Boats you have used for Tuna Fishing.

[mikep]

Honestly I feel safer in that "little" 19' whaler than most of the 25' plate aluminum boats. Obviously you need to watch your weather but it has brand new power and a kicker just in case. While small the outrage hull is very predictable in the big stuff. We used to torture the bigger bother 22's on the west side of the Charlotte's day in and out. Yes they have low gunnels but you get used to them. Would I rather be in a 35' glass boat, you bet but the little whaler does well in a pinch.

 

[Smomoto]

Honestly I feel safer in that "little" 19' whaler than most of the 25' plate aluminum boats. Obviously you need to watch your weather but it has brand new power and a kicker just in case. While small the outrage hull is very predictable in the big stuff. We used to torture the bigger bother 22's on the west side of the Charlotte's day in and out. Yes they have low gunnels but you get used to them. Would I rather be in a 35' glass boat, you bet but the little whaler does well in a pinch.

Either way it makes it tempting to consider the bigger Montak boats even if it means that dream of offshore tuna will need to be sidelined or reserved for charter expedition - thanks for the intel

 

[CBsqrd]

Great comment.

How do you view Hewescraft like the Alaskan 250 or 270 in comparison to the KF comment.

The boat in the "Tuna Fishing Haidi Gwaii!" looked well set up and capable if you picked your days. I'd put Hewes in the same category as the other production boats I mentioned in my previous post.

 

[turbomack]

I used my Shamrock 270 Mackinaw off the Westcoast of the island for several years with good success, pretty economical to operate with the 315 Yanmar 6LPA. it held 600 litres of fuel which gave 400 nm range at cruise rpm 32-3300. i had it 100 miles off of Ucluelet oneday. A good comfortable boat, obviously watching the weather is a pretty key part of going offshore. I now fish off the pacific coast of Mexico with a 28 footer built by the Nava family out of Mazatlán. It is a center console super panga with twin 140 Suzuki's. Most of my trips are 45-50 miles offshore to the edge of the continental shelf or the Islas Marias. It is such a regular occurrence that I don't even give it a second thought, we have no coast guard or SAR type organizations here, just be responsible and manage your vessel with basic safety and good practice. look out for others and tow the stricken home if the need arises. I have a friend here that lives on the Bering Sea and ran King crab boats and a Bristol bay gillnetter he fishes out of a 17 ft. whaler and will often do 100 miles trips and spend 3 days offshore hunting that big yellowfin. I Take extra fuel when I do trips like that 600 litres makes that magic happen with my twins.

 

[Saxe Point]

In my opinion 22-23 feet is good minimum for 2 guys, 24 for 3-4 but lots of variables. 100gallon tank is nice but have to watch the Maximum Gross Load, if you want to be insured on those runs. Check with your insurance broker, I had to switch brokers to get insurance that would cover more than 10-20nm off shore.

I have a 25.5 foot but full cabin, that takes away some of the gross load that I would want for ice and tuna. I haven’t gone yet in my boat, I have used my tuna gear on another members boat. We almost buddy boated up last year but family responsibilities didn’t align.

Also depends where you leave from, HG and North Island have some close days.

This thread is interesting as I just sold my Hourston 18'2'' and bought a Proline 221 Walkaround that's 22.5 feet long. I'm getting insurance quotes and the 10-25 nautical mile offshore limit is in all of them. Who do you recommend for a quote without this limitation? Are we talking about a much bigger premium?

 

[easydoesit]

Woah this is off west coast of Van Island yes? I have heard of Yellowfin and saw a video where one report of a 20 lb bluefin even. Is it still pretty rare to get anything but the Albacore in that window of time?

No, this was fishing offshore from Bermuda. Yellowfin usually kicks off in May. Yellowfin there are typically 30-40 lbs, some larger. Also Bigeye Tuna & Blackfin are common. Atlantic Bluefin have been caught out of Bermuda, but rare. Marlin in summer months.

 

[Flashman]

This thread is interesting as I just sold my Hourston 18'2'' and bought a Proline 221 Walkaround that's 22.5 feet long. I'm getting insurance quotes and the 10-25 nautical mile offshore limit is in all of them. Who do you recommend for a quote without this limitation? Are we talking about a much bigger premium?

Try Dolphin Insurance.

 

[Tomfoolery]

Try Dolphin Insurance.

Yup, second that. Kayla at Dolphin.

 

[BC Coast Pilot]

I used my Shamrock 270 Mackinaw off the Westcoast of the island for several years with good success, pretty economical to operate with the 315 Yanmar 6LPA. it held 600 litres of fuel which gave 400 nm range at cruise rpm 32-3300. i had it 100 miles off of Ucluelet oneday. A good comfortable boat, obviously watching the weather is a pretty key part of going offshore. I now fish off the pacific coast of Mexico with a 28 footer built by the Nava family out of Mazatlán. It is a center console super panga with twin 140 Suzuki's. Most of my trips are 45-50 miles offshore to the edge of the continental shelf or the Islas Marias. It is such a regular occurrence that I don't even give it a second thought, we have no coast guard or SAR type organizations here, just be responsible and manage your vessel with basic safety and good practice. look out for others and tow the stricken home if the need arises. I have a friend here that lives on the Bering Sea and ran King crab boats and a Bristol bay gillnetter he fishes out of a 17 ft. whaler and will often do 100 miles trips and spend 3 days offshore hunting that big yellowfin. I Take extra fuel when I do trips like that 600 litres makes that magic happen with my twins.

Have you read "438 days" about Salvador Alvarenga, a Mexican fishing trip that went all wrong

 

[turbomack]

Have you read "438 days" about Salvador Alvarenga, a Mexican fishing trip that went all wrong

I haven't yet but I no a local guy from San Blas that had a similar drift happen to him. 8 months and was picked up near the Marshal islands, I told him about my Garmin inreach and he thought it a good bit of equipment. Even lost sport boat guys perish from dehydration occasionally.

 

[BC Coast Pilot]

I haven't yet but I no a local guy from San Blas that had a similar drift happen to him. 8 months and was picked up near the Marshal islands, I told him about my Garmin inreach and he thought it a good bit of equipment. Even lost sport boat guys perish from dehydration occasionally.

 

[BC Coast Pilot]

Every once in a while the weather will really throw you for a loop in the canyons. Totally unforecasted SE winds, tides stacking up the swell until they break etc. 50 nm runs in that stuff absolutely sucks in a 25-30 ft boat and starts to get dangerous in smaller often overloaded boats. If you plan to go out in a “minimum sized” vessel be sure that it can handle big water with the weight load you plan on carrying.

We hit that exact scenario this year, fish moved out to 60nm plus, NW 20 wind on way out, not forecast SE 25 to 30 on the run in, hammered the fuel and us and an extra 2 hours of running time. A smaller boat may still be out there.

 

[Flashman]

We hit that exact scenario this year, fish moved out to 60nm plus, NW 20 wind on way out, not forecast SE 25 to 30 on the run in, hammered the fuel and us and an extra 2 hours of running time. A smaller boat may still be out there.

I had the exact same thing happen heading to Triangle Island to do some sightseeing. Ran straight into 20mph NW the whole way there from Winter Harbour then straight into 25mph SE the whole way back. It was supposed to be a breeze on the way back running with the NW but ended up being a tiring slog straight into the unforecast SE. Not quite 60 miles but pretty close. Like having to walk uphill to school both ways.

 

[carpeweekend]

That is a nice assortment there. I have been maybe honing in on a Hewescraft 250 Alaskan. A little more spartan than other models but may be the sweet spot in balance on not too big for quick little fishing trips but be able to do some bigger water.

I would say that a Hewescraft of this size would be sufficient for tuna fishing. Probably near the minimum size. Helpful if it has twins. In any regard, make sure that it isn't underpowered as the additional weight of crew, ice, beer, and tuna make a big difference.

 

[Fixit]

I ran my 27' Grady 34 miles offshore this fall out of tofino
150 gal of fuel, twin 250's
we had some pretty poor weather both days. and couldn't get up to 30mph for best cruise was burning around 1mpg loaded up with 4 people, ice and gear.
I was watching fuel level pretty closely all the time. more would have been nice for less stress.

lessons learned: leave the dock FULL. (not filled up at gas station with boat on an angle "full". ie 134 of a possible 150 gals)
load the boat well. we used kill bags on the bow heading out into the swell, on back deck for running with the swell home
be ready for **** to happen. I lost an alternator and a bilge pump on the second day. Thankfully my boats wired to charge all batteries from either engine and I had a manual pump to dry the bilge..