first boat, wilson 17??

hello

me a mate are considering putting together to get a boat. never had one before or been out in one much.

were limited to about £1500 for everything we can get our hands on dont mind abit of work, im a mechanical engineer and have made surf boards, canoes and car body panels from fiberglass and my mates a mechanic so we dont mind doing a bit of work.

ive seen a few Wilson 17' boats on ebay etc going for around the 1-1.5k mark with engine etc.

any idea what these are like?

basically looking something, thats capable for mainly inshore stuff around red bay or glenarm but maybe the odd venture into rougher areas (strangford, ballycastle) once we get some a experience. Need something easy enough to handle, cheap and we can make it reliable if needs be lol.

Also ive heard theres a power boat course which you can do which i want to do to get some understanding of seaman ship etc. or any other courses you could recommend? oh aye that can be done in the north

Cheers Neil

Howya Neil,
The Wilson Flyer 17 is a grand stable fishing platform. As with all dory hulls it will slam like mad in the rough but it is a spacious boat that is stable at anchor. They have been around for years (as has the pilot 17) and can still be bought new today. The Seahog Sealord is a similar hull and I can vouch for the sea keeping abilities of this style of boat!

There is no real “standard” finish as they could/can be bought at whatever stage of completion you want.

Bottom line here is that you could do far worse than a Wilson/Pilot/Sealord.

As for courses, find out where you can do a RYA Level II up your way. You should get your info at: http://www.rya.org.uk/Regions/northernireland/

Don’t want to sound patronising but make sure the budget includes all the gear necessary: VHF, GPS, Flares, Lifejackets, Compass etc.

Enjoy the trip; you’ll never look back once you get afloat!
:D

Cheers for the info! I guess slamming means it doesnt cut through swells as easily as some other hulls? Would i be Right in saying a displacement hull is best for this? Dunno if its an issue or not cuz we wouldn't go near a rough sea but its often windy round the places i would want to fish :(

Were hoping to get the electronics included but if not we'd buy the safety gear new anyway just to know its ok.

Would you know of anyother boats that are decent at the cheaper end of the market?

Cheers neil