Hewescraft Searunner - Opinions please.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
  • Start date Start date
A

Anonymous

Guest
Looking at the 19' or 22' C-Dory Angler but also a 20' Hewescraft Searunner.
I know they are two different boats but if anyone has been on both in the salt would like to know your thoughts.

Thanks
 
The Sea Runner is really an entry level boat. I wouldn't even begin to compare it to a CD 22. The CD 22 is way better in about 100 different ways.

The larger Hewes are pretty awesome boats. My brother is very fond of his 22 foot Hewescraft Ocean Pro. It is great fishing boat; it is really fast, rides a bit better than the CD 22, is very easy to deploy the anchor, has way more room for fishing, is better for hunting moose and bear as beaching it on rocky beaches is really possible, and handles big seas well. A big plus is it tackles 2 foot chop with ease.

For those good things, it does have negatives. One of things that is unacceptable in my book is the lack of heat. The boat is always cold when it is cold out and it is nearly impossible to get it warm. I can see why there is no provision for a wallas as there is no point.....In side to side comparisons with my CD 22, it burns a little less than double the gas which is an issue to me.

It also really sucks as a camping boat. In fact, it is so bad (and the 20 foot searunner is only worse) that he always camps on land and anchors the boat. But why would it be good? It has no dinette, no stove, and no place to sleep.

The larger Hewes are another story altogether. I'd own own in a second if I could afford the 26 Alaskan as it has everything I could ever want. Money is always the issue......
 
Thanks for the reply but looking at the Angler not the Cruiser. Mainly using it for fishing not cruising.
 
I've been looking into them heavily for the past few months. I think I came to the same conclusions as above, only would add: they are NOT cheap! Welded aluminum might be the way to go if you're looking to ride out the apocalypse (super strong) but any Hewes in the same general size as the CD22 with a hardtop is going to cost twice/three times as much.

I ALMOST bought a Hewescraft 20FT HT with Alaskan bulkhead from SE Alaska, but the guy wouldn't work with me enough regarding transportation. In hindsight, I think it was for the best.

I do think one could reconfigure the interior toward camping if they didn't mind tearing into a 50K+ boat. Ouch :(
 
nickyn99":ozdfdbes said:
Thanks for the reply but looking at the Angler not the Cruiser. Mainly using it for fishing not cruising.
Click to expand...

The hewes is a much better fishing machine in my opinion. The little searunner isn't much of a boat to be honest. It isn't even in the same catagory as the CD 22 cruiser or angler. But if you are looking at sub 20 foot boats, it is a good choice. Of course, if you are just planning to take it to the local puddle, it doesn't matter much. But, if you are planning trips into the sound and into the real ocean, you won't see my butt in one.....
 
You can get them with 42" sleeper seats. I was thinking you can get a portable propane one burner type stove, bring a 5 gallon freshwater tank, a bbq and I think you would be set. But again I am looking at overnight or weekend and mainly for fishing. Just like camping for the weekend but on a boat. And yes new they are more than a used CD 22 (Cruiser or Angler) but also depends who you buy it from.
I just don't see the cruiser deck having too much storage/fishing room and the Anglers seating would suck if you go offshore 20 miles and have more than two people. I love the C-Dory that is why I am asking. Have been shopping/looking for almost two years but want to try and do it as right the first time as possible.
 
The hewes crafts are well built good running boats that cut thru the chop and have lots of room to fish. You can camp in them, you can camp in anything. I used to anchor up and sleep in my 16ft starcraft in lakes all the time. Open boat with no windshield or cover, just a sleeping bag. To old and soft to do it today but when I was 30ish :wink: .

More room for three or four guys to sit on the way out and back for fishing but I really dont like to fish that many in a 22 or under boat. I fished 4 in the 27 last week and we had to shuffle around each other to get to rods when they popped up.

You have to decide what you are going to do with the boat and pick the best boat for the use. That being said your use my change. You can always under use a roomy boat but you cant over use a cramped one. If you think you are going to like boating and camping and maybe in the future cruising then you want to , as you said, get it right the first time.
 
MilesandMiles":6s9f1nhe said:
I think I discovered every 20-24 ft hewescraft for sale in the US during my research. I've never seen one for sale in the Sacramento area (they're mostly a PNW/SE-Alaska boat, like the CD)

Here's a decent deal. It doesn't have the AK bulkhead though

http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/boa/2628711372.html
Click to expand...

Thanks Miles - There is a delaer called Boat Country in Escalon, only one in California. Drove there a few months back but they only had the Sportsman which is really more their entry level boat not the Searunner like T.R said but whatever. Anyhow called them about a month ago and asked a ballpark price on a Searunner, said they would call back but never did. That being said, I would rather drive to Washington to buy a boat than buy from a dealer, even though they are only a little over an hour away who can't even call back to a potential customer. That's bad buisness to me. Will keep looking and cheers!
 
T.R did make a great point that if it is burning almost twice the gas that would be an issue with gas prices these days but will need to look into that myself as I find that hard to believe. T.R are both of you running the same size motor?
 
Tom-n-Jerry's at Twin Bridges Marina in Mt. Vernon, WA is a really big Hewsecraft dealer. They always seem to have a large inventory of boats, so it might be worth a trip up to check them out. I've been very happy with the service work from Tom-n-Jerry's but have no experience with the Hewescraft boats.
 
Thanks - Yes I plan on making a trip to check them out. Clark's thus far has been the best pricing so far on New. Still need to see a newer Angler in person as well as a cruiser. A guy down the street from me has an older Angler and do not like how small the pilothouse is. I really do love the C-Dory but out of my price range new, at least the Cruiser is. Not sure what a new Angler would be but there are a couple used Anglers on Boat Trader that seem like a great deal but not ready to purchase as of now.
 
The Hewecraft will burn more fuel because it is running a bigger engine (115-150 versus C-Dory 90). It has more V, which takes more fuel and power to get on plane, but it can be a smoother ride in a chop. The C-Dory just needs to slow down to 12-14 and it becomes a good ride. The Hewes won't like to run at 12-14. 10 or 20, but not much in between, and certainly not economically.

The pilothouse on the Angler is unchanged. A new Angler is about $5000 less than the cruiser when ordered with the optional aft bulkhead. The Angler without the bulkhead will seat for- two facing forward on pedastal seats, two facing inboard / aft on jump seats. The 22 Angler with the open pilothouse has the same layoun (and cabin size) as the 19 Angler.

With the bulkhead, the angler features a smal dinette to port, and a pedastal helm seat starboard.

The Angler will make a better weekend-sleep-over boat, and the Hewes may be a better fish slayer, depending on your use.

Alumnum carries its history of dock incidents forever, where glass can bounce of unscathed, or can be repaired to like-new condition. We had a very clean used Hewescraft 18 on our lot once, and many people looked at it and were horrified by the 18" crease on the port bow. But that's what aluminum does, and if that bothers you you'll need to buy new and do the creasing yourself....

As mentioned, Aluminum boats are colder, and tend to be noiser than glass, but they are selling much better than glass right now, so that may make a difference in your search.

The perception right now is that Aluminum is indestructable. I'll hold a C-Dory up to any welded aluminum boat of the same size for toughness, and the C-Dory won't sink because of electrolosys. We've seen two North Rivers sink because of brass drain plugs failing due to electrolosys and be total losses. (Always use SS drain plugs in aluminum.)

Hope this helps!
 
Not much information on the Hewes but I am a dedicated fisherman.

Do far more fishing than camping or cruising and it could be said that I have the wrong boat for my usage. BUT I like to be comfortable, dry and warm when I fish and may include more camping and cruising in the future so like to keep the option open. There are some compromises but it can work very effectively and don’t feel that I have missed many fish due to not having a dedicated fishing boat.
My experience/opinion is that it is a better trade off to fish from a cruiser/camper than it is to camp/cruise from a fishing boat.

stevej
 
Steve I agree, which is why I have my 27. but if I was only going to fish it would be a open center console boat. No roof or cover getting in the way. just open rails and walk ways. If you get cold wear a coat and rain gear.
 
I've owned a C-Dory and now I own an aluminum boat, but not a Hewescraft.

Personally, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better layout in a small boat than a 22 C-Dory. The use of space and the unibody build (no stringers - you stand on the hull) makes it a "big" little boat. I've never seen an aluminum boat built that way, so I would assume the Hewescraft has a raised floor.

Aluminum does have some dirty secrets - like galvanization, crevice corrosion, etc. Wiring of the boat is very important, because you can't ground to the hull...if you do, you'll cause problems.

Dings and dents - yep, I've put my share in the hull.

Generally an aluminum boat is lighter, so that does counter act some of the gas usage issues of having a deep hull. My current boat, Sea Badger, easily gets over 2+ mpg at 30 kts with a Yamaha 225 on it. My previous boat, also aluminum, sucked gas, but it had 2 motors which were much less efficient.

My current boat has insulation and a big pilothouse with lots of windows and it actually gets too hot, but just in case it has a Webasto, diesel force air heating system.

Bottom line is that my boat fits my needs and my uses. I think others will agree with me that every boat is a compromise in some way. You need to figure out how you're going to use it and what you can afford and then make a decision. My guess is that it'll never be perfect, but you'll be on the water and really isn't that the ultimate goal?

If I were to pick one of the boats you list, having gone through this exercise a few times myself, I would probably choose the C-Dory because I think my family would it enjoy using it more because of the layout. Then again, that's coming from a guy who owns fishing boats but no fishing pole. :-)
 
Back
Top