Small and light boat for 5+ people?

[bumblebeeamigo]

I had an aluminum vhull boat with a 9.9hp outboard but it could only hold like 400 lbs. and tipped too easy. I have a Tahoe q3 I/o that needs docked. I see these aluminum beater boats that carry 5/6 people and loads (like the little boat they tow behind the bigger boat on Alaskan Busch ppl where they had 3 adults and 2 55 gallon drums of fuel.. that would be about 1800 lbs??) id be fine with 1000/1200 lbs load? But no matter how much I search for Jon boats and aluminum boats, I have a hard time figuring out one that can hold that much, seems like most are 2-3 seaters. Am I just not looking big enough?

What kind of boat am I looking for?

I need an extra beater boat that I can put my entire family on (5 + dog) that can be hand launched from a dockless/launchless property and easily beached on dockless property. I've seen them in person but not quite sure what to search for.

Thanks!

 

[Scott Danforth]

To hold 1800#, your looking at 18 foot or larger

To hold 5 people, you are looking at 16' and larger.

 

[cyclops222]

Aluminum wide boat with very high sides and a Transom Splash & Drain tray built in. To start with.
Forget any boat with 5 people loading on beach and powering out to water.

 

[roscoe]

Look for an aluminum 18' open bow, like a Starcraft 18SS.

Will have seating for 6 or 7, and total weight capacity of 1200 to 1500 pounds.

Or look for a deck boat.

3rd option is a pontoon.

 

[roscoe]

Look for an aluminum 18' open bow, like a Starcraft 18SS.

Will have seating for 6 or 7, and total weight capacity of 1600 to 1800 pounds.

2nd option is a deck boat.

3rd option is a pontoon.

 

[tpenfield]

Perhaps the well-loaded aluminum boats that you see are actually over loaded.

Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIB) of about 12 feet in length have the capacity in the range that you are speaking of.

 

[cyclops222]

Most boats with a lot of people in it ? Are DANGEROUSLY overloaded. Eventually on a busy day. They take a wave over the bow or stern or the sides. There is a LEARNING CURVE for some people and boats.

Boats flood. Overloaded cars do not complain.

 

[rallyart]

When they rate boats the test for people and the test for maximum load are structured differently. People move around and a load should not is why the tests are different. Ratings for boats are often ignored by many who should know better as they have 'done it before'.
Just think it through when you load a boat and don't rely on what someone else does. That can make their mistake your major problem.
Usually an inflatable gives you the least weight and easiest to manage with the most carrying capacity.

 

[Texasmark]

I bought a new 1971, 16' Chrysler Sports Fury fiberglass tri-hull with an 85 HP Chrysler engine for my family of 6....4 smaller children. It was light and very stable being a tri-hull and at the transom was pretty flat. Had plenty of power to pull 2 kids at a time on skis and room enough inside for the family to function.

After 2 seasons I sold it for a larger, heavier, tri-hull boat, with a deep V hull configuration (had like 15* of dead rise at the transom) because that "light" boat beat us to death in any kind of chop.

 

[briangcc]

My uncle's first boat would probably fit most of the bill. Was a 16', 4 bench, Starcraft tiller steer. Probably from 60's/70's with a 9.9Rude on the back. We beached that several times throughout the years in the Great White North on various adventures with the cousins.

That's something that I wouldn't call hand launch-able though. We did launch it on sand ramps from a trailer.

And definitely used only during calm waters as it wasn't meant to go out in whitecaps.

Personally, I'd suggest a few kayaks instead.

 

[aspeck]

An inflatable or a wide aluminum jon boat. Either could work. Depends on the "luxury" you want. Our fire department has a 16' RIB that we hand launch and put a 25hp on the back after rolling it off the top of the trailer above our 18' aluminum outboard jet. We "trailer launch" the aluminum boat where there isn't any launch ramps ... it is doable.