Re: help choosing b/w 19 and 21 bay boat
OK, I'll give you my opinion, based on some experience I've had on the Texas Gulf coast. I had a 21.5 ft Promaster, and a buddy had a 18.5 ft Dargel. Both are center consoles, slightly different hull designs. The Promaster had a 150 Merc 2 stroke, the Dargel a 115 Evinrude 2 stroke. There are trade offs, pros and cons.
Fishing - Promaster and Dargel can both fish 3, the Dargel a little less so.
Ride - the Promaster definately a better ride in the chop. The 21 ft seemed to ride from wave to wave in a chop with little bounce. It seemed to "bridge" the waves better, and gave a much better ride at 30-35 than it did at 20-25. The Dargel could not "bridge" the chop as well. This was in 1-2 ft chop.
Speed - Promaster was faster, up to 45+ MPH. The Dargel was about 40 MPH at WOT. In fishing circumstances, no real difference, IMHO.
I can't really comment on gas mileage, as I was just making short runs in the bay.....no problem with either.
Trailering - the Dargel was definately easier to trailer and store. With the Promaster in tow, and a F250 extra cab long bed, I was almost 60 feet. The Dargel was easier to stow, move by hand, and trailer (and find parking for while on the road!).
The Promaster was great on the water, but more expensive to own and to buy. I ended up selling the Promaster, and planned to buy the Dargel, (things changed, and I bought a home Air conditioner instead..
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I have had several boats that were great on the water that I didn't like to trailer, and ended up not going out as much due to the hassle. For that reason, I would go with the one that would work on the water, and be less problem to take to the water........just my opinion...