Originally Posted by
PADDLES
what we're doing is bringing up the age old debate of which allrounder to buy that can be towed by a corolla, will fit up a 12 foot wide drain, tow the kids on a tube, fish the shelf and then be nice to spend 5 nights on at tangas in the school holidays. the harsh reality is that boat doesn't exist.
i think you're being a bit unrealistic with your expectations, you want a 5m boat that will be good up the estuaries and tight water, can be dragged across a rock bar without damage, and then do high speed across the open water on a rough day whilst staying nice and dry and it just doesn't make sense. the only thing that might even come close would be one of those polycraft 530 bowriders and it'd still be wetter than a hookers undies, maybe any 5m glass cuddy would do the job if you were willing to stop runing into rocks.
there is nothing without compromise, the only real solution is having 2 boats, a cheap 13 foot tinny for the creeks and a 6m plus heavy glass boat for the open water, that's what i've done and the big boat is still krap for fishing out of, but nice to sleep on.