What kind of boat to get?

I

island_dude

New Member
Hi All,


I have a couple of questions that I need some advice with.

I live in Gibsons and interested in getting a boat for local fishing. I would like to be able to get accross the straight to Gabriola on summer days when it is very calm. What would you say the minimum boat size / power would be? I have my eye on an older (early 80s) 16' Double Eagle with a 70hp outboard. Do you think this would get me across from Gibsons to Gabriola safely on a calm day?

Thanks for your advice!
 
If you have anyone that cares whether you make it back, wait for an 18' or bigger with newish power and a calm forecast for 12 hours or more. On the other hand bathtubs (used to?) make it across all the time with partner boats.

Mostly it depends on the experience of the operator in terms of seamanship, judging weather, maintenance, knowing the boat well enough and having the parts to fix any issues that may arise, redundant safety gear etc...

Or buy the 16 and learn all the local spots then trailer over to the island a few times per summer.
 
tubber said:
If you have anyone that cares whether you make it back, wait for an 18' or bigger with newish power and a calm forecast for 12 hours or more. On the other hand bathtubs (used to?) make it across all the time with partner boats.

Mostly it depends on the experience of the operator in terms of seamanship, judging weather, maintenance, knowing the boat well enough and having the parts to fix any issues that may arise, redundant safety gear etc...

Or buy the 16 and learn all the local spots then trailer over to the island a few times per summer.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice - I'm on quite a limited budget (~$4K) so its looking like the boat that I need might be out of reach. Bummer.
 
I would run over there and see if the guy will let you check out the motors by a mec if things checkout 21 you would have enough boat there to get to gabriola motors and transom are the two mayor check points when buying a boat,good luck looks decent for that price thats for sure..

tight lines
billydoo
 
salmonkiller01 said:
Definetly an interesting boat, have a look. If it has the mercury "force" outboards I would be a little leary due to them being somewhat unreliable, the 16 foot double eagle is a great starter boat, cheap on fuel, excellent ride and easy to tow.
Click to expand...

When I was spending alot of time at the local Mercruiser dealer they told me a Force is a Merc with differnt color paint and stickers.....?
When you need Parts for them, You head to the merc store. Is that correct?
 
I am not an expert but they were manufactered for merc but made off shore. I am pretty sure a 1992 70 hp merc and 1992 70 hp force parts are not the same. The force motors were plagued with a host of problems. Just google it.
 
greenhornet said:
I would run over there and see if the guy will let you check out the motors by a mec if things checkout 21 you would have enough boat there to get to gabriola motors and transom are the two mayor check points when buying a boat,good luck looks decent for that price thats for sure..

tight lines
billydoo
Click to expand...

What he said ^^^^.

That looks like a nice rig. Worth checking out for sure. That link Charlie posted was quite positive about the hull.
 
island_dude said:
Hi All,


I have a couple of questions that I need some advice with.

I live in Gibsons and interested in getting a boat for local fishing. I would like to be able to get accross the straight to Gabriola on summer days when it is very calm. What would you say the minimum boat size / power would be? I have my eye on an older (early 80s) 16' Double Eagle with a 70hp outboard. Do you think this would get me across from Gibsons to Gabriola safely on a calm day?

Thanks for your advice!
Click to expand...

Fished Gibsons for a very long time... I had the 16ft Double Eagle with 60hp Evenrude... Great Package... Couple things to consider when fishing the coast I found...

Its nice to beable to tow your boat around up there... and "Boat Launching" is a consideration aswell... I would tow the boat to Selma Park most of the time or up to Halfmoon Bay...
Both those launchs have major issues..
Selma Park is messed up and Halfmoon is shallow.. Gibsons and the Inlet are good...
So ease of towing and lauching would be a consideration over running to Thrasher once and awhile...because when the straight blows up a bit, your taking it on the chin if your in a 16 or 23ft..
Most the time your going to be fishing up and down the coast...
I moved up to a 21.5 Fishing Machine over there and it was well suited for that area...
But just the overall simplicity of fishing and towing and launching a smaller rig, plus the fuel savings makes a 16ft DE pretty good over there, grab a 60hp foustroke and your almost fishing for free...
Dont worry so much about Thrasher worry about where your going to do 95% of your fishing, and those DE's can go just about anywhere anyother boat can..
 
I would have to agree the Double Eagle is a great starter boat, for that matter you could fish your life in one. I would go for a 17 ft Double Eagle with a 115-130 hp. It just gives you a little bit more room to move around.
 
I fish all over the place in my 17' runabout with 70hp johnson 2-stroke. I take it across the straight to thrasher, to galiano, saltspring, pender, victoria and sooke. A 16' double eagle with a 70hp can do all that. The question is can you? I have been boating these waters for 22 years and would never have tried such a trip in my first 5 years of boating.

So as others have said, go for the double eagle. Just make sure the motor is in good mechanical condition, the boat does not have any rotten wood in it and you are good to go for the local waters. If you want to try the islands then go with a partner boat with an experienced driver.

p.s. When you see a force motor for sale run the other direction.
 
I've run a 1982 16 foot DE for 5 years now with a 60hp yammy 4 stroke. Dirt cheap on fuel easy to tow and when you need it to it will definatly handle rougher water than you will be compfortable in.... TRUST ME! Only downfalls are that it is a small boat with limited deck space. I removed the drivers side sleeper in favor of a pedestal, make a big difference. Being a small light boat with a deep V hull it can be kind of tippy but not to the point of being dangerous. I would reccomend it 100% for inside waters waters. Personally I will be looking to move up in size to be able to camp out on th eboat and venture further offshore. My 0.02
 
There was a Pursuit on this forum 4 sale. Looks like an incredible deal. I highly doubt it is still for sale. Kinda like the saying once you go black , or something like that. My vote is pursuit.
 
yep get the 21 glassmaster ditch the outboards and hang a good 4 stroke on it 115hp- 150hp with a 8-9.9 hp kicker
then your all set

or you could buy my Zeta ....lol
 
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