Interloper
Active member
I'll start by noting that Parker was on my short list. I might have bought one if I had found a used one at a good price. The boat that I bought is a 1996 Steiger Craft Block Island 23.
When I first started shopping for a boat, I saw an old deadrise workboat for sale. The boss said, "No!" She was right. I don't have the time to maintain such a thing. I then started looking at new 17' center consoles. The boss was unhappy. She mandated the following set of requirements:
1. It can't be "one of those tippy boats."
2. It has to have a bathroom.
3. It has to have a second captain's chair for the captain's wife.
4. It has to be safe enough to take our 70+ year old fathers fishing on the Chesapeake Bay.
5. It has to be big enough to take lots of family members on short cruises up and down the creek.
To that list of requirements, I added the following:
1. It will be left in the water for extended periods of time, so it should have a motor that can be raised out of the water (outboard motor).
2. It will be subject to inexpert maintenance, so it should have a motor that can be easily replaced (outboard motor).
3. It will be subject to inexpert boat handling, so it should have robust construction.
4. Money is a consideration, so it needs to be secondhand and as cheap as possible.
My favorites were the pilot house models offered by Parker, Steiger Craft, May-Craft, and C-Hawk. They all tended to be well above my price range. The reality is that I don't intend to go fishing for stripers in December, so an express or walk-around would be just fine. I almost settled for a Trophy 2002, but it just didn't have the heft that I was looking for.
The deal for my Steiger Craft was sealed when I opened one of the deck hatches to inspect the bilge area and realized that I could see the shadow of my hand when I looked at the deck from underneath. There is no core material in the deck. It is solid fiberglass. There is also no carpeting on the inner face of the hull inside the cabin. All the surfaces are finished fiberglass. I am dubious about the after-market outboard bracket. Shifting the motor that far aft changes the trim of the boat.
The following image is of my wife's 12 year old niece rechristening the boat. We were careful to follow proper protocol to appease Poseidon: http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/rename.htm .
When I first started shopping for a boat, I saw an old deadrise workboat for sale. The boss said, "No!" She was right. I don't have the time to maintain such a thing. I then started looking at new 17' center consoles. The boss was unhappy. She mandated the following set of requirements:
1. It can't be "one of those tippy boats."
2. It has to have a bathroom.
3. It has to have a second captain's chair for the captain's wife.
4. It has to be safe enough to take our 70+ year old fathers fishing on the Chesapeake Bay.
5. It has to be big enough to take lots of family members on short cruises up and down the creek.
To that list of requirements, I added the following:
1. It will be left in the water for extended periods of time, so it should have a motor that can be raised out of the water (outboard motor).
2. It will be subject to inexpert maintenance, so it should have a motor that can be easily replaced (outboard motor).
3. It will be subject to inexpert boat handling, so it should have robust construction.
4. Money is a consideration, so it needs to be secondhand and as cheap as possible.
My favorites were the pilot house models offered by Parker, Steiger Craft, May-Craft, and C-Hawk. They all tended to be well above my price range. The reality is that I don't intend to go fishing for stripers in December, so an express or walk-around would be just fine. I almost settled for a Trophy 2002, but it just didn't have the heft that I was looking for.
The deal for my Steiger Craft was sealed when I opened one of the deck hatches to inspect the bilge area and realized that I could see the shadow of my hand when I looked at the deck from underneath. There is no core material in the deck. It is solid fiberglass. There is also no carpeting on the inner face of the hull inside the cabin. All the surfaces are finished fiberglass. I am dubious about the after-market outboard bracket. Shifting the motor that far aft changes the trim of the boat.
The following image is of my wife's 12 year old niece rechristening the boat. We were careful to follow proper protocol to appease Poseidon: http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/rename.htm .
