Is this the right boat

[Jim5047]

I am new to Alaska and would like to do a little Halibut fishing but mostly explore the bays and coast line of Ressurection and Prince William Sounds.

I have the opportunity to purchase a 26' Woolrige, 454 jet, with power controls fore and aft, magellan GPS, depth sounder, and ratheon radar. The boat is located in Seattle.

Is this a good boat for these waters? The cabin is huge and would allow overnight camping. it also has a winch on the back which is normally used to raise crab traps but I could use it to lift halibut aboard.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

[Snowwolfe]

Post the for sale link.

[Doug from Anchorage]

Sounds like a good heavy boat, but I don't think the 454 jet is to your favor. Jets in the salt are most often used by commercial boats that work with nets. Otherwise they are innefficent and offer 1/3 less power that a prop. Also, in cetain conditions with the water, you may have cavitation issues. Others on here may have a different opinion and will likely chime in.

[Jim5047]

I don't think there is a link but I will check. The owner wants to trade for my Hunter H26 sailboat at the marina there.

[Paul H]

Hard to say w/o looking at the boat, but a 26' aluminum cabin cruiser is generally a very good setup for the waters you are looking at, provided it is a semi-v with a high bow and freeboard. However my preference in a boat that sized would be for twin prop outboards, not an inboard jet. It sounds like more of a river boat than an ocean boat. A 454 with the ineficiency of a jet is going to be a serious gas hog, and you should find out what size fuel tank the boat has. My thinking is an ocean boat should have a fuel tank big enough to hold fuel for 10 hours of opperation at cruising speed.

I don't know that you'll have alot of use for a winch hauling up halibut, but if it's a pot puller, get a set of shrimp pots for PWS.

[Snowwolfe]

You might lose 1/3 of your hp with a outboard jet, but not with an inboard, maybe 10% loss tops. I know for certain a 25 foot boat with a 9 foot beam and a big inboard V8 (496-425 hp) jet will get decent fuel economy if you are only running with a couple of people and fishing gear. Decent to me is 7-10 gallons an hour. However, if you keep the throttle pinned double that. If the motor is not EFI I would avoid it as most non EFI big blocks suck up a lot more fuel than an EFI version.

IMO, the only Wooldridges that should be used the majority of the time on the salt water are their Offshore or Pilot house boats. The others are designed for rivers and have low sides and will beat you to death in the chop.

Hard to offer you better advice unless you tell us what model it is or post some photos.