With the help of info that people shared with me in this newsgroup, I
have found that the _smallest_ boat for 4 persons in a boat is 18-ft,
and I have already got it in my driveway

Actually, it is a 17-1/2-ft center console. Seem like all the
manufacturers like to round up the number.

A 16-1/2-ft center console (manufacturer called it a 17-ft boat) is
just too small for 4 persons. I didn't know that one foot difference
could make such a large impact until I stood on top of the 16-1/2-ft
boat and looked around. I estimate that the 16-1/2-ft is probably good
for 3 adults.

Thanks again for the info that I have received here.

Jay Chan

On Mon, 07 Nov 2005 08:15:27 -0800, jaykchan wrote:

With the help of info that people shared with me in this newsgroup, I
have found that the _smallest_ boat for 4 persons in a boat is 18-ft,
and I have already got it in my driveway


Hmmm... I wonder how I managed to survive having 4 people in my 14-footer
all those years...

Lloyd Sumpter
"Dave" Walker Bay 8 (seats 3 in a pinch)

Hmmm... I wonder how I managed to survive having 4 people in my
14-footer all those years...

I am talking about having 4 persons on a 18-ft boat and be relatively
safe in a protected sal****er bay. I am sure I can add more people
onto the boat (max. 6 persons) if I run the boat in a small lake on a
calm day. But I want the boat to be able to handle both situations
with 4 persons on board.

On the other hand, 4 persons sitting close to each other in a cold day
may keep everyone warm

Jay Chan

Around 11/8/2005 11:42 AM, Lloyd wrote:

On Mon, 07 Nov 2005 08:15:27 -0800, jaykchan wrote:


With the help of info that people shared with me in this newsgroup, I
have found that the _smallest_ boat for 4 persons in a boat is 18-ft,
and I have already got it in my driveway



Hmmm... I wonder how I managed to survive having 4 people in my 14-footer
all those years...

Heck, my 14' only has seats for two... Four is doable, if two don't mind
sitting on some Type-IV cushions on the floor.


--
~/Garth - 1966 Glastron V-142 Skiflite: "Blue-Boat"
"There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing about in boats."
-Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

On Tue, 08 Nov 2005 14:44:30 -0500, Harry Krause wrote:

Lloyd wrote:
On Mon, 07 Nov 2005 08:15:27 -0800, jaykchan wrote:

With the help of info that people shared with me in this newsgroup, I
have found that the _smallest_ boat for 4 persons in a boat is 18-ft,
and I have already got it in my driveway


Hmmm... I wonder how I managed to survive having 4 people in my 14-footer
all those years...

Lloyd Sumpter
"Dave" Walker Bay 8 (seats 3 in a pinch)



Your people are smaller than his?

How much freeboard in that WB 8 when three are aboard? 1"?

Actually, freeboard isn't the problem (there's lots of it): it's balance.
Not bad once everyone is in, but if you put someone in the middle, then
someone in the back, the transom goes under before the third person can
get in the bow. And so on...

Lloyd

On Tue, 08 Nov 2005 18:13:35 -0800, Garth Almgren wrote:

Around 11/8/2005 11:42 AM, Lloyd wrote:

On Mon, 07 Nov 2005 08:15:27 -0800, jaykchan wrote:


With the help of info that people shared with me in this newsgroup, I
have found that the _smallest_ boat for 4 persons in a boat is 18-ft,
and I have already got it in my driveway



Hmmm... I wonder how I managed to survive having 4 people in my 14-footer
all those years...

Heck, my 14' only has seats for two... Four is doable, if two don't mind
sitting on some Type-IV cushions on the floor.

http://www.user.dccnet.com/lsumpter/boats/Stinky03.jpg

I see four seats...
OK, when I redid the interior I only put in three seats:
http://www.user.dccnet.com/lsumpter/boats/Stinky06.jpg

But there was room for four.

Lloyd Sumpter

http://www.user.dccnet.com/lsumpter/boats/Stinky03.jpg

I see four seats...
OK, when I redid the interior I only put in three seats:
http://www.user.dccnet.com/lsumpter/boats/Stinky06.jpg

But there was room for four.

I see how you manage to put 4 persons on the boat. You guys are
sitting quite close to each other, like sitting in a car.

I prefer people to stay an arm length away from each other, and be able
to move around in the boat (such as when my wife hooks a fish and I
need to move over there to help her to unhook the fish, or just want to
stretch my legs after sitting in a car for a long while and then
sitting on a boat for a while again). I guess we have a different
requirement in mind.

Jay Chan

On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 06:43:44 -0800, jaykchan wrote:

http://www.user.dccnet.com/lsumpter/boats/Stinky03.jpg

I see four seats...
OK, when I redid the interior I only put in three seats:
http://www.user.dccnet.com/lsumpter/boats/Stinky06.jpg

But there was room for four.

I see how you manage to put 4 persons on the boat. You guys are
sitting quite close to each other, like sitting in a car.

I prefer people to stay an arm length away from each other, and be able
to move around in the boat (such as when my wife hooks a fish and I
need to move over there to help her to unhook the fish, or just want to
stretch my legs after sitting in a car for a long while and then
sitting on a boat for a while again). I guess we have a different
requirement in mind.

Jay Chan

I understand. What I was "compaining" about was your working that 18ft is
the MINIMUM for four people.

When I was a kid on Harrison Lake, a 16-ft boat was considered Quite
Large. We had our family of 4 in our 12-ft runabout (with 20hp engine)
quite often. We didn't get places very fast, and on one occasion had to
turn and duck into Green Point when the waves were 2-3ft, but in general
it was OK for 4 people.

It's a common recommendation here that 18ft is about the MINIMUM anybody
recommends. Makes people looking at this NG to think that they need $20K
or so to go boating, and that's simply not the case. It's like saying the
MINIMUM car you can have for 4 people is an Impala (when there's lots of
people happy with an Echo)

Lloyd

I understand. What I was "compaining" about was your working
that 18ft is the MINIMUM for four people.

There must be some mis-understanding somewhere. This post is a
follow-up of my original post. In my original post, I stated that I
want to be able to operate the boat safely in a protected sal****er bay
with 4 persons. This was the reason why I stated in the beginning of
this following-up post that I believe a 18-ft boat is the right size
for me. Obviously, if a person only looks at this statement alone
without knowing the original post, he will think that a 18-ft boat may
not be the minimum requirement.

It's a common recommendation here that 18ft is about the
MINIMUM anybody recommends. Makes people looking at
this NG to think that they need $20K or so to go boating, and
that's simply not the case. It's like saying the MINIMUM car
you can have for 4 people is an Impala (when there's lots of
people happy with an Echo)

I won't pay $20K for a boat, 18-ft or not. This is just a hobby. My
18-ft boat costs me _much_ less than that. Actually, during the course
of shopping for a used boat, I found that the price of boats in 16-ft
to 18-ft range don't vary much by their length. Price has a lot more
to do with how new the boat is. The length of a boat seems to be a
secondary factor. I am not very sure about this; but I have a feeling
that the HP rating of the motor probably has more impact on the price
than the length of the boat. This means if I can live with a less
powerful motor and a longer time to get the boat on plane, I may trade
off the HP power with longer boat length, and I may end up paying less.
This turns out to be a good trade off to me. My boat has a less
powerful motor (115-hp instead of 150-hp); but it still can get the
boat on plane quite fast even with 4 adults on board. I am just happy
to pocket the difference by choosing a boat that has a less powerful
motor.

The fact that the price of used boats in 16-ft to 18-ft range don't
vary much by length may have something to do with the possibility that
the cost of a used fiberglass boat hull is only a small part of the
cost of the total package of boat/motor/trailer. When people look at a
used boat hull, they will likely find something that needs to be fixed
and become turned off. When people look at a used marine motor, they
will like it as long as the motor powers up alright and doesn't make
strange noise. I have a feeling that the price of a used marine motor
probably holds up its value better than a used fiberglass boat hull.
Therefore, the length of a boat doesn't impact the final price that
much because the boat hull itself doesn't cost that much anyway.

Jay Chan