When to add another craft to the fleet and why?

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azekologi

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So, a post by ohiobass (https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15464) added another element to my thinking of adding a second craft to my single tin fleet (not sure if one can call one boat a fleet, but I will for argument’s sake). In his post he mentioned having two boats, a "go fast" boat and a "go slow" boat. This intrigued me…

Now, I know that a fair amount of ya'll have more than one boat, and I was wondering a) how many you have, and b) the purpose behind each craft.

That said, ever since I got my first boat, I've wanted another for various reasons. There's a long, emotional story behind why I had (yes, had) to get my tin, which I will post here in the near future, but that's another topic for another time. When I got it I was looking for something larger than 12’, on the order of 14'-16', but the boat I settled on, I did for good reasons: it was in great condition, it came with with an easy-to-work-on OMC motor, and it was a straight trade, no $ involved.

After taking it out on several trips, I've learned many things about my boat specifically, as well as about boat ownership. It fishes quite well, its wide beam makes it very stable in the water, the deep keel keeps the wind at bay, it meets my family's needs for the time being, and fits 2-3 buddies easily. I'm one of those guys who hangs on to all of his toys for a long while, so I think it'll be around for quite some time. (I never quite understood my father-in-law and his ability to buy/sell his toys all the time...in the last 5 years he's had an airplane, three different motorcycles, and a couple of collector cars...almost always selling off one toy to finance the next...I just get too attached).

Anyway, I'd love to hear what ya'll have and the reasons behind why you got what you did.
 
I have 3 boats.

A 1987 20 foot Wellcraft v-20 steplift with a 200HP V-6 Yamaha 2 stroke. I purchased that to fish Stripers and Blues out of Cape Cod.

I have a bantam hunter 3x for the little kettle ponds that I try to fish down the Cape.

I sold my G3 Pro Team 165 with 25hp 4 stroke to buy a bigger Tin boat. Well.....That all went to heck when I was unemployed. I ended up buying a Coleman Crawdad to use while unemployed. I ended up spending the money I had from the G3 to buy a vehicle for my wife to get to and from work.

Now I am saving my pennis for a Tinner. Hopefully I will have it by next year. I miss my G3.
 
I have three right now too.

1. My go fast or go fish boat (mostly used for fishing) This is a 1756 Alweld with a 225 Mercury Jet. My "go to" for most everything and my newest.

2. My first tin and my mod boat. This is a 1648 Alumaweld with a 40 Yamaha Jet. This was my first tin that is built like a tank! This is my mod boat. I didn't take pictures or have a thread for it so here's some of what I did to it: I put in a new aluminum floor, casting deck on the front, finishing one for the back, steering console, live well, storage (up front), all new wires, trailer work with new tires and lights, pedestal seats front and back, trolling motor with custom aluminum mount on front, some engine work, rebuilt jet pump and she runs like new again. This is my "little river" boat. Runs in about 4 inches of water on plane and floats real high. Great boat and I love it to death...BUT I don't use it that much since I bought my newest boat. My wife has been hounding me to sell her and I kind of agree that I probably should. It's a shame to see her sit in my garage with a sad look on her face when I leave with her big brother. :wink: I just bought new carpet for the front and rear deck and once I get that installed....I guess I'll sell her. I know I'll miss her.

3. My first boat...but not a tin. It's my Coleman Canoe. I've personally put about 2 thousand miles on this one over the past 20+ years. Bought it back around 1986 I think. Spent every weekend in it from Easter until Thanksgiving for many years and many week days. Still fun to take her out a couple times a year.

That's my story......and I'm sticking to it.
 
I have my boat....and I am storing my buddy's boat in my back yard. I have full access to use his boat whenever I want, but my time is very limited. When I do get the time to go out, I want to take mine. I assume that if I had multiple boats, then I would always want to take my "best" one. Also, if money is an "issue" I would rather have one really nice boat than two.

That said, I do always rush various projects so that I can hunt, fish or use my boat. If I did have another one, I could take my time on whatever I was working on.

What about taking on a 2nd project boat with the intention of fixing it up and selling it?

KRS
 
I have a 14' '67 Alumacraft, and will more than likely have it till I die in 40 years. :mrgreen:

Then again, I might sell it to get something bigger, wider at least, maybe a 16'.

I dont see any reason to have more than one. I can only tow one at a time, and I cna only use one at a time. I couldnt imaing having 3 holes in the water. :mrgreen:
 
So, I know that a lot of what one ends up buying as a "next" boat or "second craft" is based on your wants/needs, so I'll outline what I've come up with so far:

For the most part, I end up taking camping/fishing trip weekends...usually a couple hours away, hitting mountain lakes. Most are elec only, with a few lakes that limit your gas motor to 10HP or less. So my 50lb Minn Kota with two batts (runner plus a spare) does the trick, and as soon as I freshen up my 6HP gas, I'll be able to make the most of all the mountain lakes. Locally, the scene is completely different. The closer lakes are A LOT larger, and an elec only setup doesn't cut it at all. As soon as I get the 'rude running this fall, I'll have a better idea is 6HP is enough power for those lakes, but I'd guess that 20+HP is more the ticket.

My dream is a 16'-21' Tracker Pontoon day fisher. But at $15-20K new, and $10-12K used, that's a ways off. I figure the pontoon deck-boat would give my son plenty of room to run around, enough options to keep the wife occupied, room for man’s best friend, and a hell of a fisher for me and the buddies.

The other thing I always had my eye on is a 18'-20' all-welded boat, but I think (as a replacement for my 12') running elec only on that monster would be an expensive alternative given 24V trollers and the batteries they require (plus spares).
 
I have two and am thinking of at least one more. I have a 1448 for fishing. I have a 14' runabout that I'm working on that will be for fun - towing grandkids, etc. I would like to have something for strapping to my camper - either a canoe or another jon boat maybe with a 4hp motor. If I had a barn I'd have about 10 by now. I like working on them.
 
I've got 2 boats. 1 glass and 1 tin. The glass boat is ProCraft fish and ski for fishing the lakes near the house and family fun (mostly fishing though :LOL2: ). The tin is a gamefisher 1436 with no mods, yet. The tin is my pond boat. Bought the tin to mod and got a really good deal on the Procraft, but I still throw the tin in the bed of the truck and go.
 
When to add another craft to the fleet and why?

I guess we haven't actually answered the question. When to add to your fleet? Whenever you have the dough and a place to put the boat. Why to add to the fleet? Because you want to.

From The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame "There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats". That seems justification enough.
 
I have two. I have a twelve foot fiberglass canoe I purchased from Sears & Roebuck back in the 80's. It has seen quite a bit of water. It is pretty unstable compared to other canoes I have been in. I had to take out the seats because you couldn't sit in them without rolling over. You have to sit or kneel on the floor. I have gotten pretty good dealing with the unstable nature of the boat. I have caught fifty pound cats out of it.
My second boat is a 14 foot Duracraft with an Evinrude 9.9 mounted on it. I purchased it a couple of years ago due to family and friends urging me to get a bigger boat to handle the large catfish. My brother found it and called me to go look at it. He told me that if I did not buy it he was going to buy it. It is an ideal boat for my needs and in excellent shape. I could not ask for a better running motor. The trailer was another story. The guy I purchased it from had no use for the trailer since he lived on the water so he threw it over his fence into the woods. That took a lot of work to get back in shape.
 
I have my 1436 for duck hunting then I picked up a 10' hydroplane to play on the river. I hope to have the hydro water ready for next season.
 
bobberboy said:
When to add another craft to the fleet and why?

I guess we haven't actually answered the question. When to add to your fleet? Whenever you have the dough and a place to put the boat. Why to add to the fleet? Because you want to.

From The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame "There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats". That seems justification enough.

.... some of us also need to get approval from the "Rear Admiral"! :LOL2:
 
When to add another craft to the fleet? As soon as you think you can sneak it in the garage and the wife won't see it.
It's the old saying, It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission!
 
wasilvers said:
When to add another craft to the fleet? As soon as you think you can sneak it in the garage and the wife won't see it.
It's the old saying, It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission!

So true! My wife is the one that told me my boat needed more seating...that's when I bought the bigger boat (with her permission of course). What she didn't realize was that I wasn't thinking of selling the smaller. She's wearing me down with all the complaining now....anyone want to buy a great 1648 that I don't want to sell? #-o
 
Thanks ya'll. I appreciate everyone sharing their fleet stories, it's shed some light on my want of another craft.

Truthfully, I'm at a point where I'm fine with what I have, just have bigger and better dreams than I have disposable income :roll:.

If I can find a deal that I just can't pass up, I'm sure I'll make a quick decision and take the plunge on another boat, meanwhile I'll just be envious of all you Commodore's and various Admirals while I stay in my lowly rank as Captain.

I'm curious about the canoe scene; wouldn't mind finding an older tin one (with a transom) to add to the fleet, but it's truly more of a novelty to me than a necessity by any means. Funny enough, I found a cool Ouachita canoe (like my boat!) a while back on Craigslist for $250, but it was in Texas, I'm in Arizona, and couldn't justify a trip just to pick up a canoe...well, I could, the wife couldn't. [-X

Here's some pics just for fun:

ouachitacanoe-01.jpg


ouachitacanoe-02.jpg


ouachitacanoe-03.jpg
 
You should only add to the fleet when you have the need for a different boat.

I try to put a dollar per hour on the water value on what I do. I had three at one time, down to one tin boat that does what the other two would do (run skinny, run fast).

P1010197.jpg


Jamie
 
Ranchero50 said:
You should only add to the fleet when you have the need for a different boat.

Excellent advice!

As this little 12' Ouachita is my first tin, and as I tend to keep toys for a long time, my son will probably end up with this boat in the distant future. My family has a summer home in the mountains, so eventually (when I see the need for a larger "fishing" boat), this boat will probably take permanent residence there. Meanwhile my dreams are set on a nice pontoon for the family, my needs are to outfit this little fisher (electrical, canopy, new seats, etc.), and by the time I've got it to where I want it, I'll have a much better idea of what might be a better boat for my buck.

I'm very happy with this boat, the only future hurdle I see is getting the gas motor running and getting it out on the "big" lakes. A 12' tin, with a 6hp tiller probably isn't the best fit for a 10,000 acre lake (our biggest local body of water), but I'm sure it'll hold it's own on the other 2000, 1250, and 950 acre lakes in the immediate area.

Thanks ya'll!

img_7841.jpg
 

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