I would go with the Merritt. Different breed of boat, too. I've heard (haven't experienced it myself) that some of those Cabos can shake a filling loose in rough seas.
Capt. Tom, Even though Cabo is arguably one of the top 3 production boats, it is not even close to being a Merritt. I had the opprtunity to seatrial a 43 Cabo, and I was very impressed. It was fast, dry, and pretty quiet with the 900 MAN CR. The Merritt I am looking at has those same engines. Hopefully, I will get a chance to look at it and possible take a seatrial. However, let me ask you another question. How is the maintenance and cleaning procedure with all the teak in the back, and the black mask up front? Regards, Luis
I had the chance to see a MAN Common Rail engine run ona test bed and boy, was it quiet. No vibration, virtually no smoke (of course it wasn't under a load or very cold), but smooth. Compared to the 1050 I ran, which was rough at idle due to half the cylinders not firing (it's built to do that). I can't tell you much about the black mask, but I have done my share of teak work. I like the West marine teak cleaner, the yellow stuff. Seems to lift the dirt better than other brand names. And dries to an even color. You may sometimes sand the teak to give it a smooth finish on the caps, but I would not sand the deck since you want some grip.
lcosta01: I have known a few Merritt owners ( as well as owners of other marques ) who really love their boats and take them to Roy for their annual brightwork/fix-up. It is decidedly not cheap, but Roy's guys do it right.
Good question, Longboard-- great handle, BTW (my brother is an old f@rt surfer) and welcome to YF. One of the last Mortensons built, to my knowledge, was a gorgeous 36-footer with a sixties-looking mahogany interior. This was in 1982 or so on the south bank of the Miami River. I think she was pure wood, i.e., planked, not cold-molded, which is a limiting factor for hull design. The 1980s Merritts, on the other hand, were cold-molded triple diagonal hulls. Merritt survived the 1981 recession in fine fettle even with their stratospheric pricing and, of course, are still in business. I could be wrong, but 'Yachting Darwinism', as it were, would tend to look more favorably upon the boats built up in Pompano Beach.
If I could own just one boat in this lifetime, it would be Merritt 46 But i don't think its going to happen
The 46' Merritt is a great fishing boat. There were several built that were cold molded. The one with the common rail 900's, I believe is a boat that I sold. It was one of the hulls that came out of the mold and it had glass and kevlar. She was originally as an 892 boat... one of the few built with those engines.
