acb vs. cat

[paul h]

Dan's back down running the charter, not sure when he'll be back on line. They run out of Ninilchik early in the season, then move the boats to Seward sometime after 4th of July. I can get you Dan's # if you want to get in touch with him. My daughters friend's family has a 25' acb they run out of Whittier in Prince William Sound and they seem to be pretty happy with the boat, I think he's running twin honda 200's.

I'm sure there are some aluminum cats up here, but honestly I've never seen one on the water or in the marinas. I've seen a few glass cats. That isn't to say cats are a bad design, but they just don't seem to have garnered much of the market. The boats that have the best resale are aluminum cabin cruisers in the 22-28' range. Fish hard, hose it off, put it away until the next adventure. When you have a 4 month boating season, and need to pick windows between small craft advisories, you just don't want a boat that you need to fiddle with, or wax, etc. I can't say our water conditions are much different than other areas, but if you can't readily handle a 2-4' steep chop and confused seas, the boat just isn't suitable for typical outings. In the sound the prevailing winds are out of the East, but then you'll have glacial fjords, and winds coming off the glacier with a decent fetch down the fjord, add in tidal rips and you want a boat that will handle predictable with waves coming from every direction.

I was looking at the acb website, and if I could swing it, the Sport Cruiser 2900 w/ twin 300's would be perfection. But, I can't even afford to dream about such a boat

[darbikrash]

Yes, the "pretty" factor seems to be of foremost consideration for most people. Personally, I do not suffer from that affliction as my primary concern in all matters is how well something functions. I know I need to start going for rides on different vessels in order to make an informed decision, but am so buried with work and family matters right now that I'm not sure how to even begin going about making that happen. I've heard absolutely nothing from the acb contingency that I know must exist out there (posts on various boards), so it doesn't look like I'll be taking the "pepsi challenge" so to speak. The Glacier Bay vs. World Cat threads that I've read leave my head spinning, and the diesel/gas debates are always interesting and thoughtfully stated, and though I have a strong preference for diesel, nothing is set in stone. The Aussie built Kevlacat seems to get rave reviews, and comes with the diesel package I'm interested in, but finding one here used in the size I want is a hurdle. There is a 34 ft. available not too far from me but it's not going on a trailer and I don't want to be married to the slip fees. Then to further muddy the waters, friends and aquaintances are now suggesting (strongly) that Farallon and Davis are two that merit consideration. But I'll admit, I keep thinking about that 34 foot K.C. and how much fun that would be! Until my check writing hand got carpal tunnel from the repetitive nature of the maintenance issues....

Dave

I’ve been on both a 33’ WC and a 30’ ACB, and the ACB is not in the same league as the World Cat. Both boats had twin 250 Suzuki’s. I did not at all care for the ride of the ACB, but there was another party on the boat during the sea trial, and they ended up buying it, so go figure.

A fellow in the next dock over has a 28’ Farallon with a single Volvo D6, he loves it and has put hundreds of trouble free hours on it.

Personally, I don’t much care at all for West coast hull designs such as Farallon and Davis, mythology and regional biases aside I do not believe that they stack up well against the better East coast deep vee hulls, in general.

In common here is an accounting of “niche” boat designs, cats, aluminum hulls, converted commercial designs (Davis), and all have their ardent supporters. As stated by others, those that have them love them, and won’t here of any other opinions.

For me, I’ve found you can get just about any job done in a properly designed deep vee hull made of good old fashioned fiberglass. If you’re concerned with weather, get a pilothouse, if you like diesel, get diesel power. In personally trying many of these niche boat designs, I did not find that they offered any real and tangible advantages over a well design FRP monohull, and they are usually much more money. The obvious exception is if you lived in Alaska and had to deal with deadheads, rocks, and I guess icebergs, sure you’d want an aluminum hull.

To the OP, where do you do your boating?

[dirtrich]

I’ve been on both a 33’ WC and a 30’ ACB, and the ACB is not in the same league as the World Cat. Both boats had twin 250 Suzuki’s. I did not at all care for the ride of the ACB, but there was another party on the boat during the sea trial, and they ended up buying it, so go figure.

A fellow in the next dock over has a 28’ Farallon with a single Volvo D6, he loves it and has put hundreds of trouble free hours on it.

Personally, I don’t much care at all for West coast hull designs such as Farallon and Davis, mythology and regional biases aside I do not believe that they stack up well against the better East coast deep vee hulls, in general.

In common here is an accounting of “niche” boat designs, cats, aluminum hulls, converted commercial designs (Davis), and all have their ardent supporters. As stated by others, those that have them love them, and won’t here of any other opinions.

For me, I’ve found you can get just about any job done in a properly designed deep vee hull made of good old fashioned fiberglass. If you’re concerned with weather, get a pilothouse, if you like diesel, get diesel power. In personally trying many of these niche boat designs, I did not find that they offered any real and tangible advantages over a well design FRP monohull, and they are usually much more money. The obvious exception is if you lived in Alaska and had to deal with deadheads, rocks, and I guess icebergs, sure you’d want an aluminum hull.

To the OP, where do you do your boating?

I live in central California along the Monterey Bay. Frequently snotty conditions, LOTS of "weekend warriors" who pilot a vessel as cautiously as they drive their cars, lots of fog here....typically three days of sun followed by three days of fog, hazards in the water such as the occasional log, and we like to go offshore for tuna which means piloting a min. of 30 miles out (in the dark). Not to mention lots O whales. These are some of the reasons I would prefer Aluminum (with sealed float chambers), in addition to the obvious: reduction of maintenance issues, longer lifespan (me AND the boat!), higher resale value. Getting there and back faster figures prominently in my decision making process, as well. And sure, you can "get the job done" in about anything. Surfers here fish for halibut off their surfboards on flat days! And I have an '85 22' Whaler Outrage cc that I have been fishing for ten years, in all conditions, my furthest venture being roughly 60 miles offshore. We have outgrown that vessel, as well as the pounding and wet/cold issues. Now that I am in a position to move up, I am carefully considering as many options that meet my criteria as possible. Aluminum, twin hulls, diesel, and anything made on the west coast aren't really "niche" in my book, so those are strong contenders for my $$$. I realize most things in life are a trade off, (speed/ride quality, size/fuel economy, etc. ) but I also know if I look around enough and educate myself as to all the possibilities, I can probably get most everything I am looking for in one package. Like my wife, for example. Took a long time to find her, but she's the WHOLE package! Smart, beautiful, hard-working, low-maintenance, good mother, good cook. She's not into fishing though, so that's the trade-off there (But she's all for me and the boys going!).

[dirtrich]

Dan's back down running the charter, not sure when he'll be back on line. They run out of Ninilchik early in the season, then move the boats to Seward sometime after 4th of July. I can get you Dan's # if you want to get in touch with him. My daughters friend's family has a 25' acb they run out of Whittier in Prince William Sound and they seem to be pretty happy with the boat, I think he's running twin honda 200's.

I'm sure there are some aluminum cats up here, but honestly I've never seen one on the water or in the marinas. I've seen a few glass cats. That isn't to say cats are a bad design, but they just don't seem to have garnered much of the market. The boats that have the best resale are aluminum cabin cruisers in the 22-28' range. Fish hard, hose it off, put it away until the next adventure. When you have a 4 month boating season, and need to pick windows between small craft advisories, you just don't want a boat that you need to fiddle with, or wax, etc. I can't say our water conditions are much different than other areas, but if you can't readily handle a 2-4' steep chop and confused seas, the boat just isn't suitable for typical outings. In the sound the prevailing winds are out of the East, but then you'll have glacial fjords, and winds coming off the glacier with a decent fetch down the fjord, add in tidal rips and you want a boat that will handle predictable with waves coming from every direction.

I was looking at the acb website, and if I could swing it, the Sport Cruiser 2900 w/ twin 300's would be perfection. But, I can't even afford to dream about such a boat

Hi Paul,

You make some good points. I was looking on their website also (still waiting for a call back about that 2004 26 ft.) and was drooling over that 29'. But the money! Ouch! I don't have champagne tastes on a beer budget, I have champagne tastes on a mixed drink budget. I'm not sure how this will actually turn out for me. Back to the fishing, we're thinking about taking a trip up there, (never been, always wanted to) and theres a few things I'm interested in. First off, there's me, my wife (who doesn't fish) and my 7 and 8 year old sons. The boys and I love to fish, and salmon are at the top of our list (although they're stout for their age/size, I can't see them pulling up those monster halibut!) Besides fishing, the boys want to pan for gold, and we want to see the lights of course! So, can we find all those things at the same place/time? When's the best time to go up there?

Dave

[Dan in Alaska]

The Northern Lights are only veiwable in the winter months. There is too much daylight during the summer months. You're out of luck there.

As for fishing, June & July are tough to beat. Halibut can be found most places, and silver salmon start showing up in Seward in early/mid July. Rockfish were made for kids, and they are in great numbers out of Seward as well. Your kids will have a blast catching rockfish as fast as they can drop a line. I don't run charters out of Seward, but can recommend a few different outfits.

Good luck in your quest for a boat. Let me know if you want/need more info.

[paul h]

I'd suggest late July out of Seward. The silver salmon will be in the bays, and youre boys will have a blast catching salmon and rockfish. I don't think your boys would have a problem with the typical 20-30# halibut, it's the heavy halibut rods and 3# cod sinkers that will wipe them out. But many of the boats have a few lighter jigging rods for halibut, and the boys should be able to handle those.

Flying in to Anchorage, on the way down to Seward is Girdwood. You can stop there and the boys can pan in the Crow Creek Mine. http://www.crowcreekmine.com/index.htm/His..._Gold_Mine.html There are many B&B's down there or you could stay at the Alyeska hotel.

Just a few miles down the road is the Alaska Wildlife Center http://awcc.org/home.html They take care of injured wildlife, and it's a great chance to see most AK wildlife.

In Seward there's the Alaska Sealife Center http://www.alaskasealife.org/ think of it as a mini version of the Monterbay Bay Aquarium. There are a few resteraunts and stores worth checking out. The Edgewater hotel is pretty nice. And many places to hike in Seward, and between Seward and Anchorage.

Fire away with questions of send me a pm.

[dirtrich]

I'd suggest late July out of Seward. The silver salmon will be in the bays, and youre boys will have a blast catching salmon and rockfish. I don't think your boys would have a problem with the typical 20-30# halibut, it's the heavy halibut rods and 3# cod sinkers that will wipe them out. But many of the boats have a few lighter jigging rods for halibut, and the boys should be able to handle those.

Flying in to Anchorage, on the way down to Seward is Girdwood. You can stop there and the boys can pan in the Crow Creek Mine. http://www.crowcreekmine.com/index.htm/His..._Gold_Mine.html There are many B&B's down there or you could stay at the Alyeska hotel.

Just a few miles down the road is the Alaska Wildlife Center http://awcc.org/home.html They take care of injured wildlife, and it's a great chance to see most AK wildlife.

In Seward there's the Alaska Sealife Center http://www.alaskasealife.org/ think of it as a mini version of the Monterbay Bay Aquarium. There are a few resteraunts and stores worth checking out. The Edgewater hotel is pretty nice. And many places to hike in Seward, and between Seward and Anchorage.

Fire away with questions of send me a pm.

Thanks for the info. and links, sounds like a lot of fun and I know my family would enjoy the trip (almost as much as me!). Didn't mean to be rude by not replying sooner, I've been so busy down here that I haven't even had time to turn on my computer since my last post! We're still trying to hammer out our strategy for taking care of business and sneaking away for a real vacation with the boys this summer. Time seems to fly by so quickly it scares me. I'll no doubt be firing off a pm or two to you as things progress down here! Speaking of progress, now that the sky is light, I see that I've got four acres of 5 foot tall weeds that are taunting me! I'd swear I just mowed that a couple weeks ago. Oh well, time to fire up the tractor. Talk to you soon,

Dave

[captaint]

Give me a call and I will take you out on a Cat and you can experience a Cat ride for yourself. I have either a 22 Twin Vee to ride on or a World Cat. I was sold on the cat once I experienced the ride for myself. Nothing beats a cat in the Cape May Rips. 609-780-5596

[dirtrich]

Give me a call and I will take you out on a Cat and you can experience a Cat ride for yourself. I have either a 22 Twin Vee to ride on or a World Cat. I was sold on the cat once I experienced the ride for myself. Nothing beats a cat in the Cape May Rips. 609-780-5596

Hi Captaint, Thank you for the offer! I am currently working out a date to go for a ride on a World Cat that belongs to a friend of a friend of a friend. I've been playing phone tag with the acb salesman, hoping to find a local acb owner to take me for a ride. ACB has a 26' (2004) on their website which I've inquired about, but again, communication has been spotty at best. I've also been looking into Stabicraft a little bit, now that I see they have a U.S. shop right up the street from acb. There is a used 28' Stabi for sale in Alaska that is well outfitted, and the asking price is comparable to the 26' acb. On the plus side, I like the layout better (as well as the price). On the minus side, while I have several trucks that could easily tow it, it's a real road hog (width wise) and here in Santa Cruz county we have a militant bicyclist faction (they seem to think they are the new Hell's Angels) who are long on attitude yet short on common sense (inc. sense of self-preservation) and I don't know if the stress of worrying about one of those "Situational-awareness-impaired" individuals committing suicide by riding under the front of my vessel is worth it. Kind of nuts, isn't it? You just wouldn't believe the frame of mind those guys have. I live in the country, next to the mountains, and these "clots" of bicyclists dressed (masquerading) as olympic competitors have absolutely no fear as they occupy the entire lane. I own-operate a lot of equipment, which I drive/tow in combination into the mountains on a regular basis, and you come around a blind corner (20 miles of nothing BUT blind corners) and here's anywhere from one to twenty bicyclists traveling at about 3-5 mph up the hill in the middle of the extremely narrow lane. Sorry, I didn't mean to rant. Anyhow, back on track, I'm thinking about taking a trip to Washington to look at the Stabis and acbs. We'll see how things shape up in the next couple of weeks.

[welder]

There is a cool ALLOY forum out there ya just have to find it .......LOL

In my sig..