Best 25 footer

Make sure you are prepared to pay for year round moorage when buying something like the Commander. My buddy has a 35 ft Chris Craft in a house at Van Isle. Every April 1st he has to come up with over $8000 to cover moorage. He wants to sell it and get something he can park in the driveway during the winter when it isn't being used.
 
I agree that sleeping 4 is going to be tough. I've got a 26 Hourston myself and I think what I'm going to do is get a full canvas enclosure for the back deck made. That way when I go deer hunting and prawning etc in the fall a guy can sleep in the cuddy and another can throw a cot out. That way nobody is cramped on the table and you gain a ton of covered area. If you've got a wife and kids maybe 3 could sleep up front and you could pack a small cot.
That's what I'm doing on my 23Ft Hourston, one of the reasons I'm podding it. Think I will just go the slope top cover instead of the full camper top.
 
Sloping cover works well for sleeping. I have a 17' Arima Sea Chaser and 2 guys can sleep very comfortably on the deck so larger boats would be awesome for room and comfort.
 
I know of an Osprey 26 with a single I/O on a tridem trailer that is in nice shape that is for sale. Owner has invested a lot of money in her lately and now the boat is more than he needs. PM me in you are interested
 
Get a 25 cdory. Outboard power a little slower but great on fuel and light to tow. The dory flat bottom is super stable excellent for when camping with the boat at rest. C brays is a great boating forum one of the best
 
http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified-ad/Monaro-27SE-Hard-Top-1996_30611710

I like these boats as well. Not sure how they would work with 4 people when your cruising but I know they can sleep 4.

Like the Monaro's but like other inboards the low hour rebuild is concerning. I know Monaro is able to keep their resale "value" by reselling lots of them, but I think we may be a little far apart considering there is no trailer and I'll be close to 100k after taxes and fill up.
 
https://vancouver.craigslist.ca/rch/bod/d/26-commander-sportfish-twin/6331543398.html
What I don't get about commanders and similar style boats is how you steer the boat and fish at the same time? Would I have to add autopilot and a remote to get stern steering while the family is napping in the front? Steering from up top looks like a good way to break a leg when you are excited seeing the rod smash!

Also anyone have experience with 80's commanders? I'm kind of more interested in 90's and newer boats.
 
Best set up would be a kicker mounted on the swimgrid with a wireless remote intelisteer and rear helm tied together. Steer from anywhere on the boat with remote and the helm on the back deck, a fail proof set up.
 
I have fished hours upon hours on Commanders. A few things you will be shocked how quick you can jump down from the bridge when the rod is bouncing. We usually fish with a few guys so one guy is always driving while one is fishing and usually the other guys on board end up inside chatting watching the rods. Also these boats don't wander they stay straight so if it's not a busy fishing hole it's pretty easy. Just in the last yr my buddy installed intelisteer on his 30ft commander and it works great but to be honest we don't use it as much as I though we would still steer from inside.
Careful with 80's commander more then likely they will need some stringer transom work if it has never been done.
Remember there is no perfect boat that fits all applications.
 
Last edited:
You have a $100K budget, I would focus on single diesel inboard. Do you want to trailer it? Inboard just so nice and simple. I just wouldn't do dual engine anything, couldn't afford the fuel. I would rather live with a single big block sterndrive. Replacement 454 or stroker relatively cheap or easy enough to put in a 4BT later or pod it.
 
Last edited:
You wont regret the diesel especially if you plan to keep the boat for a while. You can put a 1000 hours on it and sell it for similar dollars so will get most of your money back.
 
And for me I'm hoping my boat is moored and the majority of my time under power is with the kicker. so nice full feature high torque power tilt electric start would be cool but for the time being I just have a 2 stroke 15hp even rude.

As far as dual gas sterndrives, I think they suck both fuel burn and efficiency both regarding wallet and resale. You can spend $20000 on engines before selling and often the money you spent just means it's serviceable from buyers prospective.
 
And as far as diesels, some of the company's the parts are super stupid expensive. Like some international water pumps $1400 lol, what you gunna do. Newer stuff $1000 injectors, I doubt the better economy will significantly reduce the cost of ownership on higher tiers but they stink less. Diesel smells ok when the engine is working nice. If your looking at a boat with a diesel, research the hell out of the engine that is in it.
 
I've always preferred the cummins in the classes most of our smaller vessels use. The volvo's and the others (yanmar, perkins, etc) can be crazy expensive for parts as you mentioned. My mercruiser D4.2L (made in Italy by VM Motori) had it's aftercooler listed at 9,000US to replace. Long block was 18,000US... reason why I changed over to cummins. parts are reasonable (about a quarter the price on average) and easy to come by. That and the Cummins reputation for reliability is solid. Some of the others, not so much...
 
Back
Top