Stick with the Double Eagle or go bigger?

cracked_ribs said:
Okay, here is the question that's been on my mind recently; hopefully people here will have some insight.


Right now I have an old Double Eagle 206. Good boat and my wife's become emotionally invested in it which happens with her. For me it's just a boat but it does do what I ask which is frequent runs from Steveston to another place near Nanaimo.

But it's got old I/O power and I won't trust it forever. Plus once stuff starts to break down, parts will be a pain since it's one of the rare Ford 302 + 280 leg combos Volvo did for a bit. And being a 280 it's bulletproof but trim adjustments are tabs and tabs alone.

It's also about the smallest boat I'd want to run out of the Fraser on a regular basis. We've done it in 25kt winds and it's a fairly slow, moderately stressful experience as of course the waves pick up and the river mouth gets nasty. But it's doable and we do it a lot. Running into waves at even 15 knots though would be bone-jarring at cruising speed and so if we're running into head winds I cut it back to 13-14 knots and slowly grind through it and it takes forever.

I'd like to extend my comfort zone around the 20-30 knot wind range and also to have a smoother ride heading into the chop. Everybody knows how steep and sloppy the Strait gets and while the 206 is a great hull, I don't want to just beat it to death (nor my wife etc) trying to run quickly across the strait when it gets churned up.

So I have a couple of options in front of me:

OPTION 1: pod the Double Eagle and put on modern outboard power.

Upsides:
a) this is the cheapest solution - probably no more than $20k
b) it would extend the effective length of the 206 a bit and might improve the ride a little
c) I get to keep the boat my wife likes
d) I doubt the boat will ever capsize so the main safety factor is the modern power, not the hull anyway
e) smaller boats are cheaper to store and operate

Downsides:
a) I'm spending money on a boat which I consider the minimum for my application
b) I'm committed to the boat for a few years because I've upgraded it
c) I'm not sure if I'll get the ride I want on a podded 206.

OPTION 2: locate a project hull, likely a Hourston 26, and start a serious build.

Upsides:
a) the money is going into a boat that will probably last me as long as I would ever want
b) it's as good a ride as I'll ever be able to afford
c) I'm doing the Strait run in a boat that doesn't seem like the minimum for bad weather Strait crossings

Downsides:
a) a lot more money - probably more like $50k
b) my wife would be sad to see the end of the DE and all the work I've put in refoaming it etc.
c) any money that gets tied up in boats limits my ability to do other stuff like move out of Vancouver which is what I really want to do
d) even a longer boat won't necessarily make it possible to run fast into rough weather in the strait
e) more expensive to store and to operate a larger boat


There's probably other stuff which is why I'm asking. I've never run a podded boat before and after the conversion so I don't know what to expect. I've never spent much time running boats bigger than my Double Eagle and never in rough weather so I don't really have a good sense of how much things will improve going from a 20' to a 25'. I'm sure that something like the podded 25 Bertram in Salt Water fishing would handle anything I could throw at it though at that would really be great.

So I guess I'm looking for inputs on the size and safety factors, as well as the effects of podding a boat. I'm really torn on how best to approach this but I feel like the clock is ticking on my I/O setup and if I get through another season without a significant failure I'll really be starting to get nervous, not so much about the engine and leg per se but accessories like the cooling system, say, on which the raw water pump alone would cost me as much as a replacement 302.


So anyone with ideas, fire away.
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My opinion don't pod it. Your going to get everyone saying pod it and be stuck with boat you paid more for in the end. It is an old hull. You ether re-power with a new inboard which is way cheaper, or sell it and get someone who has spent money on a pod or a project boat. I am not a pod fan myself you have to love your boat it is a lot of money. At 15k I think your not being realistic truthfully. You are going to need larger motor as that is fairly heavy boat. Your looking at pod with used outdoor motor.

I would sell it as is, and then save money and buy a boat a few feet larger with a pod/outboard like you want. Its sounds like you want a larger boat anyway.
 
the interiors of the 80's fly bridges where fairly sparse
there is no doghouse, power is under the deck or if the boat was cheap... no motor. then that pod option looks better. knocck the fly bridge off and you have a 26' toba hardtop. which i think they made in 24'
there cheap..... can get into a fixer for 5-10K
 

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15k would pod it with used power if you did all the work. But once you open the transom and if it is wet, throw that budget away. Repowering would be $$ too if you went with a newer engine, the 280 hole needs to be filled and re-cut if you want a newer leg, and you will have a tough time finding a way to adapt a newer small block chev to the 280 leg. The flywheels are not interchangeable from early 90's to a vortexh
 
I podded a 24ft SeaRay years ago. Made it a totally different boat (all good):

At rest, the stern was 2-3 inches more out of the water.

While on plane, the bow rode much lower w/o any trim.

It would take a 2-3 ft chop at 50mph.

Cockpit is much roomier

If you go the pod route, make sure you can adjust the mounting height of the O/B after initial sea trial; mine could have been mounted higher.
 
Thunder21 said:
Sell the double eagle, buy that Bertram . Problem solved
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If the contract I'm working on now were to somehow close in the next month (it definitely won't) I would buy that Bertram and never think twice about any of this ever again.

Until two years down the road, when I'd be back here asking "stick with the Bertram or go aluminum" and that would turn into another five page back-and-forth in which I flip flop ten times and ask questions until people wish they never heard of bertrams or aluminum.

But I think it'll come in 80-90 with power and barring a miracle that's nearly double my budget. GORGEOUS boat though and exactly what I would love to have.
 
I saw that you were looking for one, right at the exact moment Quinn's Bertram became available.

I suspect that the universe is torturing me because in 6-12 months I could do both of those deals. But I need a new boat before I can unload the DE and the Bertram is out of reach for the moment.

When I saw both of those things happen at once I pretty much developed Tourette's for an hour.
 
Tough decisions. I know the feeling. I have a center console that I love most days but fall and winter fishing is painfully cold. I really want to move to a hard top (which my wife dislikes). There aren't many DE's around right now but they do show up from time to time.

Good luck
 
If she comes out in winter, or a windy day in summer, she'll change her mind about the hardtop! Cranking the bus heater in winter is what keeps my wife happy; taking green water over the hardtop instead of taking it over canvas when it gets harsh once or twice is also a very pronounced "oh, having a solid roof is really nice" moment.

We had a dinghy swept right off the hardtop at the mouth of the Fraser one time and I think if that had've been canvas the next few minutes would have been very unpleasant.

If I somehow close on the money deal I have going and come out with enough profit to make Quinn's Bertram reachable, you'll be the first guy to know.
 
cracked_ribs if your still interested in podding the double eagle pm me and I might be able to help you out with going that route
 
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