I'll soon be in the market for a new 18'- 20' saltwater boat and need some advice. This boat will be set up and used for fishing but also used at times for ferrying to/ from a small island. It will be in the water basically year round. I am leaning towards aluminum mostly because it is easier to maintain and will last indefinitely if maintained well. I have two specific questions:
1- What extra measures are necessary to effectively prevent electrolysis and dissimilar metal corrosion?
2- What manufacturers would you suggest looking at based on the quality of their product and how it would pass the test of time in the weather and the salt?
Many manufacturers out ther build great hulls. Many of those though "skimp" on the details and use cheap snaps, latches, bolts/ screws, lights, cleats, hinges, windshield wipers, bilge pumps, etc. I don't want to have to completely re-rig a new boat to bring it up to standards.

I'd appreciate any input you can provide.

Thanks

Lots of good Aluminum boat manufacturers in the North west. I would look at Alumaweld, North RIver, Boulton, Ed wing, Titon, Almar. All of these boats are proven performers, some of the later on the list are commercial grade boats. Lots of sacraficial zincs on the trim tabs, motors, and transom. A good bottom paint will help as well. Be ready to pull her out a few times a year for maintnance and replacing worn out zincs. I run a Alumaweld 25' formula V, as a charter boat in Puget Sound, My boat is in the water year round. I just keep her clean, and the zincs fresh and she runs just fine. As far as the Fit and Finish, most of these boats come bare bones. You need to add all the options, This can be a little troublesome but in the end you get exactly what you want.

Matt

Matt

I've been running a pre-North River, Almar for years, awesome boat, the current NR/Almar, not so much.

I'm having a 18ft Raider being built for me now. Raiders are basiclly a spin-off of HewesCRaft.

Raiders are nice for the money, but they are light. If you are using it strictly on PS, then it's probablly perfect. Light in my opinion for the heavy water.
Neal

Aluminum is not the best material for a saltwater boat. I own a 22' Alumaweld and bought her mainly because I trailer around quite a bit, up to the Straight, Coastal out of Westport or Chinook, and also doing the lower Columbia below Kalama, or back to the South Sound.

I've had issues with the way my boat was rigged at the factory, wires spiced in the bilge area, windshield wiper grounded to hull rather than back at a ground buss, and the lack of a weather resistant fuse assembly at the batteries.
A friend has a North River which appears to have nylon washers to help isolate hardware from the boat, but he has had issues with the fuel fill/vent intallation allowing water into the fuel cell.

Every boat is a trade-off. List your wants and needs. If you still decide to go aluminum, well, go with an outfit that will cater to a salty boat. :two cents:

If price is not an issue check out these
http://www.aeroheadboats.com

Sweet!

Slabhunter- why do you say that aluminum is not the best material? What have you experienced? Your experrience with Alumaweld's factory rigging is similar to mine and why I had to completely strip and re-rig my Super-V. Also one of the reasons why I probably will not buy another Alumaweld. (I should say that I think Alumaweld is a good boat for the money, just not that great of a boat, and I own 2 currently)

Gilly- Thanks for your input. I'd like to see your boat sometime, where do you keep it? I'm ok with "bare bones" as long as the "bones" are stainless

thanks guys, keep your thoughts coming

Check out http://www.harbercraft.com. The 2025 with offshore bracket is one hot boat! PM me if you need a close-up look and ride.

I think fiberglass is the way to go unless you want to run it up on the beach to clam dig if you want to go aluminum the best boat I have seen out there is the Raider it seem to take the weather the best But if you want a safe well built boat I would think about a seasport the 22 sportsmen is not too bad

If your looking for a well built aluminum built boat look up "otter craft", they do alot of work for the coast guard and the navy. They do some private party boats. They seem to know what works for the salty conditions. not much of a web site the last I checked but they are very knowledgeable over the phone.

Aluminium boats are much lighter and bob like a cork in the salt.
but if you do happen to go Aluminium, choose welded over riveted.

Send Vence an email at the Wooldridge.com web site. You can go down to the factory South Seattle and watch the boats being built as well as look at some finished models. I know they will paint the boat up for salt water. I own a 20' Wooldridge Off Shore Super Sport and I use it in the salt a lot, to include the Straits and the West Coast of Vancouver Island. It is on a trailer, except for some week long trips where it is at the dock. Long term, you need paint, for me Sharkhide has kept it nice.

Wooldridge boats are custom made. I had a lot of custom work done on mine. This boat is perfect for what I do and it cleans up real easy.

I'll second Mike on the Wooldridge. I have the Sport Offshore 20'. It is a great fishing platform. Bracket, 115 and 8 hight thrust Yamahas for power/trolling. I upgraded to 50 gal fuel tank, switched some seating arrangements. Wooldridge was easy to work with. They came out with the 20 Super Sport Offshore with a sharper bow and deeper V (I think it is 40 degrees/18 degrees) which would be nicer for choppy water. Mine is 30/16.

As mentioned there are trade-offs and if you can get some test rides, that will help you. Welded over rivets is a good thing. Sharkhide/paint when the boat is new is a good thing. Wished I'd gone ahead with the Zolatone paint on the inside.

Aluminum is light and noisy. The wind can push you around. I'll take the fuel economy, though. About 500 miles per the chart plotter at Sekiu the past couple of years and I burned about 70 gal of gas. The first year we used the big motor for a lot of trolling - it runs just about right. Last year I used the kicker a lot more and saved a fair amount on gas.

I fish the Straits a lot and make some trips to LaPush. No problems on the big water.

I own an Aerohead right now and I also have a 26' Raider Cuddy. The Raider is a good boat for the price and weighs in just under 5000lbs wet. I've done a lot of research on aluminum boats and visited many of the local builders. The best boats without question that I have seen, are the Ottercrafts.

Looks like Aerohead is no more, don't know if it is temporary or permanent. Those ottercrafts are SWEET!