient... but if it's your trim motor or steering that can be a huge issue. Personally I wouldn't buy a boat more than 20 years old... not without a very thorough inspection from an expert... unless you REALLY like DIY. An older boat's also likely to have a two stroke motor... they're noisy and smokey but they tend to last forever if looked after. Thing is they've only sold 4 strokes since the mid 2000's so sooner or later parts for 2 strokes will get hard to get. Also some dams (eg: Wyvenhoe) won't allow 2 strokes.

- While we're on the topic... don't forget the trailer. Those things rust like crazy if not maintained, wheel hubs seize up, couplings wear, etc and without a trailer you're not going boating. Remember the rule with rust is that if you can see any there's probably five times as much that you can't see. A new trailer starts at about $2000 and goes up from there. Aluminium trailers don't rust and are lighter to tow, but are more expensive.

- A boat capable of carrying 6 in comfort is probably too big to solo launch/retrieve, especially as your first boat, and even more ao if there's a cross wind and/or current. My 4.3m boat is technically capable of carrying 4 adults... but that's 4 adults of 75kg or less with no fishing gear, eskies, etc and on glassy flat water. The reality is that I've gone out with 3 adults (all biggish blokes 90kg+) and fishing gear, and while the boat managed ok we were tripping over each other, and were grateful for good weather. At the time the boat had the minimum size motor for its hull (40hp in my case) and it really struggled to get onto plane with three guys (it now has a 60HP, the hull's maximum). Two people fishing on a 4.5m boat's ideal, maybe three if you can fish from the bow. For six people you want a much bigger boat.

- The style of boat you want is REALLY impacted by your intended use. The ideal fishing hull is either a tinny, centre console, or side console while the ideal pleasure craft is either a runabout, cuddy cab, or bow rider (ignoring things like pontoon boats). If you want to overnight on the boat you want a cabin of some sort, and if you want to go out into open waters you probably want a 6m+ boat... or REALLY good weather. Mine's a runabout (ie: it has forward controls, a windscreen, and a foldable canopy) which is great for buzzing around the bay on day trips with the family, but as a fishing boat I really only have half a boat as you can't really fish from the forward half. Probably the best "happy medium" would be a bow rider... at least you can access the bow.

- Then there's cost. Your $10K budget would buy you a pretty decent used 4.5m boat good for inshore fishing and island hopping but you'll be limited to 2-3 people fishing or 3-4 people just buzzing around. And it's not just the purchase cost... there's registration on the boat and trailer, running costs (sure to be about twice as much as you think), insurance, maintenance, licence training, radio training and qualifications, coast guard/VMR membership (not compulsory but only a fool wouldn't), insurance, and so on. Then there's things you wouldn't even think of... like replacing your flares every few years or annual servicing of your inflatible PFD. Just a minor service on an outboard is hundreds of dollars and you have to do it every 100 hours of use. A new battery is several hundred dollars. A trolling motor is several thousand dollars as is a decent fish finder/sonar. There's an expression amongst boaties that "BOAT" stands for "bring out another thousand" and it's not far wrong. I used to know a skipper of a dive boat who described a boat as "a hole in the water that you throw money into". For example, I got an anchor stuck on a reef a few months back and had to cut the rope... that cost me over $500 to replace (I use an expensive anchor and have an anchor winch which uses expensive rope that can't be spliced). I got my new anchor stuck again 2 weeks ago and spent fifteen minutes furiously reversing and moving around until it finally came free. I wasn't leaving without it!

That all probably sounds like I'm trying to tell you not to do it but that's not so. I -love- taking my little boat out and it's worth all the effort and cost... I just want you to understand what you're getting into before you jump at it. There's too many nice boats that have been parked up in peoples' yards rotting for 20 years because they underestimated the cost, bought the wrong boat, or lost interest. There's at least three just in my suburb.

I'm actually in Brisbane (or just outside it in Ipswich) and I'd be happy to take you out for a spin on the bay sometime so you can get an idea of what's involved, what you want, etc. Send me a private msg if you want. I'm overseas atm but I'll be back in a couple of weeks.

Matt