Howdy there - wife and I recently became new boaters (bought our first boat in December of 2011) and have been kicking ourselves for not doing this sooner. We live in the Tampa Bay area and the majority of our fishing is limited to about 10-15 miles within shoreline and 40 feet of water, on good calm days. We have gone to the Keys a few times trailering the boat as well. We have a KeyWest 196 BayReef with 150hp Johnson 2-stroke that pops up on plane at about 18 mph, and we normally cruise at 28-30 mph at 3500 rpm and get around 2.25-2.5 mpg
We've discovered that:
1 - We like fishing further offshore (grouper, snapper, etc. - and the times we've been in the Keys we've wanted to go out further to get dolphin, etc.) - but our boat is not capable of going to far out unless on VERY calm days. The wife is 46 and doesn't like getting banged and battered around in chop - I can take it better, but I'm not getting any younger either and I can foresee a time where it will bother me as well. Running a 19 foot open bayboat/center console in rough conditions isn't fun. Our inshore/flats/lake fishing is now almost nil - just don't care for it that much.
2 - I got into SCUBA diving and spearfishing, and it is a tight fit to get 2 divers and the wife on the boat. I'd like to be able to take a total of 3-4 divers and the boat out and have room on board for gear, landing speared fish (AJ, Cobia, etc.) Plus the ability to go out further to wrecks offshore without having to go on "perfect" days would be nice.
3 - The wife mentioned how nice it would be for us to go out (either far or close in) and spend the night on a boat - so having the room to lay out an air mattress under a canopy, or have a berth and a head or portapotty would be nice. Some room for a campstove so we can cook. Just the two of us.
4 - I realize I may need to upgrade my truck - I'm fairly certain I can find a good used F250 and trade my 2 year old F150 V6 with 8000 miles on it for it - it can only tow 6500 pounds. I may lose a year or two on the F250 and a bit of miles, but the extra towing capacity will be a big help as I know the replacement boat will be much heavier.
I had thought about pilothouse style boats, but still am not quite sure - obviously they look like they would offer a lot of the things we want, but the weight and how they ride in the water may be a concern - I have heard they can really pound you due to the pilothouse being so forward and heavy. I'm also 6'1 and don't know if I would be a good fit for the overhead clearance. But given our conditions in the Gulf and the fact that we would still more than likely not go out unless conditions were pretty nice, this may not be a huge concern.
You guys are a lot more experienced than me so I'd appreciate any advice. Definitely going to be a used boat. I like the idea of a single outboard engine. I'm thinking 23 foot might be minimum , and would be willing to consider a 25-28 foot as well. Don't know if a cuddy-cabin or semi-enclosed cockpit may be something to consider vs. the pilothouse style. I've started lookng at C-dory, Steiger, Parker, Judge, Maycraft, Stamas, Grady White, Pro-line.
We've discovered that:
1 - We like fishing further offshore (grouper, snapper, etc. - and the times we've been in the Keys we've wanted to go out further to get dolphin, etc.) - but our boat is not capable of going to far out unless on VERY calm days. The wife is 46 and doesn't like getting banged and battered around in chop - I can take it better, but I'm not getting any younger either and I can foresee a time where it will bother me as well. Running a 19 foot open bayboat/center console in rough conditions isn't fun. Our inshore/flats/lake fishing is now almost nil - just don't care for it that much.
2 - I got into SCUBA diving and spearfishing, and it is a tight fit to get 2 divers and the wife on the boat. I'd like to be able to take a total of 3-4 divers and the boat out and have room on board for gear, landing speared fish (AJ, Cobia, etc.) Plus the ability to go out further to wrecks offshore without having to go on "perfect" days would be nice.
3 - The wife mentioned how nice it would be for us to go out (either far or close in) and spend the night on a boat - so having the room to lay out an air mattress under a canopy, or have a berth and a head or portapotty would be nice. Some room for a campstove so we can cook. Just the two of us.
4 - I realize I may need to upgrade my truck - I'm fairly certain I can find a good used F250 and trade my 2 year old F150 V6 with 8000 miles on it for it - it can only tow 6500 pounds. I may lose a year or two on the F250 and a bit of miles, but the extra towing capacity will be a big help as I know the replacement boat will be much heavier.
I had thought about pilothouse style boats, but still am not quite sure - obviously they look like they would offer a lot of the things we want, but the weight and how they ride in the water may be a concern - I have heard they can really pound you due to the pilothouse being so forward and heavy. I'm also 6'1 and don't know if I would be a good fit for the overhead clearance. But given our conditions in the Gulf and the fact that we would still more than likely not go out unless conditions were pretty nice, this may not be a huge concern.
You guys are a lot more experienced than me so I'd appreciate any advice. Definitely going to be a used boat. I like the idea of a single outboard engine. I'm thinking 23 foot might be minimum , and would be willing to consider a 25-28 foot as well. Don't know if a cuddy-cabin or semi-enclosed cockpit may be something to consider vs. the pilothouse style. I've started lookng at C-dory, Steiger, Parker, Judge, Maycraft, Stamas, Grady White, Pro-line.
! That's most certainly is quite a list of needs and wants and then even worse ... there's a TON of options for you. But it sounds like - to me - that either a CC or ideally a CC with a doghouse 'mini-cabin' over/around the helm might be ideal.
