Ideal fishing boat for W. Coast Vancouver Island?

D

Doryman

New member
OK, this is just idle speculation, but suppose you wanted to buy a 30-40' boat for fishing the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the west coast of Vancouver Island -- under any reasonable weather conditions. That is, a boat that could go out comfortably in weather that would keep a C-Dory at the dock (I know, I know -- you can go out in any weather in a C-Dory -- but would you want to?) Let's keep this reasonable -- say winds up to 25-30 mph and waves up to 4-5 feet.

I'm thinking a Coastal Craft or an Ocean Sport Roamer, but I don't know how much better they handle the rough stuff.

And no, I am not looking for such a boat, at least not now. Remember, I said idle speculation...

Warren
 
Also look at the eagle craft, sea sports, the osprey with its high bow, Albina's, the bigger trophy's, Pursuit builds a really nice boat. Grady whites are popular with guides in that area as are some of the well craft. bertrams are built just for that. Any fast deep v boat set up for off shore fishing. a lot of these boats will be east coast designs where they have to go offshore to fish most of the time. Dont forget the big whalers.
 
Steep, closely spaced 4-5 footers are pretty challenging conditions for a lot of boats, and I wouldn't expect most of the boats in the 30 foot range to painlessly charge through them. Having not ridden on any of the boats in this class, I can't provide a very educated response, but I imagine you'd want a relatively narrow boat with a very sharp entry and deep V. A larger catamaran may also do the trick. Of course, narrow with deep V would not be very comfortable when trolling...
 
Easy one Warren, Nordhavn 36 or 43. Single John Deere or Cummins, not trailerable but no worries on the weather. Pin the throttle and duke it out. Idle speculation and money is no object.
Nice boat it'll get the fish. Next question? George
 
ghone":2l0w6pc5 said:
Easy one Warren, Nordhavn 36 or 43. Single John Deere or Cummins, not trailerable but no worries on the weather. Pin the throttle and duke it out. Idle speculation and money is no object.
Nice boat it'll get the fish. Next question? George
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George, I like trawlers, but to me they are cruising boats, not fishing boats. I totally agree that a Nordhaven or DeFever would not have problems in the Strait or the outside of Vancouver Island. But how suited are they for fishing?

Warren
 
Armstrong Cat:

Has twin, narrow deep V hulls, sharp fine entry, and no sweat in a 4foot chop.
Get out there smooth and fast.
No glass gel coat to wax and polish

:idea: :idea: :idea: :thup :thup :idea: :idea: :idea:

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
chromer":14ix9aj7 said:
No doubt you have a tuna requirement also. So you will need a live well to keep your anchovies. Get a big Grady
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Not sure I understand the connection -- can't you put a live well on almost any boat?

Warren
 
I would look for a 30 to 40 foot ocean troller. Canada has bought back many commercial fishing licenses and the boats are available.

An ocean troller is built to fish in all weather on the west coast of Vancouver Island. These boats have excellent stability and are economically to run.
 
When the C-Dorys are stuck at the dock, a troller can still make 8-9 knots and cover 80-90 miles in 10 hours. Victoria to Bamfield is 80 miles.

Its not the top speed that matters, its the ability to keep going
at a reasonable speed in the existing seaway.
 
much like twins vs single. I think ideal is slow deep heavy and for the west coast offshore around 40 ft. the fast deep V's are great for getting out and back quick when its nice but will beat what brains we have left out. Fast is fun though.
 
Hi,
These are built in California and have one many awards for quality and industry innovations. If I was going to by a sports fisherman one of these boats would be my choice. Here's the link caboyachts.com It looks like you have a choice in the 40 foot models of an express or flying bridge. I know some C-Brats like controls on top of their boats.
D.D.
 
I wonder why we don't see many sportfishers like the Cabos in PNW marinas? Maybe I don't go look in the right places, but the vast majority of non-sail boats I see locally are trawler/cruisers, SeaSport/OceanSport/CoastalCraft/etc/, C-Dory/Orca, or Hewescraft/North River aluminum boats. Hardly ever do I see a sportfisherman. There are probably many more in California going after tuna.

Warren
 
Larry H":fidsrvyg said:
I would look for a 30 to 40 foot ocean troller. Canada has bought back many commercial fishing licenses and the boats are available.

An ocean troller is built to fish in all weather on the west coast of Vancouver Island. These boats have excellent stability and are economically to run.
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I understand the American Tug was originally built on a Alaskan troller plug from LaConner Maritime. Wonder how it would do as a PNW fishing platform?

Warren
 
Hi,
I don't know why they would not be in the Northwest. I was in Mexico in the begining of Feb on a island near Cancun called Isla Mujeres (Isle of women). There was a 2006 48' there that had a pair of 1100hp Man diesels. The boat looked like it just came from a boat show. I think the guy said they burned 100gph running wide open. I think they said it cruised around thirty knots They had brought it over from Key West for the winter sailfishing which is phenominal there. A guy from Texas owned it. I see Cabos in New Jersey at the better marinas that don't have the Guiligans Island type wanta bes hanging around. My guess is that you can easy drop 1 mil for a forty footer. Getting it rigged with all the latest electronics who knows. Like they say at the boat shows if you have to know what it costs then you can't afford it. They are without a doubt in a class with Bertrams, Hatteras, Viking, etc. You pull into the fuel dock and say give me a thousand. A whole nother world. They are breathtaking to look at least for a poor kid like me.
D.D.
 
Doryman":30eiu8s6 said:
I wonder why we don't see many sportfishers like the Cabos in PNW marinas? Maybe I don't go look in the right places, but the vast majority of non-sail boats I see locally are trawler/cruisers, SeaSport/OceanSport/CoastalCraft/etc/, C-Dory/Orca, or Hewescraft/North River aluminum boats. Hardly ever do I see a sportfisherman. There are probably many more in California going after tuna.

Warren
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Warren, at Garibaldi we do see boats like Grady Whites and Pursuits, along with Norvelles and Maxwelds, but not in great numbers. I think the answer to your question about why we don't see many sportfishers can be answered easily. The majority of folks in the NW are not willing to spend the money to buy one of these boats. Additionally, they are expensive to operate.
 
Who wants to spend the big money needed for a Grady/Cabo/Hatteras/whatever when you'll be cold and damp behind a difficult-to-see-through canvas enclosure most of the time? Pilothouse boats simply work better for our climate than any other style boat, in my opinion.

Quite a few of my neighbors in the San Juans have Grady's. Even the 24 footer that one neighbor has (its now called the 258 Journey) has way less covered area to get out of the weather than our 22 Cruiser. Almost all the Grady owners keep their canvas side curtains on all the time, so I question why they didn't just buy a boat with a pilothouse in the first place.

To find out what boats work best for fishing out on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, you could also check out what the guides are running. They are out there more than anyone.
 
D.D.

Hi,
I don't know why they would not be in the Northwest.
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We do have quite a bit of logs, chunks, limbs and general wood debris in our water. Hitting a 2ft diameter x 30ft long log at 25 knots can really screw up your day. Many times the wood is laying at the bottom of a wave trough, and big fast boats cannot stop or steer clear. Having twin exposed prop shafts and unprotected rudders just makes it worse.

Even at 15 knots in a C-Dory, the wood comes up on you real fast. An outboard or inboard with a single shaft protected by a deep keel can survive running over a log.
 
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