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I am blessed enough to own a 31 Contender with a close friend. We love to chase big fish 100+ miles offshore on overnight trips.
But, in the interest of doing things better (if we can find the right boat at the right price), we were playing with the idea of looking at 80's Sportfisherman (35-40' Hatt, Bert, etc). We travel at night so 10 knots is ok. They hold more fuel and would allow us to stay out longer. Also, you don't get as worn down when you have hot showers and a/c so you can rack out and take a nap now and again.
Are we nuts? Is the maintenance and upkeep on 1,000 hour diesels gonna kill us compared to a couple '01 Yamahas? Is the extra work and costs gonna drive us nuts? Is spending the money (GULP) gonna make us miserable in the long run?
I'd like to hear from other center console converts about the plus and minus of making the switch....
Hey, Monarchy, I can't answer this directly but Limey on TTMB have been spending a lot of time on a guys 34' older Chris Craft this year (the Cypress Cove). Limey has a 26 Glacier Bay and much prefers the sport fisher thing. You might want to post over there and ask him as I know he shares in a lot of the maintenance with the owner so he can probably answer your questions. BTW - They're 4 Blues, 2 Sails and I think 1 White for the year so far. I don't think they'd have been near as successful if they weren't able to make overnight trips. You know how long it takes to get to deep water from Freeport.
Before this thread goes down the drain I'd like to second the question Monarchy posted.
We are in the same boat (sorry) and the lure of leaving Friday night and returning Sunday PM is real attractive. So, anyone willing to share real life move up from CC to SF?
My parents old 42 Bert (1980) had a fishbox in the console that was refrigerated and had an ice chipper. The same A/C unit ran the freezer bait box. They didn't have a watermaker but for $1500ish there was PLENTY of room for it.
Good Luck
William
1900CC Key West W/ 115 Yammie 4 stroke
Biggest boat that would fit in my garage!
i think blue marlin meant "cereal" from the
latin, cereus, meaning grain....did somebody
shit in your spellcheck???
on a more cognitive note...an 80` not only does
not have the SPEED a fishing boat should have,
but does not have the maneuverability either...
many of the true sportfishing boats, vikings,
davises, oceans, et al are quite comfortable
inside, i believe....they are fast and agile
as well....also, if you have done any maint-
enence on one of those hatteras hogs, you would
know that you will need at least a skipper/crew
....the repair expenses when they come will be
knee-noodling, and the cost of at least one
employee must be factored into the equation..
thus, i believe that maintenence, speed, agility
and crewing all favor a considerably smaller
vessel for your needs....perhaps i inferred
(marlin, that means i mistook his meaning) that
smaller craft would be insufficient for your
comfort, which would be rather an extreme stance
on the issue.............................dan
Stupid, yes. But you already know owning any boat is pretty stupid. We have been in an 81 Bert, 38' for 8 years after the previous 20 in outboards. We do most all routine maintainance and cosmetic work ourselves. I'm guessing I spend almost as much time working as I do fishing, but I'm pretty particular and I enjoy this work. My wife really enjoys this big boat too. While we seldom spend the night offshore, we do spend many nights at the dock.
One big problem to me is that unlike the outboards, I cannot do many of the boat projects (work) at home in my spare time. I have to use up some of my time at the boat for this maintenance instead of boating. You can't just head for the water on Friday after work, fish and then park the boat and go home. If you own a boat just so you can catch fish, stay with the 31. If you're obsessed with boats and also like to fish go for it., Spook
Just one comment is that an express boat keeps the capitan/driver in the action. A convertable puts the driver/capitan away from the cockpit. Some persons perfer to drive the boat, others prefer to be in it all. Y'all will need to evalate these roles. As far as costs, it's all part of the game. If you can get some estimates on gph from the prior owner, you run the #'s and see if you can do it. And if it gets to be a hassle after a couple of years, you can always sell it. Or insure the heck out of it and have an 'accident'.
"Kiss my ass, I bought a boat, I'm going out to sea." Lyle Lovett
Doc, speed is relative. Some people don't need to travel at 30 knots. You say that 80's sportfishermen were too slow for a fishing boat and not manueverable? I have to disagree on that one. I have had someone who owns a 31 Contender fish on my boat and loved it even though it cruises significantly slower. He said he was very comfortable and loved it although he didn't know if he could give up the speed to own an inboard. To each his own but when I fish, I have a small fridge, a head, plenty of shade, plenty of unobstructed cockpit space and a good ride in marginal weather. It works for me.
Stupidity Check on buying an 80's Sportfisherman 
Perhaps you meant "incorrectly inferred"? 
