As opposed to your style of wide, long and low bass boats, a 14'-15' boat is quite popular here, with lots of freeboard for the chop on the bays, and wide decks for stability. In the past few years, “big” U.S style ‘bass boats’ (Stratos,Bass Trackers,Triton’s etc) are becoming more popular, and time will tell weather they are really functional in the short coast chop, and BIG swell on the coast- a Stratos could cost as much as $60,000 or more, so that’s another reason to buy Aluminum and local.
These days small glass fishing boats are unheard of, we bash them around a bit, on the rocks and oyster beds, and Aluminum stands up pretty well. Something I noticed when over there, is a lot of the Aluminum boats are still rivetted (works of art), which is a thing of the past here, everything is welded, probably not as strong, but easy to build, and easy to repair - some makers, still have problems with stress fractures in welds etc, which probably would not be a problem with rivets.
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This is an Aluminum boat I bought recently, 14.5' x 80" beam. My old one was the same make and length, but was getting a bit cramped @ 65"beam, so I went for a wider boat, and hopefully, it’s still something I could handle by myself if necessary.
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It came with tiller steering, heaps of pockets and ample deck space, but I like the idea of being able to let go the steering, so out goes the tiller. If I get rid of the tiller, I had to have a console, I personally don’t like them either, as in a 14' boat, space is at a premium, so, similar to my last boat, I’m making a hybrid steering system. When not in use the steering can be folded up (forward and vertical), out of the way, and give me all that side of the boat to fish, and I can easily spin around 360 deg in the seat, without bashing my bony knees on anything. Also when folded up, it allows the boat to be steered from a standing position, which is a real advantage when sight fishing the salt water flats/creeks on the coast, which can be very shallow (2') - I recently spent 5 hours, waiting for the tide to come in, stuck on a mud flat in the middle of a creek, no fun in the hot sun, with no bait and nowhere to go.
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Old Boat with old version of steering and seats
I have been in denial for years, but now have installed a Minn Kota (my first electric), and am trying to get hold of a remote for it (about $350 here), which is another reason I won’t need a steering wheel/console in my face. I will also replace the seat pedestals, with gas lift office chair stems, they get a bit rusty, but are sssooooooooooooo comfortable when bashing through waves, and they have height and tilt adjustment, at the end of the day, my backside will thank me for these - I get plenty of laughs, but only from those who have not sat in them, best thing is they cost $5-$6 at the recyclers - chuck away the “office seat” and attach your boat seats, they usually screw straight on, when the pedestals get a bit dodgy, go to the recycler, and get another one, they take about 10 minutes to change.
I have removed all the stickers (took a day), floor and have most of the cables and hardware ready to go, so will keep you posted. pete
