diving off aluminum bass boat

[Ber Rabbit]

Have you looked at Bayliner's fish-n-ski? We have one and you could probably dive from it although the ladder may be a bit flimsy for climbing out of the water in full gear. Fishing from it works pretty good but if you do a ton of fishing you probably won't like it. More than 2 anglers gets interesting. Ours is a couple of years old and one thing we don't like is the windshield. It curves a bit around the side of the boat then ends in a point that we tend to whack our heads on when reaching out to grab the dock from the drivers seat. We have the smaller motor which is great for gas consumption and works well for fishing (ours is IO) but if you want to pull skiers on a regular basis the heavier ones will drag a bit before getting up. Hubby wants another boat but with a bigger motor (our boat's big brother would work), he's also been considering a center console boat, easy to fish from and powerful enough to pull a skier out of the water quickly.
Good luck on your search!
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Nemrod]

Go to the site Birbarie Marine (www.birbariemarine.com) and go to he flash site for mini movies showing boats being run over with bulldozers, cut in half, filled with water, some very funny comparisons between Us and Them, just for entertainment.

I know the origiinal question was probably freshwater use only but for those interested, there is a reason the majority of sub 30 foot offshore boats are outboard powered. That reason is that these engines are designed to live in a marine environments and when the boat fills with green water up to your knees after a wave breaks over the bow, the outboard powerhead remains ABOVE the water allowing the boat to continue to manuver and make way and most offshore type boats, especially certain well known brands, will empty and come backup on top. I/O types and inboard types, the engine compartment fills rapidly with water with undesireable results. Of course, if a huge waves fills you with water and knocks you abeam, and then a second rolls you over--capsizes---then it most likely will not right itself (worst case--any boat can capsize), but again, certain brands will float very high in the water, even upside down.
My 14 foot inflatible with 35 Merc was flipped upside down when we got a sudden storm, inflatible boats float very nicely. N