IHDiesel73L
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- Aug 2, 2010
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It's starting (emphasis on starting-it snowed here this morning) to get warm again and my thoughts are turning away from firewood and deer hunting and back to the water. I found tinboats last summer when I was wishing I had a boat and now I'm committing to seriously looking for a fixer-upper as my cash situation is no better than last year :LOL2: After a lot of research here and elsewhere I determined that a 14' V-hull would probably suit my needs best. I'm not that serious about fishing-I do fish, but it's not like I'm out there every weekend, so it wouldn't make sense to build a dedicated, full on, fishing rig. However, though I don't fish much we do spend a lot of time at some of the local lakes and reservoirs hiking, swimming, cooking out, etc...along with our chocolate lab who loves the water. We also have one on the way so kids will be in the picture before long. One of the things we like to do is use our canoe to get to the more out of the way places that you can't get to by car and would be a long hike otherwise to enjoy the peace and quiet. It's a 2.5 mile paddle to the most secluded beach though, so getting out there in a canoe just with two people takes some doing (especially if there's even a little wind) let alone two adults, a child, a dog, and gear.
So basically all I'm looking to do is find a used boat to start with that will accommodate 4 people (the dog is about 80lbs so I'll count him as a person), a 100 quart cooler, some beach chairs, a Weber Smokey Joe (the small "tailgate" version of the classic Weber), and of course a couple of fishing poles. In looking at the capacities and horsepower ratings of most 14' "utility" type models (Duraboat 14, Alumacraft V-14, Lowe 1457, etc...) there's a lot of variation:
Duraboat 14
Beam: 65"
Bow Depth: 29"
HP Range: 8-25
Capacity: 4 people/700lbs
Alumacraft V14
Beam: 68"
Bow Depth: 30"
HP Range: ?-20
Capacity: 5 people/1195lbs
Lowe 1457
Beam: 57"
Bow Depth: 27.5"
HP Range: ?-10
Capacity: 4 people 702lbs
I'm a little confused in that though these boats look relatively similar (although the beam of the Lowe is considerably less than the other two) they seem to vary a lot in terms of HP range. Also, if you just compare the Duraboat and the Alumacraft the capacity/weight ratings are dramatically different. The only real difference I can see is that the Alumacraft has a 3" longer beam-can that really make that much of a difference in the number of people you can carry? Plus the weight rating is nearly 500lbs more? I suppose maybe I'm missing something as someone fairly new to boating, so if anyone can clue me in I'd appreciate it. Again, I'm looking for something used, so I want to be sure I'm getting something that's going to suit my needs so I need to know what to look for since I can't necessarily look up specs for a 30 year old aluminum boat that's been sitting in a field :mrgreen: Can anyone give me some general rules of thumb to keep in mind when looking at a used boat (ie: you want something with a bow height/beam no less than _________, etc...)? Finally, let's assume that whatever I find is going to have a max weight rating in the neighborhood of 700lbs. I'm betting that with all of us in the boat plus gear we'll be pretty close to maxing that out (600-650 or so). First of all, how safe would that be on a calm day? How about if the wind picks up and it starts to get a little choppy? And what about HP? The lakes we go to are all 9.9-is a 14' V-hull loaded to near capacity with a 9.9 going to be a complete disaster? What if I pulled the old 15 in-a-9.9-cowling trick?
So basically all I'm looking to do is find a used boat to start with that will accommodate 4 people (the dog is about 80lbs so I'll count him as a person), a 100 quart cooler, some beach chairs, a Weber Smokey Joe (the small "tailgate" version of the classic Weber), and of course a couple of fishing poles. In looking at the capacities and horsepower ratings of most 14' "utility" type models (Duraboat 14, Alumacraft V-14, Lowe 1457, etc...) there's a lot of variation:
Duraboat 14
Beam: 65"
Bow Depth: 29"
HP Range: 8-25
Capacity: 4 people/700lbs
Alumacraft V14
Beam: 68"
Bow Depth: 30"
HP Range: ?-20
Capacity: 5 people/1195lbs
Lowe 1457
Beam: 57"
Bow Depth: 27.5"
HP Range: ?-10
Capacity: 4 people 702lbs
I'm a little confused in that though these boats look relatively similar (although the beam of the Lowe is considerably less than the other two) they seem to vary a lot in terms of HP range. Also, if you just compare the Duraboat and the Alumacraft the capacity/weight ratings are dramatically different. The only real difference I can see is that the Alumacraft has a 3" longer beam-can that really make that much of a difference in the number of people you can carry? Plus the weight rating is nearly 500lbs more? I suppose maybe I'm missing something as someone fairly new to boating, so if anyone can clue me in I'd appreciate it. Again, I'm looking for something used, so I want to be sure I'm getting something that's going to suit my needs so I need to know what to look for since I can't necessarily look up specs for a 30 year old aluminum boat that's been sitting in a field :mrgreen: Can anyone give me some general rules of thumb to keep in mind when looking at a used boat (ie: you want something with a bow height/beam no less than _________, etc...)? Finally, let's assume that whatever I find is going to have a max weight rating in the neighborhood of 700lbs. I'm betting that with all of us in the boat plus gear we'll be pretty close to maxing that out (600-650 or so). First of all, how safe would that be on a calm day? How about if the wind picks up and it starts to get a little choppy? And what about HP? The lakes we go to are all 9.9-is a 14' V-hull loaded to near capacity with a 9.9 going to be a complete disaster? What if I pulled the old 15 in-a-9.9-cowling trick?