New aluminum boat / Silver Streak Carmanah

W

WallyGuy

New Member
Hello, longtime reader, first time poster. Straight to the point:

Looking for a new boat to be used for inland lake fishing chasing walleye, perch, lake trout, and the odd slimy pike across the prairies and into Canadian shield areas. Lakes size and location varies, some examples include - Alberta, (Lesser Slave, Wabamun), Sask (La Ronge), Manitoba (Wekusko/Tramping, Clearwater, Rocky), Ontario (Lake of the Woods). Looking to get into a boat that is near indestructible and low maintenance as it will be used hard during open water season and parked outside under a tarp during Edmonton winters.

Current boat I have is a 2008 Bass Tracker 17 Pro Team mod v hull, 50HP Merc 2 stroke. Decent boat for 2 people, however it is quite limited. On a choppy day waves come up over the bow/trolling motor and swamp the front deck, also there are no sides/freeboard which makes for a dicey ride when I bring the wife and 2 sons out fishing. Have used/owned Lunds, Crestliners etc over the years and none of them really impressed me that much in terms of longevity and durability.
Truck used to tow is a 2012 Ford F-150 V8.

Been looking at a Silver Streak Carmanah soft top to fill both roles for family fun weekend fish/camping as well as a no nonsense fishing machine used by retired Army guys that treat fishing trips like a military operation. I have never seen this model boat on a lake or in a dealership parking lot here in AB so the only information I have to go on is pictures and online posts people write. I did talk to the owner Andy on the phone for a few minutes about customization to accommodate a bow mounted trolling motor and extra battery storage, all doable. However $80K plus is a lot to drop on a (type of) boat that you have never fished out of.

If anyone has owned/used a Carmanah for lake fishing and tournament fishing I'd love to hear about the pro's and con's and overall functionality.
Transom live well, no wood all aluminum construction, open rear deck, 16 deg deadrise are some of the features that really stand out. Any input would be greatly appreciated!
 
A nice boat, and well respected manufacturer. Consider how you use the soft top - if it is just staying up all the time - maybe consider switching to the hardtop. Especially if its sitting outside through an Edmonton winter, less concern about snow collapsing the cover. Also, add the drop curtain and you could potentially add diesel heat (if that's important to you)

Very similar, but I'd maybe look at the hardtop Challenger since it has the bigger pass-through door onto the bow and has 6" wider beam. Its only a tiny bit bigger, but in all the right ways.
 
Max123 said:
A nice boat, and well respected manufacturer. Consider how you use the soft top - if it is just staying up all the time - maybe consider switching to the hardtop. Especially if its sitting outside through an Edmonton winter, less concern about snow collapsing the cover. Also, add the drop curtain and you could potentially add diesel heat (if that's important to you)

Very similar, but I'd maybe look at the hardtop Challenger since it has the bigger pass-through door onto the bow and has 6" wider beam. Its only a tiny bit bigger, but in all the right ways.
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Boat would be parked in a pole shed with a tarp over it, although by the looks of these boats I could probably just pull the batteries out and park it in the open and it would be fine.
One thing I forgot to ask about is the size of the optional drop bow. Is there enough space to mount an electric trolling motor and for a person to do some casting/jigging?
 
zurk said:
consider a hewescraft or kingfisher HHT. lots more boat for your $.
i looked at silverstreaks and decided to go with kingfisher. no regrets.
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Different classes of boats. One has sealed aluminum decks.. the others full of wood. But different prices too.. Id rather buy once and cry once, than buy and replace decking or foam down the road. IMHO wood does not belong on an alloy boat.
 
macro said:
Different classes of boats. One has sealed aluminum decks.. the others full of wood. But different prices too.. Id rather buy once and cry once, than buy and replace decking or foam down the road. IMHO wood does not belong on an alloy boat.
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thats basically the tradeoff. do you spend $$$$ getting what you need now which will last you for 20 years or do you spend $$ getting what you need now and have the flexibility to sell it and buy something else to better suit your changing lifestyle 10 years down the road while your $$ are sitting in the market in SPY generating 10% returns per year. so when you need to buy 10 years down the road you have $$$$$ instead of a boat which no longer suits your needs worth $$ and nothing in the bank.
 
zurk said:
thats basically the tradeoff. do you spend $$$$ getting what you need now which will last you for 20 years or do you spend $$ getting what you need now and have the flexibility to sell it and buy something else to better suit your changing lifestyle 10 years down the road while your $$ are sitting in the market in SPY generating 10% returns per year. so when you need to buy 10 years down the road you have $$$$$ instead of a boat which no longer suits your needs worth $$ and nothing in the bank.
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The price difference is just not that much between a new SS and a new Hewes to argue that investing the difference will bring riches.

I’ve been shopping both lately. Just pulled trigger on a new build, well-outfitted SS challenger hardtop for just over 100K.
 
zurk said:
thats basically the tradeoff. do you spend $$$$ getting what you need now which will last you for 20 years or do you spend $$ getting what you need now and have the flexibility to sell it and buy something else to better suit your changing lifestyle 10 years down the road while your $$ are sitting in the market in SPY generating 10% returns per year. so when you need to buy 10 years down the road you have $$$$$ instead of a boat which no longer suits your needs worth $$ and nothing in the bank.
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Fairly certain I did the math and boat = Bring out another thousand. I bought my first alloy for literally 10 cents on the dollar out of murder mountain california, nothing I've looked at since makes any sense. Especially factoring covid stupidity and then Justinflation. Silverstreaks dont seem to stay used on the market as long as Kingfishers either... A high priced used kingfisher is a tough sell.... and depending on the timing, older silverstreaks seem to have been going for more than new. Not saying that trend will continue. Everything costs to much now.
 
I've got a 2017 SS RaceRocks HT. Can't comment on use for tournament fishing but my boat is currently having corrosion issues on the hull where the carpeted bunk sits against it. Apparently, this traps water against it and causes crevice corrosion. Apparently, it's a well known issue to SS and the mitigation is to put plastic bunk slicks on your trailer bunks to keep the hull up and off the carpet. I would highly recommend you get bunk slicks installed as soon as you buy the boat, apparently this can be an issue can occur even in freshwater use based on what some people have reported on internet forums. You don't want to be looking at an expensive hull repair like I am right now. SS makes no warranty for any corrosion type issues
 
PMac91 said:
I've got a 2017 SS RaceRocks HT. Can't comment on use for tournament fishing but my boat is currently having corrosion issues on the hull where the carpeted bunk sits against it. Apparently, this traps water against it and causes crevice corrosion. Apparently, it's a well known issue to SS and the mitigation is to put plastic bunk slicks on your trailer bunks to keep the hull up and off the carpet. I would highly recommend you get bunk slicks installed as soon as you buy the boat, apparently this can be an issue can occur even in freshwater use based on what some people have reported on internet forums. You don't want to be looking at an expensive hull repair like I am right now. SS makes no warranty for any corrosion type issues
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I doubt that corrosion issue is specific to Silver Streak boats. It's pretty much universal that you don't want carpeted bunks (basically a sponge) with aluminum boats
 
PMac91 said:
I've got a 2017 SS RaceRocks HT. Can't comment on use for tournament fishing but my boat is currently having corrosion issues on the hull where the carpeted bunk sits against it. Apparently, this traps water against it and causes crevice corrosion. Apparently, it's a well known issue to SS and the mitigation is to put plastic bunk slicks on your trailer bunks to keep the hull up and off the carpet. I would highly recommend you get bunk slicks installed as soon as you buy the boat, apparently this can be an issue can occur even in freshwater use based on what some people have reported on internet forums. You don't want to be looking at an expensive hull repair like I am right now. SS makes no warranty for any corrosion type issues
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Thanks for the heads-up!
 
Pineapple Express said:
I doubt that corrosion issue is specific to Silver Streak boats. It's pretty much universal that you don't want carpeted bunks (basically a sponge) with aluminum boats
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You are correct, all brand/makes models can have the issue. Sure wish a new boater such as me had this depth of knowledge innately. That said, then why are they sold almost exclusively with trailer packages with carpeted bunks? And if they are, why not throw a $50 set of bunk slicks on prior to sale so that this issue does not happen to. God knows the price of these little things ought to justify that.

Anyways, don't want to derail. I love spin casting off both the bow and extended transom of my SS, the diamond plate makes for good traction. That might be applicable to your use. Actually, I love everything about it minus the corrosion issue. Very economical from a fuel burn perspective. Mine just has a little 90hp Suzuki that picks it up no issues, even when loaded down for a long weekend somewhere.
 
Regarding the corrosion issue. I doubt its just the bunk carpeting by itself - its more likely the combination of wet carpet transferring chemicals from the treated lumber material commonly used to construct the bunk rail. Modern treated lumber is preserved with Alkaline Copper Quaternary (ACQ) or Copper Azole (CA-B).

Copper doesn't play nicely with aluminum and saturated bunks/carpet is likely enough to cause hull issues. The rubber bunk slides just provide a capillary break so that moisture can't transfer from the bunk to the hull. If you replace the bunks, I'd just go with untreated KD Fir, leave the carpet off and use bunk slides. No capillary action, and the bunk can dry out properly so it doesn't rot prematurely.

Silverstreak is just using standard aluminum plating - so its not going to be an issue that is unique to their boats. Its come up on the forum before.

When you buy a boat and trailer it should be treated as a package - but I don't think the boat builders view it that way - the trailer is viewed as its own thing that they just tack on if you want it.
 
PMac91 said:
I've got a 2017 SS RaceRocks HT. Can't comment on use for tournament fishing but my boat is currently having corrosion issues on the hull where the carpeted bunk sits against it. Apparently, this traps water against it and causes crevice corrosion. Apparently, it's a well known issue to SS and the mitigation is to put plastic bunk slicks on your trailer bunks to keep the hull up and off the carpet. I would highly recommend you get bunk slicks installed as soon as you buy the boat, apparently this can be an issue can occur even in freshwater use based on what some people have reported on internet forums. You don't want to be looking at an expensive hull repair like I am right now. SS makes no warranty for any corrosion type issues
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Never store a bare aluminum hull on carpeted bunks! That is applicable to ALL aluminum boats with no bottom paint. That isn't silverstreak's issue as they sell through a dealer network. I'd be kinda aggravated with the dealer if they didn't put off the shelf sliders or starboard over the bunks (assuming you bought the boat/ trailer as a package). This is/ should be common knowledge.
 
seabeyond said:
Never store a bare aluminum hull on carpeted bunks! That is applicable to ALL aluminum boats with no bottom paint. That isn't silverstreak's issue as they sell through a dealer network. I'd be kinda aggravated with the dealer if they didn't put off the shelf sliders or starboard over the bunks (assuming you bought the boat/ trailer as a package). This is/ should be common knowledge.
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Yup now I know. And so does the OP so we can prob put this to rest for this thread anyhow. Just didn’t want someone else to end up in my position due to lack of awareness.
 
first thing i did when i got my kingfisher is put 8 thin coats of interprotect 2000e on it. bonds chemically with aluminum and locks in a microplate on the surface. no corrosion regardless of bunks. of course i have UHMWPE bunks like everyone else (from highlander trailers in delta) but if you do put down plastic bunk slides be sure to put the SS screws on the sides not directly fastening the bunks on the trailer. otherwise you will have mini batteries between aluminum hull and screws. no corrosion but you will have holes burned into your hull instead which would be ... not good.
a 18 foot soft top kingfisher new is $60K - https://www.boatdealers.ca/boats-fo...amaha-f115-year-end-clear-waubaushene-ontario so its very good value compared to a $100K+ 18 foot silverstreak. $40K in the bank wont earn much but in 10 years you will have $100K to spend and a used boat to sell over the silverstreak.
 
I appreciate @zurk's perspective. Its a totally fair point about the cost - a lot of the time recommendations tend to cluster around the highest cost/quality option because everything else has some noted drawback (that we all tend to blow out of proportion). Fibreglass vs aluminum, rivets vs fully welded, wood floors vs aluminum, self bailing vs non. The list goes on and on, until the only realistic option seems like spending 100k for an 18ft boat and still having a list of future add-ons.

At a certain point the cost of a boat weighs on the enjoyment factor. We all gotta retire - don't let 'keeping up with the Jones' put you in the poorhouse.

Also, a $100k Silverstreak or a $60k Kingfisher? Its not like either of those is a pool noodle.
 
Max123 said:
I appreciate @zurk's perspective. Its a totally fair point about the cost - a lot of the time recommendations tend to cluster around the highest cost/quality option because everything else has some noted drawback (that we all tend to blow out of proportion). Fibreglass vs aluminum, rivets vs fully welded, wood floors vs aluminum, self bailing vs non. The list goes on and on, until the only realistic option seems like spending 100k for an 18ft boat and still having a list of future add-ons.

At a certain point the cost of a boat weighs on the enjoyment factor. We all gotta retire - don't let 'keeping up with the Jones' put you in the poorhouse.

Also, a $100k Silverstreak or a $60k Kingfisher? Its not like either of those is a pool noodle.
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At those prices anything glass without moisture issues and a working 4 stroke and trailer for under 15k is a bargain!
 
zurk said:
first thing i did when i got my kingfisher is put 8 thin coats of interprotect 2000e on it. bonds chemically with aluminum and locks in a microplate on the surface. no corrosion regardless of bunks. of course i have UHMWPE bunks like everyone else (from highlander trailers in delta) but if you do put down plastic bunk slides be sure to put the SS screws on the sides not directly fastening the bunks on the trailer. otherwise you will have mini batteries between aluminum hull and screws. no corrosion but you will have holes burned into your hull instead which would be ... not good.
a 18 foot soft top kingfisher new is $60K - https://www.boatdealers.ca/boats-fo...amaha-f115-year-end-clear-waubaushene-ontario so its very good value compared to a $100K+ 18 foot silverstreak. $40K in the bank wont earn much but in 10 years you will have $100K to spend and a used boat to sell over the silverstreak.
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The 1825 is not a direct comparison to a SS Challenger by any means. The smallest hardtop KF is the 2025 which starts at 109K. same ballpark as SS and Hewes hardtops. Yes, a LOT of money, even used.

With respect to bunk corrosion, SS now specs plastic bunks when buying Roadrunner trailer from them.
 
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