15ft. Fisher Marine

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huntersdad

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I went this afternoon and looked at this boat. As it sits it needs a new transom and some cosmetic repairs. I have a few questions that I hope can be answered and if it will work for what I plan to do I will be adding it to the boat conversion thread ( it needs a lot of TLC). The boat has an older 30hp. Non running motor and is currently set up with side console steering. I want to repower it with my 18hp tiller steer tohatsu hoping that it would be enough to push it. my question is stability, it's 38inches wide at the bottom but 15 feet long so I'm wondering if the length would help it be more stable side to side. My current boat is a 36in wide by 13ft. 6 long Lowe Jon boat and it sits low in the water and is very tipsy when standing up or moving around. What I want to do is pretty much gut the whole inside and and just add enough plywood back to the floor so I can put two seats back in it. Does this sound like a good thing or would the boat be too heavy for a 18 horse?
 
Width equals stability. With the boat only 2" wider I doubt it would make any difference in the stability.
 
That's exactly what I was thinking also. Just didn't know if The extra foot of water contact would do anything as far as increasing stability or not
 
WIDE WIDE and MO WIDE !!!

I am a small frame guy and not very steady in narrow boats.
how big are the guys that will normally be in the boat plus gear ?
Like Gil said . . . 36" and smaller is the cut-off point for most of us.
another 2" (IMO) would still be uncomfortable for me.
If you will be alone for the most part, you will learn your limits pretty quickly.
If at all possible, try to take a test float in one prior to purchase.
45" - 50" if you can find it and you will be extremely happy

jus my Dos Centavos
 
I'm 215 myself, I try to only pack the essentials such as anchors cooler and tackle box. Problem is that on the river I fish there is always current so you almost always have to fish on bottom or atleast vertical. When anyone else goes, any movement at all moves the boat to the point of thinking you have a bite, so it's hard at times knowing whether or not to set the hook. Also when it's more than one person the bench seats makes things tight real fast.
 
With no pics posted I can't be sure but it sounds like you are starting with the same basic hull that I have. A 15/38 Fisher Marine Water Rover is what I have. You can check out my build link in my sig if you like. I'm 6'2" 280, when in my boat by myself I have no problems walking around any where in my boat. If I'm going to get out of my seat when there's 2 of us in the boat, I just make sure to tell the other person in the boat that I'm going to be moving around before I actually move. No problems so far after the first few years.

I started out running a 20 hp merc. Boat would run around 23-25 with just me. I switched the motor out for a 25 hp and it now runs around 23, with 2 of us and our gear, and will get up on plane fast.
 
The build you did is that same boat. I plan to just put seats in it if I decide to buy it. I'm a bream/ crappie/ catfish guy and rarely bass fish so I would not need a deck at all. Maybe a live well / seat combo at the most
 
huntersdad said:
I'm a bream/ crappie/ catfish guy
You and me both and I can't begin to tell you how much I love sitting in that elevated front seat trolling around through those cypress trees in search of the bream and crappie. It's of no use for the catfish but I've about give up on chasing them any more and it's mostly just bream and crappie now.
 
While the width is the primary factor on how stable a boat SEEMS to be, hull shape plays a large part. A boat with a Vee Bow and a round bottom will SEEM much less stable than one with a fairly flat bottom even if the width is equal. I emphasize SEEM because there is primary stability and secondary stability. Primary is when the boat is sitting still and a round bottom boat will be twitchy when still. However it will be much more stable when moving even at a very low speed. A flat bottom boat will exhibit the same stability when still or under way. A round bottom boat will tilt only so far before it will become more settled. If you watch a fellow in a white water kayak or canoe when sitting still or moving slowly you will see they are leaning to one side but are stable in that lean. The round bottom boat is built that way because it will track much better at speed than a flat bottom.

A way to check where the secondary stability point is to pick a warm day, find some shallow water, dress for getting wet and tilt the craft till it either starts taking on water or does what paddlers call a "snap roll" which is when it tilts and tilts and tilts and suddenly flips either all the way over or just enough to eject you. Most boats (as opposed to canoes) will just start shipping water. This is also a good time to find out how hard it is to get back into the boat.
 
I have talked myself out of it . It's just not worth it being only 2 inches wider than what I currently have. I'm gonna look for something hopefully in the 4 foot wide range atleast.
 

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