1985 45 Hatteras can get er done

[polarizer]

This will get the juices flowing for next summer.

The first part of the video was my son Greg's first blue marlin estimated in the +250 range in the Washington canyon late august. Released off a TLD 20, with 20# mono, and 80# Flouro leader with wind on. In the background is the Krazy Salts and on the other side was the Viking 70 Factory boat. An equal thrill for me fishing along two of my most admired pro captains. They too had an insane bite that morning with the whites as I believe they had double digit before 9:00. we had that blue bite at 7:45. No doubt a good way to start the day.

Fishing the NE canyons off NJ is an exciting, albeit expensive and very time consuming way to go, but having been a hatteras owner for a long time, my old girl can get er done as well as any. If she were a little quieter like the Spencer boats, we'd have a consistent daily winner.

Enjoy the movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHrxxCYS6s8

 

[Bob Bradley]

Man, that's almost painful, sitting here in frozen CT. It's going to be a long 6 months.

 

[capttonyf]

This will get the juices flowing for next summer.

The first part of the video was my son Greg's first blue marlin estimated in the +250 range in the Washington canyon late august. Released off a TLD 20, with 20# mono, and 80# Flouro leader with wind on. In the background is the Krazy Salts and on the other side was the Viking 70 Factory boat. An equal thrill for me fishing along two of my most admired pro captains. They too had an insane bite that morning with the whites as I believe they had double digit before 9:00. we had that blue bite at 7:45. No doubt a good way to start the day.

Fishing the NE canyons off NJ is an exciting, albeit expensive and very time consuming way to go, but having been a hatteras owner for a long time, my old girl can get er done as well as any. If she were a little quieter like the Spencer boats, we'd have a consistent daily winner.

Enjoy the movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHrxxCYS6s8

Great Video!!! I love our 45C as well, it's been a safe, reliable, great little sea boat for us. It's nice to see older, smaller, much less expensive boats competing with all this new big money stuff out there.

You mentioned you wish it was quieter, like a Spencer,, sometimes,, the right noise I believe actually attracts fish. I've been in the tower and seen Mahi Mahi amongst other fish, running to our boat and other boats I've run from the front and coming past the bow before noticing the baits. That tells me they're coming to investigate the sound, Not the Baits.

I sold to a client of mine a 1989 Viking 57C out of Bill Fish Marina in Palm named "Crapshooter". I ended up managing and running that boat for a few years for him, the boat had 12V92's and always raised fish. No matter where we were if the boat next to us caught 5 we caught 8, if they caught 15 we caught 20. It just seemed to attract fish and so does our little 45C Hatteras.

What sold me on this belief was one time on "Crapshooter" fishing in the Exuma sound, I looked over the Port side, and a Bull Mahi was swimming, shadowing our boat, cruising right along with us, just alongside where the engine room air vent was. I tried to speed up so it would see the baits and it sped up right with us. So after a minute or so I decided to turn into it and cut it off. Once I did that it turned and notced our baits and ran back and hit one and we ended up with a nice catch. That fish had no idea the baits were there, it was just following our boat and the hum of the motors.

I'm sure others have noticed this, or is it just me.

Tony

 

[johnjen50]

Great video thanks for sharing! Have any more? I could watch boat videos all day. Beautiful boat too.

 

[capttonyf]

Great video thanks for sharing! Have any more? I could watch boat videos all day. Beautiful boat too.

Agreed, Any running shots?

Tony

 

[polarizer]

Great video thanks for sharing! Have any more? I could watch boat videos all day. Beautiful boat too.

Here is one off the 2013 season
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKge_kQsixg


here is one on my buddies 1968 50' during the White Marlin open we did a few years ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHVRSfM6vaU

 

[polarizer]

Agreed, Any running shots?

Tony

I thought the trail off the bow in reverse at 7.5 Knots was the running shot

 

[capttonyf]

I thought the trail off the bow in reverse at 7.5 Knots was the running shot

Welllll,,, Sort of. I meant from the side, view from another boat etc.

Tony

 

[Avenger]

Great. More lost time at work watching these over and over.

Greats vids and congrats on the tournament win. Good lookin' boat too. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Tinman]

Great video, had me smiling all the whole time..

 

[polarizer]

Welllll,,, Sort of. I meant from the side, view from another boat etc.

Tony

I've been thinking about buying a drone to get some running and fishing video. Perhaps this summer I will make the purchase. Only side shots I have and there are more pics of the remake under George in the picture forum. here are a few other pics. The wake shot is the boat at about 34.5 Knots, and the other is our visit to Nantucket in 2008

 

[capttonyf]

I've been thinking about buying a drone to get some running and fishing video. Perhaps this summer I will make the purchase. Only side shots I have and there are more pics of the remake under George in the picture forum. here are a few other pics. The wake shot is the boat at about 34.5 Knots, and the other is our visit to Nantucket in 2008

The boats looks great and the fact you can run at 34.5 knots is unbelievable. You have CATS' in yours correct, and what HP rating and cruise speed and GPH? The best I've ever seen on ours is a steady 27 knots at WOT and a cruise of 21/22 knots at 1950 to 2000 RPM.

We've thought about putting QSM 11's in it because we really do love the boat, BUT and this is a big BUT. The 692's we have run great and I have a hard time with Putting all that money into a boat I know in a few years will still be worth a fraction of what we now have into it. It's a hard decision, we love the boat and I know repowering her will make it even better. Emotionally and enjoyment wise this will be great, financially will be like a 95% loss of refit costs. So do you do what you heart tells you and refit at a major future loss? Or maybe when the time comes, sell it, and take the money the refit would have cost and just buy a newer bigger boat with modern power and speed?
Financially that's the smarter way to go but I'm not sure I'd want a bigger boat and as of now I don't know of anything else I'd want better in the 45 ft range. Decisions, desicions. One day I'm sure I'll know just what to do, it's just right now I Don't.

Tony

 

[polarizer]

Capt. Tony,
I see your mind is racing. From my perspective, market value on these 45's over the recent years has gone down considerably. when I see 45's selling for $65K, makes my heart sink. When I bought this boat back over 10 years ago, I knew I would be in it for some time and my offshore fishing habit, Canyons off NJ, would require speed, range and most importantly reliability of the power plants. I do have the Cat C-12's that now have slightly over 2000 issue free hours. At cruise, I run her at 1,900 RPM and cruise around 27.5 to 28 knots burning 45 GPH. At WOT, 2320 I have seen as high as 34.5 but for the most part 32.5. This season I am replacing the original Onan Generator, which had run great up to this past season, when I had to switch out the heat exchanger and had a freeze plug on the back of the unit which was a PITA to fix during a major tournament. $0.69 part no less that cost me over $500 to have a mechanic to fix. The make over done at Jarret Bay has paid back in maintenance and cleaning 10x over. For me, this boat fits what I need at this point in my life, unless I was to hit the lottery, then bigger is better and I would love a 57-64 sportfish that would cruise in the mid 30's. One other consideration for me is during the summer season up here in the NE. I run from basically Memorial day thru september into october if the weather holds. On average I put 250 hours and last year 325 hours during that period. It really helps me mentally having the confidence to run that long, far (115 miles) one way on occassion and only have to worry about running out of Beers on the way in,

 

[saltshaker]

This is an excellent response to the "should I repower question" you don't do it for any other reason than you want the boat your way, to suit your needs for a reasonably long time. I think a boat like the 45 is a very good repower candidate. Since Hatteras and most of the other quality builders stopped building in this size range, your options are limited for newer boats. If you wanted to move up to modern power from a 45C you'd be looking at a 50C Hatt. Great boat but very different and bigger boat than a 45C. That upgrade will also cost more than a repower and a few upgrades to a 45C. A total refit like that of Polarizer would still be less than buying a pristine 50C with Cats. You'd also need the 3412s to cruise 28kts burning about 60% more fuel.

 

[capttonyf]

This is an excellent response to the "should I repower question" you don't do it for any other reason than you want the boat your way, to suit your needs for a reasonably long time. I think a boat like the 45 is a very good repower candidate. Since Hatteras and most of the other quality builders stopped building in this size range, your options are limited for newer boats. If you wanted to move up to modern power from a 45C you'd be looking at a 50C Hatt. Great boat but very different and bigger boat than a 45C. That upgrade will also cost more than a repower and a few upgrades to a 45C. A total refit like that of Polarizer would still be less than buying a pristine 50C with Cats. You'd also need the 3412s to cruise 28kts burning about 60% more fuel.

I agree with what both of you said, I'm leaning toward a repower and an update rather than a larger boat when the time comes to make a change. Good reasons to update, It's paid for, it's big enough for two couples and all our kids to travel on, shallow draft, 40 GPH+/- cruise burn, size is reasonable to dock, maintain, and care for. Easy to run with the family, go out to dinner on, or just take an evening intercoastal cruise. Also, it's affordable, "relatively speaking" compared to running and maintaining a 50+ foot boat. With a repower to be able to do 28knots at 45 GPH thats great. The only real reason I'd want a bigger boat is I really wish I had a 3rd Stateroom occasionally. This spring we're going to get rid of the Giant Entertainment System Box forward of the Salon Sofa and above the Master Stateroom, put a railing on port side of it looking into the galley and put a Futon Mattress up there for more sleepng area for the kids. If we have other people with us the kids end up on the sofa or an air mattress. If this extra bed works out to be sufficient than a larger boat isn't necessary.

A larger boat would be nice with the extra staterooms and and larger everything. The problem like you mentioned in a 50 to 60 Convertible is to do 28+ knots I'm burning over double the fuel. It would then cause me to want to run it like a MY and troll everywhere we go that involves any kind of distance. If I do that, then what the heck, Might as well get an older 65C that's been redone and really bury myself to the point of never wanting to run anywhere. Always loved the look of it just never could afford to burn 120GPH nor would I want to rebuild a 16V92.

Seeing that 1998 CAT Powered Hatteras 65C in Michigan with 850 Original Hours for $499 Ask, makes me think. Am I dumb enough to try something like that at this point in my life? Probably not,,,,, I could buy it, but then to keep it and be able to enjoy it, "Fish it and travel on it" is a whole different animal. Ultimately, boats that nice, dropping that far in price did nothing but confuse me and make me doubt what I really should do, and that's update out boat when it needs it. For 2 reasons.

1. It puts what I always considered one of my favorite boats of all time within a VERY Stretched out arms length. and
2. It worries me about doing what I really should, and that's make our 45C perfect for us and having too much money in her. Right now the 45 is all I really need, Probably all I'll ever really need.

The thing is I always come back to knowing the repower and update is the right thing to do. You just see these boats dropping in price and it makes you question what the smart thing to do is.

I'll have to get some concrete cost numbers to do the repower and any additional updates I'd like to do and that should help give me peace of mind on my decision.

Damn you Polarizer, LOL, I think about doing this from time to time and now you've got me going again.

Thanks

Tony

 

[Bob Bradley]

Boy, this thread does hit close to home. I bought my 43C about 12 years ago, and now after 13 good seasons, I would love to replace my 435hp 6v92's with the QSM 11's, but like a lot of us, they run great and the cost is tough to justify. And, the even bigger problem is that the 43's cockpit is about 2' short of what I'd really like to be running. When I bought her back in '03, I paid around $150, and the 45's were all anywhere from $50 to $80k higher than that, and I just couldn't justify the $$.
I really love the boat. I've got the electronics all upgraded over the past 2 seasons with new Simrad stuff, and the fishing gear is all dialed in - 13 rod holders in the gunwales, 2 more on each grab rail, and 6 more on the fb ladder, not to mention the 6 on the bridge. I've converted my cockpit tackle center / bait freezer into one big insulated cooler, I've removed the lower station so I can strap down 3 additional 150qt coolers where it used to be in front of the ladder, and I've installed two huge deck boxes up on the foredeck, one of which I've insulated for ice and bait storage. The windshield is glassed in, and I installed a huge teak cabinet up on the deck under the windshield. I even have a tv mounted there that repeats the signal from the Simrad NSE up on the bridge. It's great for watching the fish finder at night while we're chunking. I've even been looking at how I could add a greenstick to the boat - I could make it work. It's just tough to bite that bullet on an old 43 though.

But I sure would love your boat's performance numbers.

 

[Tim Powell]

keep them 45 if fishing is all you going to do. I had one and sold it and bought a 52c it has DD and is slow compared to you guys numbers. It burns about 46 to 50 gallons a hour at 21 to 23 knotts. The ride is just no comparson to the 45. The 52 will reach out and get the next one comming. As for a falling sea there is no better boat. There are a couple around with the qsm 11 and two that i know of with cats. The numbers on those boats are very impressive. they all cruse in the mid to high 20 top out around 34 or so kmots. They have the third state room and a second head and shower. I really loved the 45 but like you guys my family just out grew it. We fish and travel on the 52 and love it. You do not have to jump to far in size to get a bunch of goodies, Once you go bigger you will never go back.

 

[Rickysa]

I'd love to see some pics of the upgrades you other 45C guys have done(electronic, deck boxes, etc.) as I'm in the planning stages of doing some of that work myself. We are still running the 6v92s and get around 33 GPM at 18 k @1950 RPM which is down a couple of knots when we bought her almost 10 yrs ago.

My $0.02 regarding a repower...even back when boats were selling much better I learned to repower only what you plan to keep forever, as I took a nasty bath at resell...31 Bertram that I really should have held onto.

 

[jim rosenthal]

I love fast boats, and I really love Series II 45Cs (if I were getting a larger Hatteras convertible it would be one of those, no question about it) but it's really hard to take out a set of running engines and put in QSM11s or C12 Cats. You can buy a lot of diesel fuel for what a repower would cost you.

Bob, Tom Slane is stretching a 53 convertible by eight feet. If you like everything else about your boat, have you thought about just stretching the cockpit by two feet and getting back the room they took out when they built the 43? Aren't they essentially the same boat- the 43 and the 45- except for the cockpit length?

 

[saltshaker]

I love fast boats, and I really love Series II 45Cs (if I were getting a larger Hatteras convertible it would be one of those, no question about it) but it's really hard to take out a set of running engines and put in QSM11s or C12 Cats. You can buy a lot of diesel fuel for what a repower would cost you.

Bob, Tom Slane is stretching a 53 convertible by eight feet. If you like everything else about your boat, have you thought about just stretching the cockpit by two feet and getting back the room they took out when they built the 43? Aren't they essentially the same boat- the 43 and the 45- except for the cockpit length?

It would make a whole lot more sense to just buy a nice 45C. Better yet find one that was repowered.