Aristocraft 19 in gulf of mexico

[marvinjansen]

Just met an old mechanic and fisherman that spotted my A19 in the yard and said he bought one new here in Northport, AL at Bennett Marine and brought to Orange Beach where he often took it in the Gulf over 10 miles out fishing. He got it because of it's claim to be unsinkable. I had thought of it as a lake or river boat. How many of you have used it in bigger salt water?

 

[ziggy]

Re: Aristocraft 19 in gulf of mexico

He got it because of it's claim to be unsinkable.

that'd be a real selling point if ya were gonna go offshore for sure. a good selling point in general too of course. i like the idea anyways.

I had thought of it as a lake or river boat.

since i live in NE. this is obviously the only use mine gets. it came from SD. so i doubt my boats seen salt water. which is good imho.

How many of you have used it in bigger salt water?

not me. but i might consider it. (short of the corrosion idea that makes me cringe).
i've been out in some pretty nasty lakes considering i'm about as inland as ya can get. maybe 3 footers is about as big as i've undertook. on my small 1800 aq acre lake. these are short duration 3'ers. very exciting to say the least. been out on lewis and clark which is much larger. 3'ers there were nothing. long duration waves. easy to just go up and down on them. ya could run in the trough. was a lot of fun...
anyways. imho. if i was familiar with 10 miles out (and be an experienced skipper), i suppose a nineteen might be able to stand the stress. i've come to think of mine as a pretty darn seaworthy boat.

sorry i can't speak to facts about taking it in the big salty blue..

this was kinda a fun day. no 3'ers though. the 3'er day, the lake looked white in general from the white caps. not just seeing some white caps.

 

[lamphega]

Re: Aristocraft 19 in gulf of mexico

I can't talk about being ocean vessel but mine does fine on Lake Erie and that's a good size lake.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Aristocraft 19 in gulf of mexico

gee Lamphega. lake erie is almost an ocean. that's a good size lake for sure. how far out do ya go? what's the largest seas ya've encountered out there? ya been caught in some storms that snuck up on you?
i'd say many of the large waves i've been in have been due to my lack of listening tot the weather man.

 

[lamphega]

Re: Aristocraft 19 in gulf of mexico

With my Aristocraft I have only been out about seven miles. My 17' Larson I use to own I actually crossed the lake with from Dunkirk NY to Port Colborne Ont, about 23 nautical miles. I have seen some storms in my days and Lake Erie is known for how quick it can change from tranquil to nasty. We don't normally have huge waves with space in between like on an ocean, we have a pattern called "The Three Sisters" A big wave, a bigger wave and yes a huge wave followed quickly by another set. The lake is shallow on west east axis and storms can sweep trough quick. Early on in my boating I went out one morning when the possibility of fog was around. heck, I didn't see fog, nice early season day so out I went. While anchored a fog bank came trough and visibility went to zero in minutes. That was a long boat back...going very slow, hugging the shore and listening for the Dunkirk fog horn, Not fun. Since then I check weather carefully, keep a weather radio on board and always have an eye on the winds and waves. Funny, everyone thinks the big power station in Dunkirk harbour is as ugly as it can get. There have been times when those big lighted smoke stacks are beautiful. Lake Erie has a neat history, was once the busiest water way in the world. And has three times the wrecks the Bermuda Triangle has.

 

[H20wens]

Re: Aristocraft 19 in gulf of mexico

Scott at A-craft told me that they used to run 19's all over the place off the coast of Florida. It's been a while, but I seem to recall that he said they ran them all the way to the Bahamas. Pretty gutsy. I have a lot of faith in my boat, but I'm not sure I would be up to that.

 

[aristocraft]

Re: Aristocraft 19 in gulf of mexico

HAHA, yes they are unsinkable, so at least you have that piece of mind. We have run them many times to nassau and back, bimini, ect. no worries. The are not the greatest in a real tight chop, but do fine overall. The best is when we were outside of nassau heading to paradise island and got caught up in a bad storm, however we threw the aft curtain on, and had waves breaking over the forward deck, rolling over the roof, and down the aft curtain. it was pretty fun.