A new boat

[A9]

Take your time most importantly and don't rush anything...You want to have this boat work for you for a while, so take your time, you got all winter and when you feel like you've figured out what you want and found a good price for it, then pull the trigger on it.

[fishnislife]

Take your time most importantly and don't rush anything...You want to have this boat work for you for a while, so take your time, you got all winter and when you feel like you've figured out what you want and found a good price for it, then pull the trigger on it.

That's exactly what I was gonna say. Sam you alway beat me to it!! Good job!

[cavdad45]

I would also suggest waiting for the boat show to shop and compare. See it all side-by-side. Best pricing and incentives.

[Reel_Nut]

I realy want to thank you all for all the imput. My wife and I are going to go to the boat show to shop and compare. I will definetly introduce you all to my new boat once I get her. I just need to keep my wife as excited about getting one as I am lol.

Thanks again.

[Dave]

I was just reading this post and had to respond. In 2002 after about 6 months of looking at a number of welded aluminum boats on the market I went with the Hewescraft and it was the best decision I have ever made. I bought the 163 sea runner which is 16 feet 3 inches long and a heck of a boat. http://www.hewescraft.com/2007/searunner/index.html I went with a 16 foot boat because I wanted to be able to handle it on and off of the trailer alone in the event that I go out alone. It has a ton of freeboard so if you are out in the Sound and the weather kicks up, you will have no worries! The top side rails are wide so mounting your electric downriggers is a snap. I felt it was the best built welded aluminum boat for the money and Hewescraft boats are sold with Honda motors. I am sure there are a bunch of great motors out there. I wanted a motor I could depend on every time out and I know that Honda makes a very dependable motor. It is not the quietest motor but I know it will start every time and for me that was the seller. I also noticed you rarely see a Hewescraft in the paper for sale. The reason is they are one heck of a boat and those who buy them usually have them for life, and I absolutely love mine. I wash it and flush the motor after every trip (almost always in the salt) and it looks and runs like the day I bought it. The resale is also great. Used Hewescraft boats in good condition sell for almost the same price as a new one. I hope this helps. My boat can also go in the deeper rivers such as the Snohomish and the lower Skagit. my motor is a 75 horse 4stroke Honda outboard prop. Since I knew I was going to be in the salt most of the time I choose a prop. With a prop turning is more defined and you receive more actual power from the motor. I was told jet motors have issues in salt water and can suck up seaweed and fail. Jet motors also maneuver the boat in more of a sliding motion so precision turns and control are lessened. My boat is pictured to the left. I bought mine from; Tom and Jerrys 11071 Josh Green Lane, Mount Vernon, Wa. 98273
Ph: (360) 466-9955 Cell: (360) 333-0379. They were great and have been selling Hewscraft boats for over 20 years. Hope this helps. Also remember, if you are n the salt your chances of hitting logs and other debris are good. A welded aluminum boat will take that abuse no sweat! You can also go right up on the beach with no worries. Good luck

[Reel_Nut]

Dave, Thanks for your responce. I have had my eye on Hewescraft. The realy are a sweet boat and very well priced. I also would agree with the Honda motors. I want something that is dependible but also able to get up on a plain fairly quick. I was wondering with your prop though how much water can your boat run in? I have some fishing holes for sturgeon that I go to that at times could have 1 foot of water underneith ya. Good thing about GPS with tracking you guys, FYI. I also was looking at the Hewescraft 16 because I want to get a camper to sleep in when I take those trips to the Columbia, Eastern Wa, Or, .....ect so weight with my f150 is a factor.

Thank you again Dave
You Rock!!

[hewesfisher]

Reel_Nut - As I've indicated before, you won't regret buying a Hewescraft. Dave gives good advice too! When we decided to buy a boat, I shopped for used Hewes for months, but never found any. Oh, I would occasionally find one that was 15 years old, or was not what I was looking for, but even then they were few and far between.

There is a Hewescraft owner's forum at http://hewescraft.30.forumer.com/index.php? visit and sign up for there if you want to get more feedback from Hewescraft owners. If you join, mention SilverFox579 sent you there.

Btw, Dave, Hewescraft boats are sold with whatever motors the dealer sells. My Sportsman is outfitted with Mercury because Skipper Bill's in Spokane is a Mercury dealer. Frankly, if I were to replace my Hewes, it would be with another Hewes and it would be Yamaha powered. This is, by far, the motor of choice for the Hewes owners in AK and there are a lot of them. Not that I'm unhappy with my Mercs, but apparently the Yammies have an outstanding salt water reputation.

Oh yeah, Reel_Nut, you won't have to worry about your tow vehicle being up to the task, I tow my 16' Hewescraft with an '04 Ford Ranger 4x4 and have absolutely no problem running as fast as I feel comfortable going. With the canvas down I run 70mph on the interstate, but never go over 60mph with the canvas up, too hard on the snaps.

[Dave]

I tow my Hewescraft with my Toyota 4Runner with no problem at all. I use the 4WD if the launch is slippery or it's low tide. You won't be disappointed with a Hewescraft boat. If you can heve what ever motor you want as well, then it's a win win for you. I am sure there are lots of quality motors out there these days. Good luck and good fishin. Photos updated 02-25-08 from a Lake Goodwin trip the day before.

[Reel_Nut]

Ok sooooo my wife and I just happened to be in Olympia on sunday and sence we spent 2 hours (with out a peep from my mouth) looking at shoes, purses, ect.......at JC Penny's. I said I would like to stop and look at the new Cabela's store. Of course I had to through in a dinner at Olive Garden. Well when we got there the first thing I see is that they sell Hewsecraft......................Ohhhhhh yaaaa. For a 18 Sportsman they want $25,000. That doesnt incude the $2,000 for the prop to pump change. But OHHHHHHHH man what a boat. And I think the best part of it all was when my wife started asking all the right questions about boat show prices veres their store price and why should we buy a boat from them and not anouther Hewscraft distibutor.

Well just an update...Thanks again for the sugestions

[Reel_Nut]

Ok sooooo my wife and I just happened to be in Olympia on sunday and sence we spent 2 hours (with out a peep from my mouth) looking at shoes, purses, ect.......at JC Penny's. I said I would like to stop and look at the new Cabela's store. Of course I had to through in a dinner at Olive Garden. Well when we got there the first thing I see is that they sell Hewsecraft......................Ohhhhhh yaaaa. For a 18 Sportsman they want $25,000. That doesnt incude the $2,000 for the prop to pump change. But OHHHHHHHH man what a boat. And I think the best part of it all was when my wife started asking all the right questions about boat show prices veres their store price and why should we buy a boat from them and not anouther Hewscraft distibutor.

Well just an update...Thanks again for the sugestions

[Mike Carey]

cool. :thumleft:

wish my wife fished...

[hewesfisher]

Sounds like our trip to the "boat store" when we decided to buy. Got out a whole lot cheaper though, but ours is smaller at 16'. Price on our Sportsman was $15,999 before some added options like kicker motor, hour meters on both motors, and several other things. Bottom line on our deal was $19,095 pre-boat show at the local Hewescraft dealer. Naturally, we went to the boat show after we bought our boat, but the prices were higher, $2,000+ for the exact same boat, motor, & trailer combo. Glad we bought when we did.

We aren't just "fair weather anglers" either, here's a pic from our most recent trip to Lake Roosevelt loaded and ready for the ride home.

[mics]

just a thought for the thread,i run a 21ft customweld storm,350 with white pump.if i was gonna be in the market for a boat,aluminum,then i would go to the portland boat show.rule of thunb,seattle is a more glass boat show,while portland is much more alumimum.the shows carry both,but some of the smaller manufactors dont come up here to seattle.another place for good info and i hope im not violatting ules here,but there are a couple of very good jet boat forums like meanchicken.net and boatingsportman.com. just a few for somebody who might be thinking about learning jet boats. hope this helps mic

[Reel_Nut]

I believe my mine is made up. I want the 18' Sportsman. It sure is a nice boat and is within my budget. I need to sell the Seaswirl now. If anyone is interrested. It is a 1987 Seaswirl Cuddy Clasic. I am selling her for only $2,000, that is the pay-off with the bank. You can contact me at my home e-mail which is dbtspivey@comcast.net.

[michaelunbewust]

that sportsman is nice. we have recently purchased something similiar. the only advice i can say is buy now, while the buying is good. i saved 33% of the total cost, by buying it in december. the rep said prices start to climb the week the boat shows start happening. now, i have a 12 ft. alum over here during the work week, and 1 for over there at home in tri-cities. without the savings, i would still just have my lil one. we both sat down before the final purchase, and agreed and disagreed on what was needed. this helped, also.

[hewesfisher]

I believe my mine is made up. I want the 18' Sportsman. It sure is a nice boat and is within my budget. I need to sell the Seaswirl now. If anyone is interrested. It is a 1987 Seaswirl Cuddy Clasic. I am selling her for only $2,000, that is the pay-off with the bank. You can contact me at my home e-mail which is dbtspivey@comcast.net.

You won't regret it at all. I stopped in at Skipper Bill's last Saturday and was chatting with the guy who sold us our boat. We mosied over to the new '08 Anniversary model (cool graphics!) which happened to be an 18 footer, and I told him the only regret we have is that we should have gotten the 18 footer instead of the 16 footer. When we're doing cold weather fishing with the full canvas up, there's just not quite enough room for two in the back with a cooler while fighting a fish and handling the net. We make it work though!

Enjoy your new boat!:cheers:

[jacobscreek]

Well my wife and I have been kicking this around for some time and I think it's almost time to just do it. I have a 1987 18' Seaswirl Cuddy Classic that I purchased used and although I thought it was the boat that I needed I quickly found out that it was not a very good "Fishing Boat" for my needs. I like to fish for sturgeon, rockfish, lingcod, some salmon and love to crab. The Seaswirl just isn't practical for any of that. So thats why I'm looking at sleds. Hewes, North river, Smoker Craft? I dont know.

First thing to do. The Seaswirl will be paid off in May of next year and I dont if I should use it as a trade in or sell and try to get more out of her.
Second is probably go to the Boat Show next year (with my wife) and look to see what fits our needs.

I want to get a boat in the same length and proably an outboard. That gives you more deck room then the inboards. Plus with the newer 4 strokes I here realy are a good engine.

Anyone have some helpfull input?

I would suggest the Puyalup outdoor show going on around mid month. Google Puyalup Fair for more info. It's my understanding that the show is geared toward fishing and boats.

[AdsBot [Google]]

I really love North River Boats. They are expensive...but it's you get what you pay for on this one. If you want a versatile boat...you can't go wrong with a North River. 3 Rivers Marine carries them and you can equip it with a Yamaha 4-stroke outboard -- they run/hum amazingly quiet. Great boats, always dependable.

[A9]

I really love North River Boats. They are expensive...but it's you get what you pay for on this one. If you want a versatile boat...you can't go wrong with a North River. 3 Rivers Marine carries them and you can equip it with a Yamaha 4-stroke outboard -- they run/hum amazingly quiet. Great boats, always dependable.

Last I checked 3 rivers doesn't carry North River. Just Alumaweld, Starcraft and they just got their first few Willie's in too..DB's just for now...

[AdsBot [Google]]

I really love North River Boats. They are expensive...but it's you get what you pay for on this one. If you want a versatile boat...you can't go wrong with a North River. 3 Rivers Marine carries them and you can equip it with a Yamaha 4-stroke outboard -- they run/hum amazingly quiet. Great boats, always dependable.

Last I checked 3 rivers doesn't carry North River. Just Alumaweld, Starcraft and they just got their first few Willie's in too..DB's just for now...

Whew...thanks...your right...Alumaweld is what they carry. North River...do you know where they can be purchased? I can't wait for the boat show!