quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
The 12’ aluminum boat I had was nearly swamped with just me and my 10 year old nephew in it. Take a realistic look at how much weight you are going to want to carry in it. Passengers and gear.

The 12' V hulls have much higher sides than the 12' jon boats and can safely carry more weight without swamping.


A bigger boat is a good idea. But a 12' boat is easy for a starter boat, will easily fit in a garage on the trailer, easy to launch, easy to learn on, easy to sell if you want to trade up. Bottom line it's a great starter boat for calm water and cheap entry price. If you buy this boat for the right money, and $1500 sounds like it is, and just keep it in good shape, you should always be able to sell it for that.

The porta boats flex when you hit waves and stuff, I don't like the feeling of that.

I'll just echo here a bit. You will want a bigger boat, and then a bigger/different boat, trust me. Best advice I can give you as a seasoned boater is:
BUY YOUR LAST BOAT FIRST!

We have 3 aluminum boats, none of them leak, none are welded except on a few seams where it is required. The oldest is a Sear 11.5' v-hull made in 1964, as dry inside as the day it was made. You could ask the seller for a quick try out to see if it leaks. And that 9.9 (same head as a 15) will push it just fine.

Hello!

Thank you all for the input. We will look at it Saturday, and I’ll keep the lessons shared here in mind.

Jim