1973 Feathercraft 16' Alum. Fishing Boat

[tomsgonefishing]

I've been looking at a 16' Feathercraft Alum. Fishing boat
from pictures from another area. It's in great condition and all but the gunwale curves in a little instead of going straight up from the sides. My friend thinks that this won't handle rough water because of the way it's made. There's other boat companies back then did it too. Has anyone owned or still has one or been in one that can give me some advice about buying the boat. The man told me he's had 4 people in it moving around and you can't even hardly feel the boat move.
Thanks and God bless you,
Tom



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[davetclown]

I have had as many as 8 people in a boat, and I have been in my boat where two people made the operations of the boat dangerous. "number of people in a boat is errelavent, it goes by weight copasity.

the copasity of a boat goes like this, The boat has a 500 pound max weight limit, the weight includes the weight of the motor, which means, the motor 90lbs + me at 250 lbs my box at 15 lbs, my coller with two bags of ice at 20 lbs, accounting for a good day of fishing at 20 lbs. Mis weight for safty equipment and oars another 20 lbs.

this would leave me 85 pounds for a guest and his tackle, how ever on this boat I see mounted seats, this means there is additional weight to account for. so my guest may not be any bigger than a 3rd grader.

so the limit is the motor and the weight of every thing else.

every thing in that boat that is not originaly or factory attached to the boat is additional weight.

the guy may have had 4 people in his boat, but he did so at great risk to every one in the boat.

Look at the tag stamped and perminantly mounted to the boat, it has the max weight limit and the max motor size the boat is rated for.

Be careful on max motor limit, it dose not account for the new 4 stroke motor weights.

it is fine for small lakes. small rivers, canals. "it is a canal boat" Stay away from lakes with boat traffic, water skiiers, and lakes that can get waves over a foot high.

Do your self a favor, pass this one up, find your self a nice wide 16 foot Deap "V" with a minimum weight copasity of 700 pounds if your are going to be going out where the waters can get rough from other boat traffic and weather conditions. And if your going walleye fishing, Deffenantly pass this up, I have been on waters that would swallow that boat.

700 pounds is not a lot, beleive me. 700 pounds is a two heafty man fishing boat or a three skinny man fishing boat.

There are guys who take those out on the detroit river, "on calm days and never go out much further than 50-100 yards from shore" There was one that was rented out 2 years ago on the detroit river that sank killing one person.
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[tomsgonefishing]

[fishin] Dave,
thanks for the advice! I'll stay away from this like
the plague! My friend said he likes the Grumman,
Blue Fin or Starcraft in 16' boats that are out there.
Is that what you like? Do you like any other brands
besides these?
Thanks for the timely heads up!!!
God bless you,
Tom
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[davetclown]

I have a starcraft 14 foot
[url "javascript:;"][/url]
[#000000][size 2]Max HP15 / 11.2kw
[/size][/#000000]
[#000000][size 2]Fuel Capacity Requires Portable Fuel Tank
[/size][/#000000]
[#000000][size 2]Length13' 6" / 4.1m
[/size][/#000000]
[#000000][size 2]Beam 59" / 150cm
[/size][/#000000]
[#000000][size 2]Weight (boat only) 142 lbs / 64.4kg
[/size][/#000000]
[#000000][size 2]Capacity (persons / lbs.) 4/495 lbs / 4/224.5kg
[/size][/#000000]
[#000000][size 2]Capacity 700 lbs / 317.5kg
[/size][/#000000]
[#000000][size 2]Inside Depth21" / 53cm
[/size][/#000000]
[#000000][size 2]Transom Width55" / 140cm
[/size][/#000000]
[#000000][size 2]Chine Width (at transom)48" / 122cm
[/size][/#000000]
[#000000][size 2]Transom Height (for engine)15" / 38cm
[/size][/#000000]
[#000000][size 2]Aluminum Gauge0.051" / .130cm
[/size][/#000000]
[#000000][size 2]Deadrise (deg at transom)7[/size][/#000000]

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This is the minimum you will want for a two man boat.

While I would take this out on most inland lakes, I would stay off the great lakes and the detroit river except the trenton chanel is ok.

The Deap V is almost a foot higher.

the differance is, 6 inches or 15 inches between the rim of the boat and the seat your sitting on.

Be sure to check out your weight limmits and motor rating on the inspection plate on the boat. the 16 footer should have a capasidy of 1000-1200... I would say if the boat is in good shape that a 16 foot starcraft would do you nicely.
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[lonehunter]

Ya' know , i'm looking at that first boat and yep it looks overloaded with extras that can be stripped off .
It does look like a deep V hull , it has the drain plug in the bottom of the transom and a spill hole up on the top right hand side of the transom .
That moter looks to be a 40 h.p. moter unless i'm mistaken , pretty sure it should have about a 25 h.p. moter tops .
Just guessing from what I can see .
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[tomsgonefishing]

[fishin]Going to leave it alone. Thanks for the advice!
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[lonehunter]

That's cool !
What lakes you plan on fishing ?
I see a lot of boats on the roadsides up here for sale , got a price range figured out ? I can take pics and post them for you .
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[tomsgonefishing]

[fishin]Thanks lonehunter!

I will be fishing around the Lansing area, on the inland lakes and maybe on Saginaw Bay. I'm looking for a good aluminum, in the 16 ft range, priced under $2,000. As cheap as I can get it and a good boat too.
Maybe a Grumman, Blue Fin, Starcraft, etc. open like the Feathercraft, but stable.
Thanks for your advice and help!
God bless you!
Tom :
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[lonehunter]

I'll do that !
On the way home from work friday I saw a 8' deep-V alum, camo painted for duck hunting , get this , $50.00 .
It was sold before I had the truck turned around .

I'm going to P.M. you a message .
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[lonehunter]

http://nmi.craigslist.org/bar/1845234859.html
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