Another Aluminum boat thread...

donnie d

donnie d

Well-Known Member
Here's a question that may not be talked about as much...but I saw it come up deep in another thread and since I'm 6'2" this will become very important to me if and when I upgrade. I did a look through the usual suspects - KF, Weldcraft, North River, Thunderjet, Silverstreak, Duckworth, Hewes...etc, and was specifically looking for the largest headroom in an offshore boat 24+ ft. It seems that the Silverstreak comes up with the biggest headroom at 6'5". Some I couldn't find at all. Are there any other taller guys out there with firsthand knowledge? I have to duck with my bimini on my current boat, but I consider this a minor annoyance in otherwise my happiest place. Spending triple the bucks (or more) - I'd want to eliminate that for sure.

donnie
 
have a look at the riptide marine saratoga.

Offshore Boats | Riptide Marine

riptidemarine.ca riptidemarine.ca
they had one you could walk around inside and try. was planning to buy one but then i decided to 2 foot-itis my way up to a 45 footer (seawind 1370).
 
I know during my build I had made a visit to his shop when they were laying out the sidewalls to the cabin. The first question he asked was how long I plan on keeping the boat? lol I told him I'm pretty sure my wife is only letting me build one! I'm 6' tall so after he marked off my height on the side wall we talked about window placement etc for me. In the end I believe the outside edges of my cabin were 6'2". At that height once the windows were cut out it is great visibility basically in the center of the window. Obviously some of that is seat height and placement which again is set up for a 6' driver. The roofline line is slightly rounded and although I haven't measured with a tape I would say is all of 6'6" or maybe a bit more? This build like the SilverStreak I'm sure there is some wiggle room in the roof height but with the factory boats I'm sure there is just some standard height. Luckily he had a guy in his shop the same height as me so that made things go smoothly going forward when some set up questions came up during the build and I wasn't able to be there. The first picture has my stunt double in it.....lol
 

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ive never understood why they build the aluminum boats so spartan. it should look like a fighter jet cockpit with two displays and instead it basically looks like a schoolbus from the inside. this applies to all aluminum builders so dont think im judging your favorite one harshly. like seriously guys have some nice aesthetics when doing boat cockpits so they all dont look like something mandated by a government committee. we arent in the great soviet socialistic republic, comrades. use your creativity.
if my hand built crap looks better than your production boat you seriously need to up your game.
00f0f_ckjbVyxeEBa_0ww0oo_1200x900.jpg
 
ReelSlim said:
I know during my build I had made a visit to his shop when they were laying out the sidewalls to the cabin. The first question he asked was how long I plan on keeping the boat? lol I told him I'm pretty sure my wife is only letting me build one! I'm 6' tall so after he marked off my height on the side wall we talked about window placement etc for me. In the end I believe the outside edges of my cabin were 6'2". At that height once the windows were cut out it is great visibility basically in the center of the window. Obviously some of that is seat height and placement which again is set up for a 6' driver. The roofline line is slightly rounded and although I haven't measured with a tape I would say is all of 6'6" or maybe a bit more? This build like the SilverStreak I'm sure there is some wiggle room in the roof height but with the factory boats I'm sure there is just some standard height. Luckily he had a guy in his shop the same height as me so that made things go smoothly going forward when some set up questions came up during the build and I wasn't able to be there. The first picture has my stunt double in it.....lol
Click to expand...

Is yours a Jaxon? Pretty confident on that. I'm sure you're correct on production boats...having a stunt double in the shop helps! I would guess Silverstreak would be similar for customization potential...6'5" is probably enough though - but site out of the windows themselves is a good point.
 
zurk said:
ive never understood why they build the aluminum boats so spartan. it should look like a fighter jet cockpit with two displays and instead it basically looks like a schoolbus from the inside. this applies to all aluminum builders so dont think im judging your favorite one harshly. like seriously guys have some nice aesthetics when doing boat cockpits so they all dont look like something mandated by a government committee. we arent in the great soviet socialistic republic, comrades. use your creativity.
if my hand built crap looks better than your production boat you seriously need to up your game.
00f0f_ckjbVyxeEBa_0ww0oo_1200x900.jpg
Click to expand...
That's your boat? What a hackjob lol
 
zurk said:
ive never understood why they build the aluminum boats so spartan. it should look like a fighter jet cockpit with two displays and instead it basically looks like a schoolbus from the inside. this applies to all aluminum builders so dont think im judging your favorite one harshly. like seriously guys have some nice aesthetics when doing boat cockpits so they all dont look like something mandated by a government committee. we arent in the great soviet socialistic republic, comrades. use your creativity.
if my hand built crap looks better than your production boat you seriously need to up your game.
00f0f_ckjbVyxeEBa_0ww0oo_1200x900.jpg
Click to expand...
I'd take a spartan schoolbus over whatever the hell that is
 
Not sure on the headroom but I'm 6'4" and find quite few of the silver streak boats have limited legroom with me knees almost hitting the dash, wouldn't be very comfortable in rough water... just another thing to consider
 
zurk said:
ive never understood why they build the aluminum boats so spartan. it should look like a fighter jet cockpit with two displays and instead it basically looks like a schoolbus from the inside. this applies to all aluminum builders so dont think im judging your favorite one harshly. like seriously guys have some nice aesthetics when doing boat cockpits so they all dont look like something mandated by a government committee. we arent in the great soviet socialistic republic, comrades. use your creativity.
if my hand built crap looks better than your production boat you seriously need to up your game.
00f0f_ckjbVyxeEBa_0ww0oo_1200x900.jpg
Click to expand...
That looks terrible this has to be a photo shop gone wrong?
 
I think in order to get much more than 6’2” your going to have to go custom build. They list my KF at 6’1” but I’m thinking this is at the sides as I am 6‘ 1/2” and when I stand in th middle of the cabin there is a good couple inches over my head clearance. Another big issue with these boats is the view from the rear helm station. Like what the heck are they thinkin, the cabin is too high to see over and the window to low to look out. Again mine not so bad the rear cabin windows are nice and high and large front windows the views from the rear helm is quite nice. But some of the KF models are horrible as are other boat manufacturer. And another one I can never figure is a lot of them have a nice high cabin and big back window but then they stick the head right in front of the rear helm, like what the heck.
 
walleyes said:
I think in order to get much more than 6’2” your going to have to go custom build. They list my KF at 6’1” but I’m thinking this is at the sides as I am 6‘ 1/2” and when I stand in th middle of the cabin there is a good couple inches over my head clearance. Another big issue with these boats is the view from the rear helm station. Like what the heck are they thinkin, the cabin is too high to see over and the window to low to look out. Again mine not so bad the rear cabin windows are nice and high and large front windows the views from the rear helm is quite nice. But some of the KF models are horrible as are other boat manufacturer. And another one I can never figure is a lot of them have a nice high cabin and big back window but then they stick the head right in front of the rear helm, like what the heck.
Click to expand...
I think once cabin comfort takes precedence the view from the rear helm just takes a back seat. Can't have everything. I'm now used to looking over the sides and ducking my head to see through. Nicer to have a partner in close quarters fishing.
 
Walleyes u nailed it on the larger kf’s. Would drive me nuts on the back deck trying to jump around looking thru tiny low windows. Zurk u keep mentioning the ripetide boats. Have u even been on one or had a close look at the design and fab on them. If you have you wouldn’t be pushing them as a custom built boat. After looking at your boat maybe u don’t know any better...
 
I would guess my NWAC has 6'4"+ of headroom. I have had some 6'3" friends on my boat and they dont scrape. Love my boat highly recommend Doug.
 
Rain City said:
I think once cabin comfort takes precedence the view from the rear helm just takes a back seat. Can't have everything. I'm now used to looking over the sides and ducking my head to see through. Nicer to have a partner in close quarters fishing.
Click to expand...
Yes for sure, they’re is no such thing as the perfect boat. I’ve had a few now and I‘ve found the best boat is the one that suits your needs the best at the time. Our lifestyles change over time as does our fishing and boating needs.
 
Kee rist! Keep your eyes out of the boat.
Screens are an aid to your eyes and not a replacement.
Fighter cockpits? Seriously? They have heads up displays for a reason. Keeps their eyeballs outside the cockpit.
Situational awareness is critical and impossible to achieve if you are looking at a screen or anywhere inside the boat.
 
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