Fatman said:
Sounds like someone's trying to sell fiberglass to me. I've had a few drift boats with wood being my 1st, fiberglass my 2nd, and aluminum my 3rd, 4th, and 5th. My next drift boat will surely be aluminum as well. I love wood but I like to fish more than I do wood working. Same thing with fiberglass. Sure, you can fix'em till the sun goes down. An that's when you'll be fix'en them too.
Aluminum is nosier, I don't dispute. But once in the water, I can row my aluminum boat just as quietly as any boat I've ever had. Most guys I see could use a few lessons about it though. The oarlocks make more noise than anything. If you get a set of oarlocks that are worth a crap the oar won't climb up the side and then drop at the end of the stroke. Clump clump
I've hit so many rocks with my aluminum boats I could start my own gravel pit. Aluminum wins hands down there.
Where did this bull come from that fiberglass is lighter than aluminum? Sorry, it just ain't so. I've packed plenty of wood, fiberglass, and aluminum boats. I went to a sportsman show last year and a fiberglass guy told me his boat only weighed 225 pounds. Sheesh, I weigh 235. I called BS to his face and he told me that was the hull weight before the floor or anything else. Oh my!
Another thing, I get so tired of hearing about a wood or fiberglass boats being warmer and aluminum being cold, I could puke. The only thing that is going to keep you warm in any boat on a cold day is a gas heater. Period! Ever seen a fiberglass boat burn?
Sorry to be so negative about fiberglass. I did love my fiberglass boat. But I was so glad to get into aluminum.
I've liked every boat I've ever owned. They all row pretty good but there's one that beats them all and it's obvious, if you row it. Google "drift boat" and you'll see most of the manufacturers. Call'em and see what they say about what size you need. But don't buy anything without rowing it first.
FM
I have to disagree with nearly everything you have said regarding glass boats, particularly Clackacraft glass boats. I have owned and rowed drift boats since the 70's, Alumnawelds and Willies. In 2004 I bought a 16'x57" Clackacraft, 15'10" centerline and 17'4' to the gunwales. Weight 285lbs ready to fish, 100 year warranty against hull punctures.
After I bought the Clackacraft, I wondered why I had been abusing my body all those years rowing an aluminum battleship.
My Willies 16'x54" (3" narrower than the Clackacraft), weight 330lbs,bare hull, add in the raised floor, storage and fish boxes, seats, etc., it was well over 400lbs.
You don't add a raised floor to Clackacraft as they are already built into every Clackacraft, fore and aft.
A Clackacraft is also much warmer, aluminum or any metal for that matter absorbs the cold from the water much easier than glass.
Glass boats take less water to float and they don't stick to rocks like aluminum. Clackacraft has a flexible bottom that allows you to glide over rocks.
My Clackacraft is much tougher than any of my aluminum boats, drifting the same rivers for 40 years, I have dents, holes etc. in all the aluminum boats. No dents, in the Clackacraft, no holes, in fact Clackacraft has only had to honor their no hull leak warranty once since they have been in business.In some places, I used to line my Willies down some bad spots. With the Clackacraft, I just head on down into the rocks, no worse for wear.
A Clackacraft, is warmer, quieter, tougher, lighter, wider and easier to row, especially for pulling plugs.
Pulling plugs in a Willie is much more work, besides being much lighter, you don't have water building up behind the transom when pulling plugs, which makes you work much harder as the water build up is pushing you down stream, which is what you don't want.
with the Clackacraft tunnel hull, you have very little it any water building up behind the transom, the water shoots down the tunnel, giving you lift, thus making holding back in the current much easier.
The only maintenance I have done to my boat is to replace some of the chipped gel coat, which was done only for cosmetic reasons, which was easy and only took a few minutes. Clackacraft said to leave it alone as it didn't affect function or reliability.
I also don't have to bother with glovitt or other performance robbing coatings to the bottom.
I can't tell you the # of people that have rowed my boat and have now gotten rid of their heavier, harder row, colder, more fragile aluminum boats.
