Sea Fox is built about 10 miles from my house. Its teh same family that brought you Renken Boats. They were very cheap and under built to begin with, but I'll have to say they've brought the quality up quite a bit(and price). They started out with some splashed hulls and new decks, A few years ago, they got serious and hired some real designers and came out with a whole new lien up of boats. They used to sell against trophy and Sea Pro, now they market them against Key West and Sea Hunt. Personally, they have a bad reputation that honestly they may not deserve. I wouldn't own an older one, the new ones are very nice. If you search on the hull truth, you'll get all kinds of horror stories about them

BTW, I was in Southport Sunday as well. I took Kendall to the aquarium and rode the ferry from Ft Fisher to Southport on the way home

My kids were at Fort Caswell for a Youth Retreat Saturday - Monday...the girls rode the van with the group but my son was fishing a tournament Saturday morning so my wife and I dropped him off then stayed the night at my parents place a Holden Beach.

That was an amazing amount of rain Sunday...like a hurricane without the wind.

What year would you say Sea Fox got better Spare?

I don't have any experience with Sea Fox, but something I've noticed is they seem to stretch the boats length for marketing reasons. Alot of this includes cap molded bow pulpits and euro transoms. If you look at one from the side, the actual running surface from where the keel starts to curve up towards the bow to the back edge of the euro transom seems small for the overall length of the boat. Something with a "23" foot hull length ends up having less room than some 18 footers.


Although these days many manufacturers are guilty of this. I wouldn't be interested in a newer Wellcraft either.

http://cdn.moreboats.com/boats/2819....6059f26.xl.jpg

1994 25' Pursuit on Boat Angel.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1994-Pursuit...-/111429028072

I agree on the new boats, but it seems that the boats made in the mid 2000's that were made for the SKA 23' and under class are all in the 25 foot range but called 23's.

First post said it for me. LOL

http://www.kingfishconnection.com/f1...23-class-9223/

Wellcraft 252?

Looks nice.

http://wilmington.craigslist.org/boa/4583056645.html

both the pursuit and teh wellcraft look nice. As far as the Sea Fox's go, I'd say around 2006? If you notice, all the older models were factory rigged with Suzukis, the newer models are all rigged with Yamahas.

Ok, so now lets talk about your favorite walk around cuddy boats.

I had a GW 25 Sailfish way back and really liked it, but a boat that size would be too big for trailering to the keys.

I always liked the GW 24 Explorer...obviously one of the "newer" ones with the SeaV2 hull would be what I would be looking .

X2 Always liked the GW walkarounds also. Functional, good looking, no nonsense layout. They would be one of my first choices also.

23 ft Dusky

http://savannah.craigslist.org/boa/4613735553.html

23ft Dusky Center Console - $18000 (Harris Neck)

http://images.craigslist.org/00g0g_f...Jm_600x450.jpg
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condition: excellent size / dimensions: 23' + Brackett

1995 Dusky 233 with Evinrude Ocean Pro 225 ready to fish, fully operational. Fished weekly and in great shape. Water pump replaced each year. Two new AGM batteries and electronic isolator system. Lenco trim tabs, T-Top, leaning post, plenty of storage. fish box, 40 gallon live well, fresh and raw wash down, electronics box, vhf radio, top-gun outriggers, stereo. Two 60 gallon fuel tanks. Lift stored, trailer available but not included in this price
show contact info
No Brokers please.

• do NOT contact me with unsolicited services or offers

Thats a good looking boat.

Yep. Not a walk around, but nice looking for sure.

It says Evinrude on the cowl and in the add but the paint says Bombardier era Johnson.

BRP bought EVINRUDE and pretty well dropped the JOHNSON name. Around 98 most all JOHNSON's went to 4 strokes, and around 01 I believe the last JOHNSON's came out in 2 strokes. It looks like an early 98-early 01 to me from the cowling, AKA FICHT engine. Starting in 01 they redesigned the bigger FICHTS and made them ALOT better, but this one looks like an earlier model.

That Dusky is a thing of beauty

Who has any experience with a CAT?

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/19...tamaran-617337

I've never been on one, but have heard some real horror stories about them. From what I have heard from friends who have ridden in them, they handle great going directly into or with the seas, BUT they can be downright DANGEROUS quartering into the seas. If one hull catches before the other they tend to hook and go that way throwing you, and when the other hull does catch you get thrown back the other way. My dad lost one of his favorite polls fishing with some guys on a cat because of this. Every rod in the top holders got thrown over when the one hull caught and threw them, and when the other one caught it threw all of them almost out of the boat. This was on a slightly choppy day in the GULF, and nothing compared to what you guys in the atlantic have to deal with. After hearing about this one first hand, my dad never went back out with those guys, and I never had the urge to go and try it out for myself.

I have several... Lost one last month to old age, but still have 4 that hang around. I love dogs, but cats are great also. :butt:

I wish you'd asked a little while back Randleman.

I had a chance at a 22' Twin Vee center console with a tower, twin 90 Hondas, and galvanized tandem trailer for $2500+/-. One of the Hondas was blown, but the rest was a 7 on a 1-10 scale.

lol

You should have bought it to flip!

So ideally I will find a boat with a fairly new 4 stroke already on the stern, but if I find the perfect boat with a 2 stroke on it, I need to be informed.

I am seeing that there are lots of boats in the 2000-2005 year range that appeal to me, many have Yammie and Merc 2 strokes.

I know that you cant disconnect oil injection on the Opti/HPDI motors, but what about the EFI models? Is it necessary on the EFI to disconnect the oil injection or are they reliable enough to leave on?

I am about to take the plunge into 4-stroke territory for the first time. Old thinker when it comes to outboards, I like 2-strokes because there are a lot less moving parts. I don't trust oil injection because I know it can fail. I don't have a choice on the Opti as mentioned. I did take the oil infection off the 1998 EFI Mercury and a 60 Mercury and a 90 HP Johnson and numerous V-6 Mercury Outboards. The downside to taking off the oil injection is the motor smoked noticably more at idle. Oil injection leans the ratio out at idle so the motor smokes less as I understand it. Without a load the motor doesn't need as much oil to remain lubricated, so it saves you in the wallet, until it stops working and then POP goes the weasel...On second thought, I might get along just fine with the 4-strokes after all.. Doesn't feel like I have been holding onto much now that I decided to let go.. They have proven to be fantastic in economy and longevity. Stay 4-stroke or let that be a chit to be used to bargain for a better sale price, the re-power angle..

If you buy a boat with ANY engine that old, don't put much value in the engine. Most of the imports have rock solid oil injection systems since they were smart enough to use all metal gears for the pumps VS MERCURY's IDIOTIC idea of a nylon crank gear like on the 2.0, 2.4, and 2.5's. When it comes to DFI engines, I wouldn't want one out of warranty. Most all of them require expensive computer software to do much of anything to them, and even a small repair can get up over $1K pretty easily. I would hold out for what you want if it was me, and not settle for one unless your getting a SMOKING deal on it. As for removing the oil inejction, on the bigger engines most all of them had good systems except for EVINRUDE. If it is a regular EFI, you can safely remove the oil inejction, but as you pointed out DFI's MUST have it on them. Carbed engines may require a rejet if you remove the oil inejction as they tend to load up at idle without it.

My goal is to find one with a 4 stroke, or to repower with a 4 stroke, but if that smokin deal comes along and my money is not right to upgrade right away I just wanted to know what to avoid.

Seems from what the experts say, stay away from out of warranty DFI.

Look at this!

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/20...sole-101995346

Hydrasports Vector? Garage kept (+), mostly freshwater use(+), FICHT(-)

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/20...-Vector-624812

Regulator. Did they make these with a full transom?

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/19...Classic-619589

I don't think they did. I believe you had to go to the 25-26 before they put a bracket on them(I may be wrong though). I've worked on several 24's with motors on the transom. That's a hell of a boat and a deal. I looked at a 21 regulator in Supply NC with a 200 two stroke, carb, Yamaha, for a customer of mine a couple weeks ago that was around $25,000. I'd much rather have the 23 with a four stroke on it.

Talk about "PRICEY ", $30K without an engine.
GREAT boat, but that FICHT KILLS the resale on them. He can ask that all he wants, but with that anchor on the back he probably wont come close.
NICE! Insert drool here.:nic:

How were Wellcrafts around 2001? Still made with wood?

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/20...rman-102277811

That is a really nice boat...maybe it will still be on the market when I can buy.

1300 hrs isn't any thing to worry about on a 4 stroke Yammie is it?

the guys who ran hte water taxi sold their first two Yamaha 150 four strokes with 5800 hours, the set they have on there now are getting close to 5000. they've had soem issues(lower units, fuel injection) but not anything that wouldn't happen to any engine with that many hours. That being said, I'm pulling the power head off of a 225 right now that has a leaking oil pan

Not bad boats, actually ride pretty nice. Still have wood in them IIRC, and that FICHT on the back is a deal breaker unless the price is right.
If the oils been changed and it's been run with ring free, 1400 is nothing to worry about.

So what do yall think about deadrise?

What is the best compromise?

24-25 deg is best for running in the ruff stuff, 17-18 deg is more efficient, less roll on the drift, so around 20 deg?

97 Wellcraft 230 w/ '10 Yam F225

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/19...man-230-619800

Not many hulls use the 24-25 degree deadrise anymore except for go fasts and boats made for running the snotty stuff at high speeds. They rock and roll so bad that most stick in the 18-22 degree deadrise range, or run a variable deadrise hull. Variable is the best all around I think. A deep keel to get the prop down deep in the water, a sharp bow entry to cut, but a good compromise of deadrise to allow it to still cut but not slingshot on the drift. Theres alot of good compromise hulls out there now that can stil lrun on plane in the rough stuff, just not get up and fly.