Luke Chivers, he's an honest bloke that will give you a good run down!

Call Chivers Marine, Bibralake!

They are a good offshore boat. A freind of mine had one and was very happy with it.I guess it depends on your skills with a boat to how far you call offshore,good luck.

there are a few of us that live in the South West and regularly catch up.

what are your prefered fishing options.

being a new members its a good idea to fill in your profile.

Not the prettiest boats IMO but thats really not of great importance compared to the ride and handling qualities which are great.

I used to fish out of a Pursuit, it was as hard as nails and rode reasonable well in most seas.

I agree with Ryan, Ring Luke Chivers, his old man built the Pursuits, he'll give you an honest opinion. 

Mate my family have owned chivers for years n years , great riding boat all ocean conditions , strong hull . smooth ride. i would recomend them. Everyone i know who has owened one n sold them for another boat fibre glass or aluminuim hs regreted it . 

Good to see your on the site. Had a look at that boat it looks pretty good for the age but what about the Mustang -Not keen any more?

Gday folks, new here.

I had a Pursuit for last summer, got hit with a case of "footage" and upgraded to a Chivers Sportsfisherman. Have regreted it ever since. I do like the new boat, but the Pursuit's go beautifully in all but the worst seas that no one ever really wants to be in.

I had a 70hp 3 cylinder Johnson (mid 80's) on mine, and it was good for 30 knots with 2 divers and gear onboard. Only criticism is that they are a pain to get to the anchor.

Buy it, you won't regret it.

 wow ,  so the sports chivers sports fisherman aint as good as they say ? We have a 18ft6 chivers mark 5 , half cabin ,It fishes 2 full grown men quite comfee , 3 is alright but any more is a pain in the arse , good thing its mainly just me and the old man haha, i love my boat , i reckon they are a gem , we just got a brand new 3 litre merc inboard outboard in ours , n it flies haha .

Ive got one of the old Thunderbirds as well but I gave it a haircut and now she is a nice little centre console.

 The hulls are bulletproof and they iron out the rough stuff nice and easy. Mine runs on a 90 honda and is good for 33knots. Id love a bigger motor but its a good trade off with fuel. She went from Denham to steep point and back with ease and it was through some rough water.

Great boats and Luke is a bit of a goldmine of knowledge down at chivers. He gave me a few tips structurally before the top came off

Yeh the hulls are farking awesome mate, we got a brand new inboard outboard 3 ltire merc in ours goes bloody great .

Cammos,

She was outboard from factory but I cut the top right out to the gunwhales and replaced with new plastic sandwich. The only trouble I had was to balance her out and had the fuel tank forward of the centre at first but it is now tucked under the back where the motor would be on an inboard and runs sweet with 130L in it. It was a good project to do but my mate thaught I was crazy putting a grinder into it as it run fine in its standard form. I know she would take a 150 but how often do you go flat out. With the 90 I can still pull a couple of tubes with fat buggers on it or go squidding and crabbing and use no fuel. Just a tradeoff I spose

I've got a Chivers Bahama, not many of them around they're like a "small" safari. Mines 5.8 m but it's really as good as some 6.5 m boats I've seen.
Has a nice size cabin so I can have an afternoon zzzzzz, handles well, tow's a bit heavy but it is a BIG 5.8 m.
cheers
shane

I'm not sure on that; it's a lot bigger than the Tbird.
I've seen a few of those and they seem quite alot smaller.....
Anyway how do I post a picture?
cheers
shane

I was about to say it is easy, but now I don't see the buttons for it. Help anyone?

I've emailed Adam and asked him, so I'll email pics to him and he said he can add to the thread.

Just a tick......

Well there you go. It looks similiar sized to mine, but it is hard to tell sitting here. Anchor hatch, nice.

How does the Volvo go? I assume by the colour it is a volvo?

long story but part of the upgrade.. I replaced the 135HP Volvo that gave me 28 knots with an upgrade to a 260hp 5.7 litre (I think) MPI Mercruiser.

It's not in the water yet.....and I've just purchased a navman M84 to go with it.

I'm hoping for 40knts ++ ...... watch this space

cheers

shane

That is a good looking Chivers. That is a statement rarely made. It looks fast too.

5.7L V8!!!!! That will put the wind through your hair.

BQ544, mate nice boat,

Do you overnight in it?
I've been thinking of trying a couple of overnighters at Rotto but haven't gone that road yet...
What sort of speed do you get?
cheers
shane

Shane,
yeah I overnight in it a bit, rotto,garden island, etc. Also good for a sleep when heading up north at a truck stop. I can't remember what speed I get at full throttle, not too often that I drive it that quick!

How does it tow, I've got the landcruiser and it, seems to be comfortable at about 90/ 95 kph.... Haven't taken it North yet but will probably take to Kalbarri later this year.

tows easy with duel axle trailer, I two it with a BA falcon or XR6 turbo and have never had any problems

Getting close to picking her up bit more glass work to do. Here's a pic of the replacement for the Ovlov, cheers shane

Lovely.

Well guys I took a quick run down to have a look at the boat.

Asked Troy when he might consider seatrials, next wed-Thu ???

how about this afternoon/ like now...he says!!

Ok then; so it was made ready and off to the ramp, in she went and after checking for leaks, letting the fuel run through the engine for a while we went for a quick spin lighting up the Northstar M84 to keep track for us.

All's going well; couple of laps check this, check that, then Troy opens her up a bit, straight up onto the plane in about 2 seconds, 25 knots at 2300 rpm or there abouts...mmmm looking good.

Opens her up a bit more and straight to 32/ 34 /35 knots, idle back down check check check, then another lap, back up onto the plane, with three 100 kg px and one 40kg trainee jet pilot.. then lets have a look at it, the M84 goes to 40Knts max on the screen, well it maxed and we hit that in about 3 seconds......

Ok then I said what about we change over to the GPS screen and true speed. So changed it was, and another lap in the slop the other day and 42.5 knots before he feathered it with heaps to go and one trim tab not working... Solid as a rock,

Cannot wait to get the wrinkles ironed out and see what she'll really do..... Glass for me...can't get the grin off my face.

Do you guys reckon it's worth opening a forum and "blogging the build up /rebuild of this old girl??"

cheers

I am insanely jealous mate. I would love to see some stage by stage action mate. I thought mine jumped on the plane, yours would be better. What prop is it running?

You should consider adding one of these marlin boards, they make diving/swimming so much easier, and they are great to use when fishing off the back.

They can be powder coated too if you want it white.

Cammos thanks for the info on the board, what sort of costing?

I'll get together a buildup with pics and either post here or try for one of the magazines, Off down there tomorrow to finalise a few bits and pieces, hopefully for a pick up on Wed or Thu.

As for the prop?

I'm going to have to plead ignorance sorry; it's the one they supply with the new alpha one legs,

cheers shane

Cammos, I liked the look of your boat so after a bit of discussion "I've" sanded the name off the side of mine. I tried a bit but kept stuffing it up so someone who actually knew what they were doing took it off for me.
Looks newer, longer and much nicer.
Amazing how dated she looked with the old style name...
Anyway the other day I cut and polished the hull and superstructure and tomorrow I'm waxing it with some Maguires wet look wax.
Pics to follow tomorrow night.

Re geled the dash, new 27MHZ and VHF aerials, new windscreen to come.
cheers