seafarer v sea 4.74

[snapstick]

i am looking at a v sea seafarer for inshore and moderate offshore fishing. the hull is clean and basic with an older 70 hp johnson.
looking for advice on what the hulls are like eg. ride, stability, wetness and general sturdyness as the waters down here in south oz usually get a serious sea breeze and a bashing coming home is the norm. the guy wants around 5 grand for it and any advice from someone who has owned or ridden in one would be much appreciated. cheers

[disorderly]

We have had both these,albeit not on the same setup.Cant say a bad word about the seafearer(just like all older glass boats check the floor and transom for rot) and until recently I relyed on a 26 year old 70hp johnno to push my 5.25stacer up to 150km per trip to the reef and back without ever having a problem.
cheers scott

[eimeo]

my mate recently sold his to upsize.It was a fantastic little boat-great fishing boat-very seaworht boat-if yoou read up on them the seafarer 474 and haines 445 were about the best small boat hulls ever-the seafarer rides a bit softer

great boat

dave

[tigermullet]

The Seafarer V-sea is a marvellous boat. I haven't owned one of that type but have had the Venus. My mate also had a Seafarer and we were occasionally 'caught' outside - once in truly horrible conditions but the seafarer handled it exceptionally well and we never had a moments doubt about its sea worthiness.

As for individual boats it would be wise to follow the recommendation of Disorderly and check the floor and transom for rot. If the owner will permit it use a 2mm drill bit and drill into the transom from the inboard side. The hole is easily covered with two pack gel coat - you will only need a small dot. On one of my boats I carried out that test and almost fell over when the test revealed that the transom was just a fibre glass shell covering wet wood pulp. That was a sad day because the boat was one of the best fishing platforms ever. Rather than repair or sell the boat to some unsuspecting person (you could not determine the condition just by 'tapping') I junked the boat. Better that than have the transom rip out especially with children on board.