45-50' "cruisy" sport fish or "fishy" flybridge cruiser

So, I offshore fish out of VB and cruise the bay. In that price range you will find the typical production boats that will work. Ocean, Viking, Hatteras. My father had a 48' Ocean. Good layout for the money. The CAT 3196's were not good motors though, vibration problems. Resale is tough, but you can get into a bigger one 52,56 early 2000's for a good price.

Viking is very popular with so many boats they have pumped out. With having bluewater in Hampton, there are alot of vikings in VB. You could get into a nice 2002 or so 52' (my father had one of those as well) for your price range. 3 staterooms. Good quality, lots of support. Mainly MAN engines. Resale is tough because of so many boats out there.

You could look at a 50' Hatteras as well from early 2000's. Cat powered. Very solid boat, good support, not as much as Viking though. Newer ones will cruise as fast as vikings. Pre 2000 boats will be much slower cruise.

I would not consider a Riviera in this area. I don't think they ride as well nor have the range. I would also stay away from enclosed bridge imo. Harder docking and maneuvering. And not as good for when you are fishing.

I would also look at the largest vessel that is quality and fits in your budget. You would hate to get a 45' ocean lets say, then find how cramped it can be.

All 3 will get you home, Hatteras with the best ride. I have had 2 hatteras' and a bunch of custom boats. Feel free to ask away. Good luck!

Might want to check out later Oceans. A 46 or 50 from ‘04 to ‘07 will fit your budget. Many came with 825hp Series 60 engines some with Cats. A few 50s have 1000hp Cat C18s. 3 staterooms, galley up and a decent dry ride.

We have an ‘07 46 and boat much as you describe with the addition of 2-3 canyon trips a year. We have a Seakeeper, it’s a game changer. My daughter actually likes to go on short fishing trips now.

We will often head out with small craft advisory weather. There are many more nice half days than perfect days on Massachusetts bay. The main weakness is heading straight into 4’+, need to slow down or steer a few degrees to one side or the other to avoid ponding.

We cruise at 25kts and .39 NMTG. Top end is 32kts.

I've been reading about MAN diesels recently... and I've seen favorable service-cost comparisons to other brands at similar sizes.

One common thought is that you can indeed do most of the work yourself... and parts and the occasional hefty service cost aren't as intimidating as you might think, in fact parts not really more expensive than Cats or Volvo or whatever.

An expensive service example might be the "A1" (cooling system) service on the V8-900 CRM engines. This is removing and cleaning aftercoolers and heat exchangers and so forth. That one could be around $16-20K, but up here on the (low salinity) Chesapeake wouldn't likely be necessary as often as the MAN service guide recommends, maybe every 4 or even 5 years vs. every 2 years in the guide. (This told to me by the MAN dealer/tech in Punta Gorda.)

Somebody else here (in another thread) was comparing those kinds of costs to equivalent size Cats, sounded close to same-same. And we had Cummins 450Cs in our last boat, off-engine aftercooler service required every 3 years...

Also, looks to me like most of the cost is in labor, and if you remove the hardware yourself that could maybe save some buck$.

Bottom line, I suspect if you find a boat you like -- but with MANs -- it could be OK for your purposes, maybe not necessary to automatically strike it off your list just because of the engine brand.

FWIW, I've been shopping on a model that comes with MANs... and the more common outcome is that the present owners haven't ever heard the words "engine service"... and I suspect that's maybe the more problematic issue with MAN diesels.

-Chris

Imo, there is not much of a cost difference between an 48 and 53 ft boat. I would say 45-55 are all similar. Then maybe 55-65' are similar. The difference being the number of equipment pieces in each system. Example, a 48 ft boat may have 3 ac compressors, 58' may have 5. The next difference would be engine size. 45-55 often have similar engine option packages, 55-65' have the next size up. Let's say 1000 hp cats on a 50 ft boat, then 1800hp cats on a 60. Obviously, the costs go up on those engines. Otherwise, the systems in place are similar in anything 45' and above, again, just more items in each system bigger you go.

No difference in handling, in fact easier the bigger as you have more momentum. I own/run my own boats. I have a 60ft now that I run by myself. I have had to learn a lot though.

As far as keeping curtains clean, obviously maintenance is important. Also, as you get into bigger boats that weigh more, running into seas won't be as wet. Of course controlling your trim correctly is important. Windshield wipers break down often, so not sure how much I would rely on those anyway. The only time I have visibility issues is if a front comes in and causes a monsoon. The few times that happens, I just slow down til it passes.

I have placed a single wiper on center line on my last two flybridge boats. I have enclosure built with a thicker center panel to reduce inflection at higher cruise speeds so wiper has flat surface to sweep. A must for the light rain and fog we see in the PNW.

For handling: my 2cents is you won’t notice much difference between 40s & 50s. Find the boat with right bones, then add
-Yacht Controller. Game changer (and marriage saver) to be able to walk to either side or back of flybridge to see everything.
-Gyro: you can add a Seakeeper or ARG pretty easily to that size boat.
-Lower Helm/Seeing in the rain... a lower helm works for me even though it eats living space. I rarely use- but in bad weather it’s the right trade off.

I would not consider a Riviera in this area. I don't think they ride as well nor have the range. (#2)

In the size range being discussed, based on all that I’ve heard and read, I’ll accept that Viking and Hatteras are great hulls. Whether Rivieras may not ride as well I cannot say because I have no personal experience running Viking or Hatteras hulls in my PNW waters.

I do have experience running my 41 Riviera open fly bridge (46 LOA) in sea states with 40 kt winds (Haro Strait, etc.). Putting aside why I was in those conditions, it wasn’t “comfortable” but I wasn’t concerned about safety either. Appropriate boat handling - adjusting speed and heading - and the hull performed.

My sense is that weather conditions would prompt me to not go before they reached the point where the hull couldn’t handle them. I’ve been told by other more experienced Riviera owners that I’d get scared long before the hull was in conditions it couldn’t handle safely.

Having said all that, choosing appropriate weather windows regardless of the hull you’re running, makes for a more pleasurable (and safer) experience. Particularly when my better half is on board!

I purchased an older 53' Viking at the end of last year. I moved up from a Bertram also. I don't yet have a lot of experience with it as its still on the hard getting some work/upgrades. When I brought it to homeport at the end of November I had to cruise 7 hours into a 20-25kt wind and a 3- 4' tight chop and the boat handled extremely well. It tracked very well although it was wet! I was adjusting trim and transferred fuel to rear tank and it got better. The boat has 820 MANs and cruised at 22kts and burned 53 GPH. It has 3 SR 2 head. Handling around the docks wasn't much different than the Bertram just bigger. Based on your original Post I would recommend the Viking (48-53) but you'll need more HP if you want 25-30kt cruise in a 53. I'm comfortable with my cruise and I was looking for 820's since they seem to have a pretty good reputation and are relatively simple to work on. I've purchased filters, belts, impellers and even 20 rebuilt injectors. Prices for parts were more than Cummins but honestly didn't seem out of line in any way. There is plenty of Engine Room space and its easy to walk around both engines with good access to everything.
Cruising range is pretty good with 1100 gallons of fuel tanks. The salon is spacious. I plan to do several overnight canyon trips, Inshore fishing and of course cruising.
Good Luck with your search