Hello All,
    this may sound like asily question but I’ll ask never the less. 1st off let me say i’ve fished all my life I have a great boat 19ft cc/ It’s smaller than I am use to Luhrs 28ft down sizing afew years ago thinking I wouldn’t need a baot to take me out 20 -30 miles well the fish are out there and I am itching to head out.  I know the sea pro will handle pretty well in calm seas I just don’t know how she’ll ho;d up in unexpected weather.  My question is do any of you have a 19 or a 20 ft boat and go chasing fish out 20 miles or more.

Tightlines

cee scape

captbill - 21 September 2009 11:10 PM

Hello All,
    this may sound like asily question but I’ll ask never the less. 1st off let me say i’ve fished all my life I have a great boat 19ft cc/ It’s smaller than I am use to Luhrs 28ft down sizing afew years ago thinking I wouldn’t need a baot to take me out 20 -30 miles well the fish are out there and I am itching to head out.  I know the sea pro will handle pretty well in calm seas I just don’t know how she’ll ho;d up in unexpected weather.  My question is do any of you have a 19 or a 20 ft boat and go chasing fish out 20 miles or more.

Tightlines

cee scape

It’‘s definitely possible. But first, the geographic area and typical sea conditions have to be considered. I, and several of the other people that visit this website, regularily fish offshore 20 miles or more from smaller boats (for example, my boat is a 17.5’ Edgewater CC, with a 90HP E-TEC outboard. Randy Norris (nmkbrk) fishes from a 20’ Scout CC with a 150HP Yamaha). But we are fishing in Southern California, where the weather and sea conditions are a lot more stable than say, the Pacific Northwest or New England.

Even then, you have to be smart about it, and pick your days based on weather reports & sea conditions. You also need a reasonable amount of safety gear, and you do need to be an experienced boat driver in case things do get bad. My other website, Ocean Skiff Journal is dedicated to people that want to use small boats offshore. I suggest you check it out. I haven’t been updating it as often as I should, but that will hopefully be changing in the near future.

During my Club tuna tournament this summer I hit the West Buttefly leaving from Dana Point on my 20’ center console.  Lost the fix on my chartplotter above the 43 on day 1.  Overnighted in Pyramid Cove at SCI, side tied to the Blue Thunder, a 2005 Hatteras 60’ replete with pop up 50” LCD and Sat TV (nice).  Then hit the West Fly the following day.  Did well over 200 miles and on the back side of SCI it was blowin.  I think at the furthest point we were 75 miles from home launch.  People always ask me what my range is.  The real answer is about 400 miles, but the correct answer is what ever your body can handle.

Steve

Thanks Steve,
        That answers my question.  I makes me feel better know there are other boats our size willing to run out where the fish are.

Tight lines my friend,

Bill

Two weeks ago had a friend out trying to get him his first marlin.  Left Long Beach and hit the East End Areas of Catalina out to the 152.  4 knockdowns, 1 fish on the jig and we lost that after it threw the hook.  That was off the slides at the East End and as we trolled home towards the Avalon Bank, the wind kicked up hard coming straight down the channel.  It was dusk and we were quartering through some nasty stuff.  I could only make 6 knots, so I lef the jigs in.  My friend turned to me and said that he really enjoys fishing with me.  I asked why and he said that most people he’s ridden with would be panicked in these seas.  Not only was I not panicked, I was carrying on a fun conversation.  Within short order we had another knockdown, not that I could see anything in that slop.  We knew it was a marlin because it came back and bill whacked it two more times after knocking it down and I was dumping back a drop back bait.  Did I say it was dusk?  The sun had already dropped below Catalina.  The seas cleaned up about mid-channel and we had an easy run the rest of the way.  I think we spent 16 hours on the water that day,  or at least my back told me we did.

Steve

Bill, Steve has pretty much covered it. But i thought I would just add that our usual run south is 120 miles in a day. I do over 200 miles a few times a season. With Point conception knoking off the major NW swell it’s not that bad out there usuall except for the wind pusshing up the line if you have a bad angle. Each season I get caught with a25+ mph head wind and a lot of miles to cover. This year we did 40 miles with that head wind and 5 foot swells. You just have to laugh it off and appreciate the care you took in preparing for the event. If you want to buddy boat to get started just u2 me. That’s how I got started.

R

Bill, buried in all these posts is the message that you need to know your boat’s capabilities and range in all weather AND you really need to plan your trips with an eye to the weather.  Most serious offshore fishermen I know are basically amateur meteorologists.  If it looks like it’s going to be nasty, don’t go.  Even then, as Randy said, you’re going to get caught in it every once in a while.  That’s when you need to be prepared as you boat’s fuel consumption will soar.  I hate to admit it, but my fuel gauge only works when the tank is full (sender is toast and they go out all the time).  I just know by gut feel how much fuel I’ve used.  I also know that if I went out topped off, it’s impossible for me to drain it running 24 hours straight.

Steve

Great points Steve the fuel gauges on most boats generally suck. I stick by the rule of thirds - a third of fuel to get out there a third to get back and a third for trolling around and if the weather comes up. I have always had at least 15 gallons left in the tank on all trips. I was out yesterday and listened to some drama as a 23 footer with 3 adults and a child on board was taking on water 40 miles out. Sounded like a poor outdrive gasket issue that’s an advantage with outboards, no hole in the boat. It’s amazing that many guys ignore that hole in the boat where the propeller comes out until it’s too late. Safety research say that’s one of the most common reasons boats sink along with taking a wave over the stern when dead in the water. Again I don’t understand why guys will go out without a wind sock to get there bow pointed into the swell if they have engine problems. Steve I know you do your own maintenance which is so important. You have to know about the basics of your baot and what needs upkeep. I keep extra filters and parts in my boat. I also have back up GPS and VHF along with the SPOT which is absolutely amazing. As my wife says “It’s the best gift I ever gave her and she doesn’t even use it”. But she does track my where abouts all day long so she knows when I am heading in. It’s cool becuase if there is a late afternoon bite and I want to stay out it’s no problem as I just send her an OK message andshe knows what up.  Guys who use their boats just a few time a year ten decide to run long after tuna can have some real problems. During the abacore run when we got into that head wind there were many boats that ran out of gas and one that swamped (low freeboard over loaded). Running long is a game of odds with most of the odds being in your favor if you do everything right. Being out there where the pelagics roam and no one in sight is amazing. I’m glad it freaks a lot of people out I don’t want anymore of a crowd. It’s the only place left that hasn’t been over run.

I think the farthest I’ve gone is 75 miles out. The way I look at it, that’s over 3 hours of running time one way, which is a lot of fishing time to give up, even in a 12 hour day. Of course, if you’re paddy hopping, you’re still fishing even when you’re running, but it is still a long boat ride.

I’m like Randy - I get a kick out of being away from people. It’s almost like finding your own secret pond to fish, only waaaaay bigger.

One thing I don’t think anyone mentioned is Vessel Assist or SeaTow. I carry extra filters and prop, along with swim fins and a mask in case I have to get in the water to look at things, but if something major happens (break a lower unit hitting something, lose a major engine part), I’m not going to be able to fix it on the water.

And don’t forget the signal mirror! Check out OSJ for more safety info.

John, previous to my marlin trip, this guest had fished marlin with a newby (I should say marlin newby) aboard the guys’s 23’ Maycraft w/ Suzuki EFI 200 hp 5 days earlier.  Same trip area and length and same wind and sea conditions on the return channel crossing in the evening.  They had topped the boat off prior to the trip and it holds 80 gallons.  They ran out of fuel at the rigs half way back across the channel.  Got to know your boat’s capabilities.

Steve

Salsipuedes - 05 October 2009 06:01 PM

John, previous to my marlin trip, this guest had fished marlin with a newby (I should say marlin newby) aboard the guys’s 23’ Maycraft w/ Suzuki EFI 200 hp 5 days earlier.  Same trip area and length and same wind and sea conditions on the return channel crossing in the evening.  They had topped the boat off prior to the trip and it holds 80 gallons.  They ran out of fuel at the rigs half way back across the channel.  Got to know your boat’s capabilities.

Steve

Couldn’t agree with you more. That’s something you acquire from time-on-board and time-behind-the-helm, coupled with a healthy dose of caution. A lot of times you can tell something’s up because “something doesn’t feel right”, or you hear that odd sound you’ve never heard before.

Early on, I was fishing by myself out past the 302, and the boat started behaving sluggishly. I don’t know what prompted me to look in the bilge (which is not very big, since the hull is mostly foam-filled), but I was startled to find that it was almost completely filled with water, to the point where the water level was right at the pie-hatch opening. The auto-bilge pump was not working.

After bailing madly (during which I discovered that the hose on my manual bilge pump really needed to be about 2 feet longer to clear the transom), I cleared the bilge, but I could see water was coming in from somewhere, as the bilge was slowly accumulating water again. But I couldn’t see where. I stuck my flashlight in the bilge and discovered there was a fine, but heavy mist coming from the washdown pump hose.

Apparently, the people who had rigged the washdown pump had used bilge pump exhaust hose to route the washdown output to my deck hose. The problem with that is that the washdown pump auto shutoff doesn’t trigger until it gets about 45 psi of backpressure, and the bilge pump hose, which is not pressure rated, had developed pinhole leaks in it. So the washdown pump (which I had forgotten to shut off), could never get enough back pressure to shut itself off. So it kept pumping water.

As for the bilge pump….I never figured out what caused it not to pump. The intake screen was fairly clean, and when I removed the pump to examine it, the impeller started spinning. It’s worked fine ever since.

But who knows what would have happened if I had not looked in the bilge…