rota moulded boats.

I was wondering if you guys had any experience with plastic rota moulded boats? I have been looking for a 5 - 6 mt boat that I can run up the beach. I am a keen spear fisherman who likes to shore dive from little islands & reefs.
I have tried aluminium boats but found they have corroded very badly & very cold to touch in our winters.
So I was thinking about a Mac boat http://www.marinerevolution.co.uk/mac600.htm
The 420, 570 & 600 all look good for what I need but having never seen one -

 

If you install a sheet or strips of UHMW-PE plastic on the bottom of many boats you'll be able to run them up onto the beaches without hull damage.

Wooden boats are naturally the warmest to the touch in cold weather.

 

Foxfish

I have a 3.6 Mac Attack on Alderney for sale. Ideal for spearfishing, I used her amongst the reefs for bass. She has a 15 Yammie 4 stroke on her, less than 50 hours.

 

Thanks Pankton, nice offer but the 3.6 would be a bit small for my needs.
You live in Florida?

 

Hi Foxfish,

Just passing through FL, en route to who knows where.

Macs are good boats, and I just spent 2 years in NZ so saw a few there and spoke to a bunch of owners. One thing to watch out for is that in some of the larger models apparently deformation of the convex hull shape can occur over time and you can end up with convex parts of the hull - not good. For all round usage they are hard to beat, being quiet and very tough. It's easy to find a leak in deck and hull fittings though as sealants have a hard time bonding to the material. Also, some of the bigger craft are not as economical as you'd think they'd be. The 420 is very popular down there, being easy to launch and retrieve single-handed, but they are wet.

Alternatives include SmartWave (thru Julian at Marine Revolution), Triumph boats in the USA, Polycraft from Australia and Pioneers from Norway. There's also a company making roto-moulded cats in NZ - http://www.breezecraft.co.nz/ (including a massive and economical 13m vessel !) and you might like to pay a visit to http://www.polyboatowners.com/index.htm to read about a whole heap of further options.

I like the material, as I said before. It is quiet, rugged, easy to repair, and needs little maintenance. If you're keeping it on a typical wet/dry Channel Island mooring you'll find its non-skid properties quite appealing too - the "beard" doesn't find it quite so easy to grow on !

Let me know how you get on !

You'll find a pictorial essay on Julian's site about my 360 - I think Sea Angler wrote it up.

 

Wasn't the "FishHawk" by Bombardier a plastic boat? My neighbor has one down here in Sw FL and has been rather pleased with it.

example:
http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2002-Fish-Hawk-230-CC-92043757

 

Thanks Plankton, a poly cat would be very cool although they are not exactly good looking! I really fancy one of the 4mt models & thanks for the poly boat site that looks like the place to find out the pros & cons.
Maybe I have met you? I seem to recall a conversation on the end of the breakwater about 20 years ago! We were fishing for mullet, I was with the national mullet club on their annual fish in.
Last time in Alderney was last year in August trying for a shore tope but only bream!

 

Blimey, what was the conversation about ? Your memory is better than mine, and anyway - why do you think I might have been THAT bloke on the end of Alderney's extremely rugged breakwater ? grin

I wasn't talking poly boats then, surely......

 

We were discussing shark fishing in South Africa -

 

That would have been me, then. What a small world. Good to meet you again Foxfish !

 

In fact I might even give you a time scale because I think you were about to move to Santa Maria or Madeira?
Any how back to the rota moulded boats - I have looked into the Pioneer range & quite like the 15' classic, rated for a 30hp motor & very good value. (The Guernsey harbour authority has one)
Mac boats do look good but are quite heavy & quite expensive but also seemingly very expensive to ship from Scotland!
I fish around the Humps just off Herm & I have been known to tickle the odd rock! So I have just built a little shallow draught cat purposely designed for spearfishing with a continuous step along the boats length. This step allows easy entry from the sea for the spearo but there are a few teething problems! http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=23139

 

How big is your cat ? Do you have a budget ?

Porto Santo is was - which makes it April of 1989. I seem to remember you were wearing rain-gear and had a bucket of chervy in your left hand.

 

Ah - small cats. A favourite subject of mine. Is she single-engined, and what did you build her out of ? What length ? What hull shapes did you use ? Your pic doesn't open so I can't see clearer. She seems to have a touch of the SA influence in her helm position..... grin

Nice crab, aye ..... miss that here. As a matter of fact, seafood selection in FL all told is poor. Most of what they sell seems to come from abroad and/or be farmed.

 

Plenty sea food over here - got these today.
Click on the link 3 post up for the cat story.
I have sent a mail to ask for more info on the sportcat, I really like the idea of a small plastic cat. No idea if it would be practical to ship one over but I intend to follow that up.
I am a boat builder by profession (obversly not a designer!!!) so I do have some experience of different boat & what i think would work best around our Islands. However there are some issues with the plastic boats that I am unsure of - antifoul - will anything stick to the plastic if i keep her afloat in the marina?