Lets build 2 perfect lake erie boats

I say 2 because I want a boat slipped and one for fishing ohio, ny,and ontario.. So lets call it big boat, little boat. Vision Quest is a good example.
 
Little boat : outboard or inboard ?   1 motor or 2 ? kicker?   cuddy? Walk around? Hard top or soft? length ? auto pilot? fish finder? navigation? wet sink? downrigger ?  list all your options down to the rod and reel brand name.
 
 
Personally I'm would look for a ruff water hull,2 outboards,cuddy,26ft. hard top,furnuo sonar/gps..
 
Whats your perfect boat?
 
MM

I was gonna start this thread as well off the Boats that Sink Thread...Good Job Moose.

Big Boat:
1st Choice Steiger 26 Miami with Twin 250 Suzuki Outboards



Second Choice:
Parker 2510 XLD




Little Boat:
Lund Pro V GL With 300 Verado (thing has to haul****


For Electronics, Furuno Color Fishfinder, Garmin GPS, Nautimatic Hydro Auto-Pilot (gladiator series), Vector Rod Holders, Vector Downriggers...Not worried about kicker on the big boats those new outboards are very economic to run, 4-6 gallon of gas in 8hrs trolling...

big boat Tiara

little boat

I'll add a boat to the "Small" boat list. 
Ranger 620VS w/ Mercury 250 Pro XS and 9.9. Merc Kicker.  I'll pass on all the hype about the Mercury Verado's and other four strokes out there.  The Two-Strokes blow them away on performance, and get just as good if not better fuel economy.  Look @ Mercury's website under their Engine tests if you don't believe this!! 
If you need a boat that does everything and can still toss on the trailer, fish a bass tournament, hit the Great Lakes, water-ski, etc...This is your machine!
Now if I only had 50,000k to upgrade my 1995 Ranger...

Big Boat Choice 2 Grady White

I have asked this same question very recently in the thread that Carpet Bagger mentioned.  I am so ignorant that I do not know what I want.  Is there really an all purpose big water boat.  It is really interesting to me that the criteria for this post was a total of 2 boats.  I think that I understand the distinction in that one boat would need to be trailerable?  I approach this thread from a much different angle.  Maybe I should not even be playing the game as I do not desire a boat parked in a slip.  I am too far away to regularly enjoy it.  Three years ago I "built" the perfect boat.  That is to say, the perfect boat for "small waters".  I started with an 18' modified jon boat.  Nearly the whole space inside the boat is open.  Seating, dry box and yet to be completed livewell are "modular" (they can be moved around and secured nearly anywhere in the boat or completly removed).  The boat easily converts from a comfortable fishing boat to a full camo duck hunting boat.  I really like this boat, it has 24" sidewalls but I would not bring it to Erie unless I knew somehow that the water would be calm.  I digress as usual.
 
I dream about building the perfect, trailerable, Big Water boat.  Based on a single trip to Lake Erie this summer.  I believe that my perfect boat would be aluminum, I prefer the outboard set up used in recent years which places the outboart well away from the transom (not sure what this is called).  I would prefer that my dream boat had a hard top.  I would like the controls as FAR FORWARD as possible to allow a huge, open deck space.  I do not think that I even desire a small cabin. Maybe somebody could share what you actually use some of the smaller cabins I see in 20-25ft boats?  It looks, largely, like wasted space to me!  Yeah, you could sleep in there. Does anybody do this with regularity.  I guess that since I have to pay to stay when I come up, that a cabin would provide a home away from home BUT I am not sure that I could ever sleep a wink on a boat LOL.
 
I really have enjoyed the dream boats posted so far.  When I know better what I want, I would like to draw it up and share it.  I lack the specific skill to do this on a computer.
 
Hopefully, if I were ever able to live this boat dream, I would use it more than the last dream I had. . .a 1970 Camaro that I fully restored and drive <10 times every summer!!
 
It is good to dream so carry on!
Brent

ORIGINAL: Carpet Bagger



Judge 27 Chesapeake...Awesome ride!

 
CB,
 
Have you ridden in that boat on rough water? I would be skeptical of the ride given it's very shallow deadrise. Seems like it would pound pretty badly if you tried to run that thing on a rough Lake Erie. The sharper the deadrise angle, the better the ride in rough conditions. Conversely, a sharper deadrise angle takes more power to get up on plane and burns more fuel. Can also be a little less stable at rest.
 
Personally, I wouldn't want a hull with less than 20 degrees deadrise for use on Lake Erie. I went from an 18 degree deadrise with my Proline, to a 20 degree with my Grady White and the increased deadrise makes a big difference. My Grady lands softly when coming down off a wave where my Proline would pound. Took me a couple years to get used to once I had my Grady. I would prepare myself for the pounding of the hull (as I would experience with the Proline), only for it never to happen. Proline has since increased the deadrise of thier hulls. I'm sure it was for the reason I just described. There's also a reason why those offshore hulls have a really steep deadrise. Contender for instance.
 
Brad

CB-  good point, really far forward controls. . .bad for the ride there and back, good the whole time you are trolling (with an autopilot or a tiller kicker).  I have looked at Islanders, saw a bunch when I was up.  There are some around here in fact there is one for sale locally.  Not sure about a Holiday.  If I built I would be looking for a really solid hull.  I believe that I would want to customize the rest.  The motor portion of the driveline, no problem.  The guy that I fish with most owns an automotive machine shop.  So far, since I have known him, we have stashed several 3.0litres a 4.3l and a couple of usable v8's.  Outboards are a different story.  Between the 2 of us 5 outboards but nothing bigger than 75.
 
I will check out some of the older hulls.  Is that a simple place that I can learn most of the basic terms that are being used here (ie. deadrise, freeboard)  I do not want to bug you guys but I am a green, novice.
 
There is probably more money spent hull design R&D than most other aspects of the boats.
 
Thanks,
Brent

Deadrise is the degree, or how sharp you boat is at the transom.  The higher the number the sharper the V in the back of the boat.  This translates to how the boat will ride in rough water.  The deeper the V in the rear the smoother it will ride while under power and the better it will take the rough stuff at high speeds.  However the counterpart of a deep V is they are very prone to rock at a drift...90% of the popular builders for "great lake" boats (ie:Trophy, Baha, Sportcraft, Thompson, Penn Yan) dont use very deep Vs in their construction. 

Freeboard is term used for how high the cockpit (fishing deck) is.  Generally anything that goes over your knees (24-30") is acceptable for being considered deep...Its nice to have deep freeboard, but again it has its disadvantages.  I used to first mate on a 31 Baha while I went to college.  We had 10ft nets and you still couldnt net the fish until it was right in the back corner of the boat, cause you sat so high and had freeboard up to almost your waist.   

It is design and proper engineering that are used to give the boat proper rough water capability.  Materials used for production (and how much),  Proper deadrise, Entry, chine placement, strake placement, all play into how a boat is going to handle and perform for you...Little things matter in boat production, and its those little things that cost the big bucks when you go to buy, but its all those little details that allow that boat to be better, last longer, ride better, hold its value, and hold up to the abuse of salt water...Which ultimatly all mid to high-end boats are designed for.

Carolina built boats are built with deep Vs on a 3-1 ratio (albemarle and carolina classic are good examples of this).  For every 3ft of length there is 1ft of width and alot of bow flare to boot.  Downeast style boats run on a flat transom with a large bow with sharp entry.  And alot of other boats are just drawn up with little engineering or thought, Fiberglass is chop gunned in, they float, and a motor is thrown in and off you go boating...lol

 
As Ol Fathead said rivited aluminum boats are prone to leak if you pound em.  Similarly to glass its all a matter of doing them right to avoid the problem.  Lund and Starcraft both make very very good rivited aluminum boats...I have helped a friend though put new rivits in his islander.  The Lund Pro-V is one of the most popular walleye tournament boats made as well and it is rivited.
 
The welded aluminum is slick though.
 
Heres a nice big welded aluminum boat: Ask Pacific Time about these boats!  He will Impress you!
Pacific 2600 all Welded Aluminum!
4600lbs of pure metal design...Very nice!

 

My 24'6"x8'6"   1990 crestliner sabre is all alum. no rivits...  trailers real well ...flys in the water.... only down fall is trolling ... You have to troll with the waves ... also has a dance floor fishing room..
 
MM

ORIGINAL: Carpet Bagger

I was gonna start this thread as well off the Boats that Sink Thread...Good Job Moose.

Big Boat:
1st Choice Steiger 26 Miami with Twin 250 Suzuki Outboards



Second Choice:
Parker 2510 XLD




Little Boat:
Lund Pro V GL With 300 Verado (thing has to haul****


For Electronics, Furuno Color Fishfinder, Garmin GPS, Nautimatic Hydro Auto-Pilot (gladiator series), Vector Rod Holders, Vector Downriggers...Not worried about kicker on the big boats those new outboards are very economic to run, 4-6 gallon of gas in 8hrs trolling...

 
Not sure about the first but the Parker is not a wise choice.  Have a friend with a 25 and it works great on the Atlantic but is horrid in the Gulf of Mexico.  The problem in the Gulf is the shallow depth and the tight closely packed chop.  The helm is so far forward it will beat the snot out of you.  In rollers like on the Atlantic it is fine. 
 
Erie is a lot like the Gulf Of Mexico...choppy and close. 

If you look hard you probably could pick up a 19 foot sabre for $4000-$8500, a 22 footer (maybe with a hardtop) for $6000-$12000, and a 24 footer for $6000-$15,000 depending on the condition and the knowledge of the seller. If you keep your eye open you may stumble across one through the winter and get one heck of a deal. With the price of fuel I'm sure more boats will be for sale as time goes on. Even with an aluminum boat you still need a fairly decent truck to pull it. The 19 footer on a single axle trailer with a 110 and a kicker weighs around 3500 lbs, and the 24 without the hardtop with an inboard 4.3 Mercruiser weighs around 4700 pounds on a tandem aluminum trailer.  

Big Fathead- no sabres on Evilbay currently.  I have not yet tried craigslist or the other listings.  I am not yet quite sure that I want to commit to a big boat! Thanks for the additional guidance though, it is appreciated.
 
Brent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfSEJWd8IFA