Banks Boats and Duck Water Boats

W

Werner

Active member
Greetings All,

I would like some input from those who know about the similarities and differences between boats built by Banks and Duck Water.

Application: I was thinking of using one of these boats on the Lower Chesapeake Bay very near the Atlantic Ocean. I "may" consider taking the boat beyond the Chesapeake Bay Bride/Tunnel. Further, I would like to use the boat for fishing in the summer and exploring the Virginia Outer Banks.

The small area I a barley know in the Chesapeake is shallow enough that a person could walk out about 100 yards and still be standing above their heads -I have done this. There are allot of sand bars and then the channel where tankers, freighters, and naval ships cruise.

Telling, I think, is the anchors sold in the local hardware store are danforth anchors. So we are looking at sand and mud.

Eventually, I might take other people out hunting or fishing with me.

I might buy a jeep unlimited that will haul 3,500 pounds and I figured the trailer, motor, batteries, and gasoline will weigh 1,410 pounds.

What has been the experience of others using these two brands of boat? How as their customer service? Any other input would be much appreciated.

Thank Much,

Werner
 
Don,t think he posts on here but a good description of the banks can be supplied to you by jeff coates A.K.A pitboss watewrfowl. He runs seaduck partys out of a banks boat in the atlantic off o.city and sinepuxtent bay in md. Probably be able to contact him thru his guideing site, Pitboss Waterfowl.
 
I have a 23' Duckwater but have not been in a Bankes. My understanding is that Ron Bankes is great to do business with. As mentioned, Jeff has owned many Bankes and knows them well. My question to you would be Aluminum vs. Glass. For me, the rocky coast of Maine and my over the beach launches do not lend themselves very well to daily beaching of glass boats. I love my DW, big strong and dry, but they are not Coast Guard rated, Bankes ARE. That's probably the biggest difference that I can think of immediately. I think hull design is very similar and imagine performance would be too. Bankes would be a little heavier I think. Pretty sure those specs would be online for both. I run my DW 10 months a year, April through January. I ski with it, fish with it and sea duck hunt from it, great boats for what I do. Keep in mind neither Bankes or DW come with sun or rain protection so you would have to design your own T-top or dodger type canvas, I choose the latter.
Hope this helps.
with the duck blind up



Layout boat on top.





A little spring trolling



 
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I own a Bankes and have been in several of the older Duckwaters. Haven't been in one of the redesigned hulls like Troy's. There is quite a history of people arguing over them. I would suggest posting up in a few places and asking to go see guy's boats and maybe get a ride. It comes down to your personal choice.
 
Thanks Roy,

I saw several youtube videos about his business and his praise for banks boats.

Werner
 
Thanks for your input Troy and the pictures. I imagine the aluminum hull of the Duck Water Boats would be best for you. I don't believe -of course I could be wrong- that the lower Chesapeake Bay and Virginia outer banks are lined with rocks. I sure like the look of the Duck Water Boats Ocean design. It appears to be a rugged craft. Do you have some idea as to how much weight you are pulling behind your tow vehicle with your 23 foot boat?

Thanks much.
 
Hello Carl,

I recall you responding to some of my posts in the past. Thanks for your always positive input. As you hint, the best solution would be for me to go on a charter this season and find out.

Thanks again,

Werner
 
Brad,

Thanks for your reply. Since you own a banks -may I ask what is it about this manufacturer's product that you like best?

Are there unique features you like best about your banks?

For example, I am told they are unsinkable because of the foam pour between the two shells. Does that sound like a reasonable claim?

Thanks,

Werner
 
Roy,

Thanks for telling me about him. I believe I saw some of his videos about the banks boat.

Do you think the aluminum is over-kill for Chesapeake and outer banks in DelMarVA?

Werner
 
I figure boat and motor are 2600lbs collectively. Add gear/gas/etc...probably 3100-3200lbs in tow.
The boat is incredibly rugged. The ocean series is really nice, there is a guide here on the east coast who is running the 23 or 25' Blue Water series on the ocean and I believe he is very happy with that hull design too.
 
Werner,


I have a 2014 Bankes Freedom and I`ve been very pleased with it. The customer service that Bankes provides is outstanding, very good experience overall when it comes to the whole purchasing process, and the fit and finish is top-notch.


I mainly hunt divers on the great lakes with it, and it is great for that application. I`m not too familiar with where you`ll be using it, but here I`ll use it on rocky shorelines and marsh points with good success. The blind is great, in late season we`ll set up a heater and a stove and it certainly takes the sting out of cold weather hunting.


As far as a fishing boat, it`s ok for trolling or anchored. If you want to work a shoreline casting or work a weedline, boat control is a challenge if there`s any wind.

In summary, no boat is perfect, but if you`re looking for a sea-worthy, comfortable boat to hunt two guys and 8-10 dz decoys you won`t be disappointed with the Freedom.





 
Personaly I prefer Aluminum hulls because of the ice breaking ability without damaging the hull. Some of the best shooting I get is when our bays freeze up and I break out to some places that stay open. Same in my river spots. Just afraid of breaking 4" of ice with a fiberglass hull but not sure how the banks hull would handle it .Doesn,t bother my 20' Seaark a bit. If I was hunting the ocean though a non sinking hull might bring a little comfort! If ice breaking, stump striking ability is what your after consider 125 aluminum or thicker in my opinion. Also consider what water the hull draws as compared to the areas your planning on using it.
 
Roy, I suspect Michael Bankes would be quite surprised to discover his hulls can't break ice routinely, but you do touch on a point of emphasis and differentiation that I would stress to Werner-how much water each hull draws when loaded. If you go with fiberglass, put a Keelguard on your boat, both for beaching protection and for the inevitable times when your boat doesn't recover on the trailer perfectly due to wind, tides, waves, etc. Recovery imparts more damage to a hull than operation, based on my experience.
I prefer a foam injected hull, both for the ride they provide as well as sound deadening, warmth, and low ice build-up. Add-in the Coast Guard floatation rating approvals with associated unsinkable benefits of a foam core hull, and you have an excellent package. A few years back my hunting partner's summer neighbor asked Steve to recommend a duck hunting boat for the Great Lakes and inland waters. JD is approaching retirement and wanted a stable, safe hunting and fishing platform for use on Glen Lake and open Lake Michigan waters Steve asked me what I would recommend to John, since I had just purchased a duck boat. I recommended he buy a Bankes. I own a classic TDB-17'. It is a solid bay boat, but not something I would use routinely on the Great Lakes offshore. John took our recommendations into consideration, but continued to research several hulls. He ordered a Bankes Freedom 17'. After two years hunting out of that boat with JD, Steve has had nothing bad to say about its seaworthiness and design, as well as its build quality. Twice they have hunted the boat in ambient winds of 35 to 40mph with no issues, either while underway or while set-up. Steve was quite impressed after each of these outings, calling me to praise the boat's capabilities each time.
As I type this, he is currently nearly finished re-outfitting/tweaking a spotless Bankes 19' Crusader I stumbled across for sale in Holland that is four years old. It is sitting on one of the nicest custom trailers (Integrity Trailers) I have ever seen; an excellent design for shallow water launch sites. Steve just added a pair of two foot bunk guide-ons and a custom transom nesting mount for a three step dive ladder. Now one person can launch and recover the boat. The gentlemen who purchased it new from Bankes used it to hunt several miles offshore in Lake Michigan, drifting with longlines for scoter and longtails. He also beached it routinely to hunt bars and points in Lakes Macatawa and Kalamazoo. It has a Keelguard mounted on it-very low wear. The hull has two minor scratches and no damage or repairs from routine use.
 
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Wasn,t saying the Banks couldn,t break ice as I,m sure that was engineered in when constructing a duck boat or at least should have been. The fiberglass boats I,m familiar with which are basically recreational hulls converted to duckboats are not the best at holding up to that abuse.I,ll absolutely agree with you that a heavy glass boat will ride better in rough water. For hunting the areas that I do where falling tides might leave you setting on an unseen stump glass is just not as forgiving as thick aluminum in my experience.
 
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Were I in the market, I would buy from the company where the owner wouldn't threaten to kick your ass for critiquing their boat online.
 
Interesting point, never heard of that incident...you remember what Tom Huggler said about Ohio sportsman?!
Roy, the Whaler hull I hit the deadhead with was not a Government Products Division boat, standard pleasure boat Outrage. I should have not come back on plane where I did and run another 1/4 to half mile further south of the Rock Cut prior going back to near WOT. The beauty of all of the foam injected two part hulls is that you spread stress loads over the entire hull and eliminate not only the weight of fiberglass enclosed stringers and cross-braces, but the amplified structural loads that this type of hull generates in a variety of unbraced or poorly braced hull points. Everglades, Yellow Fin, Boston Whaler, Bankes, etc. builds are actually light when compared to traditional constructed, comparable length boats. My Conquest 235 was one of the first BWs that employed CAD structural loading software that predicted areas where undo loading would likely occur in the build. They CAM router a full foam mock-up of each hull. One of those spots red-flagged on the Conquest 235 were the mount bases foOr the Hardtop support frame. I had three tiny gel coat cracks on the entire boat after five years of use. One was in a hatch cover, the other two were adjacent the windshield mounting base-pretty impressive. My dream boat would be a 24' walkaround Yellow Fin!
I will now use the blasphemic phrase...put your fingers in your ears guys! Okay??? Kevlar reinforced hull in all Bankes boats 17' and up, not so much for wear protection but for crush-proof compression offset- oriented with the weave direction in each subsequent layer at a 45 degree to the underlying ply layer. I can hear several of you running for tinder and matches...so I will stop there.
I would encourage Werner track down Dave Mull, former editor of Great Lakes Fisherman. Dave was out in a proto-type welded hull west coast style boat for a fishing excursion and write-up piece underwritten by the boat manufacturer. Mid-morning they hung a downrigger cable in the prop in heavy chop because the boat kept blowing around on the winds. The nice light plate aluminum hull swung around quickly on the wind and a couple of waves later that rolled over the transom swamped the boat. What surprised everyone on board? The hull proceed to start to roll over and then sank out of sight beneath them several miles offshore in Lake Michigan. Two crew members were able to grab life jackets, Dave was the guy leaning over the lower unit. He did manage to grab the cooler floating among the jetsam. There was a good current running alongshore which eventually separated the crew members. Three hours later, Mr.Mull was picked-up by another sport fisherman who was alerted via VHF chatter that he had yet to be recovered. Along with the shiny new hull and motor, a couple of thousand dollars of camera equipment floated away to never be recovered. It was summer and the salmon fishery was rolling...lucky men! Fall is little less forgiving, whether you are on the Chesapeake or the Great Lakes. Remember, the shallower the water and the longer the fetch, the faster wave heights build and eventually begin to destabilize! A couple folks a year learn that lesson on Houghton Lake during waterfowl season.
Troy, no offense, but how do you get liability insurance coverage for a commercial guide operation with that hull?
 
The insurance company didn't ask for any USCG rating. Just make, model and HP. Most, if not all, Maine lobster boats, which conduct tours, charters, sightseeing trips and so forth do not have one bit of flotation in them, minus the PFD's. I also run a liability waiver, which is very common.
 
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