Fisherdan,
This August will mark the 4th year since we purchased our Hewes 179 Searunner with Honda’s 90 and 8hp. At that time, for that price range we felt that Hewes delivered more value for the dollar.
A few design weaknesses we discovered, that I believe have been corrected, are:
1. The cutdown transom can cause some anxiety in a ‘following’ sea.
2. The batteries are under the rear splashwell, in ours there is not enough overhead clearance, I had terminals in contact with the overhead metal.
3. Scupper holes too small.
* This one may not be corrected: The weight distribution is too rear-loaded - motors, gastank, batteries, trolling motor operator, this lifts the bow of this high-sided, deep-V boat, and makes for very unstable tracking - especially in wind. About 200 pounds of weight placed up in the bow area - either dogs or sandbags really helps level the boat and stabilize the tracking when trolling. Just locating the 24gal. gas tank more forward would likely improve stability.
Beyond boat design, the dealer you buy from has a huge impact on how well you’ll enjoy your purchase - from selling you the right size trailer (be wary of undersized to keep ‘package’ prices down) to adjusting motors correctly, trim tabs, the wiring, appropriate accessories, etc. It took us innumerable trips over two years to work out serious bugs caused by sloppy dealer set-up.
The 179 Searunner fishes three average size persons comfortably. Four is a little crowded.
Personally, if buying again, I’d be tempted to look at models in the 19' or 20' range, especially for doing a lot of Bouy10, runs out in the ocean, or up in the Gorge.
Hope this helps.
