alumaweld or hewes craft

[bender]

i am going to be buying a boat soon,either a 17'stryker or 16' sportsmen, maybee the 18'sportsmen.just wondering what you guys-girls think of the two boats.i think i like the hewes craft with the 50hp honda.
also is a 16' sportsman safe to take out into the ocean on good days,no more than a couple miles out.
thanks for any advice given
david

[Flatfish]

They are both nice boats. I am quite sure you can get more boat for the same dollar by buying used. For 16K I can get an open "Guide Sled" . 20-22 feet 200 tiller. 10hp kicker. 4 seats on boxes. Trailer with brakes. The whole deal. It will be less than 10 years old. These deals aint on every street corner. But if you are quick to react, and wait for the right deal, they do happen. More often than you think.

No it aint new. No it aint EXACTLY the way I wanted it to be. But I can fish much bigger water in a 22'er than a 16'. More folks fit in there too.

Again, not a flame of the Alumaweld/Hewes. Just my feelings on the subject.

Mark and the dog's 2 cents.

[Rod Holder]

Used is a good way to go, you can get a lot more boat for the buck + boat goodies. Make sure you have plenty of engine, I see some of those package deals advertised with engines on the small side. Greybeard has a nice looking Alumaweld with big Honda power listed in the boats for sale section.

[No Wishin Just Fishin]

I have a 20 foot river Runner and i can't imagine anything smaller for more than 2 people. The 16 foot is a little small for the ocean as the beam is also smaller. If you can swing it the 20 footer with at least a 90hp on it

[Get Bent]

check out North River :grin:

[greenbuttskunk]

If you want to use it in the ocean, I personally like the Hewes sea runner. It's deeper and can handle the waves much better.

[AtWorkALot]

I was in a friends new 18' Sea Runner over the weekend. Very nice.

[uboatcdr]

I just purchased the 18' sportsman two months ago.
I wish now I would have got the 20' sea runner, All the talk about hali's and tuna got me thinking, :dance: for more ocean fishing. The 18' is a very fine boat and I think you would be hard pressed to find a better boat for the money then the hewes. The key is to find the right deal.
Unless you have a lot of cash banks will not lend money on a older boat belive me I tried. Good luck

[ 06-25-2003, 09:00 PM: Message edited by: Pete ]

[night stocker]

if it was me,and i know your not, i would be looking at that 20footer alumaweld of chinookies on the b and t forum.that is a lot of boat for a good price.i would have been all over that if i didn't already own a sled.you could go out a couple miles easy in it on a good day no problem.my sled is 17 foot but real wide and i have had it 5 to seven miles out of geribaldi(not recommended)with no problems a few times.plus that thing would be a gas to run! :grin: :grin: :cool: NS

[Birdnest]

Bender,

I own a 20' Hewescraft Searunner and love it so the rest of this post may seem biased. :grin:

It should also be noted than whenever you post a question about a specific boat you will only get people with different kinds of boats telling you how great their boat is. :smile:

The sportsman is a good boat at a good price. I have seen the 16 with a Honda 90 for under 14,000 brand new. Hewescraft has also come out with a new 18' Searunner. It used to be the 179-for 17'9". The new 18' is quite a bit different than the 179. It is almost as beamy as the 20' with very similar freeboard. If you are planning on getting her salty, you should really consider the Searunner. The Searunner will offer you a greater degree of deadrise and more freeboard. I also think they are made from thicker stock. If you just want a family ski/fish boat, the Sportsman will serve you just fine.

If you are looking at the 18' Sportsman vs Searunner, it sounds like the Searunner will serve you much better.

There is also a new line of boats, Raider, made by a guy from Hewescraft that started his own business. They are VERY similar to the Hewescraft in their models. I looked at one up close and the only thing that jumped out was the finish work on the Hewescraft seemed to be better. Might be a way to get more boat for your buck though. Have fun.

Joe

[ 06-25-2003, 09:03 PM: Message edited by: Pete ]

[Norm]

I have a 17' Stryker sportjet, so I'll throw out a few biased opinions :wink: . It's the first boat I've owned and is a 99 model. It's been a great boat so far. No problems other than the battery in four years. I'ts light, fits in my garage, and works well in most inland waters and bays. I even tube behind it in the summer.

Now for a few design complaints: It has a 10 degree bottom so it's pretty rough in the chop. The 17' has a 80' beam which is not nearly as stable as the 86" beam in the 19' model. It's only rated for 4 passengers. The sides are only 27", so it's not a good candidate for crossing the bar.

I think my next boat will be at least an 19' with a minimum 86" beam, 30" sides, and a 14 degree bottom. I think it's better to go a little on the big side than too small. If you want a ride some time, let me know.

[ 06-25-2003, 10:35 AM: Message edited by: Norm ]

[timinthegorge]

All good advice above.... :cheers:

I have a 19' Alumaweld Stryker, with a 90 and 9.9 kicker (both Mercs), and she's everything I need on the Columbia. I love it.... but I've never heard anything that would dissuade me from buying a Hewes boat.....

Check your priorities, and definitely take a ride in every boat you might want to actually buy....

Best of luck with your search for Just the Right Boat.... :smile: Tim

[Jacks or Better]

I have a 17' Stryer that came with a 60 4/st Merc and I also have a 9.9 kicker. I'm not an ocean fisher so never cross the bar. I love it for what I do. Norm pretty well described it and what the drawbacks would be for the bar. If you're going new, I found there are some deals just prior to the boat show - people want to clear last year's models. That's how I got the 60 4/st. It was advertised with a 50 horse 2 st. Also got a Lowrance, back door/curtain and rod holders and 4 box seats (Advertised with 2). Went to the boat show and sure liked the Hewes, too. See a lot of both on the water. Enjoy the search but don't take the wife (unless she fishes). They just don't understand.

[crabbait]

Find the best deal on the most boat you can afford. No one ever wished their boat was a little smaller.

Pilar once said that you know when you are on the ocean with a too small boat when all you do is look for one out there that is smaller!

No one boat does it all. If you try real hard, you can find a boat that will do nothing real well. Going too small with not enough horsepower is a good start.

[timinthegorge]

Well said Crab..... :cheers:

[bender]

thanks for all the info,i think im pretty set on the 18'sportsman.

[Lepper]

I have the 19' stryker with a 90h.p. suzuki on it.. I take it over the bar allt he time.. Great boat.. Of course you always wish it was just 2 ft longer.. ButI have no complaints about it at all..

[Birdnest]

Bender,

What is the price difference between the 18' Sportsman and the 18 Searunner?

[garyk]

If you have any ambitions of bigger water, I'd steer away from the 16'/50hp setup.

This summer will be four years on our Hewes 179 Searunner. I'll definitely be sticking with the deep-V. The drawback is that it is NOT a skinny water boat - we used to fish upper T-Bay but not anymore.

It sounds like the new 18'Searunner is a good one to look at. You'll need at least a 90hp - (unless you have a lot of patience).

Also, as posted earlier, there's some good deals to be had on used boats and for the price range you're considering, you could get into a used 20'er.

One last thing that nobody told me... deepV, highsided boats like the Searunner really catch the wind and can be a challenge to handle when trolling in windy conditions. But then if you have to run a bunch of miles on the Columbia against a 2-foot-plus windchop, it's a great design.

No boat does it all, everything is a compromise. You need to figure out what type of fishing you'll spend the majority of time doing and then select a boat that fits.

[Elwix]

I was curious about the price difference too, so I checked the website of a dealer who sells both the Sportsman and the Sea Runner.
An 18 foot Sportsman with a 50 hp 4 stroke is listed at $17995.
An 18 foot Sea Runner w/ a 90 hp 4 stroke and a few more nice extras is $23,995.
Ballpark difference between a 50hp 4 stroke, and a 90hp 4 stroke seems to be about $2000. Shop around and you may be able to find better prices for both boats, but the difference between the two appears to be about $4000.
For the extra $4000 you get a boat a more pronounced ‘v’ made out of heavier gauge metal, diamond plate steps, a wash down pump and hose, a rod locker, shark hide, and dual wipers.
Those are all nice features, but… for that $4000 you could buy a lot of kwikfish, or even a pretty nice used drift boat. With an 18 foot Sportsman and a drift boat, you wouldn’t be as well equipped for the salt as you were if you bought a Sea Runner, but you could cover the local rivers pretty well.

[WaterDog]

Just remember some of the folks on this thread probably have had more than one boat. You can save some money and buy the cheaper one. Yes $4k is a lot a of fuel and gear. In 2 or 3 years as you use the boat and your water resume expands, you will buy something else that is bigger.

I've had 5 boats and my current fleet consists of 2 of them. I love my sled but my water resume continues to expand every year and I find I'm looking at going bigger yet again. :rolleyes: