Looking for a, New Center Console.

I'm looking for a Center, Console about 19-20' to put at the condo we bought on the Caloosahatchee. (Cape Coral/Ft. Myers). Last year we used a 17' Mako it was just a bit to small for longer runs.
I really like inboards and I'm looking at a 20'Shamrock with their keel drive. It still draws close to 24" which I think Is a lot for this area. We like to beach our CC's.
It's really easy to run aground in this area and real easy to raise an outboard to unstick yourself and keep going. Not so easy if you draw 24" .
Anybody know of a tunnel drive?
Am I bet overly concerned about the draw of the Shamrock,?

Opinions needed from the group.

I'd take a look at Dusky, factory direct, affordable, good riding, and well built boats.

Run a 26 Shammie as an assistance tower...and get everyone else off that goes aground. By the time you look at a single outboard on a semi vee...the draft difference isn't all that great.

The plus about the inboard keel drive...with an oversized 4 bladed prop...you can dig your own trench out of being aground in sand or mud.I routinely beach the boat and it has no problem pulling itself off where you would destroy an outboard.

N4712 said:

I'd take a look at Dusky, factory direct, affordable, good riding, and well built boats.

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I like Dusky's Oliver but I'd like to explore an IB option

Don Moon has the best looking center console ever made with CAT diesel power. If he won't give up baby Moonstruck perhaps he will show off a couple pictures.

mbevins said:

I like Dusky's Oliver but I'd like to explore an IB option

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They make IB boats.

psneeld said:

Run a 26 Shammie as an assistance tower...and get everyone else off that goes aground. By the time you look at a single outboard on a semi vee...the draft difference isn't all that great.

The plus about the inboard keel drive...with an oversized 4 bladed prop...you can dig your own trench out of being aground in sand or mud.I routinely beach the boat and it has no problem pulling itself off where you would destroy an outboard.

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Thanks, that's the kind stuff I was hoping to hear.
I've got a 23 Mako IB for up North with traditional shaft and rudder. If I tried what you just described with it I'd rip the prop out of the boat.

N4712 said:

They make IB boats.

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Well then I'll look into them.

mbevins said:

Well then I'll look into them.

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Actually after a quick look, it seems they don't make them anymore. But I'd give a call and verify.

If you are dead set on an IB the Shamrock is a well made, solid boat. However, the aft deadrise is very flat. If you are in protected waters it will be a great, non-rolly platform to fish and play from. We had a 25 or 26?? Shamrock cc with a 351 engine that ran 35+ knots and was good on fuel. The layout was perfect for our purpose of a run about/fishing/dive platform for the Fla. Keys. It was comfortable in anything less than 3ft seas but over that would pound you to death unless you back off the throttle a bit...which I had a hard time doing.

The Shammy keel drive is a very wet boat also. But the above description is accurate as to it's functionality and driveability. The full keel without thruster is not impossible to handle in tight quarters..but hates to turn from beam to into the wind without a lot of room....backing and filling just willow leafs you down the canal/creek.


It is really no better built than many boats...has all the usual issues from boats at that time period. I have pretty well done everything on a Shammy keel drive from cut off the fiberglass keel shoe and replace with a stainless vee strut to engine upgrading to 454s to remove the pilot houses to repairing the whole bow area crushed by a barge.


Having dismantled them down to components....you really see what the factory did 100% or only 80% or that it was just like the rest of the pack.

CPseudonym said:

Don Moon has the best looking center console ever made with CAT diesel power. If he won't give up baby Moonstruck perhaps he will show off a couple pictures.

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Thanks Craig, but it draws 3' with no keel. It is really an offshore fishing boat. I have run it all over SW FL from Clearwater to Naples, but don't wonder into the shallows. Definitely no beaching.

a 24ft. Carolina Skiff w/150hp will run on wet grass. A little rough riding in a bad chop but very safe and comfortable. This boat is used down here in the marshes and coastal areas by sportsmen and commercial fishermen needing a shallow running boat that will take a load. Will get up with bottom sitting in mud.

Shamrock 17

I liked the idea of the keel drive inboard so I picked up a 17 foot Shamrock project boat. The 17 draws only 12 inches and is as big a boat as I want for my needs. Like other boats watch for fuel tank issues. There is a Shamrock forum on fish the classic net. You may be able to answer some of your Shamrock questions there. I don't think 24 inches is too bad for a 20 foot boat with a propeller fully in the water.

My buddy has a Shamrock, we call it the Shammy. She's wet, or so I'm told.

Of course unless you set up a view port over the prop like some downeast boats do...you have the pleasure of diving under it like I did yesterday to cut a line out I picked up around a dock or the shallows.


My vote would be a Carolina skiff as long as I am retired and on no clock...they are the second best all around boat in my mind....just slow down if facing a bad chop...you will in most small boats anyway.

My wife would absolutely remove body parts if I bought a Carolina. She doesn't appreciate being slapped with a moderate V. The flat bottom no matter how little it draws is a non starter.

I live in the area and have first hand knowledge of how shallow Charlotte harbor is and how rough it can get in a matter of seconds. Two types of boaters here those that have been stuck and those who lie about being stuck.Since the harbor is so shallow it gets a different kind of chop. The waves come from all directions. I call it the mixing bowl. With those two concerns look for boats that can take the chop and still run fairly skinny water. Carolina Skiffs are great boats but they will beat you to death and you will be wet. Shamrocks are built tough but you will be soaked heading home in the afternoon storms. I have a deep 18' hydra sports that works great here. runs in a foot of water and can run out 20 miles out in the gulf if I pick my days. If I had it to do over the only thing I would change would be to go a little bigger 20-22'. The bigger Mako's are a decent boat also but their skiffs will be wet. You also want something that can outrun the afternoon storms so I would'nt look at pontoons.
Good luck and keep us posted on your purchase.

If your seats are far enough aft...slapping is debatable....


Riding a 24 Carolina skiff near the transom is no different than an 18 foot modifies vee if the console is so far forward it is ridiculous.


The only way to know is to ride the ride you might choose.


There was just an article in one of the boating mags that discussed how fast pontoons have become...not necessarily an all around boat but strictly back bay they have their plusses.


I have heard guys brag about deep vees...yet you get small and light enough...tey all beat you up once the sea become just right.


If it is that big of a deal and you are willing to wait..ride them all and think hydrodynamics...the best hull in the world set up wrong or overly touted is just that.

For whatever reason I can't seem to keep her out of the bow when we're running. Go figure.
As far as Charlotte Harbor is concerned we got caught in the 17 Mako in those confused seas this past February. Got absolutely soaked. Which is part of the reason it has to go (the boat, not the harbor).
The perfect boat would have a tunnel drive, a big Carolina bow, 23' long, and be a center console.

What about a picnic boat?

N4712 said:

What about a picnic boat?
View attachment 41807

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Is this the one that is for sale on CL?

Used Mirage Boats for Sale


Thought these had a partial tunnel...know the guy who started marketing them here...he was real interested in what I knew about small inboard boats.

psneeld said:

Used Mirage Boats for Sale


Thought these had a partial tunnel...know the guy who started marketing them here...he was real interested in what I knew about small inboard boats.

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WOW those are some spendy units

They are very nice looking boats. From what I saw looks like an outdrive on the 21.
Thought those were a no-no in Southern waters.

mbevins said:

My wife would absolutely remove body parts if I bought a Carolina. She doesn't appreciate being slapped with a moderate V. The flat bottom no matter how little it draws is a non starter.

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Take your wife for a ride in a Shamrock while in a chop. She may remove some of your body parts. They are a good boat for why they were designed, but the hull goes pretty quickly from a V to more flat sections. Take a look at a bottom contour. The Caloosahatchee can build a chop in a hurry.

Moonstruck said:

Take your wife for a ride in a Shamrock while in a chop. She may remove some of your body parts. They are a good boat for why they were designed, but the hull goes pretty quickly from a V to more flat sections. Take a look at a bottom contour. The Caloosahatchee can build a chop in a hurry.

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On the 26 CC the ride in chop up to 3ft was not bad at all...IF you stuffed the bow down with the trim tabs. Was a little wet however. I ran Hawk Channel in some nasty chop and it was acceptable to me. If it got to anything over (unless long period swell) 3 ft...well...fugedaboutit! On a 20ft hull you would probably be fine in the protected waters around Ft. M.

Recommend you look at a few power catamarans, mbevins. (That's as distinguished from pontoon boats, which are a different breed of cat). An increasing number of manufacturers have entered this market - several came and went during the Great Recession. Twin Vee has pretty good designs, though their construction quality is uneven. I like my 18' Shoal Cat. It's roomier than any 18' monohull, but still might be smaller than you want.

Power cats like mine have generous, flat cockpits and foredecks, with storage under. Their space is organized similarly to that of a Carolina Skiff. The difference is, a cat won't beat you to death in a chop. I will grant that, at 12" of draft, my cat might need a little more H2O to float in that an 18' Carolina Skiff. But if a foot of water is deeper than where you like to go, you can always get out and walk alongside the boat.

Cat advantages: shallow draft, light weight, economical to run, requires minimal power, spacious, easy to trailer-tow & launch & recover, easy to push off from a beach or mud bank, stable at rest, and smooth running even in rough conditions.

Cat disadvantages: hmm . . . can't think of any right now!

Before I bought my Blackfin we were searching for a center console in the 25' range. I had known Steve Harris with he was with Uniflite. I ran into him at the Miami Boat Show. He was then president of Shamrock. A test ride was arranged for my wife and me on Biscayne Bay. The boat was the 26' with a Cummins engine. Biscayne Bay had a pretty nice chop on it. When we got back to the dock, my wife said no way. We bought the Blackfin for the ride, but it is definitely not a shallow water boat. All boats are a compromise. I think the Shamrock is great for it's intended purpose.

By the way, my late wife handled the boat while I looked after the cockpit and fishing lines. She knew her way around boats.

Don, my father got rid (actually...a hurricane did) of the Shamrock and bought a 25 Blackfin. At the time we had a 37 Bertram sportfisher which had a phenomenal ride. He also liked the hull form of the BF (Ray Hunt design also IIRC) and picked up a VERY used one out of Marathon. The fuel tanks were all but falling apart which did not become apparent until he took it out in foul weather. He had a penchant for buying other people's problems. Would have been a fine boat new.