slader99
Member
Currently have an early 80's 17' hourston w/ hardtop. It's a great boat that we've had for quite some time but with 2 kids growing up it's starting to feel crowded with 4 people and gear.
Love the boat but thinking we should be looking for something we won't outgrow in the 19-23' range. Good used as we can't afford new. I've been looking at several different manufactures including hourston, double eagle and arima but it's difficult to figure out what model(s) might fit our want list. For example I've been in some campion explorers that ride nice and seem like good boats with lots of nice features but they don't seem they offer a hard top?
- Primarily day trip exploring, prawning and fishing; doesn't need sleeping, stove or toilet. Washdown would be nice though.
- We'd like a hard top with a raised rail so we can walk around the boat easily and hopefully store gear like traps, totes, kids kayak, camping gear, ect. Needs to be higher than our current one so you can standup without smashing your head.
- It would be great if there was some aft seating. Even better if it folded out of the way when not in use.
- Preferably an outboard to free up deck space.
- Prefer something that's known for handling the waves and chop we see on the west coast.
- Prefer something that doesn't have wood stringers or transom so a rotten boat would be less of a concern.
We're not expecting to make a swap right away but I'm hoping some of the forum members can suggest some good manufacture names and models so I can start looking into price ranges for various years and know when the right boat at the right price becomes available.
Cheers,
Slader 99
Love the boat but thinking we should be looking for something we won't outgrow in the 19-23' range. Good used as we can't afford new. I've been looking at several different manufactures including hourston, double eagle and arima but it's difficult to figure out what model(s) might fit our want list. For example I've been in some campion explorers that ride nice and seem like good boats with lots of nice features but they don't seem they offer a hard top?
- Primarily day trip exploring, prawning and fishing; doesn't need sleeping, stove or toilet. Washdown would be nice though.
- We'd like a hard top with a raised rail so we can walk around the boat easily and hopefully store gear like traps, totes, kids kayak, camping gear, ect. Needs to be higher than our current one so you can standup without smashing your head.
- It would be great if there was some aft seating. Even better if it folded out of the way when not in use.
- Preferably an outboard to free up deck space.
- Prefer something that's known for handling the waves and chop we see on the west coast.
- Prefer something that doesn't have wood stringers or transom so a rotten boat would be less of a concern.
We're not expecting to make a swap right away but I'm hoping some of the forum members can suggest some good manufacture names and models so I can start looking into price ranges for various years and know when the right boat at the right price becomes available.
Cheers,
Slader 99
