Trailerable Cold Weather Offshore Fishing

[scott webster]

We fish and cruise in the Northwest and Canada. 5% of our fishing would involve traveling 25 miles offshore for halibut and salmon.

Please advise your ideas on optimum hull design.

Following are a few of our considerations:

Towable with an 03 Ford F150 supercrew w/ tow package. rated at 7300 lbs.
Spacious, self bailing deck with washdown pump and hose.
Outboard or I/O. 2 stroke or 4.
Comfortable for 4 persons fishing all day in the wind and rain.
Head, portable or fixed.
We will install a shrimp pot davit with motorized puller and elec. downriggers.
Heater is optional as we can install.
Fishbox (removable or easy clean)
Baitbox (not a high priority)
Sink
Dash space for chartplotter, radar, radios and more...
Trolling kicker motor.

Am I asking for too much in a trailerable boat with a heavy half ton truck?

Regards,

Scott

[Nomad]

Not at all, but to you have a size range in mind?? Desired Beam??

[Portager]

You didn't say if you were looking for homebuilt or production.

For production boats, one of my favorites is the Sea Sport 27' Pilot http://www.seasportboats.com/27pilot.html . They have other models at http://www.seasportboats.com/27line.html and the whole family at http://www.seasportboats.com .

It is 27' long with an 8'6" beam so it is trailerable without a oversized load permit. It looks like a good cold weather boat with an open cockpit area for fishing and self bailing deck. I especially like the pilothouse version. It has an I/O drive and Approx. weight with 8 cyl. 350 C.I.D. engine is 6350 lbs, so it should be towable with your truck with almost a full load of fuel.

Regards;
Mike Schooley

[Leo]

I'd suggest that you take a look at Renn Tolman's boats. Many folks are building their own - about 600-800 hours depending on how good ya are. Plywood/epoxy and designed/built for safe fishing in the Gulf of Alaska. I will not include all the various URL's but try these two for starters.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tolmanskiff/

and

http://www.foggybayboats.com/

Let's do mention costs - how much do you want to spend? Some folks have spent $25K and other folks only $10k for basically the same boat. Depends on what "stuff" and level of finish you want.

Uses a ~100 HP 4 stroke outboard with ~100 gallons of fuel. Most folks also have a small kicker. Maximize the cockpit for lots of fishing room or have a very snug cuddy and pilot house - your choice.

Total weight is under 3000 pounds and needs only a single axle trailer.

Lots of folks have been ~100 miles offshore for tuna and strippers. Someone did a circumnavigation of some island in Alaska where they encountered large seas and strong winds and the comment was "felt safe."

Also do a google for Renn Tolman - Alaska skiff - Tolman Alaska skiff. You'll find several dozen hits.

Best,

Leo