Deep sea fishing?

[Henry]

When I bought the boat, never thought of go deep sea... I was thinking of taking the kids out for fun and fishing around Tampa bay area.
Now friends said heading 30-50 miles out to the Gulf of Mexico from St. Petersburg, FL will have lots of good fish and fun....

Anyone take the boat out that far? How many ft sea can it handle?
Thinking of taking it out few miles then stretch it out a little further out each time to see how it handle, how I handle the waves and how far the fuel tank can go.... Any suggestion greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[robert843]

Many of us take our boats to Bimini in the Bahamas each year. @ClemsonTiger maybe able to give you a better response he did a lot of fishing on his.

 

[Bill D]

At best cruise, the FSH has a range of about 90 miles. So you'll definitely want to carry extra fuel.

 

[Julian]

Be sure to invest in the right safety equipment! EPRIB, marine radio with DSC, auto inflating life jacket(s), watch the weather, and know your limits.

 

[swatski]

When I bought the boat, never thought of go deep sea... I was thinking of taking the kids out for fun and fishing around Tampa bay area.
Now friends said heading 30-50 miles out to the Gulf of Mexico from St. Petersburg, FL will have lots of good fish and fun....

Anyone take the boat out that far? How many ft sea can it handle?
Thinking of taking it out few miles then stretch it out a little further out each time to see how it handle, how I handle the waves and how far the fuel tank can go.... Any suggestion greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

I have a 190, different boat, same hull. These boats are beasts in the ocean. I cut my teeth when I lived in New England for about ten years (and yes, I was young and stupid) - find this this boat as (or more) capable as any whaler-class boat similar size.
Our Bimini crossings this year were not particularly smooth, it was not bad either - and that boat of mine did not give me one bad moment/vibe. Surprisingly, we also took no waves over the bow (zero) and not all that much spray (I would like to take credit for being an amazing captain, but who are we kidding - the boat is just really quite capable). That said, it is a 19fter. You will get tossed around and anything bigger than about 3-4ft - you are going to be hurting...

As far as fuel, that gets a bit tricky. If you can manage to go slow on plane, keeping it in cruise control with constant 6-6500RPM, you may get 90mile range. But in a rougher water - all bets are off and if you make your engine work harder to compensate for a smoother ride your fuel consumption can increase dramatically. You may need to be going WOT at 35mph, and some such. I which case, your mileage will vary.

And BTW - all (three) of my young kids want to go back on the Bimini trip (or something similar) (I - can not wait).
My wife... she wants a bigger boat. But it is a comfort/convenience thing. And she just doesn't understand...

--

 

[Henry]

Thanks for video Clemson and thanks others for great info.
On the windy day around 10-12mph, I notice the speed reduced significantly.
Usually cruising at 6500rpm give me around 3omph, but with little wave, it get down to 20-25mph.
I can see the fuel mileage can reduce significantly.
Thanks again guys.

 

[JDinfla]

We went 9 miles off shore today and ran out of bait, came back to the jetty. We cast net a full bait well and went 9 miles off shore again. We checked out a couple of other spots and then did some fishing along the beach. Altogether about 50 miles with little less than half tank left.
It's always that last 1/8th tank that flys by...

 

[swatski]

On that note ^, I find my "gallons used" counter to be spot on, I tend to rely on it. Not the fuel gauge, which is VERY non-linear...