PoA Jet Ski Project

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Long time no post to this thread!

I built a "fishing rig" that attaches to the back of the jet ski (see attached). It's made of 2 inch PVC pipe, and provides a frame for a marine cooler, with each corner of the frame serving as a rod holder - I heated and flared the rod holders myself! I drilled drain holes in the bottom of the structure. It's attached in two ways - by two big u-bolts to the rear grab handle of the ski, and by straps as well. It works well for one person. The bottom of the frame kisses the water until you're up on plane, then it's fine. At idle or stopped, the frame is above water. We went out with one adult (me) and one kid. It's a pain in the ass with two, 'cause there's no room, obviously. The kid sat on the cooler, and I sat as far forward on the seat as possible, facing rearward. It works, but it's not ideal. Two adults don't work on this ski anyway (no lateral stability on the older skis), so two adults fishing is a no-go.

Which brings me to my next deal, and I'll just piggy back off of this thread because why not...I want a boat! I want something the family can enjoy together. So here are my requirements, and keep in mind I'm in Tampa Bay, FL, so this'll be a saltwater bay and inland waters boat, and if I can swing it, a trip to the keys on a fair-weather day to the nearest reefs.
  1. Required: Budget allows used boats only - I'd like to keep it to $8k max. I want to pay cash, don't intend to have a loan. This
  2. Required: outboard-driven
  3. Required: I'd like a hull shape that won't scare the **** out of the wife and kids in bay/inland chop (and I recognize that my ability to captain the ship has a fair amount to do with this)
  4. Required: a platform that allows fishing AND pleasure boating. I recognize this means it won't be the BEST for each.
  5. Highly desired: I'd like it to fit in my garage due to HOA ********. My garage is 23 feet deep, and the standard 7-something feet tall at the door. I think that means I need a 17-19 foot boat, once you include the outboard and the trailer tongue (which could be foldable?). It also means that many center consoles are too tall when you consider height of trailer plus height of windshield and grab rail.
I've been looking at boats available here in my state, mainly by Craigslist. Gotta' tell you, I'm a big fan of the modern dual consoles. Super roomy in the back, and still fishable. I've got a few identified -
  • Sea Hunt - I like this hull shape. Was looking at the 172 escape. Owners indicate good performance in chop. Pretty shallow draft considering.
  • Key West - I like their version 2 hulls in the 186 DC models, but the older less-vee hull in the 1720 type models are more in my budget
  • Scout makes some dual console models.

Any other suggestions?
 

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I vote center console. We've had a number of bass boats over the years, but I'd take a bay boat or CC over the bass boat on just about any day. You can get plenty of them with a similar front/rear casting deck configuration. Dual consoles are fine, but the second one is always a waste of space when going out alone and are worthless when standing up. Not to mention the chop always feels worse when you're sitting down with your legs out front instead of leaning against the seat using your legs to cushion the blows. Most CC's have handrails/handholds that can be used to steady yourself while standing when moving or when large waves are rocking the boat. The CC/Bay boats usually have a dual helm seat as well as a couple of fold-down seats at the rear (and one in front of the CC). I can't imagine the CC windshield being much taller on a trailer than a DC windshield to where it's a factor. If you're within an inch or two on height to fit in your garage clearance height, you can usually have the trailer axles flipped to where the leaf springs are under the axle instead of on-top, which drops the trailer height be the width of the spring pack.

I'd liken the Key West DC boats I've seen to fishing out of my open bow runabout. It can be done, but it's not ideal and I'd probably be frustrated as much as I was enjoying myself. I'd also focus on getting something that had a self-bailing cockpit and easy to wash down (i.e. no carpet or snap-in carpet).
 
Thanks for the info on the trailer leaf spring flip. So far I've seen in person three boats:
  1. Boston Whaler 17' Montauk, late '70s model, nicely restored, former Coast Guard boat, with a custom center console. Seemed like a good deal at $4,500. Decided the Whaler hull is likely to scare the family in any decent chop.
  2. Hydra-Sports 17' CC, 90s model. Nice condition, but the center console height was substantially too tall for my garage. Also it's their older version 1 hull shape, not their Vector hull shape.
  3. 1999 Sea Hunt 17' DC. I really liked this one. The windshield height fit under my garage door. Condition was good. Then I asked to see the title, and it wasn't in the guy's name. He said he'd just sign the owners' name. Uhh, yeah, see ya. Anyway, I climbed all in this boat, and was truly impressed with the amount of console-aft space their was. It looked real comfortable for the rest of the family. And I think it was still fishable. The bow cushions removed for a nice casting platform. Obviously not 360 degree fishability, but doable I think. Draft was a foot and an inch.
 
Also, for posterity, here's my fishing excursion on my '98 1100STX. Full disclosure: I just had it tied off to our dock and shoved out into the middle of the cove to get some better casting angles, so I never even started it. It was during Spring break back in the early-00's and I wasn't about to go running around in water at those temperatures, lol. Quite the lunker on the line . . .
 

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I know this is a bit different from your original spec, but have you considered the multi-species boats? If you really want a DC that takes some rough water pretty well, they might be some good options. Many options in both fiberglass and aluminum hulls. I think aluminum would be fine as long as you're not leaving it in the water full-time and keep the anodes up to snuff. You didn't mention what type of fishing you were doing, so I don't know what you value more in terms of layout/casting deck style.
 
SoonerAviator said:
I know this is a bit different from your original spec, but have you considered the multi-species boats? If you really want a DC that takes some rough water pretty well, they might be some good options. Many options in both fiberglass and aluminum hulls. I think aluminum would be fine as long as you're not leaving it in the water full-time and keep the anodes up to snuff. You didn't mention what type of fishing you were doing, so I don't know what you value more in terms of layout/casting deck style.
Click to expand...
Have to admit I didn't know what a multi species boat was until I just now looked it up!
 
Here are some I'm looking at -

Key West 1900 Dual Console
https://orlando.craigslist.org/boa/d/keywest-dual-console-1900/6476390495.html

Scout 176 Dual Console
https://fortmyers.craigslist.org/lee/boa/d/scout-dual-console-176-boat/6447788195.html

Key West 1720 DC
https://sarasota.craigslist.org/boa/d/2001-key-west-1720-dual/6461592676.html

2004 Sea Fox 186 DC
https://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/bod/d/2004-seafox-186dc-90hp-motor/6469405904.html

2001 Sea Hunt 20 Escape
http://www.boats.com/power-boats/20...0251/?refSource=standard listing#.WoEfb3XwZB0

2001 Escape 176 DC in Louisianna (far!)
http://boats.iboats.com/2001-sea-hunt-escape-176-dc/1872194.html

2004 Key West 186 DC
http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2004-key-west-186-dc-103231888?refSource=standard listing

2000 Key West 186 DC
http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2000-key-west-186-dc-103230635?refSource=standard listing

1990 Key West 1720
https://tampa.craigslist.org/hil/boa/d/1990-key-west-1720-model/6491397197.html
 
asechrest said:
Have to admit I didn't know what a multi species boat was until I just now looked it up!
Click to expand...

Yeah, kind of a strange name for a boat-design style, but they share some similarities with high-gunwhale like the DCs you cited, as well as some decent fishing from a bow-platform.


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