# Am I crazy?



## fishfinder05 (Jun 25, 2011)

I am moving to charelston sc area this spring and im looking into buying a boat. I'm not new to boats but new to saltwater boating. Around here an 18ft boat is very common for the rivers and they can get pretty rough. What I'm wanting is a smaller boat that I can go hit the nearshore reefs on. In general they are between 3-10 miles out. I would also lik to take the occasional trip offshore for some trolling and dropping. I've been looking at a Mako 184 which is an 18ft with 150 Honda. It has a deeper hull than the typical bay boat but it still scares me a little. I just want to keep my friends and family safe.

Thanks


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## Too Busy (Sep 7, 2007)

How much experience do you have boating? I've been offshore on some small boats and it can get real scary, real quick.


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## Too Busy (Sep 7, 2007)

There are a few highly experienced guys down here that will run small boats out to the ledge (50-55 miles from the rocks). They are very careful to pick their days and only run that far in the middle of a stable weather pattern.

There are a good many more that will take a 17 or 18 foot center console out to the nearshore reef and some that will run out to the Charleston 60. The C-60 is twelve miles out. I've been out there some days when it was table top flat. Other days have started flat, then gone pretty quickly to 5-6 footers at < 5 second period just because the wind was blowing from the southwest during a falling tide.

I'd post up in the fishing match up section on CF.com and go with more experienced guys for a while. There are a lot of good guys down here, willing to share knowledge and experience for a split of the gas/bait and help clening when you get back to the dock.


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## HStew (Jan 8, 2009)

Wait till you get down there and see what is best for that area. Personally my next boat will be a" Panga" built on the original plans.


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## NC KingFisher (Nov 20, 2011)

If your experienced with boats then that will work but if not go bigger. I have a friend who takes a 19ft triton to the stream


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## fishfinder05 (Jun 25, 2011)

Thanks for the reply guys. Im not an super experienced boater by any stretch. I think it's in my best interest to go ahead and spend a lil more for a bigger boat. My plan is to go out with experienced people for a while until I'm comfortable. My main goal is to be able to go on day trips with my son. He is only 3 right now so I have some time to learn the ropes.


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## bbcroaker (Jan 6, 2005)

Yes you are crazy!


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## Alexy (Nov 1, 2010)

When you ended the first sentance with "i am thinking of buying a boat" I knew then you were crazy..... Like others said I would go ask the boaters who are there what works and go from there.


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## Macman (Dec 27, 1999)

Fishfinder05,

My co-worker recently bought boat and we used this site to do some boat homework: http://www.boatus.com/buyer/guide/buyer/finding.asp Very informative with good gouge. Good luck! I remember a rule that I saw on the site from new boat owners lessons learned; they all mentioned that they wished they had picked a boat one size larger.

Macman


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