Cut a hole in the back of your garage where the motor will stick out. That should buy you a few extra feet. 
Mine a 16 CC Stinger
in the classified
Loaded and Ready to fish
anchor life jackets
tackle
trolling motor
rod holders
Woodfloats?
dfosterh,
I sent you an email
Tmax
If you can get a KW 1720 with a 90hp in decent shape for $5k, that’s a good deal. I’d recommend removing the 4 adults + 4kids from your wish list and finding a boat that will fulfill your needs 90% of the time.
If you’re lucky enough to be fishing, you’re lucky enough.
dfoster. If you are interested in looking at used Whalers, check out whalercentral.com. They have lots of info and even a checklist to bring to look over the used boat. The biggest issue with older Whalers is to make sure they are dry. They are foam filled and if there is significant water intrusion they will weigh a lot and the hull will be worthless (and too much hassle to try to fix). The site also has info on what weight the hull should be, and you can find out if its dry by taking it to a public scale. Of course, also look for hull repair evidence as a possible warning. If you can get a dry hull, these things will last forever (mine was built in 1966), and retain their value like crazy. Just a few tidbits for ya. Good luck.
2000 SeaPro 180CC w/ Yammy 115 2 stroke
1966 13’ Boston Whaler w/ Merc 25 4 stroke “Flatty”
www.sswaonline.com
Don’t worry too much about the “people” rating, as long as you have one life jacket for each person on board you’ll be legal…
You’ve all been a great help. I’ve narrowed my search to Montauks and maybe Mckees (or Henry O). Seems like the Outrage does not draft much more than the Montauk, though it’s a deeper V. Is that right? In any case, so far only Montauks are near budget.
Speaking of budget, I’m now looking in the $6-7k range.
I’ll make sure to post when I’ve landed something in case anyone’s interested in how this story ends.
http://myrtlebeach.craigslist.org/boa/2621858179.html
I’d consider notching my garage door for this one.
And for all you spot fishermen, here you are…
http://myrtlebeach.craigslist.org/boa/2622983498.html
I’d rather fish than eat.
A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.
In God We Trust
I have a 162 Sportfish Scout that I use for the same things that you are mentioning. The most use it gets is shuttling my wife and two kids as well as another couple and their kids to the sandbars here in Beaufort. It is perfect for that. Also perfect size to fish a few people out of and cheap on gas.
I like the scouts. There’s one for sale in the classifieds on here. Maybe I should take a look when I get back to town next week. I think I’d read they were rated for less weight/people than a similarly sized whaler, so I’ve been mostly focused on whalers (and Mckees and Henry O’s). Great to hear from another shuttle driver.
Missed out on what looked like a great deal on a Henry O 17 earlier on the week. I was the second guy who called, and the seller refused to consider multiple offers. Sold it to the first guy two days after it was listed. Then again, it seemed too good to be true, so it probably was.
With the garage situation, most of the neighborhoods that do not allow visible boats have storage near neighborhood for very reasonable prices, couple hundred per year. I stored a friends boat in my side yard and he just let me use it every once in a while. Just some thoughts.
Hide the food stamps under their working boots.
Manta Ray 14’
Wish it were so. My neighbors are paying around $150-200 a month for storage. That’s a new used boat every few years.
God outbid on an Outrage 17. Great room on that one and plenty of weight capacity. Still hunting.
Landed a garage kept Sea Pro 180 with Yamaha 115 2s. Looks like a 2-year-old boat to these untrained eyes. It’s over at Chris V’s shop catching up on maintenance. Hope to have it out on the water next weekend.
I suppose I’ve now had the first of the 2 happiest days of my life.
Thanks again, everyone, for your input.
Congrats. That should serve you well.
17’ Henry O Hornet
26’ Palmer Scott