Firstly, I hope that I don't offend those who write against bowriders so here goes!
When we were boat shopping and were interested in bowriders, friends told us all the same things about waves over the bow, etc. However, in 7 years with over 1400 hours of watersports and fishing it has NOT HAPPENED ONCE!!! My strategy is two-fold: #1 whenever possible go with a buddy boat, #2 pay attention to the weather forecasts and be sensible.
Choose the day wisely and you can even dash out for halibut. Our boat has crossed the Strait of Georgia several times...
Our 17' bowrider seats our family of 5 comfortably - even when fishing, tows easily, has tons of room to play a big fish with, and even goes fast enough to barefoot.
In case you think that maybe we are only watersports people think again...I would hate to try and add up the poundage of fish that this little bowrider has brought home!
I have removeable seats/bases so we can switch in minutes from captains chairs for fishing with a buddy to the sleeper seats for watersports with the family. When I take the seats out and store them in the bow there is enough floor room for 2 guys and 2 kids to sleep (and we do this several times every summer - thermarests make it deluxe). For the last 2 years when fishing with the family we have been leaving the 2 captains chairs in - the kids either sit in the bow or on easily collapsed lawn chairs (these chairs get fired into the bow as soon as a fish hits to allow more fish fighting room!)
The downriggers are on swivel bases mounted near the rear of the boat so when we need to clear gear we just bring the cannon ball up and then swing the entire rigger sternwards - presto everything is out of the way.
The outboard vs inboard argument has been dealt with elsewhere in this forum. My experience has been the o/b leaves much more room in the boat; those big rear bench seats prevent easy access to the back of the boat with the net!
Our kids are getting old enough now that wakeboarding is the thing. I am going to have to add those portable water bladders to increase the wake size!
My one huge mistake was to store the boat outdoors for the first few years. This resulted in having to replace all of the upholstery after 5 years due to UV cracking it. Now we have a swing tongue and the boat lives in the dry and warm garage!
Friends who have boats under 20' with cuddies do gain the ability to sleep aboard but have lots less room for guests. I have noted that there are many more times that the bow has people sitting in it than a cuddy is slept in!
The only negative thing that I have found with the bowrider is the lack of respect shown by other fisherfolk when we have a good fish on - too many times we have had another boat just not give us room and they have ran right over the line. I might be wrong but I suspect that bowriders just don't penetrate everyone's consciousness as a true fish boat so the other captains simply don't clue in soon enough! When I am on a bigger boat the other boats always seem to give you room to play the fish right away (kind of like watching the slow dudes in the fast lane get out of the way when my black 4X4 is in the rearview)!
I am always keeping my eye open for a boat to replace mine and the only one that meets the criteria that I have is this one
http://www.seaswirl.com/models_intro.cfm?mid=4878
The 19' i/b is okay too.
Note that the Seaswirls will allow the net to be put into play right at the stern of the boat since the aft seats will come out.
If you are in the Nanaimo area and want to view my set up just email me...
