About 9 months ago after doing a bit of Tuna fishing, my father, brother and I decided that we needed a bigger boat. The Kingcat 180 we had at that time just wasn't the boat for fishing Tuna the way we wanted to. There just wasn't enough space on the boat for carrying the large amount of fuel, bait, tackle and the 3 of us. After searching a bit on the internet, we finally found the boat we wanted. This was the photo of the boat in the advertisement.
It was a bare 26ft Butt-cat hull.
We bought the boat, and had it transported to Mossel Bay on a flat bed truck where we would do some work on the boat. My father didn't like the anti-fouling and the paint job, and decided to redo it.
The boat being prepared to be sprayed.
After building a double axle trailer, we loaded the boat onto the trailer using a crane and took it to the boat shop for some work. We didn't like the deck layout and changed it a bit. Fitted the motors, steering, electronics, builded a new engine-well and fitted some stainless.
After a couple of hick-ups, we finally had the boat ready for testing this weekend.
We now have a 26ft Butt-cat with 2 x 115hp 4 stroke Mercury motors. We fitted 2x 180 liter stainless tanks. We changed the deck layout to have 2 fish hatches and a ice/bait hatch. The big cabin also offers some cover from the wind on the future long trips to the deep. We also fitted 2 outriggers for trolling in the deep and for our future participation in the Struisbaai Marlin competition. Here is a couple of pics of the maiden voyage over the weekend:
We launched the boat in Mossel Bay using the tractor at the slip as we didn't want the cruiser to get wet.
It's floating!!
Isn't that beautiful!
Me taking the wheel.
My father's smile says it all!
First fish on deck, by the GF!
Back at the slip.
Slipped her back on the trailer. All the guides worked like a dream.
Crew doing their job.
So it has been a long journey to where we are now, but it was an enjoyable one. Now just a couple of corrections like changing prop size, lowering the motors one slot down and fitting the radar before the boat will be taken to Houtbay Storage yard. Really looking forward to the first Yellowfin in the deep.
Tight lines!
Tiaan
It was a bare 26ft Butt-cat hull.
We bought the boat, and had it transported to Mossel Bay on a flat bed truck where we would do some work on the boat. My father didn't like the anti-fouling and the paint job, and decided to redo it.
The boat being prepared to be sprayed.
After building a double axle trailer, we loaded the boat onto the trailer using a crane and took it to the boat shop for some work. We didn't like the deck layout and changed it a bit. Fitted the motors, steering, electronics, builded a new engine-well and fitted some stainless.
After a couple of hick-ups, we finally had the boat ready for testing this weekend.
We now have a 26ft Butt-cat with 2 x 115hp 4 stroke Mercury motors. We fitted 2x 180 liter stainless tanks. We changed the deck layout to have 2 fish hatches and a ice/bait hatch. The big cabin also offers some cover from the wind on the future long trips to the deep. We also fitted 2 outriggers for trolling in the deep and for our future participation in the Struisbaai Marlin competition. Here is a couple of pics of the maiden voyage over the weekend:
We launched the boat in Mossel Bay using the tractor at the slip as we didn't want the cruiser to get wet.
It's floating!!
Isn't that beautiful!
Me taking the wheel.
My father's smile says it all!
First fish on deck, by the GF!
Back at the slip.
Slipped her back on the trailer. All the guides worked like a dream.
Crew doing their job.
So it has been a long journey to where we are now, but it was an enjoyable one. Now just a couple of corrections like changing prop size, lowering the motors one slot down and fitting the radar before the boat will be taken to Houtbay Storage yard. Really looking forward to the first Yellowfin in the deep.
Tight lines!
Tiaan
