Being based on the East Coast I get the question "What kind of boat is that?" about "Coast2Coast" all of the time. Admittedly it is not the type of boat you generally see on the East Coast, at least not around the Chesapeake Bay. "Coast2Coast" is a 2007 welded aluminum pilothouse Harbercraft Kingfisher 2725. It was built in British Columbia and we bought it in Seattle and had it trailered to our home in Virginia, hence the boat's name, "Coast2Coast". This type of boat is very common on the west coast and is built primarily as a coastal fishing boat with overnighting capabilities. It is 27 feet long including the motor bracket, and has a beam of 8' 6". The interior has a V berth, head, sink and faucet, refrigerator (AC/DC), a dinette that can be made into a berth, and a two burner diesel powered cooktop/cabin heater. There are two cabinets under the dinette seats and a drawer under the captain's seat for storage, as well as space under the V berth. It is powered by a 250 hp Mercury Verado and has a 9.9 hp Mercury ProKicker as a trolling/backup motor. Top speed is about 48 mph, and it cruises with best economy at 25-30 mph depending on sea conditions. It can cruise even more economically at "no wake" speed on the Verado, and does even even better on the kicker alone, which burns less than a gallon per hour and can push the boat at hull speed of 6-7 mph.
Why did I want this type of boat rather than a typical fiberglass cruiser? Very simply for economy of operation, durability, and ease of hull maintenance, as well as all for it's all weather capabilities. There is no fussing with fiberglass, no worries it you accidentally bump the dock (which happens more than I like to admit), and when you're done for the day, hose it down and it's ready to go again. An aluminum hull is a good deal lighter than an equal sized fiberglass hull, so it takes much less fuel to push it along. It can cruise at 29 mph burning only about 11 gallons per hour, which in my experience is not bad for a boat of this size. In addition, we wanted a boat that could double as a fishing boat and a cruiser. This one had the equipment necessary for both.
For the technically minded here are the specifications:
Length 27' 2"
Beam 102"
Approx. Dry Weight 4500 lbs
Exterior Cockpit Area 103"L x 84"W
Deadrise Variable 18 degrees
Fuel Capacity 140 gallons
Water capacity 20 gallons freshwater, 20 gallon holding tank
Main Motor 250 HP Mercury Verado (supercharged)
Auxiliary Motor 9.8 HP Mercury Prokicker
Fish locker in cockpit floor 56 gallons
Transom access door
Swim platform with reboarding ladder
Cockpit location 2nd helm station
Stainless steel radar arch with 8 "rocket launcher" rod holders
Stainless steel bow rail
Lewmar Profish anchor windlass with bow roller
Anchor rope locker; self draining with interior access hatch
Transom fish locker 24 gallons with cutting board and fish rail
Cabin Headroom 6' 3"
Stand up enclosed head with Jabsco manual flush toilet, privacy curtains and dome light
LED cabin lighting
Suspension helm seat with slider
Wallas 85 DT diesel 2 burner stove/cabin heater
3 Heavy duty pantographic windshield wipers
Raised self-bailing cockpit deck
Hydraulic trim tabs
Shore power with AC breaker panel
Automatic battery charger
Galvanic isolator
2- 110V outlets
In addition I added a Garmin electronics package consisting of a GPS Map 4212 Chartplotter, a depth sounder/fish finder module, and a 24" HD Radar.
