Convert fishing for cruising

Has anyone improved the cruising capacity of say a Grady White fishing boat? Moving to salt water and most of what I see for sale are the offshore or coastal fishing type boats for sale. I prefer the outboards for salt but seating very limited on those boats for when fam wants to cruise. Anyone have a recommendation for a combo fishing/cruising with cuddy type boat for salt/brackish conditions? Think 10k budget. Thanks.

Re: Convert fishing for cruising

I assume by "cruising" you mean general family riding around, not overnight destinations?

If so, nothing wrong with a Grady or similar (of course they have lots of designs). The reason you see them is becuase they work. Cabins are not popular or used much in the warmer areas, because they take up space and no one wants to ride in them, so everyone ends up jammed in the back open area. Solution? maximize open area.

Built in bow seating with a removable set of cushions is plenty comfortable, plus the cushioned seat in front of the console (or consoles if you go dual). two people in the middle. two seats or a bench in the stern.

At $10,000 you are in the 17-19' range maybe 21' if you can manage an older boat. You will be surprised how much more room there is without the padding and engine box. My sister has a 19' grady CC; never fished; all family. Great size for her teenage daughters to take out w/ their friends.

Don't assume that a boat designed for fishing (except bass boat) isn't great for family use. I stand on my dock and count 9 of them and I personally know that some are never used for fishing; some only occasionally. the rest? family cruising.

Welcome to salt water boating! Where are you moving to?

Re: Convert fishing for cruising

Thnks HC... moving to Charleston, SC. The complicating thing for me is that a cuddy for occasional overnights would be preferred... how does that affect your input?

Re: Convert fishing for cruising

I converted my cruiser ....to fish off. I have a nice size swim platform, so I just added a couple rod holders for trolling, but I'm going to add a 3 rod rocket launcher soon. It'll mount between the 2 grab rails, then I can have 4 or 5 lines in the water to troll offshore with.
I don't allow poles, hooks, anything IN the boat, all fishing stuff has to stay on the swim platform.

Re: Convert fishing for cruising

rbyham said:

Thnks HC... moving to Charleston, SC. The complicating thing for me is that a cuddy for occasional overnights would be preferred... how does that affect your input?

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personally, I'd rather not have a cabin, and overnight in a motel at the destination. Especially in Charleston, they will be hot and cramped--with one person. And you mentioned family. And a small (<$10K) boat. Cabins usually sound like a better idea than they are.

But if you are going that way, look at Sea Chaser-- a good inexpensive small cabin boat.

If you looking at overnight destination cruising, you may find some cheap (but old and problematic) cruisers in the 26-30' range; they are cheap around here but I wouldn't want one.

Maybe consider a boat club, where you can take out smaller boats for day trips and cabins for longer? You'd have to plug in the economics of it.

Go to the websites for Sea Hunt, carolina skiff and sea chaser and look at the family use/cruising going on, the seating, open space, etc. PLUS a seaworthy hull and low-maintenance boat. I'd say avoid the bay boat hulls unless you know you are staying in protected water. Once you get a design in mind, then start looking for used.


Do not plan to fish just off a swim platform there.

Re: Convert fishing for cruising

I fish off my swim platform off coast, it depends on how big your platform is. I'm not talking about the marlin, or 10' shark fishing, just 5 - 10 miles offshore. Between the platform and the tanning bed, there's plenty of room on my boat.
And we LOVE the little cuddy for overnighting. It's not for everyone, but it works great for us, so don't let anyone talk you out of it. Bad thing about being new to boating, you don't know what you want, like, hate , need or anything else, until you own 1. So, make your best decision and go with it, buy it $$$ right and you can sell it in a couple years and not lose your arm or leg, if you buy used and buy smart.
We did some trading for our 1998 Stingray 220CX last August, it had all of 71 hours on it. I put $2,000.00 making it perfect and some other stuff I wanted and we've put near 50 hours on it this year without a hiccup. Add gas and go. We boat inland and ocean.
Might move up to a 24 or 25 footer in a couple years, might not, I have 300 hp and can do over 60 mph on the gps. A bigger boat would use alot more gas and be tougher to trailer like we do, so I may stick with this baby for longer than originally anticipated !
Remember, to each his own ! No offense meant to anyone here, but buy to please you, not someone else.
My perfect boat is a 24 walk around with twin 225's on the back. But, I'm a teacher, not enough $$$ for what I want.

Re: Convert fishing for cruising

For us, the W/A is the best configuration out there. The cabin is well vented with screened, sliding windows on both sides, a large screened hatch overhead and a oscillating fan makes it comfortable enough even on the hottest evenings. When the kids where younger they liked to sit down below and watch TV while we crabbed and fished. I've taken a couple of naps down in my days and it sure beats the heck out of sleeping in the truck after a long night of fishing.

The cabin has plenty of “below deck” storage for life jackets, spare prop, spare anchor, paper products, racks for fishing rods and a port i-potty without taking up usable space. This leaves the fish box, live well and cold storage cubicle free to be used as planned.

I have cushioned seating (cruise mode) for six in the cockpit and a large bow pad for those that want to sit up front while at anchor. The hardtop and a full set of curtains are a god send come inclement weather.

Fishing wise, 49 sq. ft of open cockpit space at the rear of the boat allows us to troll up to 20 lines at one time. Bottom fishes up to four comfortably, five if someone one wants to fish off the bow

Re: Convert fishing for cruising

dingbat said:

For us, the W/A is the best configuration out there. The cabin is well vented with screened, sliding windows on both sides, a large screened hatch overhead and a oscillating fan makes it comfortable enough even on the hottest evenings. When the kids where younger they liked to sit down below and watch TV while we crabbed and fished. I've taken a couple of naps down in my days and it sure beats the heck out of sleeping in the truck after a long night of fishing.

The cabin has plenty of “below deck” storage for life jackets, spare prop, spare anchor, paper products, racks for fishing rods and a port i-potty without taking up usable space. This leaves the fish box, live well and cold storage cubicle free to be used as planned.

I have cushioned seating (cruise mode) for six in the cockpit and a large bow pad for those that want to sit up front while at anchor. The hardtop and a full set of curtains are a god send come inclement weather.

Fishing wise, 49 sq. ft of open cockpit space at the rear of the boat allows us to troll up to 20 lines at one time. Bottom fishes up to four comfortably, five if someone one wants to fish off the bow

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Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' 'bout !!!
What size is yours? Powered by ?

Re: Convert fishing for cruising

dingbat, you have a great rig and you and I usually have compatible recommendations--but would you sell it to the OP for <$10,000? That's where his restriction will come in.

Re: Convert fishing for cruising

Look into the "walk-around" cuddys with the O/B. Usually seats six in the cockpit as well as whatever in the cabin.

Re: Convert fishing for cruising

A cabin on an 18-20' boat is most useful for two things: for getting out of the sun and for a head. While some people can successfully overnight on this size boat, most cannot. Too cramped. Too hot. Several bodies really add to the heat in a small space. Hatches don't provide all that much air flow. Screens dampen air flow and bugs can be an issue if you don't have them.

I had a 23' w/a. Sleeping was difficult. We started meeting some friends at a marina with our boat, so I bought an air conditioner for the bow hatch. The point of this is that all that experience in the 23' w/a told us what we wanted in our next boat. That included a generator (since we like to anchor out) and A/C unit. Minimum size for that is 26' but even most 26' boats don't have the space for a generator.

Your first experience with boat camping will tell you what you need, so don't spend too much on you first cruiser. In two years, get the boat you will stay with.

Sea ya...

Re: Convert fishing for cruising

By the way, forgot to mention: Most boats that are really comfortable for cruising/overnighting are not OB boats.

Sea ya...

Re: Convert fishing for cruising

So a 21-23' w/a sounds like the way to go but how does one achieve "seating for 6" in cockpit? Most that I see have the whole stern area dedicated to fishing. Is that the part that needs "conversion" ? The other question is OB. I know the I/o world and how to evaluate enging health but OB is totally new to me. What to watch out for in terms of OB engines?

Re: Convert fishing for cruising

for outboards, the main thing is compression. If that's good, how it runs, in the water under a load, and is the water pump working well.

You should replace the water pump when you buy an old motor. If it's not working well when you buy it, the problem is not the pump but the damage that may have been done from running it hot.

Condition is always important of course; see if the bolts are frozen so you'll know whether you can fix stuff (on an older one). Look for disclolored paint to indicate an overheated motor.

Outboards don't need a lot of care but still you want one that is well maintained and operated correctly. The best way to know this is watch the seller and see if he knows what's he's doing. If he fires it up without hooking up muffs, go somewhere else.

I don't recommend a new boater buying a motor with problems, even though they may be an easy fix for someone else. Don't buy one if the seller says, "all you have to do is fix/replace that part and it will be fine." Make him do it and come back after it's fixed.

Except in cases of extreme neglect or poor quality, the motor is the main thing you are buying, and to be concerned about, with coastal fiberglass self-bailing boats. Electrical systems are second but they aren't too complicated.

In the old OB market, there are some that are bad quality, bad design or obsolete.

Re: Convert fishing for cruising

rbyham said:

So a 21-23' w/a sounds like the way to go but how does one achieve "seating for 6" in cockpit? Most that I see have the whole stern area dedicated to fishing. Is that the part that needs "conversion" ? The other question is OB. I know the I/o world and how to evaluate enging health but OB is totally new to me. What to watch out for in terms of OB engines?

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No modifications required. I have two seats at the helm and seating fore and aft in the cockpit area

Home Cookin' said:

dingbat, you have a great rig and you and I usually have compatible recommendations--but would you sell it to the OP for <$10,000?

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Not for a boat that has been completely updated to better than new, a motor with less than 50 hrs on it and $5K+ in electronics onboard

Re: Convert fishing for cruising

re: seating: plus you can add deck chairs, or beanbag chairs for children, as needed. I'd rather have open spac eand occassionally add seats than have permanent seats empty and in the way most of the time