Howdy all, just bought my first boat, a nice old '83 Cobia Sunskiff 156 with a Johnson 60hp motor. Looked great in the old owners driveway but now that she's home and I'm going over her with a fine tooth comb, I'm finding a bunch of little stuff that needs attention. I guess that's to be expected with a 25 year old boat.
Anyway...I can't seem to find much info anywhere about the SunSkiffs, does anyone have any info on them? Where they decent boats? Do they hold up well? Were they a Cobia experiment gone bad (ie: junk?)
I fished one way back then and it served us well.A coworker owned it and we had that little boat out twelve miles or so chasing kings.It was excellent in the bays and we could scoot up in the skinny water for bait anywhere.It's a great little bay boat and there are some still in the area,as they where built here in Panama City.
i have the ss177 and havethe same thing as you a few things i found that i did not see at first, good boat i love it yet almost no info can be found on it, i also have a johnny 60.
The Cobia Sunskiffs were great boats. A friend of mine owned a 21 cc for years. One of the best riding boats I have ever fished from. He now has a 156side console that we rebuilt many years ago. It had a rotten deck and transom. We rebuilt both and cut out all the boxes to give it more room. We completely re-gelcoated it inside also. Filled the voids below deck w/10 marine foam. It too rides extremely well for a tri-hull type boat. Have had it up to 15 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico on nice days but generally use it inshore. When we ripped out the floor in it, we found that they used OSB which is a type of wafer board that will soak up water and fall apart. Replaced it with plywood and glassed it all down. No problems to date (some 15 years later).
ive got one that im restoring right now. its not going to look like it used to. floor plan is changing a bit and the useless boxes in the back are going to serve a storage purpose. if you have any q's, feel free to pm me..
Cee
I have am 18' Cobia Sunskiff. Mine is a '87 hull and it is a Vee-Bottom. Has a '85 Suzuki 115 OB on it. Good boat. Previous owner put in a new floor and a 36 gallon tank under the floor. Due to the position of the Gas tank, rides a little low in the rear for me. They did not seal around the Fuel tank hatch as well as they should have and I may need to redo the floor again in a few years. I have not run mine in 3 years due to soem other engine issues, but overall, it is a good boat. My biggest gripe about it is it is a very light hull and now very good for rough water. However in fair weather, great and smooth...