Im in the same situation. I have 2 Polaris PWC and really want a Center Console...I was looking into Carolina Skiff's but the flat bottom makes it harder to go with any speed or pull anyone.

Certainly cheaper and better for island hopping with the shallow waters...but less chance to be able to have more fun that just island hopping or fishing.

6/8/2015 2:50:21 AM

Flat bottoms suck donkey dick

6/8/2015 8:13:21 AM

Yeah I don't care at all for fishing, other than shooting while scuba diving. I don't care if it drafts 6" or 16". A flat bottom skiff does one thing and one thing only really well; I want a jack of all trades boat.

[Edited on June 8, 2015 at 9:21 AM. Reason : ]

6/8/2015 9:21:17 AM

Quote :

"I was looking into Carolina Skiff's but the flat bottom makes it harder to go with any speed or pull anyone."

They have expanded their brand quite a bit over the years. Check out the DLV and Elite series boats. They've definitely gone up in price, but they still looked like some of the best priced boats I saw at the boat show this year.

[Edited on June 9, 2015 at 9:13 PM. Reason : l]

6/9/2015 9:13:06 PM

Still handle like a damn barge

6/9/2015 10:05:02 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/07/26/search-for-florida-teenagers-who-disappeared-on-fishing-trip-continues/

19 foot boat. 67 nautical miles off shore. 2 14 year olds driving.

I can only imagine no one knew they were going out to sea in that thing, right?

7/27/2015 11:55:17 AM

I've seen 12 year olds talk a skiff out in the water before alone...if you've grown up near it and around it, it's normal. I used to drive tractors and old work trucks wayyyyy off the main road alone when I was a kid...so I guess if they grew up doing it, they were trusted enough.

Still, doubt they are alive at this point although apparently they used parts off the boat to float.

7/27/2015 2:51:00 PM

Quote :

"I've seen 12 year olds talk a skiff out in the water before alone...if you've grown up near it and around it, it's normal"

Yeah I grew up around boats too...and having kids take boats out on the intercoastal or something is one thing, but 67 miles off shore (esp in a boat that small) is another.

7/27/2015 3:32:41 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/07/27/marine-experts-say-missing-florida-teenagers-should-not-have-been-alone-offshore/

sounds like that boat didn't even have a radio

8/2/2015 1:16:18 PM

Man I wish I'd known about this thread last year. Bought an 18' sea ray bowrider, promptly spent the next 2 months worth of weekends doing the bellows job and other nonsense before I could get it back on the lake. What I learned? Boat tools are specific, and expensive. If anybody ever needs the mercruiser alignment tool on gaston, I've got one.

Also, this guy is hilarious (pretty sure it's contrived, but it's still a good series)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kopF4muvF0c

9/21/2015 9:33:15 PM

you lake bros and your inboard/outboards

9/21/2015 9:38:17 PM

If you're going to make fun of my boat, make fun of it being a 4 cylinder, being an IO is the least of its problems. The price was right.

9/21/2015 9:54:13 PM

i've only got 4 cylinders as well

but at least i don't have to deal with a damn boot

'twas only joking with you dude

9/21/2015 9:56:06 PM

I know, just playing along. I struggled with the decision, really didn't like the idea but maintenance pains took a back seat to cost and availability.

9/21/2015 10:01:59 PM

Thinking about buying a boat...18-22' CC or DC. Want at least 150 hp outboard, and prob at least 200 hp if it's a 21-22' (want to be able to slalom ski behind it from a deepwater start, at least occasionally).

The die-hard boaters at work all have Boston Whalers. They basically are of the mindset that there are only 2 boats--Boston Whaler and Grady White. Anything else is a piece of shit. (*they will abide Yellowfins, Everglades, etc...but any common manufacturer that isn't Whaler or Grady is a rapidly depreciating, uncivilized POS, so they say.)

I'm good with Whalers and Gradys, but like everything I buy, it's gonna be purchased for a good deal. That means used, or leftover previous year models...so I need to be able to open my aperture.

I want to stay at least midrange, and unless someone is really giving something away, upper midrange (i.e., I don't need Rolls Royce or necessarily even Mercedes-Benz, but Lexus would be good. Honda will work if it's an offer I can't refuse). I don't care so much about features as I do the quality of the hull, construction, and materials.


Where do the following manufacturers rank? Do I have the pecking order roughly correct, top to bottom? How good are all these, relatively?

-Grady-White
-Boston Whaler
-Scout
-Key West
-Robalo
-Parker
-Sea Hunt

What other manufacturers should I look for?

[Edited on February 22, 2020 at 1:34 AM. Reason : how about Sea-Ray?]

2/22/2020 1:33:42 AM

Key west will probably be the best value for what you listed. Stay away from whalers, overpriced and not put together well at all.

2/22/2020 5:38:40 AM

I’m going to be that guy and recommend something opposite to what you said you wanted...but have you considered a Yamaha jet boat such as the 190 fsh models? I figure if Yamaha engines are good enough for GW to use, then maybe you would consider it. Full disclosure, I have a Yamaha center consul jet boat and I really like it.

2/22/2020 6:25:17 PM

Put a deposit on a 2014 Grady-White Fisherman 180. Yamaha 150 power, bimini, little Garmin 740 chart plotter, aluminum trailer.

[Edited on March 10, 2020 at 8:25 PM. Reason : ]

3/10/2020 8:25:43 PM

Sounds perfect.

Gradys are great boats and it seems Yamaha is established as the best outboard motors from what very little I know.

3/10/2020 11:09:30 PM

^

3/12/2020 7:47:21 AM

Picked it up today:

3/24/2020 11:23:52 PM

Looks beautiful d00d.

[Edited on March 25, 2020 at 11:48 PM. Reason : just a little jelly]

3/25/2020 11:47:34 PM

So I sold that little Grady after only a few months. It was great, but after COVID drove the prices up on stuff, someone offered me WAY more than I paid for it. Plus my wife at the time was pissed that I asked for her input, then promptly disregarded it (she kept wanting a bowrider), and her daughter hated going out on the boat, so it was drama whenever I wanted to take it out.

No wife now, so I want another one. I'm probably going to look at a Sportsman 211 Heritage in a few days.

4/14/2023 2:46:46 AM

^haha damn. Bet she won't say shit about a boat again. Divorced her because of it!

4/22/2023 6:31:13 PM

Didn't get that first Sportsman, and then tried to buy a Sea Born but it was already under contract when I got to the dealer.

Ended up buying a 2017 Sportsman 212 Open last week. 200 Yamaha, 425 hours, dual SIMRADs with side-scan, etc. Putting 4 new Rockford Fosgate M1 speakers in it tomorrow...I'll probably amp them this winter, and maybe add a little sub.

Took it out for the first time today, to hang out at the sand bar and pull my daughter and her friend on a tube.

^haha. not because of it of course, but some of the same traits that made her get bent out of shape about that was tied to what ultimately destroyed the marriage.

[Edited on May 28, 2023 at 11:11 PM. Reason : ]

5/28/2023 11:09:11 PM

^ She's a beaut Clark!

5/29/2023 4:03:01 PM