About Alan's Boats

	Early 1990's: My first boat was rather humble. It was a 12 foot aluminium dingy (3 seater) with a Suzuki 9.9hp outboard motor. But it was light, and trailed easily on my garden trailer, and was perfect for taking to our beach campsite north of wedge island. It had enough power to go "skurfing" behind it, which was always fun! I sold this boat in Nov 1994.
	Nov 1994: My next boat was a new Quintrex Coast Ranger "Cuddy cab". This was aluminium and had a 70hp Johnson outboard on it. This boat was good, but it was too small to handle rough seas off-shore. After the motor seized (during the warranty period) I decided to trade it up on the next model up in June 1995...
	June 1995: This was my next boat - Quintrex Sea Raider "Cuddy Cab". This was also aluminium, but was larger and had 115hp, giving it much better off-shore capabilities, as well as 45knott top speed and great water skiing capabilities. It also had enough room to sleep on (just) and in January of 1996 we explored the waterways of Walpole, Augusta and Dunsborough for 10 days, sleeping on the boat. The kids loved it as well! I (reluctantly) sold this boat in Feb 1998, as we simply did not use it enough, and hence could not justify keeping it. For full information, look at my Sea Raider Fact Sheet.
	October 2003: After being 5 years without a boat, I am finally afloat again. My Dad no longer used his boat very often, and so has given it to me. It is quite basic and old, but it is very seaworthy. It is a Savage Osprey, 5m Aluminium, centre console, with an Evinrude 50Hp motor. In between fishing and crabbing trips, I plan on overhauling this boat, starting with a new paint job, new echo sounder and 2-way radio, and eventually a new outboard, as the current motor does not have electric tilt. Update 2016: Well, it got a paint job, sounder, running lights, trailer overhaul, but the engine began overheating. When stripping the engine down, all of the bolts we rusted in and just could not be salvaged, so I sold the boat with the engine in bits.
	May 2025: So, 9 years went by without a boat... time to get another. I found a 1998 Quintrex Spirit 5.6 at a local dealer, Challenge Marine. It has only had 1 owner since new, and very low hours. It's very similar design to my last 2 Quintrex boats, with a Cuddy cab layout. It has a Yamaha 115hp oil injected 2 stroke engine.

 These pages were last updated on 24 Nov 2017.