43 vs. 47 Ride, performance

I have never seen nor heard of any gelcoat crazing issues on any of the Cabo's.

Crazing

Yep we started noticing it on my boat about 3 years ago and we continues to notice new areas. My neighbor who has a Cabo 35 had to have his topside painted. I went to Cabo about the issue 2 years ago and they acknowledged the problem but would not do anything since the boat is out of warranty. I've talked to a couple of other owners that have the same problem.

What year is your boat?

Cabo

Its a 2005.

Why restrict your search to the left coast? If I were you I'd consider buying one on the east coast if the right boat comes along, cruise the Bahamas....Abacos, Harbour Island, Exumas and then ship it over to the left coast......

Because your east coast boats are not rigged/outfitted for our fishing out west. Just more $$$ to change them over to our style of boating out here. There are a few on yachtworld that would fit the bill right out of the box. There are differences in electronic needs, tower design, bait tanks, refrigeration, dinghy/crane set-up, rails & rod holders, duplicate systems, etc.

It would be nice to make that trip though...........

UMMMMM the Cabo's only came a certain way from the factory. They only had/have about a dozen total options one could order. The ONLY West coast specific option were taller bow rails. The only refrigeraton options were a bait freezer in the cockpit (majority of them all had this option) and a deep freezer in the galley. The cockpit arrangement there was only an option of having a glass see through livewell. Electronics, I don't know what you'd add over there that a properly fitted electronics package on an east coast 47/48' Cabo wouldn't have. Most all 47'/48's will not have a dinghy and crane on the bow, except for a very few. Most 47'/48's were not outfitted with a tower, mostly hardtops. It's up to you, but I'm sure you can find an east coast boat that fits your needs and do some exploring and fishing in the Bahamas, and not frigid 65F degree water, and then ship it over. Big Blue Marlin, Big Tuna's, and 30-100lb wahoo, what's more to want? Prices are probably cheap enough on an east coast boat that it would pay to ship it on a freighter......or take the trip of a lifetime and fish/run it there on it's own bottom over 4 months.

Stan Miller, the Cabo dealer out West, would outfit/commission to their customers requirements. Some changes would be done by the factory and some at the commissioning yard, usually Basin Marine. These changes could be as basic as eliminating a shower and converting it to rod storage only, to changing specific pumps, retractable side-scanning sonar, elaborate bait systems, custom cold plate freezer units, C-Fab towers, mostly in SS, different genset requirements, cockpit layout, the list goes on and on.

The ones with dinghy/crane on the bow are out west, what the hell are you going to do in Turtle/Mag Bay, or the local Channel Islands, etc. without a dinghy - swim to shore????

Same went on for the "Bad Company" line of Hatteras 54/60 and Viking 60 SF modified out west, they would have over 100 modifications from the factory alone. I am just trying to let you know there are differences for our local and far away conditions (Point Conception to Costa Rica) that get specific tailoring from those anglers/owners in the "know", just like I am sure it happens out east for the Jersey/Carolina/Florida guys.

Well, I guess you need to give good ole Stan Miller a call and have him do your Cabo up when you buy a used one, or order one brand new.

What then an European dude should do if looking for a SF...just giving up, as far as your list (that is a fraction of what we have to do just to fulfil the CE) is concerned.
I pushed myself from here up to Alabama, to find what I thought was best for me.
A clean boat is worth some changes IMMO

Cabo and Hatteras both make and have made a lot of CE certified boats that were shipped and sold in Europe.

J: what if you wish to buy a pre-owned boat???
Until 2009 it was allowed to ship a boat from US here and, before custom procedures, have the boat surveyed by a CE Certifier, unfortunately not nowadays.
But we found a solution to move around this obstacle anyway ...within law boundary off course!

Well, the OP could buy a used West Coast version (already "done up") without having to do too many up-grades/customization, or he could go out East and pick one up, cruise the Bahama's like you suggest, and then bring it out West and spend more money to customize it, whatever his pocketbook can take.

It's not exactly rocket science..........

From my experience the east coast boats are priced about 15-20% below the west coast boats, all in all. Supply and demand, location, I don't know the reason. However, if the OP buys one here on the east coast for 20% less, he could enjoy the Bahamas, ship it back, and still have some money to do the boat up his way, and not have to take a shower with fishing rods in the way!

What exactly are you fishing for that you need so many changes to a boat that was built IN CALIFORNIA? I don't see any of this weird stuff on any of the successful Mexico pacific ocean charter boats, or fishing in Panama or other places. The ones that fish in Cabo San Lucas, etc etc......The only thing I see those guys add are Tuna Tubes. Same thing with fishing rods, how many do you need to do a fishing trip? I've fished a ton of east coast fishing tournaments, and won a few, and anymore than 5 rods out at a time, 6 at the most is going to be a total mess and what googans do. So 2 sets and a few spinning rods is only 14 rods.....You can store 5 or 6 on the backbar of the FB, another 4-5 in the fighting chair or rocket launcher etc etc. Side scanning sonar is a bunch of BS, btw and doesn't work unless maybe the boat is stopped and sitting on a calm lake. Personally I'd rather customize a boat the way I want it. The OP was initially looking at a 43' which is pretty limiting all in all to start with, and you couldn't even put half of the things you're talking about on it. If you're fishing all of the way down to Costa Rica, I'd look for a 48' since they hold over 100 gallons more fuel.

It is not uncommon for many classic car guys to buy cars on totally different continents and ship them back, because what they want isn't available where they're at. Yachts to the same degree. One of our Australian members, just bought a classic car in the U.S. and is going to have it shipped back, he bought his yacht over here also and shipped it back.

Our sportfishery has some unique requirements driven by some of the following issues:

1. Not enough Marinas/Fuel locations from SD to Cabo. Boats have to be more self-sufficient and you will be anchoring more often than not, in depths from 30' - 100''+). Bladder tanks are not uncommon. Extended range is necessary. Multiple generators, cruising alternators, more freezer/cold storage, back-up systems (sometimes duplicate watermakers) and mucho spares carried onboard.
2. Not enough accessible fishing spots, so what ever local bite is happening, it is usually over-crowded. It takes a major effort/investment to come back with fish, and the high liners have developed technical means to get on the right location. VHF Scramblers/chip modifications, some legal - some not, listening devices, contacts with commercial fisherman/spotter planes all deemed necessary to be in the top 10%.
3. The local Striped Marlin fishery (small fish, usually less than 200lbs.) is mainly a light tackle/stand-up/sight fishery depending on live bait. Not uncommon to have 3 or 4 seperate large Bait Tanks/Wells, I have seen some boats with at least 6!. Plus Tuna tubes, minimum of 6. You will have preferably 30 - 100+ pieces of live bait at any one time, Greenback or Spanish Mackeral, maybe large Sardines/small Bonito for billfish and anchovies/squid for inshore/island fishing. Not to mention the more exotic options starting from Mag Bay south. Because of the diversity and size of fish, not uncommon to have up to 25-30 rods at the ready. prefer conventional style reels rather than the spinning reel (coffe grinder) type.
4. Sight lines are critical - usually 2+ guys in gyro's on bridge/tower, sometimes up to 4 in tournament situations. No gunnale/house side mounted riggers, must be bridge mounted, all attena tower mounted, clear 360 degree view from bridge and tower. Clear sidedeck access.
5. Access to foredeck for casting to Marlin/Swordfish. Foredeck rails extend to cockpit for secure passage with rod/fish in hand. Bow bait tank a must. Fighting chair only necessary for big money Blue Marlin Tournaments in Cabo, otherwise, it's stand-up and fight like a man.
6. Already touched upon the dinghy/crane issue, not necessary if you are traveling with a mothership or want to be dependent on someone elses ride.
7. Retractable Side Scanning Sonar (Furuno) an absolute must have. They have proven extremely useful even underway, at the low speed live bait trolling speeds. I have seen them on boats as small as 38'. The highliners know how to tune/interpret the images and a few Bisbee's high dollar tournaments have been won with this not so secret weapon. They would argue with your assessment all day long. The chirping drives most people nuts, so even if installed, they tend not to get used to the fullest of their capability, only for the more hardcore top 10%ers.
8. And yes, quite a few of them have swimplatforms, comes in handing boarding your dinghy, diving, etc.

Not a complete list but a good start. Heres a picture of a 60 Viking in action in a SoCal tournament.

OK, and where are you going to store all of this stuff on a little 47' Cabo. If you put a dinghy and davit on the bow, there is no room for a livebaitwell on the bow. Your better off with a bagged inflatable dinghy and small outboard for it that you can stow away when you're not using it to save space and weight and not installing a davit. Then you have 4 large livebaitwells in the cockpit and bladder tanks, again where are you going to have anyroom to fish or even to store all of this stuff? you can take a 100 gallon chemtainer with a rule 3700 pump on it and stuff 25 dozen goggle eyes in it, and then stuff 40 dozen pilchards in the transom livewell. How much livebait do you need? You're going to try to fish with supply hoses and drain hoses to 4 different livewells on the deck. You're not talking about a 64' Viking here. Just with your list, a 47' Cabo would be well overloaded with weight to even be safe to go out in the ocean with. Impossible. 4-50 gallon livewells in the cockpit and full fuel, and the factory livewell full would have water coming in the scuppers and covering the cockpit floor on a 47' Cabo with a tower, let along adding bladder tanks and everything else. The boat just cannot handle that kind of weight. No wonder why you guys fish off of the bow, because you render the cockpit useless.

Quite honestly, if I was doing it, I'd bring a 200 gallon bladder, do 800-1000rpms all of the way down there, empty the bladder as quick as possible and fold it up and throw it in the dinghy, then a 100 gallon livewell on the deck......A 47' SF is a small boat, and you're going to have to make lots of compromises to do all of that. The chirping from the side scanning sonar also keeps a lot of fish from coming with 100' of the boat as well.

A friend of mine was the mate for Enrique Capozzi down in Costa Rica for a few years when he set all of those light tackle records, Enrique holds dozens and dozens of IGFA light tackle records in the Pacific for Marlin, Striped Marlin, and Sailfish, perhaps you've heard of him? They almost never fished from the bow, I mean almost never. It's the same mate that has worked for me for years. If you cannot position the cockpit to fish out of, even with pitch baits, for marlin, sailfish and others, you need a new Captain. You can spin a 47' Cabo around in seconds and still do about 10 knots in reverse. All they mostly did was pitch live baits, and bait and switch down there when they set all of the records. They also did it out of a 44' Gamefisherman.

In that Viking pic, there is no reason on this earth, you couldn't have that fish behind the boat and not foward of the cockpit. How does someone on the bow even tag and release a fish with the height of the bow of a 61' Viking. On the 75' Jim Smith I worked on, we caught and released 31 sailfish off of Palm Beach on live bait before 2pm and never once had anyone or anyfish foward of the cockpit, even with multiples on.

Game fishing

Hi folks, attached 2 pictures, how blue (actually grey) water game fishing looks in my neck of the woods, Germany. A bunch of drunken dudes, trying to mix up their fishing lines as fast as possible. The biggest fish the bring home, is some Atlantic Mackerel and Cod. And most of them do not even eat fish . Btw. the name of the bigger one is not "for Tuna", its "Fortuna" .

Capt J I think you're forgetting that guys on the left coast do things much differently. We did a 48 for a customer and the boat had a davit, tender and live bait tank with mackerel tubes on the bow. It also had two dive compressors, two water makers, two generators, full stainless hardtop, teak decks and covering boards, the list went on and on. With C18's the boat still did 34 knots and rode very well.

The big difference with east coast and west coast boats comes down to rails and material. East coast boats overwhelmingly had aluminum "east coast style" rails where west coast boats had stainless rails that extended to the sheer break. East coast boats had less rod holders and west coast boats had more; the differences were very small.

Until you do some serious fishing on the West coast many of the methods and boat layouts will seem foreign or odd. Instead of watching the spread or the dredges we look for tailing marlin or sauries breaking the surface. A lot of tournaments have been won by finding bait balls with the side scan and sneaking up on them with anglers at the bow casting live baits. We also put an angler on the bow to cast to tailers or swordfish. Having that tank on the bow makes it easy when you spot a fast tailer or a feeder up on the surface going nuts. It's a much different fishery than the east coast. Every person is going to have his own unique way of fishing and setting up their boats. At the end it's entirely up to who owns the boat.

As for the Viking in the picture, the captain of that boat is Steve Lassley, one of the most well respected and successful captains on this coast. He has won the Bisbees a few times as well as every money tournament on this coast. He attributes much of his success to the side scan sonar and had a commercial grade sonar installed on that 60. You would be very hard pressed to find a more knowledgeble and well respected captain on this coast.