Hardest question of all

[Nemrod]

"I agree, stuff definitely happens on the water and weather can happen fast. But not the kind of stuff that would swamp non-Whaler boats leaving Whaler boats unscathed as you describe"

I cannot agree with that statement. There are plenty of good boats other than Whaler but whatever it is should be seaworthy if it goes offshore. I have been caught in unexpected, unforecast weather and rough seas that would sink a "Bayliner" type boat.
The sea is a strage place, like the fellow was talking about pieces washing up on Christmas Island, they could have been runover! Who knows--lol. People will continue to disappear at sea regardless of their boat choice. I prefer not to myself. N

 

[Nemrod]

Oh, back in the mid 80s when I worked in Houston a freak--huge--thunderstorm came up out of nowhere. It was about noon and the sky went as dark or darker than a moonless night. The storm destroyed and sunk a number of "bass" boats on a lake north of Houston, some washed ashore and were left dry, they were having a fishing contest. Down in the bay near Clearlake they were having a regatta. Some of the boats were the huge--open water---world circling size sailing yachts. The storm came so fast they could not run for deep water and they were driven into shallows by the force of the storm and some were pushed up onto a seawall. Several sailors ended their careers that day I understand. I guess the moral is that you cannot be prepared for everyhting, oh well. N

 

[Tom Winters]

Oh man Don - I have the older gas guzzling Yamaha Saltwater series - I can keep the gas consumption to 4 gallons per hour by not actually running the engine. My normal cruise consumption at 24mph is 16 gallons per hour. The top end is 53mph, but I have to wait until I can annex a small Middle Eastern country before I go haulingass over to Bimini that way.
Now on the Boston Whaler thing - they don't sink, but they sure can tip over. In the mid-80's, a bunch of my friends were using a 22' Whaler that belonged to the Kaneohe Marine Corps dive club. They were spearfishing at night off Kailua or Kaneohe.
A wave slammed into the anchored boat and rolled it over while they were reboarding with their fish. One of them, a local guy, was holding a t-bar full of fish and treading water on the surface when something hit him.
A few days later, the Fire Rescue guys pulled out his lower torso near Manana Island. The only means of ID was a surgical scar on one of his knees.
They made so much money nightspearing that they kept on doing it, and they kept on getting buzzed by large fish in the dark.
The Shark Task Force pulled out some big tigers after hits like that on divers and surfers. I think this one was a 16', although that might have been from a different incident off Kaneohe.
A little too much adrenaline for my tastes though.

 

[nwdiver2]

Other than the Bayliner Trophy series I would look at the smaller Grady White or even Proline, there are many 20-22 foot center consol or cuddy cabin boats out there that are half the price of the Whaler and will serve you just fine.

I had a Montauk for 10 years, got it at 12 years old sold it at 22 and it is still going strong but it’s not the same as the newer deeper V Whalers. Boats evolve and Whalers have evolved also.

I have dove off of some well setup 20 year old Grady Whites and Bayliner Trophys also.

The new 4 stroke outboards are very different than the older high performance 2 strokes which where much more temperamental. As to twins in the North West people use a big single with a smaller 15hp hung on a bracket for trolling and as a slow get me home motor. Twins mean twice the maintenance.

Another boat would be a small 28 Bertram with inboard diesel or several of the other small fishing boats.

 

[matt_unique]

"I agree, stuff definitely happens on the water and weather can happen fast. But not the kind of stuff that would swamp non-Whaler boats leaving Whaler boats unscathed as you describe"

I cannot agree with that statement. There are plenty of good boats other than Whaler but whatever it is should be seaworthy if it goes offshore. I have been caught in unexpected, unforecast weather and rough seas that would sink a "Bayliner" type boat.
The sea is a strage place, like the fellow was talking about pieces washing up on Christmas Island, they could have been runover! Who knows--lol. People will continue to disappear at sea regardless of their boat choice. I prefer not to myself. N

Bayliner manufactures a range of boats of varying sizes and designs of course. Comparing the same size and style of boat (i.e. center console vs. coastal cruiser vs. motoryacht etc.), how do you know the weather you experienced would have sunk a "Bayliner type boat"? Ha ha - that is plain nonsense.

Chuck - I never said Bayliner is the right boat for everyone. I said for normal recreational boating Bayliner offers the best bang for the buck in my opinion. You jumped in after to say Bayliners were unreliable (to sum up) and that is wrong information.

--Matt

 

[donclaypool]

Yikes Tom!!!!!!

A bad night like that might just end my diving career. I get the 4gph average by running at 3500 rpm 4-6 miles out and back and idling around waiting for divers the rest of the time. I'll bet she burns 8-12 gph in cruise. 7000# boat, 13.5 "pitch to get her on plane with a load. Could use more power but I get by. Also a 6 deg deadrise, good for getting on plane and economy, but we crawl through a 3' sea to keep from being pounded to death or breaking up.

Don

Oh yea, it's sort of a "Bayliner type Boat"-'88 Chris Craft. Sorry to interrupt a good pissing match.

 

[OE2X]

Out here we have some huge tide shifts which can make the boating pretty intense if you need to go through some of the whirlpools, rips or eddy lines.

I've either ridden or driven Whalers and Grady Whites. I own a Zodiac. When it came to buy a boat, my price had to be under $50K. Equally important, it had to be bombproof in whatever conditions we can get between Seattle and Port Hardy. Big swell, rips, standing waves etc... Talking with an ex Coastie, we went through all the manufactures of boats in the 18'-24' range. The one that stood out above all the rest was a RIB. Like the Whaler they are next to impossible to sink. Yes you can flip them, but the RIB will have to go past 90 degrees with the 2' pontoons. This is pretty hard to make happen because of those tubes. If any of you are familiar with whitewater rafting, you will know that empty raft is hard to flip, a loaded one (like the RIB) is next to impossible to turn over. I've been out on Uncle Pugs whaler and while it's a nice boat, it would be easy for it to get away from you. I've been out in 12' swell launching a Zodiac 733 off the tops of the waves. We are talking about both engines completely out of the water and doing so for just under 10 NM. The boat never was close to getting away from us (4 passengers - no dive gear).

If having the most bombproof and safest boat in a recreational size is important to you then I would highly recommend looking at a RIB. On mine, we can take 6 divers and gear comfortably. Granted I wish that my boat had the creature comforts of a Bayliner or Grady White. Knowing that I can get home in virtually any kind of conditions is great security.

 

[donclaypool]

Roger that on the RIB! If I could have but one boat that would be it.

 

[Fly N Dive]

i want one of these http://www.protectorribs.com/protector/
i been on the 28' one and can vouch that they can go 50mph with a full tank of gas, 4 adults on board, and twin 150's

 

[OE2X]

i want one of these http://www.protectorribs.com/protector/
i been on the 28' one and can vouch that they can go 50mph with a full tank of gas, 4 adults on board, and twin 150's

Those look like sweet rides. I also like Zodiac's CZ7 - but I'm a bit biased...
http://www.zodiaccz7.com/