Hello all,
I'm looking to build a hand troller. I want a full displacement hull that is economical, seaworthy and just enough cabin space that a guy can live on for extended periods of time. I found this vessel and was hoping those of you with a lot more knowledge than I would give me your 2cents worth on why or why not this could make a good hand troll platform. LOA: 27', Beam: 9' 5", Draft: 2' 7", Displacement: 8000 lbs, Engine: Perkins 4.108 40HP
Thanks for the input,
Travis
AKFISHER
2012-04-22 17:36:16
Looks like a nice hull design does it have a fish hold? It is an economical engine and thats very important for sure with the price of fuel in Alaska. Where is it located?
As far as I can tell it does not have a fish hold. The engine dog house is in the middle of the cock pit but it looks like you could put some half totes to the side of the dog house or posibly build some sort of a hold on both sides? This might sound like a pipedream, but the boat is located in Rhode Island. I live in Iowa so I was thinking I could do bring the boat to my place, do what ever work needs to be done to it and then take it on to my parents place in Western Wa and then get the "Dream" started heading north!
Kelper
2012-04-22 18:14:07
That looks like it'd be a good pocket troller. Hold space would be important. I'd want the capability to hold at least 80 kings in an insulated hold if I was going to travel at 7kts.
I'd set it up with an auto pilot, a good fish finder, solid aluminum rigging, and some a good set of Kholstrand 2:1 hand gurdies. You could get in really tight to the kelp lines with a boat like that and get some good king/coho scores.
I'm going through the same thing right now.. My 19' Pacific is really low maintenance, quick, and decent on fuel. I can pack around 38 average kings. Not too many days that I need more room than that. It's great for turning and burning up on those shallow spots that bigger boats can't get to. But it leaves me out in the weather and has me sleeping in a tent on the beach if I want to spend the night out there. I'm looking at all options to upgrade a little, without having to go to a boat that needs a ton of work and money to maintain.
Kelper
2012-04-22 18:34:18
Ok, just saw that you posted when I was posting. I'd not go for it without any hold space. Too bad they didn't put the engine under the cabin.
I got this picture off of another post on here so I hope nobody minds me using it as an example. If I could fit a tote this size on both sides of the engine dog house would that suffice as fish holds if this boat doesn't have any? Does anyone know the dimensions of this size tote and how many kings can you slush in a tote this size? My thoughts were to build my trolling pit to the aft of the dog house, put a butcher station in front of the pit on top of the dog house and then a tote on both sides of the dog house the size that are in the picture. What do you think?
Kelper
2012-04-22 19:13:46
You can fit around 18 average kings, and about 40 cohos in one of those, depending on how big the cohos are. At last years price, a tightly pack half tote of kings was about $1000 in the July 1st opener.
I run 2 half totes out of my 19' boat.. Good enough for day fishing, but you'd either have to be really close to to a tender or not plan on catching many fish in a 3 day trip. I'd want more fish carrying capability in a 27' boat. You'll outgrow 2 half totes rather quickly.
What do we need to do to get someone to lay up a boat like that and put the engine in the right spot and put in a nice slush fish hold!
Thanks for the input Kelper. I'm going to take a look at the Vashon troller that Treetruck posted about in your other post. Thanks for that post by the way, I've been looking for a smaller displacement boat and you helped lead me to it. I was thinking the larger cabin on this boat would be more comfortable for longer summer stays though. I have access to a cabin by Hoonah, but don't want to wear out my welcome so I plan on staying on the boat mostly.
Abundance
2012-04-22 21:11:58
I honestly think that looks like a dandy boat. Really solid and economical. I think that whether or not it would be good for you would be determined more by where and how you intend to fish. If you are going to be based out of a town, selling every time you fill the boat up would not be such a problem. Around here, most areas have tenders come out to buy fish every few days. I think up by Hoonah they are constantly around. I see hatch covers in the back. Are those covering empty holding area? If so, I know of people who have put slush bins in those. I think that she would work out fine, but only if she is fairly cheap to obtain. By the time you have her rigged all up for fishing and hauled clear across the nation, you might have cost yourself a lot more money than you would if you bought a similar boat on the west coast. Oregon seems to have a lot of small fiberglass boats for sale cheap.
Thanks for all of your advice. I ended up buying the Vashon Pocket Troller. I pick her up next week and can't wait to get her ready to go north! I'm sure I'll be asking many questions on how to best set her up for hand trolling.
-TC
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