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Good luck in the derby John I will not be fishing in it but may be out and about on one of the banks in my new ride trying to get her bloody. See you on the brine, Boatpoor aka Wild Bill.

I have had the diesel webasto 12000 btu model heater/defroster on my boat for 5+ years.I spend 300 hrs. (Eng. Hrs.) a year average on my boat in all weather and have used it a ton. It is one of the few pieces of equipment on the boat that has always worked and has needed zero maintenance. In my eyes...

My vote is for a slider. I put a 70 qt. Cooler with a cushion just aft of the bulkhead and it makes a great seat and beverage receptacle. You can never place any items in the path of a swinger. I use my boat year round in all types of weather including temps well below freezing and have yet to have ...

Where I buy offroad diesel on the water ( LaConner Wa) it is usually .35-.50¢ cheaper than the 87 octane non ethanol gas they offer. To be fair though that includes no road tax on the diesel, so theoretically it is only .23-38¢ cheaper. It is nice not having to save receipts to send in to get the ro...

I was talking to Jim Lindell, the builder of Ocean Sport boats the other day and he is seriously considering adapting his boat design to accommodate surface piercing drives. The efficiency of a true inboard is marginal although bulletproof. The speed and economy of a duo prop drive is awesome but a ...

What are we talking here I/O leg , inboard with seacock? If there is a will there is a way. My last Almar I rigged so I could flush it from Its own fresh water system while in or out of the water.

It all depends on how much the loaded weight of the vessel is and the hull design, but I would say 22' would be the max size for a single 200.

Right on Tony! Those pics just reinforce my desire to spec mine with no paint as well. I am very close to pulling the trigger on one of my own. Congrats

Good show! Hopefully it is an indicator of good fishing to come for our SJ islands opener next month.

Thanks for the heads up guys. I actually know that boat and its owner. Balls Deep Don . I agree it is a fair deal but I really want a larger boat.

Well reality has finally smacked me on the rear. I got my pricing back from Armstrong and it is considerably more than I want to spend :banghead: . I do not regret exploring the option of having a full on custom heavy plate boat built though. I gained much insight and it will help in choosing a boat...

I have been having ongoing dialog with Armstrong. Their bid will likely be a very accurate representation of the build I want. I expect it anytime.

Well other than some verbal stuff from Seawolf, Silver streak is the first to quote me a written price off my spec sheet. They are competitive. Now I already own a smaller Silver streak and the quality is great. I bought it used however and have had no first hand dealings with Silverstreak until now...

I am hedging my bet and having the builders quote me the package with twin Yamaha 200's as a option. How does your new boat handle when docking with twins John? Better than Tin Lizzy?

Thanks Glen, I might have to take you up on that. I am not so much concerned about having enough power as I am about close quarter maneuvering in adverse wind. My last pilothouse aluminum with a single I/O duo prop was a challenge at times. I would think a single outboard would be worse. If wanted c...

The owner of Silverstreak replied back to me via email within 6 hrs or so of when I sent him an email. I sent him my spec sheet to work off of and we will see what comes of it.

In my ongoing search for an aluminum vessel one builder I was talking to recommended Epaint for an antifouling bottom paint for aluminum. Anybody have any experience with it?

I went and looked at a 26' Weldcraft yesterday just to keep my options open. While the fit and finish were reasonable, the layout and overall package paled in comparison to the Seawolf. I am probably ruined on production boats now. I should be getting info back from Armstrong soon and no word from S...

Thanks for the post ruggit. That is the kind of firsthand knowledge I was fishing for. How about some more data like fuel burn at cruise, top speed and fuel burn at fast cruise which I would guess is around 33-35mph.

Well I have some preliminary numbers in from Chad at Crozier Craft and Stennar at Seawolf. As I feared the numbers are going to come out closer to $200,000 than 150,000. I actually got to crawl around a couple of Seawolf boats with Stennar today. His attention to detail and craftsmanship is second t...

It is possible to get controls for throttle and shift for the kicker at both stations using non Yamaha controls as Chaps stated. The problem is unless you go with a fly by wire system such as Teleflex KE4, you will have to use twin stick controls. Twin stick controls at both stations for just the ki...

I probably should have a conversation with the Coldwater folfk even though I am pretty sure they are out of my budget. 6 years ago I spoke with Bruce Regarding a 31 build but ended up getting a clorox bottle built. Time to turn the page to another chapter now. On another note, what are the opinions ...

I am planning on a single Yamaha 350 with a 9.9 ht kicker. Still might be a pipe dream to come close to my budget. I definitely would like to stay with one of the workboat based builders though. A non self bailer will not make the cut.

Thanks for the reply Terry, I did not get your Pm. At this point I am going to keep going down the road of having a new boat built and I am soliciting bids to four different manufacturers to see what happens. When reality smacks me on the rear I will start to look at used boats in earnest and your b...

I briefly entertained Kingfisher boats but quickly ruled them out. It appears that they are mostly about show and I want go. I was not wild about the .160 side thickness, the ss railings that should be welded on aluminum and the copious use of paint. I have decided since I am getting pricing from Ar...