Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire modern equivalent of Starcraft Islander

Wondering what the modern day equivalent of and Islander or Crestliner Sabre would be. Seems no body makes them anymore.

Not sure. Who'd make a boat that everybody jeers at and quickly ends up in a boat cemetery?

Stick with rockets and aircraft...you obviously don'r know from beans a bout offshore fishing boats.

They are very popular on Lake Erie. Not many jeers.

We have some big water on the west coast, Rogue River Bar, Buoy 10 on the Columbia, Cape Blanco, Cape Flattery, Point St George to name a few...but from what the Coasties say, nothing tests a small fishing craft like the Great Lakes, and that is where the old Starcrafts made their reputation.

Weren’t the StarCraft a riveted boat? I seem to recall seeing several riveted StarCrafts around here. I liked the look of them though as they seemed to take advantage of the space available but I never rode in one or fished off one so I have no firsthand experience with them.

That’s just a legend that lives on from the Chippewa on down…






P

More rivets than a 747. Well....lots anyway.

In the PNW there are many, many VERY seaworthy aluminum boats. However, they are heavy-gauge welded aluminum… and you best get your wallet out. Anything in the general realm of an Islander gets above 6 figures real fast.

I see Islanders pop up from time to time (I’m a Craigslist boat junky)…. you could always buy an old one and refit it.

I fish almost exclusively in the salt; salt and rivets don’t get along well. My first boat was a riveted late 80’s Hewes. Good hull, but had numerous seeping rivets.

If you haven’t looked at the welded boats look at Hewes Craft, North River, Kingfisher, Willy, Duckworth, Alumaweld, Wellcraft, ThunderJet, Raider…. Hewes sells the most by volume and are great boats. Mine is a 20’ Hewes ProV. I had it on the ocean two (very calm) days last week…. I’ve been 20 miles offshore in it. The modern-era aluminum boats have better seakeeping qualities than older aluminum boats typically had. For example, the very common open-bow boats with a walk-through windshield are big trouble if you take a wave over the bow. Also, deeply notched transoms with wimpy splashwells…. My boat has an open bow but it’s essentially self-bailing (huge scuppers) and is bulkheaded off from everything aft anyway. My transom has a huge splashwell and then a full-height bulkhead on top of that, so if you get hit by a wave from behind, like when crossing the bar, the water stays out of the boat.

I'd add Klamath and Gregor to that list. Apparently the Gregor factory burned down last year, but I heard they will be reopening soon.

Thanks….that’s my memory of them. I liked the looks of the StarCraft (w/small cuddly) but I didn’t think they were all they were cracked up to be especially for the price when you consider that they were riveted….iirc they were mostly 4cyl I/O’s too.

Aluminum and rivets. Great idea for saltwater.

Just my personal experience...my first Starcraft was an old Chieftan 21, 5000 hrs on the hourmeter, re powered and ran it for 16 yrs, mostly offshore saltwater. No loose rivets or other problems. Bought a brand new Starcraft Islander 19.1 in '94. Sold it in 2020, 26 years service in offshore saltwater, including winter Dungeness crabbing (that is hard use)...no problems.
As far as riveting goes on aluminum, as an engineered fastening system, I'd bet Digital Dan has a lot of hours in a riveted flying machine. Not so many hours in a welded aircraft?

If I was to buy one it would be used in fresh water only. My first and only boat was a 1975 Star craft 16 ft open bow fishing boat that I had for 25 years and never had any problems with the rivets. I used and abused the He l l out of it and it never leaked. My family will likely be moving to the Appleton, Greenbay areas this summer and I want something that can handle bigger water on Lake Michigan.

I said it was a great idea for saltwater. Are you insecure? Would you feel threatened doing 80 mph on the ocean so you wouldn’t be late for a hawt date?

I AM insecure...I am scared schidtless doing anything over 18 kts on saltwater....no sane woman would get caught dead on a date with me....but I haven't had any trouble with rivets in the Pacific...they got these things called "zincs", the smart guys call 'em sacrificial anodes.

Goodness.... a local dairy farmer had one in his shed for sale last year.... like... 12 or 13 years old.... the thing was in mint shape and still looked new..... Dang it man ! I should have bought it...

Aw, c'mon man, let's go for a ride in my boat!

All I know about Crestliners is that when I lived in Florida, the popular saying was "Friends don't let friends buy Crestliner." A huge salvage yard there had acres of dead boats: Crestliner, Crestliner, Crestliner, Crestliner...

I usually hear it as Bayliner.