Oh what to do... renovate or not

[Corry]

So, going to ask this old chestnut again, renovate or buy.... might need to make a new drink for this one
Our current boat is a 2000 model Quintrex 5m Top Ender, running a 2018 Merc ProXS. We are mainly Barra fisho's which sees most of our fishing in estuaries. We do the occasional run out to the islands, but we only do that if the weather is good, we're too old to get bashed around.
I've been tossing up lately as to whether or not we start looking at a new boat. I've gone down this path before, and couldn't come up with what I would replace it with, hence we put the new motor on our current tub. Slowly as age goes on there are things coming up that need replacing/fixing. The floor is getting to a point it needs to be replaced (it is over 20 years old) and I'm thinking I'd like to change the seating position and console position.

Anyway, anyone who's got a Top Ender might have some opinions on what I find as the cons for our current ride, and maybe have some solutions.

Things I'm not liking,
Console is to low. Only slightly, needs to be lifted about 4" to make it more comfortable to stand behind.
Seats are too far back. We predominantly have both seats in the rear position, this leaves no room to fish behind them, you have to walk 'around' them rotating them as you go.
No room to hide the fridge/esky. I've always loved the idea where there is room under the front cast deck (similar to TABS) to hide the esky/fridge.
Flooring. Ply and carpet. Needs replacing, but not keen to replace with ply/carpet, thinking more of going aluminium and sea deck (or similar).
Fuel Tank placement. It seems that the fuel tank is too far back. It's under the side console, which makes nearly all the weight to the rear of the boat, which makes it hard to get on the plane at lower speeds to let the hull 'work' in chop. I believe that the Top Ender was initially designed around the Coast Runner, or forward control models, hence it has most of it's weight at the back.

So, if I renovate this one, I'd be looking at new floor, raising the front cast deck slightly, moving console forward and lifting it, moving seats forward, moving fuel tank forward.
Then there is the trailer. I'm going to stick with offroad capability, I think it's going to be made out of C Channel instead of Alloy as we have done a few remote trips, and plan on a lot more.

Taking into consideration the amount of work that I need to do (to a 20 year old boat) is it worth throwing another 20-25k into this boat, or should I upgrade to a new plate boat (loving the Black Marlin or AMM atm)

Things I really love about this boat;
it floats in next to bugger all water, I'm not thinking I'm going to get a plate boat that will do that (yeah, I've looked at Barcrusher with the closeable water ballast etc),
is stable as at rest (even in bugger all water) and,
it's a very dry boat, thanks to the shape of the Millennium Hull.
New motor.

I know no one can make the decision for us, but I'm more after if there are any thoughts around renovating or buying new. Yep, love the new and shiny, but also love the fact I can drag crab pots up the side and bump against things in the old one and not be worried about scratching a new one. One thing that does worry me about renovating, is, if I do go ahead and move everything to where I want it, am I going to upset the balance of the hull, has it been designed to be a front high hull and doing what I want to do will turn it into a pig to drive/handle?

Anyway, you'd be ready for a fresh drink now, let me know what you think.

[stevej]

price up the boat you want that will do what you want perfectly

work out what your current rig is worth second hand atm

if the cost of upgrades is close to the difference between buying and selling id be getting a new boat

[Dignity]

Similar quandry, I want to downsize the Allison 195, upsize the Quinny Dory 4.2 WB due to age and change in fishing styles. I've started looking at the Sea Adex Tjey series plate boats. Their 6m version is supposed to float in 300mm if water, I tried looking up their 5.3m version but being young owners their web site has bugger all details and you probably need to use FB Instagram etc. They have youtube of the 6m boat only, and the price will be up there, well over the 50k (the 6m model was $55k in 2016). I'm still interested but would prefer some basic specs on their website.

[tunaticer]

My assumption from reading your post is you are basically happy with your current boat.....some mods needed though.
If your hull is in good condition and not dying from fatigue or corrosion I would opt to revamp it tuning it to your liking.
You buy a new boat then you have all the expense of kitting it out to suit your desires.....there isn't a boat made that will fulfill all of your wants.

I bought new last month and am currently modding it to suit myself.....a costly 1 off adventure on top of the purchase.
My old boat wasn't worth spending another cent on after 26 years of hard use.

[Noelm]

As mentioned, get a realistic quote on a new boat, with a suitable trailer, then do a similar exercise on doing the mods to yours and weigh up the difference.

[myusernam]

topenders are great and have great resale. a new floor and moving seats and consoles etc will cost f.all

[scottar]

Many facets to this one. Expected outlays for both options? Can you DIY a good percentage of the rebuild? What condition is the hull in? What is your expected term of ownership from this date forward?

After having done the long term pressed alloy ownership thing - 20 years with a 23 year old boat, and being involved with some pretty major refits of old alloy boats, I have formed an opinion that the realistic life span of an aluminium vessel is somewhere around the 25-30 year mark. Repairs on an alloy hull of this sort of age are problematic at best. Aluminium literally starts to delaminate internally courtesy of salt water exposure as it gets older - from memory there were 4 different ways the stuff suffers from corrosion damage from the bit of research I did when the welders at work started complaining.

At the end of the day, the age of the boat will also set any resale to a big extent. When I sold mine I got reamed considering the level of equipment it had. The first bloke that looked at it bought it but due to age I had to keep dropping the price just to get a looker.

If the hull is in excellent condition (need to strip the floor out and give it a very thorough once over) and the dollars just don't stack up for a replacement, you might consider it. Chances are though you would be better off passing it on and going new.

[Sheik]

Many facets to this one. Expected outlays for both options? Can you DIY a good percentage of the rebuild? What condition is the hull in? What is your expected term of ownership from this date forward?

After having done the long term pressed alloy ownership thing - 20 years with a 23 year old boat, and being involved with some pretty major refits of old alloy boats, I have formed an opinion that the realistic life span of an aluminium vessel is somewhere around the 25-30 year mark. Repairs on an alloy hull of this sort of age are problematic at best. Aluminium literally starts to delaminate internally courtesy of salt water exposure as it gets older - from memory there were 4 different ways the stuff suffers from corrosion damage from the bit of research I did when the welders at work started complaining.

At the end of the day, the age of the boat will also set any resale to a big extent. When I sold mine I got reamed considering the level of equipment it had. The first bloke that looked at it bought it but due to age I had to keep dropping the price just to get a looker.

If the hull is in excellent condition (need to strip the floor out and give it a very thorough once over) and the dollars just don't stack up for a replacement, you might consider it. Chances are though you would be better off passing it on and going new.

+1, all very good advice.

[disorderly]

Yeah good advice but in the end it comes down to how much money do you want to throw at a boat of that age....corrosion and fatigue are inevitable in older pressed alloy boats at some stage..

I would talk to some boatbuilders/welding shops in your district and get an indication of of what a bare unpainted 5m centre-console plate hull might cost..

These days you can even buy a kit and get it welded up for you..

https://cncmarine.com.au/project/5000-centre-console/


If you chuck in a bit of ply and carpet and tidy it up a little maybe you could get close to 20K for your current rig in the current crazy market..add the 25K you were going to spend renovating and you might find you are not too far away from a brand new rig built to your exact specs ....you can save some dollars fitting the hull out yourself and leaving it unpainted..

How cool would that be..!...

I know which way I'd go..

[Corry]

Thanks guys, some great points. As far as I'd like to say money isn't a deciding point, I guess I've still got to keep it realistic though. Good points about the age and fatigue of the hull, hadn't really taken that into account as this one has been looked after so well, hence the floor is still original after 20 years.
I'll do some poking around with new hulls, I did contemplate getting a new hull and putting the new motor on it, and then selling the old hull and trailer, but not sure what sort of market is out there for a hull and trailer, I don't need to be left with it sitting in the yard.