Ben M
Active member
So, I've bought the plans for my first boat: a sneakbox. And for Christmas, I loaded up on a lot of the necessary tools. The bug has bitten hard! I'm already planning my next build . . . assuming of course, this first one doesn't drive me to the brink of sanity and/or wreck my marriage! Hahaha . . .
I'd appreciate your opinions about this particular design:
http://www.bateau.com/proddetail.php?prod=XF20
I would mainly hunt skinny inshore spots with it, with 2 or 3 trips a year out to the Chesapeake or other bigger water. I want something that will 1) Allow me to take 2 or 3 other hunters plus a dog & dekes and not be in each other's laps and, 2) Be reasonably seaworthy for bigger water while maintaining a low profile and shallow draft, and 3) Allow my growing family and maybe a few friends to comfortably hang out and/or fish lakes. Last year, on a buddy's V-hull we finally found a concentration of ducks late in the day and set up to hunt them, but the tide was on the way out and we were many miles from home. He was afraid of being grounded, so we pulled up and headed in. With a shallower draft, flat bottom hull like this one, we could have stayed for a couple hours more.
I would want to add some decking/coaming round the edges in typical duck boat fashion, and probably a spray dodger/blind that could also be used to keep my wife & family dry on summertime lake runs. The extra decking & spray dodger would contribute to this boat's seaworthiness. And I'm pretty sure it's self-bailing (or can be made so) which means a nasty roller would certainly scare the living hell out of you . . . right before it swept on out of the bailers. I would definitely go with tiller-steer to keep a console from adding height to the hull.
I'm concerned that it may be a bit big for littler spots . . . and that it might not be seaworthy enough for bigger water. Which means, I might have a good compromise! Hahaha . . .
I'd appreciate your opinions about this particular design:
http://www.bateau.com/proddetail.php?prod=XF20
I would mainly hunt skinny inshore spots with it, with 2 or 3 trips a year out to the Chesapeake or other bigger water. I want something that will 1) Allow me to take 2 or 3 other hunters plus a dog & dekes and not be in each other's laps and, 2) Be reasonably seaworthy for bigger water while maintaining a low profile and shallow draft, and 3) Allow my growing family and maybe a few friends to comfortably hang out and/or fish lakes. Last year, on a buddy's V-hull we finally found a concentration of ducks late in the day and set up to hunt them, but the tide was on the way out and we were many miles from home. He was afraid of being grounded, so we pulled up and headed in. With a shallower draft, flat bottom hull like this one, we could have stayed for a couple hours more.
I would want to add some decking/coaming round the edges in typical duck boat fashion, and probably a spray dodger/blind that could also be used to keep my wife & family dry on summertime lake runs. The extra decking & spray dodger would contribute to this boat's seaworthiness. And I'm pretty sure it's self-bailing (or can be made so) which means a nasty roller would certainly scare the living hell out of you . . . right before it swept on out of the bailers. I would definitely go with tiller-steer to keep a console from adding height to the hull.
I'm concerned that it may be a bit big for littler spots . . . and that it might not be seaworthy enough for bigger water. Which means, I might have a good compromise! Hahaha . . .
