16' choice

[crimedog]

I'm looking to get my first boat in the Spring. I've been looking at several makes of 16' boats. I recently picked up an Alumacraft brochure from a local dealer. I see that they have a deep 16, the Dominator. Seeing that alot of you own Alumacrafts, I was looking for some feeback on this boat. Any thoughts or advice is appreciated. I was thinking that this boat is probably alot less $ than a Lund.

[Stripehunter]

Just out of curiosity, why are you leaning towards the dominator compared to the navigator?

I bought a new Navigator 165 this year and wouldn't trade it for the world. Are you looking for windshield or console?
I won't bore everyone by listing pages of everything I love about my boat; if you have any specific questions, ask. I spent about 5 years trying to find the perfect hull and layout for what I do, and the nav. 165 was the perfect boat. For you, maybe not. But alumacraft makes great boats, and their service is outstanding. Dealer support is more important than anything though, and that can vary.

[crimedog]

Stripehunter,

I was told that one of the differences was the width of the sides, that the width was much wider on the Dominator, which would be nice if you ever wanted to mount downriggers? ???

[Skis]

My first boat was an '98 Alumacraft Lunker 165 with a 40-horse Mercury Tiller. Sold the boat in the fall of 2000 and purchased my current boat that following spring, '01 Alumacraft Magnum 175CS with a 125 Mercury on it.

For the cost compared to a Lund, you will be happy with an Alumacraft. I think Alumacraft makes a good boat at a reasonable cost and also less than a Lund. Lund's may have a few "extras", but for the additional cost of a Lund, I don't need it.

If I sell my current boat, my next boat will be an Alumacraft as well, assuming I can find a 195 model to my liking

[Stripehunter]

I would have liked the navigator to have slightly wider rails, but I went with pedestal mounts in back corners of the rear deck and am very happy happy with the setup. I like having the handcrankers a little farther inboard for operation.

The dominator was pretty much out of the question for me because of the front center rod locker. None of my rods would fit in it anyway; it would have been wasted space. If you can find both to sit in, it would help you a lot. They are the same hull, just decked and rigged differently. The super wide gunnels are nice for mounting riggers, but they make the boat feel a lot more cramped. The center rod hold jutting out into the 'pit takes up a lot of room as well, and sucks up a lot of storage and livewell space in the front of the boat. The navigator has the wide open layout and feel of a tiller boat. Wide open spaces, lots of storage, and a musky sized livewell. A 165 is still a 'small' boat, but the navigator feels and fishes much larger.

When I was trying to decide between a 165 and 175 navigator, the dealer had a 165 navigator and a 175 dominator. When I sat in the 165 nav, I realized that it was more than enough room for me and had no need for the 175. Compared to the 165 nav beside it, the 175 dominator felt cramped. The dominator style of layout is very nice in the 18-20 size range, but I think the 165 size is a little small for it (which is the main reason I asked for your thoughts)

Now what you want/need could be entirely different than me (which is why they make two versions of the same hull); just trying to point out there is a lot more to consider than wide gunnels. Regardless, I think you'd be very happy with either; the dominator just wasn't for me.

[crimedog]

Thanks for the good info. Stripehunter. I'll probably check both of them out at a boat show before making a decision.