Thinking of buying a 150CC- Need HELP!

[ditzbel2]

Hi All,
I’m new here and need advice.
We are looking at a 150CC and can't decide if it’s what we want.

First a little history. Last year we moved to Florida near the Intracostal Waterway. We bought a 13 Sport Boston Whaler. After about 3 months we decided it was too small, no storage room and had very uncomfortable seating. We sold that and bought a 20’ Sea Hunt cuddy cabin which has lots of room, is comfortable and much larger.
We don’t fish (not yet anyway), but we do enjoy getting into the skinny waters to see the local critters. The Sea Hunt is too large for me to feel comfortable taking it into water that may be only a couple of feet deep.
So we are looking again and just not sure what to get. We have decided we don’t want anything larger then 17’.
We looked at the 150CC yesterday and it looked interesting. It reminded me of a little sports car for the water. 95% of the time it will only be the 2 of us on the boat. At the most 4 people if any of our kids visit.
There are 2 important things I/we want. I like to stand a lot when steering & we want comfortable seating. The bench seat concerns me that it may not be real comfortable and is the other seating on the 150CC good?
Would the 170CC be any better?
Any advice or previous experience will be greatly appreciated.
Wayne

[mtty]

Go with the 170. The difference in draft is negilgible(sp). I would go with at least a 70 HP preferablely a 75 four stroke. My buddy's 170 will run about 33 mph with a 60 four stroke. My 170 with a 70 hp 2 stroke will run 40 with a good tail wind and lightly loaded. Enough to pull kids sking or tubing. You'll also appreciate the extra room behind the bench seat. If you have doubts about the flip-flop coolerseat thing see if the dealer will swap you for a couple of seats. I personally don't mind the flip-flop.

[OspreyVic]

ditzbel2, how skinny are you talking about?

With the motor up, Triumph is saying the 215 or the 195 draft is 14 inches.

For the 190 Bay, draft is 11 inches.

For the 170 CC or the 150, the draft is 6 inches.

Please remember that this is a plastic boat, not glass and NO gelcoat. If and when you run across an oyster bed you might leave some grooves or battle scars, but nothing to worry about.

Now we may be predudice, since we have a 210CC, but to us it is more comfortable standing in a larger boat than a smaller boat.

Sounds to me like you need to have a few test drives. Try the standing for you and the seating for others in different size boats.

[Jan from Humboldt]

and personally I think that it's a great boat.

However I think the fish boxes are way too small... (This was yesterday up off Eureka )



Were I to do it all over again I'd get the 170CC for the extra room it has.

[OspreyVic]

Jan, that sure is a great picture.

[Jan from Humboldt]

The greatest part of it is I'm still able to get out there and find them, and I got both fish on a CalStar 270H I'd custom wrapped last winter and on a trolling jig I'd also made.

The reel was a Newell C344-5 spooled with 40# with greased HT-100 drags, all "Old school west coast" gear.

The icing on the cake of course was sitting down to a plate full of albacore medallions that had been litely sauted in olive oil and garlic.

[changes in latitudes]

Nice catch Jan!

Here's my take ditzbel - I just got a 150 about a month ago and I'm 90% in love with it. I made a significant downsize from a 25' shamrock. The 150 is a perfect 2 man boat - and I stress 2 man. It's easy to trailer, fuel efficient (Yam 50 2-stroke), and really fun to cruise/fish around in. Plenty of storage for the size and I can easily load and launch the boat by myself which is a big plus when no one else wants to go out on those less than perfect days. I'm on the west coast of FL so I know the challenges of skinny water. This boat is perfect for the flats. I put a wireless trolling motor on the front and can scoot around all day in 10" of water. So what's the 10% I don't like...... It's a 2 man boat. Sure, it's rated for more and you could potentially fit more, heck - it even has seats for more people, but it's really not designed for more than two people in my opinion. With 3 or more people it's very difficult to get up on plane unless one person is basically sitting on the nose of the bow. And fishing with more than 2 - forget about it - not enough room. So... if your looking for something that you and the wife can cruise the flats and rivers in - you found it. if you want something that you and a couple buddies can spend all day fishing on - go a little larger. Hope that helps!
-Dave

[Jan from Humboldt]

Dave said it perfectly!

[ditzbel2]

My wife is concerened about how the 150 CC rides in choppy water. Any comments?

Thanks for everyone's input so far.

[Cape Codder]

I Also Have A 150 And My Wife Was Also Afraid Of Water Over The Bow. Doesnt Happen. Weve Been Thru Some Pretty Large Yacht Wakes And Never Have Taken On O Drop Of Water. I Think Between The Configuration Of The Bow And The Boyancy Of The Plastic Boat Thats Why No Water. The Two Feet You Gain Between 15 And 17 Feet Is Behind The Leaning Post. From The Console Forward Its The Same Boat. Ive Never Had Second Thought About Buying The 150 Over The 170. 15 Or 17 Its Tight With More Than 2 People Aboard. Good Luck In Your Quest.