18-21foot power boat

I don't Know if this is posted in the right place. A friend of mine is looking to buy a boat to go fishing on the estuary. As to buying the boats on offer are cheap and in poor condition or prohibatively expensive. He does not want to build one. I have explained to him bigger is not necessarily safer.The estuary is Bideford in Devon England. He says it is the third most dangerous estuary in the world. The problem is crossing the bar with two opposing currents. It doesn't look like much but when you get there it feels like the boat drops 6 to 8 feet. He has done it in a boat of 14 to 16 feet and feels 18 feet to be a minimum size. My view is dropping 6 to 8 feet in a 50 footer wouldn't be too much fun. Could someone recommend a design.

 

Usually, the local fishing people will know and show what works best…
Ask them.
Maybe they would be willing to take your friend out,

 

Good idea from sprit, see what the local yokels think is up to the job.

 

In this case, I suggest bigger is better, as you can bridge wave trains. Confused sea states can be troublesome and are more a skipper skill concern, than a boat length one, though again, a bigger boat will make the relative wave and sea heights seem smaller, comparatively.