Hard to tell what your asking here. You want to know about half cab older hulls, but dont like the look of them?

Well my first boat was a 17 foot Chivers Pursuit, and second was a 18-19 foot Chivers Sportsfisherman. Both fantastic sea going hulls, the Pursuit loved to get airborn at the speeds I used to make it go at, such a great boat, I wish I never got rid of that boat a lot of the time.

If you look at Barons, Pacemakers, Chivers or maybe Penguins (dont know first hand) its hard to go wrong as long as no major repairs have been done.

I just don’t like the shape of the cabin from visual point of view. That’s all. I am industrial designer, so I might have a bit of professional deformation. I am not looking for a trouser monkey extension, but for something which handles well and is stable, so the look comes second. So this kind of info is something I am asking.

First thing to look at is the actual hull shape.

Deep Vee is a MUST for soft ride in chop.

freeboard is the next thing.

Then comes the condition of hull!, transom!! and floor!!! for water ingress and timber rot and osmosis.

This is SUPER important regarding co$t of making it a sound boat hull wise!

Then the MOTOR.

Most engines of 30 years old need a complete overhaul and or replacement.

Lenght of the boat (and weight) together with the hullshape determines the "ride" of it.

It pays to do your home work propperly and look-learn what is what.

Buy the very best condition boat you can and NOT a "bargain abandoned dream project!"

Allocate lot$a $$ & Time for rectifying, repairing and repowering your aquisition!

Some names that have stood the test of time:

Hains Hunter, Voyager, Chivers, Baron, Savage, Seafarer, Cruise Craft, Pride/Carribean. 

This site's sponsor Allboats, Wanneroo road have a nice old Voyager cabin cruiser sitting inside their second hand section, yesterday, with according to the info, an overhauled/recon inboard/outboard Volvo leg for $14K.

Had a quick look inside while getting some parts for my project and it seems a half decent boat. 

You can get a packet with 5 mags from Queensland regarding buying second hand trailer boats and this is a very good "investment" in understanding how to approach this way of getting a preloved boat.

A new magazine called SECOND HAND BOAT SECRETS collectors edition from the same author (Jeff Webster   www.jeffwebster.com.au ) might still be at your newsagent with updated info and price indication.

I just got the new one as well for $11.95, best up to date information!

With most boats/cars etc., a coat of .3mm of paint will transform the looks (and asking price) but it does nothing regarding the ride and integrety of the vessel.

Good luck. 

Whats the budget ?

Thanks for the info Glastronomic. I will definitely do my homework as I don’t know much about boats atm. Budget is not set yet, I am thinking $10k all done on the water, so probably around $6k for the boat and the rest for touch ups and bits and pieces to go with it.

mate my nautiglass 15' is an old hull but with a 2003 4strk 70hp evinrusde (rebadged Suzuki) it goes sweeet.

similar to this http://www.boatsales.com.au/boats-for-sale/boatdetails.aspx?seot=1&R=10374545&silo=-1&__Ns=pCar_RankSort_Int32%7c1%7c%7cpCar_Price_Decimal%7c1%7c%7cpCar_Make_String%7c0%7c%7cpCar_Model_String%7c0&Cr=&trecs=2&__N=1456%20285%204294897791%204294888672

plenty good to get out wider with reliability in the donk. not a bluewater vessel but with change from 9k it was a doozy.

stoked. rides unreal in chop/swell and the high windscreen is really good.

drawback is that the cabin really only gets used for esky, rods and general stuff and sacrifices a fair bit of deck space but all in all its a sweet gig.

good luck getting yours. exciting stuff.

it will get expensive but that's boating for ya. a good lesson to learn along the way.

imho , list boats in the length range you want and with good motors , then cross off the ones with dodgy hulls. you can be left with some top boats. don't forget the trailer.

motor first - low hour good brand (yam suzuki honda) you'll be able to resell easily and not be a bane on sea rescue

i wouldn't buy a good hull if it had a shit motor hung off it.  big expenditure down the line

but hulls exactly as glastronic said

and agree with cammos , the chivers pursuit is a great little boat if you find a goodie with a good motor

Mate, glad you asked! We just got an older half cabin boat,
very similar to the one in the ad, it's a Guardian, 5 metre
boat, 75 Evinrude on, is it surprisingly in good condition
for it's age, very smooth and a great all round boat, costs ALOT
less than the new half cabins but most of them come with really old
motors, and spending less money on the boat leaves more money on the motor (: good luck

Maybe a Picture of your boat and some more details like price paid could be of benefit to the person who asked the Question and others who have a wish/intention/dream to own a boat.

Also what was spend/done, to get it up to scratch could be beneficial and a good learning topic for those thinking of buying their own boat.

here a picture of the "old" boat engine; an eggbeater 50 horse Johnson 1987 vintage but runnig like a new one after tune up.

This was powering this;

This can be pulled around by almost any 4 cilinder buzzbox.

and here the "new" one; 1978 Mercruiser 165, after some new parts

(New Altenator -waterpump/thermostat/lowerleg impellor -coil -fuelpump -hoses/hoseclamps -sparkplugs/leads -points/resistor -oilfilter/oilchange -fuel lines, -fuelfilter) 

and a thourough going over, running sweet!

This is powering this.

This needs a decent 4WD to pull it safely

Funny thing is that the fuel consumption is not that much more running the 2 very different boats!

swift craft, as others have said find a happy medium hull/motor good luck

I paid $8k roughly for the Pursuit, and spent about $800 getting some gouges and the keel repaired at GT Fibreglass. Overhauled the trailer myself (rollers and slides, winch and rub back). Had a 70hp 1983 Johnson that never missed a beat, that motor was a beauty, didn't cost me a cent. I think I put a new 27 mhz in it and some carpet. That was about it. I had a boat capable of any distance with 100L of fuel, which would go a long way. I didn't realise it back then but I thought I needed a bigger boat to go out further, it was more to do with my ability. It would have been quite happy at the barges or FAD's on a decent day. I would post a pic but I have no idea how. Instructions anywhere?

G'day, there's a little Swiftcraft (about 16ft) with a 50hp Merc four stroke on it for sale in Mandurah at Boatland for about 8k. It's a half cab with a bimini off the cab. I'm not affiliated with the yard but have had a look there before and they seem ok. Personally, I would be going for an old tinnie for my first boat (14-16ft) as they are pretty forgiving, light on juice and easy to tow and beach launch. Whatever you buy mate, just remember to have it checked out before you buy it.

Thanks for the great info guys! When it comes to checking the boat before purchasing, is somebody doing it professionally? Similar to RAC check you can get done on a car? That Swiftcraft in Mandurah looks good from the pictures and low hours 4 stroke. Good tip Mulie, thanks!

http://www.boatsonline.com.au/boats-for-sale/used/power-boats/swiftcraft/90946

there you go

5 minute check on boats on line.

well worth a look

Yeah I got a mob in Henderson to do inspections on 2 boats that I was looking at before I bought mine. Think it was The Boat Business.

Basically they charged around $400 to do a full inspection of the boat/trailer etc. Sounds expensive, but they ended up telling me that the first boat I was looking at (despite looking fine to me) was a piece of shi*t and would have cost me thousands to get it sorted out.

Second boat they looked at for me was an older half cab (Blaxell Santa Cruz) with a 2000 model 90hp Merc on there, and they said that one was all good. To date it has been, haven't spent a dollar on her other than routine servicing.

Oh and that price included them going out and looking at the boat, it was cheaper if you took the boat to them.

 you could also look at the fraser range of boats. there are some good ones out there

Can vouch for the Fraser mate had one in a 17/18 footer was a good little boat.

Can vouch for the Fraser mate had one in a 17/18 footer was a good little boat.

that 50 johnno has the nickname "handgrenade" good motors but geez they blow up well!

Nice looking old school CC with great clears for sale on Pearson, near Hale Road in Woodlands.

I just bought the current up to date magazine called; Jeff Webster's Second Hand Boat Secrets, collectors edition for $11.95 at my local newsagent and it is an absolute cracker/must have if you are even remotely thinking about a second hand (trailer)boat.

He has a website, Look it up and he will post them to you. Got all the info you will ever need.

That’s a good timing for me. Will try to get it tonight. Thanks.