Hello! New member/boater with questions about aluminum fishing dinghies :)

[porchlight]

Hi everyone,

I am a new member here (kind of.... I had made an account a while back but lost access along with my dead laptop, ha), and a relatively inexperienced boater. I have some questions about aluminum fishing dinghies!

Some background: I have been boating for a long time, but I wouldn't consider myself "experienced". I have had about 5 boats over 15 years, all various sizes... All of them I bought used, pretty beat up, and really only used them in protected waters, so I never really learned as much as I should know about different hull styles, what to look for, etc. I also never really had anyone showing me the ropes or acting as my "boat mentor" so I worry that there are gaps in my knowledge! This is all my way of saying that I would be happy to be over-explained to, because I know that there's a lot that I don't know

So I guess the best way I could conceptualize my boating experience is to say that if someone gave me the right boat and the right setting, I would be really comfortable... but I wouldn't be good at picking the right boat, necessarily.

I currently have a 22' starcraft that I keep in dry storage, and I'm noticing that it's nice for taking the family out, but it seems a little much for the times when I just want to head out with just myself and maybe a buddy for just pure, cheap fishing. So I'm looking into a 12-16 foot aluminum, but I have some questions!

My goals with the boat: I am looking for a bare-bones fishing boat. I have some fishing buddies where we need nothing fancy to be comfortable. We are good with just an uncomfortable seat, a rod, and a minimal tackle bag. We fish a lot in the bays around where I live (Central California—SF bay, Monterey Bay, etc) but I always see people taking small aluminum dinghies just outside of the bays, to the points along the coast, maybe 50-100 yards offshore to the reefs or kelp beds, etc. I'm looking for a similar boat that I can take out to around that same range—bays, points along the coast, anywhere within like 1/8 mile off the coast, and only on nice days. Within swimming distance to the shore, for sure! Not like miles offshore... no thanks.

The Questions:

1. I've mostly been looking on craigslist. I'm seeing 12-16 foot aluminums that all seem to have the same shape: A deep V in the front, but then they get really flat and have zero deadrise at the transom. Is that likely what these fishermen that I see going outside of the bays are using? I have always thought that you'd want even like a modified vee out in the ocean, even for just along the points. At one point, I had an... alumacraft (I think) 16-footer that I used a lot in the monterey bay, and it had that shape, with the flat deadrise at the transom. But even on small days (like 1-2 foot chop), it was HARD to take out. I always felt like it was slamming on the waves, and throwing spray, and knocking my fillings out in any kind of chop.

Was I just an inexperienced boater? Should a deep-v in the front and then flat deadrise at the transom be okay in a little bit of chop? Or should I be looking for something with a true deep-v or modified-vee for deadrise?


2. I'm also looking for something that I can store on top of a shed, and lift onto my truck's lumber racks with the help of a friend. My 16' aluminum would have been really difficult (if not impossible), but it had a lot of bells and whistles... wooden seats with backs, aluminum dashboard with bow cover and steering column, wooden floors, etc. This time, I'm looking for just the basics: aluminum hull, no bow cover, no floors, just those standard hollow aluminum seats. Is a 14-footer too heavy for two guys to lift onto a lumber rack? What about a 16? I feel like we've done 12's before and it was really easy, but I don't know how much weight an extra 2-4 feet adds...

Any other advice, boat recommendations, etc. would also be appreciated!

To Sum Up: I'm looking for a 12-16 foot aluminum boat for bays and taking along the coast (but not offshore)... do I need a modified or deep-v, or will the 'standard' shape (deep-v in the front, flat, zero-deadrise under the transom) work? Is a 16' bare-bones aluminum light enough to be lifted onto truck racks?

Thank you!!

 

[Lowlysubaruguy]

Myself im not stepping foot in a 14 foot or smaller boat and heading out to the bay. 16 maybe if I know the guy im going with. I state this and a couple years ago I jumped on a half dozen rotting hand made wood boats held together with weed eater line and nails in the Phillipines and travelled from island to island. I have some great videos and some of the best memories of my life from that trip. But Im thinking 17 to 19 foot would be where id put my search effort especially if your by yourself. No one there to save your ass if things go wrong in a smaller boat.

Youll probably struggle to find bare bones fishing boats in 18 or 19 foot seems like most start throwing a lot more stuff in them at that size. So 16 to 17 foot is about where I’d land my search in your shoes. My neighbor has a G3 16 foot guide series model. Its pretty bare bones as far as Im concerned however its wider than most 16 foot boats just deep enough and stout packed with what you need to be safe and minimal stuff to get in your way. Deep enough to offer more boat and shallow enough the winds not whipping you around if your trolling.

But it boils down to money and whats in your area. I fish hard rough water and for big fish that make crawling around the deck of a small boat less desirable mind you I was young once and fished out of anything some were not very safe. So your your own caretaker. Age and a little more money have left me well off in the boat scheme today notice I didn’t say wisdom in that last sentence because if wisdom was a factor I’d fly around the world and hop on guide boats and dive boats instead of floating myself it’s probably the same money either way.

 

[southkogs]

Honestly, while I would say there are hulls I would take out and hulls I wouldn't ... the skipper is the key.

If you know what you're doing, and you understand where you're boating, a competent guy could take a pretty small boat into some surprisingly rough water. Conversely, if you're unsure and inexperienced ... you can have a fantastic boat and still wind up in trouble.

You're saying that you've got experience, but you would consider yourself a novice. In that case, I'd say outside of a kayak there's not much I'd recommend that you should take out on the big water that you can carry on top of a truck. Even in an open aluminum hull, you want a little more substance that two guys can muscle up over their heads.

Have you looked around at a couple marinas to see what they rent? Maybe there are a couple of rental boats you can look at and get an idea of what goes out in that water. Maybe even rent one for a morning and see how comfortable you are with it.

 

[Scott Danforth]

basically, if you can lift it, waves can capsize it. boats that you bring along on top of a vehicle are generally for small lakes, ponds and streams.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

From what I read you want a 12' car topper that will handle the Pacific Ocean. Doesn't exist. Take a boating course from whoever offers them where you are. Education sometimes makes up for years of inexperience, sometimes.

 

[Sprig]

I live in central California and have fished the areas you mention. I can tell you for a fact you do not want to venture out into the bays in a boat like you are talking about. You are going to need a boat that you can’t lift and is on a trailer. I wouldn’t go less than 16’. The only light gauge aluminum boat 16 to 18’ I’d consider would be something like a Klamath Bayrunner. Taking a small aluminum boat out on the bays and beyond to the ocean is foolhardy and dangerous.
You mention that you had an Alumacraft which is a heavy gauge aluminum boat and you didn’t feel comfortable in that. You’ll feel a lot less comfortable in a smaller light gauge aluminum boat.
You talk about being within swimming distance of shore. That isn’t a realistic option. The ocean water along the central coast is darn cold. Cold enough that it will be a real shock to the body when you suddenly plunge into it. Hypothermia cold. Enough so that you may not be able to swim very far. Also the tides and currents may be such that it would be impossible to swim to shore. They may take you further out in the ocean.
I realize that people go out there in small aluminum boats but it is dangerous and unsafe.

 

[porchlight]

EDIT: I see that a post got made just before my post.... sounds like those other guys are just being unsafe! Thanks for the input, everyone. I suspect that coastal boating just might not be for me



thank you for the feedback everyone. I have some more questions, I guess I just don't understand some things.

You are kind of telling me what I suspected: open aluminum boats are borderline for the ocean. However, I routinely see these boats out where I would like to fish. So I can think of a few reasons why this might be.... do any of these sound plausible?

1) these boats are actually more like 20+ feet, and my sense of size is just way off. I kind of doubt this, because I see them going in and out of truck beds, ha!

2) They are actually like 12-14-16-feet, but are super special custom-made, highly specialized hulls, or something?

3) these are really, really experienced skippers, who are better at boating than I will ever be

4) Maybe I'm just not describing how I want to use these boats very well. People around here do things like launch from a beach or in the harbor, and go to a point or just outside of the harbor mouth and fish. You're never really more than about a few tens or hundreds of yards away from shore. Could get back to shore within about 1 minute, or about 5 minutes with paddles, if necessary!

This last one seems the most likely, because I'm seeing a lot of responses include words like "big water" or "rough water". The chop in the SF bay is never really more than about a foot, and in places like the half moon bay harbor, it's basically 0 feet... and I'm talking about going just outside of the bay, or the harbor mouth, or off the beach. Which brings me to possibility #5...

5) maybe I just don't understand what "rough water" means. I'm imagining rough water as something where I wouldn't take my kayak out... like 3+ feet or something. I'm really only picturing going out when other little aluminum boats are out, which is calm days, with maybe a little chop, but not "rough water". Or is that considered to be rough water? Too rough for an aluminum? Maybe all the other guys are just being unsafe... I have no problem believing that, and don't want to copy them if they're doing dumb stuff!


I guess I'm confused about the fact that I'm seeing car-top boats out there... it sure seems like it's possible, unless all of them are being dumb, in which case I'm not particularly interested. Are those likely some kind of special design, or just typical dinghies? Is it possible to take just a little dinghy like a few hundred yards offshore on a calm day, or is that asking for trouble? One comment suggested that something like a 16 footer might be okay, is that reasonable advice?

Thanks!

 

[Sprig]

Like I said, you see people out there in dinky aluminum boats all the time. They are not custom boats , they are just small aluminum boats. I’ve been boating for more than 50 years and in every water imaginable in Ca. I’m a very experienced boater. It’s just not a safe practice to go out in the ocean in a small aluminum boat.
The 16 footer I referred to the bayrunner is a good rough water boat. Actually I dont think they come in less than 18’ length.
Bottom line if you only go out on the calmest days you’ll probably be ok. I just don’t think it is a good idea. So if that is what you really want to do, go for it. You’ll probably be fine. Just be cautious and wear a pfd all the time you are out there. Good luck.

 

[porchlight]

Thank you all. Old Ironmaker, I apologize, I did not see your comment until just now. I am not exactly looking for a 12 foot car topper than can handle the pacific ocean... that sounds bad. I think I'm looking for a 14-footer (give or take) that can go on truck lumber racks, that can handle places like the sf bay and half moon bay harbor 80-90% of the time, and then 10-20% of the time dart just outside of the harbor mouth and fish (like I see a bunch of boats doing almost every day), or launch from the beach and reach the points on really calm days.

But I'm hearing what you're saying, which is that the people who are doing this are not being smart. I'm not trying to drown, so I'm going to pass. I have a decent boat that I use for those places, I was just looking for something more time-and-fuel efficient since most of the time it's just myself and maybe one friend going out. It seems like a 12-14 footer would be fine most of the time in the SF bay, but this is why I ask! I'm not an experienced boater and what seems safe might not be

 

[Old Ironmaker]

We have the same boaters here on the Great Lakes in Ontario. I've had to tow in a family of 5 in a 14'er that broke down 6 miles offshore on Lake Erie. The parents are idiots it's as simple as that, sounds like you have idiots out west too. 1 foot chop isn't anything to be concerned with, even in a 12' car topper. No body of water however stays at 1 foot. I love it when I take someone out in my 19" deep V and they say they can swim to shore so no PFD required, they are idiots too. Doing a few laps in a heated pool in a backyard is a heck of a lot different swimming in even 65F water with 6 foot swells and undercurrent. I dumped a canoe a 1/2 mile out, by the time someone came and got me the current had me a mile from shore and I was dead tired with a PFD on, I am an idiot too some days, especially 25 years ago.

If they report wave height at 3 feet the wave is actually 6' from belly to curl. I think you may be underestimating the size of those boats, either that or California has idiot boaters just like everywhere else in the world. We boated on the Great Lakes in a 12' tinny, that was 40 years ago and we were invincible 20 somethings and very lucky because we got caught a few times in stormy weather. The older we get the smarter we get, hopefully.

There was a time I could lift a 14' tinny up onto the roof of a truck solo, now I have a hard time lifting a plastic garbage can into the bed of a truck. The doabilty is up to how strong the lifters are.

edit: San Fran Bay is a big body of water and wave heights average much more than a foot. I've seen You Tube videos of guys not being able to get back to the dock because of currents, and they were in bigger than 14' boats with more than 15HP like you will have on a 14'er. Like in Jaws when Richard Dryfus said "We're gonna need a bigger boat." But I have a sneaking suspicion you are going to use a small tinny anyway.

 

[Sprig]

What Old Ironmaker says is spot on. As far as SF bay I have fished it numerous times. It is a deceivingly dangerous body of water. Strong currents , cross currents rip currents but the killer is the wind. The wind howls almost every afternoon. I’ve seen it go from dead calm to 5’ wind waves in 30 minutes. I was in a 28’ Trophy once and the wind and waves got so bad we didn’t think we’d make it back to the marina.

 

[NYBo]

With a boat you can easily put on lumber racks, you would be okay on Bodega Bay, but not SF Bay. There's a good reason they put a prison out on Alcatraz Island.

 

[Reelnice]

Like I said, you see people out there in dinky aluminum boats all the time. They are not custom boats , they are just small aluminum boats. I’ve been boating for more than 50 years and in every water imaginable in Ca. I’m a very experienced boater. It’s just not a safe practice to go out in the ocean in a small aluminum boat.
The 16 footer I referred to the bayrunner is a good rough water boat. Actually I dont think they come in less than 18’ length.
Bottom line if you only go out on the calmest days you’ll probably be ok. I just don’t think it is a good idea. So if that is what you really want to do, go for it. You’ll probably be fine. Just be cautious and wear a pfd all the time you are out there. Good luck.

Yeah, I agree. The question seems weird. Why would you want a john boat to off into the ocean? Seems like one of those "just because you can (on a calm day in perfect conditions) doesn't mean you should" type of situations.

 

[GA_Boater]

Yeah, I agree. The question seems weird. Why would you want a john boat to off into the ocean? Seems like one of those "just because you can (on a calm day in perfect conditions) doesn't mean you should" type of situations.

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