Looking For Advice On What Would Be A Good Small Inshore Fishing Boat

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BrumBrum

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Hi

I recently moved to Anglesey and am considering buying a small boat for inshore fishing. My first thoughts were something like a Dell Quay / Orkney Dory around 14 ft but am put off by some of the stories about them becoming water logged (I'd be looking at buying an older model as realistically I'd want to keep my spend to under £6k for a boat with outboard and trailer).

I've also been looking at other options such the Salcombe Flyer 440 and aluminium Seastrike Semi Vee 14ft.

Although I have plenty of dinghy sailing experience I don't have experience of buying craft and outboards of this type. I don't want to become a tyre kicker but realise I will need to get out and start looking at some boats.

Can you offer any advice please on what boats and engines you would be considering if you were in my position (£6k, will be stored at home outside, needs to be trailered, 3-4 person, able to be launched by one person)? Also boats you would avoid?

Are aluminium boats generally recommended for sea use?

Hope you can point me in the right direction and help me make a decent decision:-)

Regards

Simon
 
BrumBrum said:
Hi

I recently moved to Anglesey and am considering buying a small boat for inshore fishing. My first thoughts were something like a Dell Quay / Orkney Dory around 14 ft but am put off by some of the stories about them becoming water logged (I'd be looking at buying an older model as realistically I'd want to keep my spend to under £6k for a boat with outboard and trailer).

I've also been looking at other options such the Salcombe Flyer 440 and aluminium Seastrike Semi Vee 14ft.

Although I have plenty of dinghy sailing experience I don't have experience of buying craft and outboards of this type. I don't want to become a tyre kicker but realise I will need to get out and start looking at some boats.

Can you offer any advice please on what boats and engines you would be considering if you were in my position (£6k, will be stored at home outside, needs to be trailered, 3-4 person, able to be launched by one person)? Also boats you would avoid?

Are aluminium boats generally recommended for sea use?

Hope you can point me in the right direction and help me make a decent decision:)

Regards

Simon
Click to expand...

Oh and just to add I'm sort of thinking 15 to 30hp? Are there any benefits of 4 stroke over 2 stroke? I need to read up more about trim and tilt (I'm not sure it does what my instinct suggested!).
 
you may get more replies on the motor boat forum.
Dell quay Dories are thin on the ground these days, and not really the boat for Welsh seas. Unless you have a total flat calm day, they slam into waves, and are really wet in any slight swell. Saying that my first boat was a DQ dory that I shipped to Greece, in the Aegean in summer it was a 30knt sun lounger, and I loved it
I'd recommend a cuddy boat, like a Shetland Sheltie, or a Pirate 18. Don't touch 2 stroke outboards, and with 3 or 4 onboard at sea you will want 60-70hp and a 5hp backup.
There are thousands of old Shetland 535s out there, built like tanks and going strong at 50 year old or more, and are great boats, like the Family four which replaced it, but the cabin to cockpit ratio is wrong for 4 to fish. I've owned my F4 for over 20 years, and it's great for 2 people. I've been 50 miles and more off shore in it from Milford Haven in the right conditions.
 
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Thanks for the reply and advice Dellquay13. I'm not sure I'll be going out 50 miles! Much of the time it will be just myself and maybe the better half if she takes to it. 3 or 4 would be rare occasions but it is also about being safe.

Is there a way I can reallocate this thread to Motor Boat section or should I just re post?

Cheers

Simon
 
Simon, the shetland boats WERE built bery well, but owner modifications and age make them (and other older boats) prone to rotten transomes. There are quite literally dozens on online threads about rebuilding transoms and deck floors. I would research this more if I were you.
Check out my profile and click.
 
Check out the Orkney range of fishing boats
Dell Quay dories are a stable fishing platform but the 'Catherdral Hull' configuration makes the boat a bit 'slammy' in the short choppy seas you will encounter
How do I know?
Been on Angelsey since 1984, had that type of hull for our first boat!
Where you on the Island?
 
BrumBrum said:
Thanks for the reply and advice Dellquay13. I'm not sure I'll be going out 50 miles! Much of the time it will be just myself and maybe the better half if she takes to it. 3 or 4 would be rare occasions but it is also about being safe.

Is there a way I can reallocate this thread to Motor Boat section or should I just re post?

Cheers

Simon
Click to expand...

There can be a big difference between a boat that you can easily launch and retrieve solo, and a boat that has plenty of space for 4 to fish. Everything is a compromise in boats, so think carefully about your anticipated use, and some of the 'very occasional' requirements might need to give way to the major requirements. If a first mate is involved a lot of the time, somewhere to keep ( and use) a portapotti can be important too
 
Kawasaki said:
Where you on the Island?
Click to expand...

We are in Trearddur Bay. I've been coming to Anglesey for about 57 years, the earliest pic I can find I'm about 4. It was always meant to be. I've not fished for about 40 years and in those days 3 or 4 of us would go out in a Mirror Dinghy with a little Seagle outboard (generally from Traeth Bychan). Happy days!

Thanks ST840 & Dellquay13

I'm enjoying the research at the moment, no rush.
 
Had 2 Dorys, a 6m and a 7.5m, with a 75hp Johnson and a 40hp Suzuki 2 strokes, they both slam in a head sea and you can find it a bit squirmy on a large following sea, coming off the tops of waves they tend to get the air under them and feel like they are going to back flip, really can get the brown adrenaline flowing sometimes ;)
They were both quite good for fishing, though the 6m one was a bit spartan in that it had a helm on the starboard side and that was it, great boat for diving too and that is what I mainly used it for. I used it in the North Sea around Caithness, in the summer it was only out the water if there was a storm coming. Even in a big sea the boat was very good, you could fill it to the gunwales and still floated, once you started moving the insides drained in seconds and then the boat was dry again, I took out many fishing parties on it too, mainly fishing around the cliffs around Proudfoot and south towards Sarclet.
It was having that that prompted my brother to persuade me to go halves in the larger 7.5m Dell Quay dory, working away I never got much chance to use it tho. It had a good size cabin on it with room for the porta potty and a chain locker in the bow for the anchor, was quite a step up from the ex Royal Marine's RRC I had before (the 6m dory)
 
Ahh the Welsh Med. We have many many and even many more days when the sea is like a millpond. But never when you are going out. As a rule you can at least expect a gentle chop of 2-3 foot waves about 2 seconds apart. A little 14 foot beam on as they are wont to do when fishing would have about a foot and a half of freeboard and be rather wet or at least bumpy and possibly a bit butt clenching until you are underway again. You'll be amazed at what a couple extra feet would give you. I'd go at least sixteen and although Kawasaki is quite correct, they slam, a cathedral or semi cathedral hull would be my choice simply because the boat is more stable at rest and wont heel over threatening to tip as you stand on the beam hauling in that whopper. I always found that to be rather disconcerting myself.
6k is a bit on the short side at the moment. At least for a grp boat. The cheapest but may require some work (read sodden cavities, rotten deck and transom as will all old boats in this class) would be the seahog range. But for the price have you considered a small RIB. A small 4.5 meter jobbie 2nd hand would suffice you and the missus and be surprisingly roomy and punches well above its weight in sea handling. It may still be a little wet, but it's safe and easily manhandled on the trailer by one. Have a word with Bill Higham, he may be able to set you up for a reasonable price for your budget with a 4.20 aluminium Rib and 20 mariner. You can buy a second hand trailer for it cheaply and modify it to fit. I have two knocking about with one having a Miracle dinghy on it if you want to relive your childhood, not that I'd recommend it. Tippy bloody things. I'm always very wet when trying to tame it
 
BrumBrum said:
Thanks for the reply and advice Dellquay13. I'm not sure I'll be going out 50 miles! Much of the time it will be just myself and maybe the better half if she takes to it. 3 or 4 would be rare occasions but it is also about being safe.

Is there a way I can reallocate this thread to Motor Boat section or should I just re post?

Cheers

Simon
Click to expand...
It’s been moved for you by one of my fellow moderators!
 
Whilst a Salcombe flyer is a lovely looking boat, it’s freeboard is virtually zero so totally unsuitable for offshore use.
As already advised I’d be looking at the Orkney range. Or maybe a Wilson flyer or a warrior 165/175. And I certainly would not be put off by a 2 stroke engine.
Your hardest job will be finding a good boat in your budget. And don’t forget the trailer, one in poor condition could well ruin your whole boating experience.
 
Having owned an Alaska 500 and an Orkney strike-liner
The Alaska was a much better boat when the sea was a little choppy
Rare but worth seeking the 600 model
As for launching and retrieving ‘solo’
Yes very possible with practice
As Long John said
Don’t be put off with a 2 stroke outboard
 
Go for a seahog hunter or an alaska, forget dorys, they will slam your equipment and your body to bits, a hunter with 50hp goes well, is stable for fishing and rides the bumps well for a small boat.
 
I had a 16ft Marina GT in Anglesey in the 1970's You can still see them for sale. I had twin 33 hp Johnsons on it. Going round Great Orme one of them stopped. Always have a second engine. This boat rode well in the sea. A slightly better one for fishing may be the Shetland Suntrip as the cockpit was larger. Be careful with trailers . The one I had was designed to carry the Marina GT, It wasent designed to carry 2 Johnson's and 10 gallons of fuel etc, and when I was towing the chassis bent under the weight. Also today that boat with engine would be over 750 kilo so you would need a trailer with brakes.
 
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