Question:
Does anyone know of any aluminum boat builders ?
I am moving to the Portland Oregon area and am interested in buying a
sportfishing boat in the 21-28 foot range. I have done some searching on the
net and found only builders that offer models with outboards. I am looking
for an I/O or inboard builder. Anyone have any informations to pass me?
Answer:
-Chuck Gould here can point you to West Coast builders, but you might
consider Henriques for a really nice 28' twin diesel inboard sportfish.
And Sea Sport makes some first-class fishing boats in that size. Also
consider the builders of aluminum sportfish boats out in your area.
-Stanley has a number of locations, can't say for sure they are out there.
Used extensively in other areas of Canada by Ministry groups etc.. Some
friends have a couple, can't say I like the styling etc, but can attest that
they are very heavily built..
-Skagit Orca boats are built in Kent, WA.
I've seen some nice 27-28 footers, I/O config, with a small cabin well forward
and
a large cockpit. The boat has decent freeboard, and seems like it would be well
suited for coastal salmon or bottom fishing.
Lean toward the larger end of your size range, if you can. The area near the
mouth of the Columbia can be tricky. Every year we seem to hear about a small,
private fish boat that gets into mortal trouble in the area. Lots of times it's
operator stupidity, but other times it's just too many people and too much gear
on too small a boat for the conditions. A larger boat will give you more
options, even if you don't *always* need it.
-Specifically Pacific Boats which, if I was in the market for a
aluminum boat (I believe these can be made in an I/O version) I would
probably purchase
