Hi folks. Long time lurker/first time poster. I've been reading this site for years now and it's finally time to engage.
A bit about me: life-long boater with many thousands of days at sea on boats ranging from 9' Mintos and 14' soft-hull Zodiacs and Whitehall rowboats to multi hundred foot research vessels. If all goes well I'll have a 25T USCG capt. license by the end of the year and hopefully a SVOP shortly after that.
I've been casually shopping for my own used boat in the 18' range for a couple of years now. Most of my search has been focused on Boston Whalers (specifically classic Outrage or newer Montauks) as those are what I've had the most experience with but I'm definitely curious about aluminum boats as well. My family had a classic 17' Montauk and a 12'(14'?) Silver Streak CC and while I do appreciate the ruggedness of aluminum vs. glass/gelcoat, I'm not so sure I love the bouncy poundy nature of the aluminum ride. That's why I'm not looking at the classic 17' Montauks either.
In any event, I have very little knowledge of the popular aluminum brands and hull types. Hewes, Alumacraft, Alumaweld, Kingfisher, Duckworth, Wooldridge, etc. all look the same to me. Silver Streak and Lifetimer seem to be well-respected and local but geez, the prices on all of them are way more than similar glass boats. Even Whalers with their "Whaler Tax"are often 1/3 the price of a similar size/age used aluminum boat.
I much prefer CC layouts but it seems those are harder/impossible to come by in aluminum unless custom or Silver Streak, Lifetimer, or Marlon. Seems like most of the other brands are windshield/dual seater style. FWIW this'll be a fair weather saltwater fly fishing boat/commuter around Puget Sound/San Juans/Gulf Islands/Lower mainland/So. Van Isle.
Based on my experience, #1 for small boat offshore seaworthiness would be a RHIB but I don't need that level of burl for what I plan to do.
What I know, understand the limitations of, and am looking for:
The style of boat I'm curious about:
Seems like there's a huge amount of experience in this forum that might be able to tell me more about the latter style of boats and differences between various brands that make them. My budget is in the ~$30k range so a nice new custom build is sadly out of the question.
A bit about me: life-long boater with many thousands of days at sea on boats ranging from 9' Mintos and 14' soft-hull Zodiacs and Whitehall rowboats to multi hundred foot research vessels. If all goes well I'll have a 25T USCG capt. license by the end of the year and hopefully a SVOP shortly after that.
I've been casually shopping for my own used boat in the 18' range for a couple of years now. Most of my search has been focused on Boston Whalers (specifically classic Outrage or newer Montauks) as those are what I've had the most experience with but I'm definitely curious about aluminum boats as well. My family had a classic 17' Montauk and a 12'(14'?) Silver Streak CC and while I do appreciate the ruggedness of aluminum vs. glass/gelcoat, I'm not so sure I love the bouncy poundy nature of the aluminum ride. That's why I'm not looking at the classic 17' Montauks either.
In any event, I have very little knowledge of the popular aluminum brands and hull types. Hewes, Alumacraft, Alumaweld, Kingfisher, Duckworth, Wooldridge, etc. all look the same to me. Silver Streak and Lifetimer seem to be well-respected and local but geez, the prices on all of them are way more than similar glass boats. Even Whalers with their "Whaler Tax"are often 1/3 the price of a similar size/age used aluminum boat.
I much prefer CC layouts but it seems those are harder/impossible to come by in aluminum unless custom or Silver Streak, Lifetimer, or Marlon. Seems like most of the other brands are windshield/dual seater style. FWIW this'll be a fair weather saltwater fly fishing boat/commuter around Puget Sound/San Juans/Gulf Islands/Lower mainland/So. Van Isle.
Based on my experience, #1 for small boat offshore seaworthiness would be a RHIB but I don't need that level of burl for what I plan to do.
What I know, understand the limitations of, and am looking for:
The style of boat I'm curious about:
Seems like there's a huge amount of experience in this forum that might be able to tell me more about the latter style of boats and differences between various brands that make them. My budget is in the ~$30k range so a nice new custom build is sadly out of the question.
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