The Thread Where We Discuss Boats

[JPetroski]

I enjoy boating (well fishing, mostly, but fishing from a boat) and have owned them pretty much as long as I've had a job.

I'm interested to see what boats some of you either have, or the types of boats that you have in your neck of the woods. Who the major manufacturers are, what they are typically used for, etc. Once in a while on a fishing forum I'll see a European who spent a lot of money to have an American-style bass boat or deep v imported, apparently, but I'm not sure what boats typically go for over there (or elsewhere) and what your options are, or what people tend to use them for.

This is my boat. It's a Lund Impact, which is an aluminum multispecies deep-v style boat. In the U.S., if you are really into freshwater fishing, the two most common types of boats that you would want would either be a bass boat, or a deep-v/multispecies/walleye boat. Mine is the latter. As you can kind of see, it has a walkthrough windshield and high gunwales. You are very much "in" the boat, which makes it good for fishing on larger lakes, or bringing smaller children along, both of which I do.

Spoiler :

Here's a picture of my daughter "in" the boat, playing with some yellow perch friends.

Spoiler :

A "bass boat" on the other hand is almost like a sports car. These boats sit very low to the water, can reach speeds of 90+ mph (though around 70 is more common), and are specifically designed for professional tournament anglers, or folks who just love fishing but don't need as much of a family boat.

Spoiler :

As you can see from the photo above, you stand "on" a bass boat, so you can see why it would be a little dicey to bring small kids along, though plenty do it.

Bass boats are pretty much popular everywhere in the United States while multispecies boats usually see most favor in the Midwest, states bordering the Great Lakes, and to a lesser extent New England.

There are other kinds of boats of course, such as pontoon boats and various pleasure craft, but when it comes to freshwater fishing at least, the two above are what you're going to see most often around here.

What kind of boats to people where you live use? Do you have any questions about North American boats?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I will not voluntarily get on one that is smaller than a ferry. I've been out in canoes (learning to paddle a canoe was mandatory in the sixth-grade outdoor education camp all the Grade 6 kids had to attend in my city), I've been in a dinghy, in a motorboat (with my grandparents, who should have realized that taking a scared 4-year-old with them wasn't smart; there was engine trouble and I was in a panic, convinced the boat would turn over and we'd all die), and on small and large ferries.

I can handle ferries without panicking. I didn't mind the motorboat if it was tied up and not going anywhere (the lake flooded one year, and I've got a picture of the motorboat tied to the railing of the cabin's porch, rather than the pier... the pier was unusable at that point).


My fear of small boats is a bit ironic, given how important they are in the long-term novel project I've been working on for the past 2+ years. My main character loves boats. Any size. But then the setting of the story is a medieval city that's situated in a huge lake, and the character's home is a stone's throw from the docks where the smaller fishing boats are.

If anyone can recommend some good reference works on 11th-century boats relevant to the British Isles and the general western European region, I'd appreciate it.

 

[JPetroski]

I will not voluntarily get on one that is smaller than a ferry. I've been out in canoes (learning to paddle a canoe was mandatory in the sixth-grade outdoor education camp all the Grade 6 kids had to attend in my city), I've been in a dinghy, in a motorboat (with my grandparents, who should have realized that taking a scared 4-year-old with them wasn't smart; there was engine trouble and I was in a panic, convinced the boat would turn over and we'd all die), and on small and large ferries.

Small boats are fine until they aren't fine. I was caught smack in the middle of a microburst once (imagine your own personal hurricane/electrical storm) while I was on the lake. It convinced me to get a smart phone so I could keep a better tab on the weather radar.

 

[Zardnaar]

Didn't have them growing up as a kid but friends and family did.

Usually dine sort of keyboard or small boat like yours.

Grew up on coast. Hometown harbor used to swim there, jump off wharf etc. You can put around on boating there as well.

Hot summer days we had two nearby rivers Kakanui and the Waitaki.

That's the Kakanui mouth where you can go boating.

The Waitaki has a lit if hydro lakes on it and recreation was popular. You could zip around on jet boats, jet skis etc or have little old sail boat.

My favorite was penzance bay though in the 90's. One branch of the family was well off and had several boats, private jetty and a hovercraft.

Hot day can go over 30 degrees, beautiful water and it's not the open ocean so very calm. Day trips out on boats and I was allowed to pilot them one was around 10 metres and the big one was couple million dollars 20 odd metres iirc. Wasn't allowed to do much on that one.

Didn't like fishing much but enjoyed the outdoor on water part and swimming off the boats.

 

[Samson]

I keep looking at boats to solve my housing problem, but not leapt yet.

 

[JPetroski]

I keep looking at boats to solve my housing problem, but not leapt yet.

See I think that's neat both in the sense that it would be a cool part of your life but also in that house boats over here look considerably bulkier usually. I'll see if I can find a photo later, but that's part of the reason I started this thread. I'm curious about the local differences in watercraft.

 

[Zardnaar]

I keep looking at boats to solve my housing problem, but not leapt yet.

It's not a bad idea. Some have done that here but it's harder.

Probably a good idea in places like Paris.

 

[warpus]

Whomp let me sleep on his boat for 3 nights in a row once.

The best (?) part was when me (and my friend) had to break into the boat because the door got stuck.

I can't tell you what kind of boat it was exactly, but.. it was comfy.

 

[Chicken Pizza]

I keep looking at boats to solve my housing problem, but not leapt yet.

Looks extremely nice but my god the prize... where's the £20 000 value? In the material, the engineering, the work building it?

Elon Musk should stop aiming for Mars and mass produce a house boat, with enough permutations of large and small design details to make it personal even before you start to heavily decorate it...

...and sell it crisp new for a price that a regular person can afford.

 

[JPetroski]

To get a boat that you can sleep in for 20k lb seems like a steal, honestly. I paid 27k for mine back in 2012 and now the same model is easily going well over 40k. Closer to 50k once you rig it. The prices have gotten so nuts that I'm probably just going to hold onto it and repower when the motor goes.

10 years and a lot of use in and I haven't had any real problems, so I just can't justify a new one. Maybe when the kids are older.

 

[AmazonQueen]

Looks extremely nice but my god the prize... where's the £20 000 value? In the material, the engineering, the work building it?

Elon Musk should stop aiming for Mars and mass produce a house boat, with enough permutations of large and small design details to make it personal even before you start to heavily decorate it...

...and sell it crisp new for a price that a regular person can afford.

In getting somewhere to live in the UK that doesn't cost half a million pounds.
Theres a mooring site available in London atm for just under £10000 a year.

 

[JPetroski]

This isn't just water but this is my favorite part of the world and where I've spent many summers. At 1:35 or so you can see the ruins of Fort St. Frédéric / Crown Point. I fish around that bridge quite a bit. Then it rolls into Fort Ticonderoga / Carillon of the French & Indian War and American Revolution fame.

A fairly pristine part of the planet with great fishing to boot.

 

[CKS]

When I was a little kid, we lived in Bermuda and had a Dell Quay Dory, that I don't remember too well. We spent a lot of time in it, though.

Later we spent summers in Minnesota and had another Boston Whaler knock-off, a little 13' boat that we used mostly for water skiing and a little fishing. It had a 40-hp engine and could just barely drag my cousins (who were close to 100 kg) out of the water if only the driver and a spotter were in the boat. One summer the boat started acting funny, and it was hard to unhook the trailer from the car. Finally, one day my brother and I couldn't do it ourselves. My dad though we were messing with him, but he couldn't get it off either - we had to all work together. The problem turned out to be that there was about 150 kg of water in the open-cell foam (read: sponge) between the two hulls. We drained it out, patched the holes, and used it for a few more years.

We traded that in on a used 17' Boston Whaler Montauk that my parents still have, almost 40 years later. This one doesn't have trouble pulling skiers out of the water, but it is much harder for the driver, as you don't just shove the throttle all the way forward - you have to ease into things so you don't pull the rope out of the skier's hands. My dad is good at this; I am not.

 

[Darsnan]

Then it rolls into Fort Ticonderoga .....

One of my great great grand uncles was Ethan Allen.

This isn't just water but this is my favorite part of the world and where I've spent many summers.

Yup me, too, although I pretty much go around the northwest corner of the ADK (Cranberry Lake, Higley Flow, Blake, and other points on the Raquette).

I've tried canoeing around the reservoirs on the Raquette River but get seasick pretty easy, so I stick to the backwaters. Here's some pics from the Black Lagoon at Higley Flow:

My dog's reaction when I said we were going to the Black Lagoon:

The entrance to the Black Lagoon:

My daughter after something thumped the bottom of our boat while we were in the Black Lagoon:

Spoiler What caused the thump? :

Yes it was me stomping the bottom of our canoe when the daughter wasn't looking, then quickly saying "what was that!?!" - gets them every time!

Our canoe resides at my relatives' camp (its the green one on the right), and every year it participates in the regional races and does quite well!

We're pretty proud of all its accomplishments without us!

D

 

[JPetroski]

The problem turned out to be that there was about 150 kg of water in the open-cell foam (read: sponge) between the two hulls. We drained it out, patched the holes, and used it for a few more years.

We used to call dad's boat "Sinky" because it had the nasty habit of, well, sinking. One time I was about 5 miles from home, having a ball and catching fish. Totally engrossed by what I was doing. I took glanced behind me, and the entire hull was in about 5" of water. I bailed like crazy while I had the trolling motor slowly taking me home and when I finally got it down enough to where I thought I wouldn't die, I pulled the plug and got the boat on plane to drain it all the way home. As it turned out, the llvewell pump intake (a plastic piece directly on the bottom of the hull) had snapped off and caused the leak. I pulled it out and some liberal use of J-B Weld around a plastic plug later, and the boat was good as new for several more years.

Yup me, too, although I pretty much go around the northwest corner of the ADK (Cranberry Lake, Higley Flow, Blake, and other points on the Raquette).

I've tried canoeing around the reservoirs on the Raquette River but get seasick pretty easy, so I stick to the backwaters. Here's some pics from the Black Lagoon at Higley Flow:

I've never made it out that way, but I'd love to take my Gheenoe out to the upper end of Otter Creek sometime in VT. I've seen some forum posts from fellows who have done it and there are a number of pike, and apparently some Muskie, hiding back there. There's something to be said for a nice day on a backwater.

 

[GinandTonic]

Hastings has a lot of beach launched fishing boats. Every couple of centuries people try to build a proper port and give up because of the same problems. It's a dam motley crew of boats, but there's huge sea bas and all the lucrative flat fish to be had on the sandbanks the industrial ships can't reach. You can go down to the fish huts and buy Dover Sole for merely "expensive" rather than "eye wateringly expensive".



There're a couple of bigish catamarans. Doesn't seem a good idea to drag them over the shingle with a tractor, but what do I know about boats.

 

[Samson]

In getting somewhere to live in the UK that doesn't cost half a million pounds.
Theres a mooring site available in London atm for just under £10000 a year.

It is ~£900 quid a year as long as you move every 2 weeks, if you are able. I think it is a bit a a jossel about who will get frozen in in London for the winter.

 

[AmazonQueen]

It is ~£900 quid a year as long as you move every 2 weeks, if you are able. I think it is a bit a a jossel about who will get frozen in in London for the winter.

This thread has made me start looking at houseboats. Some of them are bigger than a lot of flats or "starter" homes as well as a lot cheaper.

 

[Zkribbler]

This thread has made me start looking at houseboats. Some of them are bigger than a lot of flats or "starter" homes as well as a lot cheaper.

After my first year in law school, I moved an hour closer to law school and my roommate bought a boat in the L.A. marina. He became disillusion because "everything is always damp." His kid brother raised a sunken tug boat in San Francisco Bay, moved his family aboard, and began making repairs. Three times it sank, each time, coating the inside with the oily bilge water. So be warned.

 

[Samson]

This thread has made me start looking at houseboats. Some of them are bigger than a lot of flats or "starter" homes as well as a lot cheaper.

It is totally an option to the housing crisis. They have this thing where you have to be on a "continuous cruse" to get a licence, so they mess with people sending their kids to school. But if you can do it it looks like a way to live.

It should not sink, and you need a solid fuel burner.