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How do you like your walkaround?


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Well, we are ready to move up. Three foot-itus has sunk in and of all the boats considered, we are looking for a walkaround. I really like a few Gradys, but that's abig, heavy hull. Gonna take some good power and gas to keep it moving. The boats I like so far are the Sea Hunt victory 225, the Key West 225wa and the Striper 2301wa.

If anyone is a walkaround owner and have some things to say about your rig, fess up!

All opinions will be considered and appreciated! Thanks, Rick

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You're not going to save that much (fuel use-wise), with those other boats. I'll bet less than 10%, if even that much.

Example #1: My old Wellcraft 248 burned practically the same amount of fuel as my Buddy's Mako 258. The WC 248 had 18 degrees of dead-rise, the Mako 258, had 22 degrees. Both sported indentical power, carbureted Yamaha V6 "specials" (220+ HP). I would burn 14 GPH at 4500 RPM, at 27 knots. The Mako ran at 25+ knots, at the same RPM. There was no comparison in ride quality. The Mako was soft, the Wellcraft was tough on the family jewels.

Example #2: My friend has a 20 foot Trophy WA, that's been repowered with a Yamaha 150-4 stroke. He just repropped it (it originally had a 19" pitch prop, could barely turn 5000 RPM at WOT, and took forever to get on plane with a full load of fuel and 4 POB). He went to a 15" wheel, and he now turns 6000 RPM at WOT with the same load, and gained almost 1.5 MPH on the top end. According to his GPS, he tops out at 39+ MPH. Now compare that to a Grady 208 WA with the same power: http://www.gradywhite.com/popup/specs.php?...8&file=F150 :rolleyes:

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Well, we are ready to move up. Three foot-itus has sunk in and of all the boats considered, we are looking for a walkaround. I really like a few Gradys, but that's abig, heavy hull. Gonna take some good power and gas to keep it moving. The boats I like so far are the Sea Hunt victory 225, the Key West 225wa and the Striper 2301wa.

If anyone is a walkaround owner and have some things to say about your rig, fess up!

All opinions will be considered and appreciated! Thanks, Rick

all three are good boats for the money but you need to see which layout works best for you. The Keywest and SS Striper let you have a choice of power from several different companies(which I think is a plus) where as Seahunt you get Yamaha .

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I love my Grady 228. For the last 3 years it has been the perfect boat for me, the wife and two kids (10 and 7). I don't really pay attention to the gas mileage, but I think I generally get 2.5 mpg. Plenty seaworthy, fast enough for me (42mph at WOT), fishable enough for me, and most importantly has a safe dry place for the family to get out of the elements. If i didn't have the wife and kids I might go with the CC, but in my situation the WA is perfect. And unbelieveably its actually quite cool in the cabin even mid-day in August in Tampa!

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I love mine. Not a true walk=around per se as it is a center console walk around. Fits our needs perfectly for thge type of boating we do. The cabin is small, but functional. Primarily it gives our son (and dogs) a place to rest. Also not a bad place for a nap for the long runs in.

The seating between the console and cabin is great for our son while docking and un-docking. Aslo functions as a great place for non boating knowledgable guests to stay during the docking and undocking.

Boat is a Pursuit 2800 Offshore

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We like the walk-around, and in particular, the Grady White walkaround, so much, that our present boat is our 4th, spanning 19 years. First one was a 20', then a 24 Explorer, a 25 Sailfish, and now, a 28' Sailfish. If I were to sell this boat tomorrow, I would buy a 30' Marlin; also a walk-around.

I've had center-consoles, and express and flybridge boats, inboard, and outboard, and while I enjoyed every one of them to the max, the w/a works best for our mix of in-shore and off-shore fishing, and some cruising and even shallow waters picnics, swimming and clamming. For us, no other boat does all that as well.

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I'm real happy with my walkaround. (SeaFox 236WA/Suzuki 4 stroke) It does, of course, have the obvious disadvantage of not being able to fight a fish 360 degrees like a CC, but that's really the only one and it's easy to live with.

The advantages outweigh that for my use. For us, the cuddy tends to be more of a dry storage area than anything else, but there are lots of times when my daughter gets bored with fishing & goes in there to play with her PSP or just lay around out of the sun, and having the head is nice for the women on the boat (or the men is any of the women are not your wife)....most decent CC's have that, but let's face it: The consoles are not very roomy on a 23' boat. Another real nice thing is overnighting. We don't sleep on the boat (the Admiral refuses) but it's nice to have all that secure storage when the boat is left in a transient slip overnight and not having to carry a bunch of stuff to a hotel room.

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I'm real happy with my walkaround. (SeaFox 236WA/Suzuki 4 stroke) It does, of course, have the obvious disadvantage of not being able to fight a fish 360 degrees like a CC, but that's really the only one and it's easy to live with.

The advantages outweigh that for my use. For us, the cuddy tends to be more of a dry storage area than anything else, but there are lots of times when my daughter gets bored with fishing & goes in there to play with her PSP or just lay around out of the sun, and having the head is nice for the women on the boat (or the men is any of the women are not your wife)....most decent CC's have that, but let's face it: The consoles are not very roomy on a 23' boat. Another real nice thing is overnighting. We don't sleep on the boat (the Admiral refuses) but it's nice to have all that secure storage when the boat is left in a transient slip overnight and not having to carry a bunch of stuff to a hotel room.

I fish 2 WA's all the time in 2 different situations.

25 Cobia WA 250 Yammi OX66 in OCMD out to 55 miles. This is my inlaws boat that I take offshore 6-8 times per year & striper fish OC inlet for a week in early winter. This boat has all the bells & whistles- alum enclosure, riggers, full electronics, 15hp kicker, all the good stuff.

21 Trophy WA 125 Merc, buddies boat that we use for striper fishing the susky flats (my home waters). I took that boat out 40+ times this season. This boat is bare bones.

Cobia Pro's/Cons:

pros-

Fast, dry, offshore capable.

Great trolling & fishing platform for 2-3 anglers.

Great ride in rolling seas. Soft entry on soft waves (not steep)

The enclosure is nice for getting out of the weather.

cons-

The boat will beat the snot out of you in the chop. WA's are no match to CC's for ride quality.

The enclosure makes the boat tough to fish in tight condions like OC inlet. It's difficult to get to the helm in a jam.

The cabin is worthless.

To "walk around" off shore is not a easy task. Fighting a fish, forget about it.

Trophy Pro's/Cons:

Bare bones open bay fishing boat.

Dry soft ride. Yes, soft in hard chop.

Plenty of comfort for the bay.

Cons: Not many.

Small engine=kinda slow.

No decent live well.

Cabin is useless.

I own a bowrider & a old school express style fishing boat, if I had a choice, I would buy a 25' or so CC with a full enclosure.

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I love my 08 256 SeaFox Walkaround. She has twin 150's, tops out around 42 MPH and has taken me to Freeport two times. Cabin space is tight, but is a great place to take a nap or get out of a storm when anchored. It has an electric head and a fridge for the beer. This boat needs tabs down to take the chop well or otherwise those family jewels will stretch... ;) Otherwise a great boat for the money.

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Had a Seahunt Victory 225 - nothing but good things to say about it. Perfect boat for our family. Wanted bigger - a little more room to actually sleep in - and to be able to go outside to blue water - so I moved up to the Sailfish WA 26'. Walkarounds are a very good compromise for all around boat. Takes more HP to go fast - because of the extra weight and the extra weight up front. But lots of fishing room in the cockpit - particularly compared to a similar sized cc. As mentioned, not ideal if you want to chase Kings around and around the boat - but I've caught 'em on both of WA's.

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