buying a new boat

[robertye112]

New Signing, would you say the 4.6m was more capable or your lancer 5.3? Is there much in it?

 

-Rob

[New Signing]

Comparing apples and oranges mate. The little lancer punches well above its weight and has been put through hell in the two years ive owned it including the friday of last years bermi comp for those who were mad enough to be out there with us.

I think you would be happy with either. The lancer is probably a little more forgiving for a new boat owner learning the ropes. If you intend on doing a lot of bottom bashing or anchoring the webster would be streaks ahead as far as stability goes. 

The lancer rides very well for a pressed aluminium boat and id say its superior to any quintrex in that regard however the webster will be a lot softer ride than either.

Mine is an older lancer 88 model i think so i cant provide too much comment on the newer ones.

I don't think any boat is going to be perfect for every situation so it really does come down to what you want to do

[robertye112]

thanks for that mate, appreciate it.

Edited November 8, 2016 by robertye112

[zmk1962]

13 hours ago, robertye112 said:

cheers Zoran, I've seen that clip. Scares the living crap out of me to be honest with you. So does your story about taking 4.5 hours to make 20km!

makes me think about maybe going a size larger to a 5.2m webster twinfisher and settle for a 2 stroke to keep within the budget. zmk1962 do you reckon your 625 hull would be more sea capable than a 5.2 webster? 

Mate, unfortunately I'm not in a position to comment on that - I haven't owned a webster or been in one to be able to make an educated comment.  As many folks have said above, there are many factors to consider - is the hull properly set up and trimmed, is it adequately powered (ie can you hold your position on the back of a wave, can you climb over if you need to etc), is all the safety gear working etc etc....and is the skipper experienced.

I've had my Haines 635L since 1996 and repowered re-configured that hull to suit me and what I do. I also put quite a few sea miles on it in many many varying conditions - and because of that experience I know that hull and my set up well.

My best advice before you spend your cash is try to arrange to tag along on offshore fishing trips on different boats. Get a personal feel for them. Don't rush in.

Prior to purchasing the Haines, I had access to a 4.5m Quintrex from the local fishing club, I also owned a Savage 4.3m glass hull runabout. I have also fished from a 6+m Mustang, spoke to LOTS of fishos and boaties etc etc.

In fact just like Sigma, my wife and I were caught out fishing at Jervis Bay heads in the Savage. This was back in 1995 - I had just repowered the Savage with a new 40hp electric start Tohatsu , fitted swivel seats and a new bimini and fitted the battery in a closed battery box. We were fishing just on the east of Bowen Is. and saw a squall coming way offshore. By the time I had pulled in 60m of anchor rope the squall was on us, the outgoing tide and incoming squall produced  2-3m waves at the heads. We were caught and had to ride it out, the waves were so close that it was impossible to turn the hull without being side on the the wave - so had to ride it out - crossing one wave at a time at an angle to keep the prop in the water and looking for the top of the next wave that was not breaking. We had water in the boat (thank god for the battery box), my wife was on her knees bailing etc etc.  Not pleasant at all. 40min later squall passed, the sun came out, the waves eased and we raced to Murray's Beach boat ramp. Put the boat up on the sand, rolled out exhausted and drenched as rats.  People were launching their boats asking us what happened !!!  

I asked my wife then - "do we give this sh*t away - it was a close call"..... and her answer was golden - "Nah! - we get a bigger boat !"   After a year of searching and trying out other rigs we bought the Haines...it suited us and what we wanted to do - and its still working for us today. 

Cheers Zoran

 

 

 

[jeffb5.8]

I think Jervis bay gets everyone at least once as it can change in a heartbeat, On Friday afternoon (4th Nov) we dropped the boat in at Myall river, reached the mouth of Jarvis Bay and it was calm, not glass but pretty perfect and low wind, even the bush fire at Callala was calming down, so we decided to escape to the water since the road out of town was blocked and the wind wasn't due to arrive till 10pm.

We raced across to Murray's beach for a flick which took about 30mins, pulled up and had three flicks with the SP and the wind picked up and was a NW, then it would swing around to a Northerly. The swell went from .5 to 2m and very close.

I have a 5.4m bowrider, Etec 115hp full safety gear for open ocean and it took us 1hr 30min or so to get back, limited to 15km/h to save our backs from getting punished and that allowed the boat to ride on top of the waves without bouncing to much.

Had some hairy moments when the waves got bigger but i though the bowrider handled it well and i sure learned quickly what it did and did not like and fingers cross i am a better skipper for it. Got some spray but never too any water over the bow even when she did porpoise on one or two occasions.

Throttle control was more important that steering on this trip and having the 115hp power made it easier when i need to floor it.

The other thing that worked in our favour was the wind came up at 6pm, it it didn't arrive until 7pm it would have been a different ball game all together as darkness add to the risk and your senses.

P,s There where also whales frolicking and doing aerial, so was trying to avoid them as well.