BUSHY'S NEW BOAT:

Buying a new boat is a very tricky process if you want to get it right. Firstly you have to decide exactly what you want the boat to do. In my case I really wasn’t asking for much - I just wanted a boat big enough to catch marlin, kingfish, tuna, snapper, and flathead in the ocean – and small enough to efficiently catch bream, perch, bass, trout, barra and cod in estuaries and impoundments.

Oh yeah, it had to give a good ride on rough days in the ocean and be nice and stable at rest for lure and fly fishing on the flat water. I also wanted a boat I could afford to tow and run in what I believe will be some tough economic times. To sum it up in one sentence, I wanted a recession busting, big, small, comfortable cheap boat with a power plant that would run quietly, smoothly and reliably with minimum fuel and maintenance costs.

I guess anyone who knows anything at all about boating has already realized what I wanted to put together is impossible to achieve, but that didn’t stop me trying. I went to boat shows in three states and looked at a lot of boats. I also talked to some very smart people who have been in the fishing and boating game for a long time.   

If you are into maths, two and two usually ends up as four and in boating circles if you add small to seaworthy at least one of the correct answers comes up as the old Haines 445 center console hull. This hull has been around for so long I am sure that Noah had a good look at one before he built the ark. Apparently he would have bought one but he needed a bigger boat.

There are various manufacturers still building versions of this hull and I saw one built by Adrian Clancy of Formula boats at the Melbourne boat show. I was impressed by the finish and the solid lay-up so after a ride in one I looked around and found my own  Formula 15 sitting in a boat yard at Phillip Island in Victoria. The folks from Phillip Island Marine are also Evinrude E tec dealers which meant they could fit the engine I wanted as well - and they also use Easy tow trailers, so it worked out that they could put the whole project together for me.

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