I am looking for an 18' boat to fish cruse along the Maine coast and around the mouth of the Kennebec river. I want a downeast look but other than that I donÂ’t have strong preferences. I've been looking at the Bristol Skiff and boats by Eastern and Seaway and RothBilt boats. If you have been though this process and/or have any of these boats I would love to hear your thoughts. Why did you pick yours, how does it handle in chop, etc. Thanks, Rich
Easterns are nice in that you can order them as finished as you want and do the rest yourself. I used to have a 19' General Marine (http://www.marinemart.com/general.html), which like the Eastern is also based on the original Alton Wallace West Pointer wooden boat from the 40's. Beware the flat bottoms in these boats, though. They're not meant for speed. The GM is made to go 15 mph all day with loads of lobster gear. If you need to go fast, it'll beat you to death. I'm not sure if the Easterns are flat-bottomed or have a little deadrise. I used my GM for flyfishing stripers, and it was very stable at rest.
For Roscoe and others unfamiliar w/the term downeast, here is a definition from Boater's LIFE: "Downeast boats derive from the earlier fisherman and lobsterman off the coast of Maine. Fast stable boats strong enough for the rigors of working the harsh north eastern coast of United States and Canada"
I think the boats you mentioned are very similar with the exception of the Bristol Skiff. It is a good boat, but I don't think it is in the same class as the others given its flat bottom. The manufacturer of the Bristol Skiff (Holby) also makes Pilot boats. These are very similar to Eastern, Seaway and Rothbuilt.I looked at all of those and then decided to build a boat.
Which downeast center console should I buy?
Linear Mode
