On a motherfucking boat!

[Desmo]

Looking at purchasing a boat, yes I know they are fucking expensive and require more maintenance than an Itai bike.
It needs to be a bit of a multi purpose boat, diving, snorkelling, fishing etc.
Had a look at a fair few types and we are thinking that a walk around would be the best option for us as I see it pointless not being able to walk around the boat whilst fishing.
Any recommendations guys? This one has caught our eye.

[Brougham]

one of my ex-mates has a Trophy (runs the exmouth fishing charter place, you know the knob i'm talking about).
it's an awesome boat, very stable and great with the walkaround.

not cheap boats, but well-made.

[Desmo]

Yeah, they aren't cheap but seem to offer a lot of what we want and appear, as you said, to be well made.
And yes, I unfortunately do know the knob.

[Captain Starfish]

Naiad.

At least the maintenance won't be a surprise, when it starts off that expensive to begin with

[Desmo]

Naiad? Wassat?
And yes, I know what boat stands for

[=Stevo=]

Trailcraft x eleventy billion.

Locally built for local conditions, they used really solid, thick ally plate in construction (which was ribless for most models, I think) and give a ride that is much closer to fibreglass than your average ally boat. You can be a bit rougher with the boat with all your dive gear, hauling pots and bumping into things than you can with a glass boat too.

These used to go for a bit of a premium compared to all the quintrex/savage/whatever branded boats, but it was definitely for a reason.... don't know what Trailcraft going bust has done to the prices since then though.

[Captain Starfish]

Good call.

My old man has a 25-30yo trailcraft, it started life as 94.5 or 96fm's river watch boat and is still going strong. Bloody good allrounder although hull design had generally improved since then (I'm sure the newer Trailcraft boats have newer designs). Things like inverted chines for better wave cutting without losing platform stability at rest make a big difference...

Also to consider: ali vs glass. I'm on ali boats most of the time these days and, when occasionally I go for a blat on a glass boat, the quietness just astounds me.

Tinnies take a pounding but they are noisy bastards...

[Mungus]

Trailcraft x eleventy billion.

Locally built for local conditions,

You do know that Trailcraft have been bought out and are now being made in China!!

[Desmo]

Yeah, I don't really want an ally boat to be honest.
Although I am sure they are nice and robust, this boat has to cover a few bases.
It needs to be comfy, hence looking at the trophy. It offers a small cab that we can pop Zach in if needs be. Part of that comfort means it needs to be relatively soft in the water. I fucking hate ally boats for the noise they make and how hard they ride in the water.
I also do a fair amount of sport fishing which means it needs to run in relatively skinny water, again, ally boats are too noisy.

[Captain Starfish]

1. start looking at a price range you can afford.
2. go look at them.
3. take everything for a test ride.
4. buy the one that gives you the biggest boner.

[=Stevo=]

You do know that Trailcraft have been bought out and are now being made in China!!

Yep, I'm working in the old Trailcraft warehouse in Henderson right now...

Not being that into fishing I didn't really think about the fishing side of things...its a good point and probably wouldn't be all that suitable (although if you're moving then prop and engine noise will be infinitely louder than hull noise), whilst I have found the TCs to be miles ahead of the standard ribbed ally boats in noise and ride, they still don't get close to a fibreglass boat in terms of ride comfort and noise...

[SpeedTrip]

Not another farkin
"Should i go for a 60hp or got straight to a 100hp" boat thread...

[Captain Starfish]

Disagree, Stevo

On our club's boat - which is essentially a big trailcraft built to survey spec - the noise from the twin 200s at cruising speed is not that bad and is a drone you can filter out. What you can't filter out is the BANG - BANG - BANG - BANG - BANGBANG ----------------- BANG - BANG as you slap the front of the boat into waves higher than about 20cm.

[Captain Starfish]

Oh yeah, good point - Suzuki engines rock hard, bitches!

[=Stevo=]

Disagree, Stevo

On our club's boat - which is essentially a big trailcraft built to survey spec - the noise from the twin 200s at cruising speed is not that bad and is a drone you can filter out. What you can't filter out is the BANG - BANG - BANG - BANG - BANGBANG ----------------- BANG - BANG as you slap the front of the boat into waves higher than about 20cm.

I you talking from in the boat or underwater?

I was assuming Desmo was talking about scary underwater noise that keeps the fishies away in shallow-ish water?

[Captain Starfish]

Ahhh, that makes more sense. I meant from on the boat.

[Jamathi]

..><))))))))))))))))0>

[51 New West]

Remember your first car? The abuse it got? Don't buy anything you're going to be worried about scratching, getting fish blood on, people spewing on, sinking.... And anything much bigger than 5m gets awkward to launch and retrieve without help. A runabout will give at least as much deck space and a shorter cheaper boat.

[Desmo]

I am not buying a tinny, I'm well versed in boats and spend a large amount of my time on and around them, so the size doesn't bother me, Iv'e driven bigger.
I'm not buying a tinny

[timmay]

I'm surprised you have been in Exmouth this long and don't have a boat yet.