Boat buying for dummies, 17' Alumaweld with 60HP Etec?

barrelroll

Red Skull Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2020
Member Number
1790
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112
Loc
Alaska
We moved to Juneau, AK this spring and the only things to do are hiking or on the water and that requires a boat. Not looking for a "forever boat" but something that doesn't require a ton of work for a couple years to get out on the water. My requirements are aluminum, top and windshield, and preferably a newer motor.

A 1998 17' alumaweld with a 2015 60 HP Etec with 186 hours, 6hp kicker with 50 hours, trailer, top, windshield, ready to go popped up on craigslist for $14,500. How are the e-tecs? Will it be enough for a 17' boat? Anything else I should look at?

Here's the boat in question https://juneau.craigslist.org/boa/d/auke-bay-17-alumaweld-stryker-for-sale/7166626551.html

The other thing is the boat is in Juneau and we pay a premium for stuff that's in town. Shipping a boat from seattle on the barge is $3-$4k and putting a boat on a ferry from Anchorage is $1,500 if they are running/ you can't drive through Canada right now.

I'm thinking this is a good "starter boat" I should be able to unload if we decide to move or hate boating and not take a huge hit. My wife told me we should go look at it...
 
barrelroll said:
The other thing is the boat is in Juneau and we pay a premium for stuff that's in town. Shipping a boat from seattle on the barge is $3-$4k and putting a boat on a ferry from Anchorage is $1,500 if they are running/ you can't drive through Canada right now.
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Last I checked, there is water connecting Seattle and Alaska. Drive it ya pussy :flipoff2: Camo is doing it.


TRINDU said:
Cant comment on the boat itself, but it appears to be underpowered for me.
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IDK, 60hp on a 17' aluminum boat will probably be plenty.
 
Pretty sure I bought the darn thing. Going for a sea trial tomorrow, the owner insisted on it before completing the transaction. It's in good shape and not a disaster cobbled together fix and flip. The owner took great care of it and planned to keep it for a really long time though he bought a dream blow boat and can't have 2 boats. For example he had the dealer do the 300 hour/ 3 year service at 180 hours because it was there time wise.

According to the previous owner it does 22mph with a light load, 3gph at 20mph. It's not going to be a rocket ship but I don't think I'm going to take much of a hit if we decide to upgrade.

No use for a jet drive, everything around here is in the ocean/ canals with plenty of depth.
 
The ETEC is the least desirable outboard on the market. the last of the 2 strokes. If that 60hp is direct injected, it requires $60/gal 2 stroke oil. the cheap stuff will clog the injectors. On the plus side it doesnt require oil changes like the 4 strokes do. However because ot their obscurity and lack of popularity, a boat with an etec will typically take longer to sell and command less $ than the same boat with a mercury/yamaha/honda.

That price seems high as hell for a 22+ yr olld 17 ft boat, but i don't see anything better on your local CL. FYI the middle of summer is the second worst time to buy a boat after the spring being the worst. late fall is when it becomes a buyers market.

eta: aluminum boats are lighter and use smaller motors than similar sized fiberglass boats. 60 HP is probably sufficient for that boat, but likely not overpowered for sure.
 
I've only heard of a two people with etecs and they were both unhappy with them. 60hp on a 17ft aluminum boat is enough to get on plane and that's all you need unless you want to have fun.
 
barrelroll said:
Pretty sure I bought the darn thing. Going for a sea trial tomorrow, the owner insisted on it before completing the transaction...
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Goan visit Davy Jones' Locker :flipoff2:

I used to fish in the Atlantic during winter, I'd make sure the heaters(electric or propane?) work to keep warm & dry while atop on the briney sea-
 
Price repowers before you buy. Just because...

2strokes are sadly at the end of the life span and getting parts to rebuild/repair them is going to get harder and harder. That said in fall you tend to find a lot of guys trying to sell a boat to pay for a hunting trip and cash is king.
How long can you wait? 2-3 months?
 
That boat listed in ca would sell in a week. Most are older or more $ for that size.

My dads best friend had a 2005ish 17' north river with a 60hp honda and it was plenty for the lakes and delta fishing, never did go open water with it though.
 
You do realize Bombardier announced they are no longer producing etec outboards, parts supplies are soon to be handled thru mercury dealers. So, no more dealer support. Good luck with that
 
We'll see how we like it if the sea trial goes well. There really aren't many decent sub $20k or even sub $50k boat options locally and they don't pop up often. I've been looking for a couple months and there just isn't much. The price is very fair for the area and even compared to what's on the seattle craigslist. Welded aluminum "coastal" boats are a different animal than fiberglass or even riveted aluminum boats.

The boat market is crazy here, almost everyone has boat. I'm pretty sure every other house has at least 1 boat in the yard/ in a slip at a marina. There really isn't a slow time for decent boats here though the lack of tourists is hurting some locals but not many. 16' lunds with running 30 year old motors are gone in 2 days for a minimum of $5k. The only boats with a roof/ windshield for under $10k are clapped out fiberglass boats in need of work with older engines. I don't think we'll take much if any of a hit if we do decide to sell it within a year or 2, there's not much in the sub $20k aluminum boat range and decent boats move fast. This one was on craigslist for less than 12 hours and he had it at the marina the day before, he had a couple people interested but I was the first to show up.

We do have a local Evinrude dealer with a good reputation. All the work was done by the dealer and looks decent, not trophy truck professional but not wire nut garage hack. It needs nothing to take it out which is nice.
 
sounds decent to me. i didn't realize e-tecs weren't the hot ticket everywhere, the sure are here in pnw Wa. especially on the type of boat, light boat light motor and good power. in Wa an Ak etecs sure seem to be popular. a customer of mine, who is a penny pincher will not own anything but any etecs. and hes one the salt water allot! his main source of income is tree service and diving on the less accessible islands.

the only thing i know for sure is that salt water boat people and fresh water boat people are completely different. it would be allot more telling if the people that dont like them are fresh water water people.

also 2-strokes, complement aluminum boats. i love the the smell of castor 927!
 
barrelroll said:
A 1998 17' alumaweld with a 2015 60 HP Etec with 186 hours, 6hp kicker with 50 hours, ..
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not me personally

I have a 17' stryker with a 60 hp 4-stroke merc and a T-8 on the back. With 4 people on board and running a 14 pitch prop it won't get out of the hole. With a 13 pitch prop it does nicely and with a 12 pitch prop I can hit the rev limitier and still have throttle left. That all being said, a prop change may get you where you need to go for a lot less money than a repower.

post #17

https://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=444216
 
I had a 17 alumaweld with a 120 jet, it would run 35 or so. 60 hp isn’t going to be a rocket, but will get you out in calm weather. Biggest suggestion is get a boat with lots of freeboard. I don’t know much about etec’s. The merc 2 strokes are good motors even with oil injection.
 
A boat is a hole in the water you throw money into.

The two happiest days of a boat owner's life are the day he bought it and the day he sells it.

A bird in the bush is worth a stroke of the cock over the moon.
 
ConwayMuddy said:
I've seen similar sized boats without the windshield and canopy b.s. running 90-125 hp.
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Windshield and canopy bs, haha. If we have a day without rain it's a miracle and 60 degrees for a summer high is normal. Almost everything has them up here with some interesting home brew setups. There are the hardcore people who will go out in an open skiff but that's not me. I'm paid well to deal with the cold and rain on the clock, I'll try and stay a little dry and warm on my days off.

I think the boat is rated for 90HP max and would be fun with it. I'm not complaining about the performance, it gets us where we want to go and is pretty economical to run. I don't know enough about what it should be doing to know if it's propped right. Another thing to research and learn. It has a 13.5x15 3 blade on it, I wouldn't mind having a spare prop so trying to a different pitch/ size would be an option. I don't know if the shop who did the motor swap ever sea trialed it and dialed in the motor height and prop or not.
 
I'd recommend a spare prop and parts to hold it on for anyone with a boat. Wreck a prop out on the water and you can be seriously shit out of luck. If you haven't found it yet, check out iboats.com good information, and parts.
 
ConwayMuddy said:
I'd recommend a spare prop and parts to hold it on for anyone with a boat. Wreck a prop out on the water and you can be seriously shit out of luck. If you haven't found it yet, check out iboats.com good information, and parts.
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Eh, he's got a kicker to get him home.


I'd run it. Try a few props, you'll find the one that feels good for you. My Dad has 5 of them on the wall now, this ones too sluggish, that ones too slow up top, that one sucked all over, etc. He ended up finding one to run his 17' 27mph with a 50hp Yamaha. That's loaded with coolers, tackle, motors, electronics. No top.



​​​​​​If the etec ends up being a problem, it's only about $10k for a new 90hp 4t. :flipoff2:
 
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