Bayliner 195 Classic
May 29th, 2008
Here some of they features this boat gives us :
Hinged fiberglass engine cover
Wide 7'7" beam for increased stability
Meets or exceeds all applicable U.S. Coast Guard safety standards
NMMA certified
Port and starboard sleeper seats convert to sunloungers
Swim step w/ stainless steel handrails and retractable ladder
Transferable limited lifetime structural hull warranty
The starting price of this beauty is $16,934.00
Bayliner 185
April 27th, 2008
Her layout is very straightforward with no real surprises. Up at the bow is the traditional arrangement that wraps around in a continuous seat. Also there are back bolsters along the hull. These bolsters have an interesting two-piece curved style. They’re actually quite nice and add a more finished look to the area. And if you want to face forward into the wind, healthy seat backs have been installed on the forward side of the windshield cowlings. But that’s not all. By removing the seat bottoms, there is a storage below and when you lift the seat backs up even more storage below the windshield on both sides. To complete this area, two-cup holders were molded into the fiberglass deck outboard.
The console on the port side has a molded fiberglass wet sink with drain for ice and drinks, a very useful feature. Unlike the 175, she has a lid hinged forward, to allow for greater access and to close over the sink. Also a removable faced radio with its own door is mounted on the forward wall of the tub above the ice line; out of the way but very accessible. On the starboard side was the helm console. Instead of the flat instrument cluster, that are on the other boats, here is a nice arched dash with a remarkably retro-looking instrument cluster. Each gauge is mounted in its own cylinder that extends out from the console and arranged in an arch that matches the lines of the dash nicely. Even the color is different: a dark blue that somehow works with the light tan upholstery well. And the gauges themselves have black and gold accents on a silver face; the whole area is really nice and kind of wraps around you. The helm itself is stitched and molded to conform to your hands not to mention that it was a tilt wheel also.
Stepping over the hatch brings you to the transom and swim platform. The entire upper section of the vessel from bow to stern is a singular molded piece including the jump seats, bow seats, console and of course swim platform. This makes for simplicity in construction and more strength and regattas throughout. So when you stand on the swim platform you feel no spring or give like with the bolt ones. The platform itself ran full beam and bridged the out drive. With the boarding ladder, Bayliner kept it simple and easy to use by making a unit that just flipped over the side to put down and pivots up to store into a molded grove in the platform deck. And the ladder is a full three step stainless unit that telescopes in and out. Take care when lifting as the sections will drop into each other and can pinch skin!
Here is a boat for the person that just wants a fun runabout with room for family and friends with some features at an attractive Bayliner price, which starts from $13,495.00.
Here are some key features, that might attract you :
Great performance even with standard 3.0 L engine.
Largest interior in its class.
Standard 3-step swim ladder provides easy access from the water.
Plenty of side and bow storage plus ski/wakeboard storage compartment.
Molded-in entry steps provide great access.
Express 600 boat
March 31st, 2008
Here's a trailer boat concept which is sure to strike a cord with everyday fishing fanatics. It's the Express 'Swamp Boat', a jumbo sized open tinnie of six metre which has the sea-legs to take you offshore to your favourite reefs and canyons in confidence and comfort. And the good news is the price is under $22,000, or what you pay for many mid-sized tinnies these days. Dubbed the 'Swamp Boat' because of its robust, go anywhere ability this new Express will certainly make many people sit up and take notice. Afterall it's a darn long time since we've heard of six metre boats in this price range. Especially when they can be run for as little as $20 a day! It sounds all too good to be true, but I was able to verify the facts recently in a Pittwater based test of the boat through NSW dealer, Central Coast Sales & Service. Not surprisingly a key to the amazing fuel economy involves a four-stroke Honda 50hp. This is all the power you need to get this big open tinnie up and doing 21 knots.
However, the other side of the secret is the amazingly clever Durajoint aluminium construction which is unique to Express Boats. Instead of welding the main panels they lock them together by extruded rails which also add strength and protect the hull. It might sound impossible, but this form of construction actually increases strength while reducing overall weight. We've tested the David Payne Express boats in the past in TBF and there's no doubt they're one of the most impressive range of alloy boats in the world. One could almost call them the 'thinking man's tinnie' since they seem to appeal to the more experienced boatie who's not so influenced by fashion and fads. Dealer, Craig Jones, is absolutely taken with this boat himself and personally uses it every chance he gets. He says the boat has proven to be an excellent fishing rig as it has truck-loads of interior room and rides through the water in a more steady fashion than small tinnies.
"Offshore this boat is brilliant" declares Craig who also has used the boat for family picnic days and many offshore.trips. For parties he just adds the deck chairs and the folding picnic table from the backyard to sit everyone down for lunch. And he even takes the umbrella and barbie as well! With a massive cockpit floor space of roughly two by five metres you've certainly got the room to treat the boat as a party platform. The obvious drawback is the total lack of protection, yet this is a price which Craig believes many will pay just to get an offshore-capable boat cheaply. "Life is a compromise and the way we see it with the Swamp Boat we're giving people the best value in terms of the actual boat and what it can do" says Craig. There's no doubt the actual package offered by Craig's dealership sounds pretty good to cash-strapped ears. He sells the boat as ready-to-go package for $21,500 including electric start Honda 50hp, high quality Bluefin trailer, quarter seats, navigation and interior lights, floor carpet, Marinetek colour video sounder and safety gear.
This boat shares the same hull which previously was released as a big runabout with a MerCruiser sterndrive. It's actually a better fishing platform due to the sides being cut-down to a more workable and practical height. You still get about 80mm of internal freeboard which is just right for bracing yourself against the coamings when you're hooked into a big fish. There's also flat side decks which are wide enough to add extra rod holders where required. Not that you'll need to since it comes with six rod holders already in the deck, including up for'ard to give a good spread of lines. The interior of the boat is open from the rear quarter seats through to the short foredeck. The floor is level and provides all the room you'd need to take a party of six, or eight out fishing. From a social point of view there's obviously loads of interior room and again you could take upwards of eight people pretty comfortably. The design features the Dory style hull form which is a feature of Express Boats. Essentially this means the hull has a banana-like bottom and curved sides so it doesn't present large flat areas to bang in the water. At a distance the Swamp Boat might look like any other tinnie, yet up close and personal it has the curved sides and bottom and narrow waterline which makes it ride well in choppy water, despite having a fairly shallow deadrise. The hull features clinker pattern topsides and a series of sharp bottom strakes externally attached. There is also a pair of deflector strakes back near the transom which effectively allow you to drain the cockpit and bilge when you are underway. The drain holes open into the 'pockets' formed by these deflectors and the venturi affect of water rushing past drains draws the water out automatically. The cockpit floor is actually too deep for stern scuppers, however these bottom drains are the next best thing.
Construction of the Swamp boat is in sheet alloy just like the smaller tinnies. Up till recently Aussie manufacturers have been reluctant to make sheet alloy boats this big, but that seems to be changing now. Construction in this case is quite robust with 3mm panels on the bottom, 2.5mm in the topsides, 2mm in the decks and 3mm in the transom. This is backed up by the incredibly solid Durajoint extrusions in the gunwale, chines and along the bottom. One o.f the benefits of this construction is the boat hardly needs any framing so the interior stays very clean and neat. There's about four major box frames in the boat and the two middle ones are used to form the ends of the side pockets. For a knock-about tinnie that has an unpainted hull the Swamp Boat has a surprisingly fair hull due to the Durajoint construction. The lack of welding means the panels aren't distorted by heat and fit very smoothly. From a trailing point of view boat this rig will only come to a total of about 850kg, including safety gear and full tank of fuel. This places the boat well within the national towing range of popular cars like Holden Commodores, Ford Falcon, Toyota Camry and Mazda 626s including the older pre 1990 models. The low hull should also be fairly easy to tow and park at home, though the length might pose a problem for storing in garages. In any event it's going to be a fairly easy boat to handle on the road and ramp especially with the trailer that comes with the boat. This trailer features and bow-capture vee in the rear frame and rolla-matic wheels and teflon skid to make retrieving a breeze.
Performance:
We didn't get the chance to find rough water outside in the ocean, but we did run into a bit of light chop and waves inside the bay. From what we could see on the day the Express 600 hardly feels the bumps at all and it's quite possible to move around the cockpit when the boat is underway.
One would naturally expect a boat of this size to ride pretty comfortably, yet I was still very impressed with the way the boat rode through the wash of other boats. I was also impressed with the dryness of the ride and the good external freeboard at all times.
The tiller-steered Honda performed admirably though I have to say the top speed was not wildly exciting at 21 knots. On the positive side the Swamp Boat would be able to plug away at this speed just about all the time and deliver a very good average speed. When you're offshore you often can't do much more than 20 knots so a big boat like this would probably get to your waypoint marks as quick as any other boat with a higher potential speed. While I didn't mind the tiller steer set up, and certainly enjoyed the convenience of the electric start, I'd feel more comfortable with a pedestal seat for the long trips out to sea if I was making a long haul out to the fishing grounds offshore. In fact the factory can fit these chairs as an option along with a number of other things like a central snapper box and so on. In the at-rest position the Swamp Boat sat quite comfortably in the water, even with three guys over one side. Possibly you could add a bigger sized motor, but to be fair it does perform quite well with the 50hp four-stroke. In many ways the slower speed seems to fit well with the style of boat and what it is trying to achieve.
Interior Layout:
Not that much to talk about here since the boat is pretty simple and doesn't have much seating. However you do get the basic deck hardware such as a sturdy bow roller, mooring cleat, bow grab rail and stern quarter cleats. There's also a quite large anchor locker under the foredeck which has room for two anchors, line and some other 'wet' fishing gear. There's also side pocket lockers and extra stowage in the locker space under the stern seats. In the latter case there is a central hatch which opens at floor level and allows you to slide in the standard Honda fuel tank. The quarter seats have cushion tops and house an electric switch panel for the nav lights, interior light and LCD sounder included with the boat. A clever touch also is the way the sounder is mounted up under the foredeck so the anchor-man can read it, and make the decision when to drop the anchor. There's not much else to talk about other than the carpeted floor which features a quality ribbed, carpet. The carpet also seals against the sides so you don't run the risk of losing sinkers and other small items down into the bilge. This is just another benefit of the clean Durajoint form of construction. From a fishing point of view the roomy cockpit will make it ideal for larger groups to go fishing, however even the solo fisherman will benefit from a boat which provides a comfortable ride, and enhanced level of sea-worthiness. It's also worth pointing out that the factory offers a centre console option as well as the more conventional for'ard steering design. However, I still like the idea of the tiller-steer boat for its sheer simplicity and the way it opens up the back of the boat so beautifully. All I'd be adding is a slot-in pedestal seat.
Verdict:
There's no doubt that the Swamp Boat offers one of the best value rigs around for sheer hull volume and offshore-ability. The boat offers a huge interior which can be easily adapted to many needs including party fishing, and or just 'partying' with your friends. The room and stability easily allows you to add things like folding deck chairs and the portable barbecue. The obvious drawback is the lack of shelter, but I doubt if this will worry the sort of people who'll buy this boat. Admittedly not everyone is into offshore boating and in that case I suggest they wouldn't think of a boat like this. They should consider something smaller like the Express 4.8m, or 5.2m in runabout form. Certainly the Express is a well made product and one of the few I know about which offers a five year warranty on their hulls. They also enjoy quite a successful export market of their boats to commercial users in SE Asia, so you can be assured of a very well proven product.
