barrelroll
Red Skull Member
This spring the wife and I moved to Juneau, Alaska. There's 0 wheeling and the local joke is the key to tolerating life in Juneau is buying a boat and getting out on the ocean. Might as well make a thread to watch me throw dollars into the ocean and hopefully not go for an unintentional swim.
The wife and I had a couple requirements: under $20k, aluminum for beaching/ we know we are going to hit something, must have a top and windshield since all it does here is rain and is usually 60 degrees or colder, newer motor, and not a complete project. We know nothing about fishing/ boating but decided why not give it a try. There just aren't many boats for sale here under $20k that aren't clapped out fiberglass piles and decent aluminum boats under $20k go in a hurry. Buying from out of the area would have involved a couple grand in travel/ shipping and with covid traveling to Seattle or Anchorage and trying to ship a boat back wasn't in the cards.
After searching craigslist for a while a 17' 1998 alumaweld stryker with a 2014 60hp Evinrude etec with 180 hours, 6hp Suzuki with 50 hours, top, windshield, 5" lowrance HDI, trailer, manual down riggers, just about everything besides life jackets to be legal, and a newer not completely hack but probably flat rate wiring/ rigging job popped up for $14,500. $13,500 and a sea trial later and it was ours. The previous owner took decent care of it and all the work was done by a local shop with a decent reputation.
The thought is this is a starter boat, use it for a couple years and move on to something else. Learn boating, learn how to fish, and get out on the water. I'm not 100% sold on the etec but so far so good, the boat is a solid 20mph boat at 4,600rpm and according to the previous owner 3gph at 4,600rpm. It's not perfect but is plenty usable, the floor is getting close to needed replacement, the rigging/ wiring needs some clean up, and it has the typical 22 year old boat wear.
Here's a thread I have going in OSR looking for some fishing advice https://irate4x4.com/outdoor-sports-and-recreation/88463-ocean-fishing-for-dummies#post88486
The wife and I had a couple requirements: under $20k, aluminum for beaching/ we know we are going to hit something, must have a top and windshield since all it does here is rain and is usually 60 degrees or colder, newer motor, and not a complete project. We know nothing about fishing/ boating but decided why not give it a try. There just aren't many boats for sale here under $20k that aren't clapped out fiberglass piles and decent aluminum boats under $20k go in a hurry. Buying from out of the area would have involved a couple grand in travel/ shipping and with covid traveling to Seattle or Anchorage and trying to ship a boat back wasn't in the cards.
After searching craigslist for a while a 17' 1998 alumaweld stryker with a 2014 60hp Evinrude etec with 180 hours, 6hp Suzuki with 50 hours, top, windshield, 5" lowrance HDI, trailer, manual down riggers, just about everything besides life jackets to be legal, and a newer not completely hack but probably flat rate wiring/ rigging job popped up for $14,500. $13,500 and a sea trial later and it was ours. The previous owner took decent care of it and all the work was done by a local shop with a decent reputation.
The thought is this is a starter boat, use it for a couple years and move on to something else. Learn boating, learn how to fish, and get out on the water. I'm not 100% sold on the etec but so far so good, the boat is a solid 20mph boat at 4,600rpm and according to the previous owner 3gph at 4,600rpm. It's not perfect but is plenty usable, the floor is getting close to needed replacement, the rigging/ wiring needs some clean up, and it has the typical 22 year old boat wear.
Here's a thread I have going in OSR looking for some fishing advice https://irate4x4.com/outdoor-sports-and-recreation/88463-ocean-fishing-for-dummies#post88486