Hello there! I am a novice boater (i.e. basically zero knowledge) wondering what to look for in a boat that can go ~8 miles off the coast of Central California. This is a bit of an odd situation, so before I put my foot in my mouth and make it look like I am being totally unsafe, maybe I should explain 
I am working on a grant to do research on pinniped (seals, sea lions, etc.) movement near the Gulf of the Farallones off the coast of California?basically, the section of open ocean that is right around San Francisco, although I will likely be just a little south. Part of the grant will be for a research vessel, and it would be used mostly for transportation... we'd spend a few hours at a time out there, but wouldn't be sleeping overnight or anything. We would budget for an experienced boater to do the actual piloting/driving, but since we don't know if we will get the grant, and don't know which university/institution we would be operating through, we haven't started looking for one yet. For this grant, since we're applying through a private institution, we need to budget for our own vessel (liability purposes, I would guess) and we need to be fairly specific about what kind of vessel, and how much of our budget we needs to be allocated for that purpose.
I hear that this stretch of coast can be particularly treacherous, so I want to make sure we're well equipped. While we would not go out on large, stormy days, in a perfect world, we'd be out 3/4/5 days a week, at least. We will have the luxury of somewhat picking our days, but we won't necessarily be able to wait for a month for the one perfect day, so we're looking for a fairly robust vehicle.
To that end, I have a few questions. It'll probably be pretty clear that I've started doing my own research but still don't know enough to ask intelligent questions (that wonderful stage where you've done just enough research to almost sound like you know what you're talking about, but still ask dumb questions), so please bear with me!
1) Just ballpark... what are we looking at in terms of budget? If I'm being honest, we'd probably just turn to craigslist or something (yep. When you're begging for grant money, things need to be as cheap as possible), so... I'm afraid to even throw out a number. Just looking for a very general sense so I can put something down in the budget.
2) What are we looking at in terms of size? This will be important for storage considerations, but also, we'd ideally fit 4-6 of us on this boat at any given time. I think the smaller the better, but I also understand that there's a correlation between boat size and ability to handle open water, so I assume there's a minimum viable length we'd be looking at? I also understand that people go out great distances on things like jet skis and zodiacs. Is this risky, or is this normal? Zodiacs seem nice because they're inflatable and so I assume they're basically unsinkable.... but they're also tiny.
3) When it comes time of the actual purchasing, what things should we be looking for? I am understanding that hull shape plays a big role in ability to handle open waters, but I don't necessarily understand what to look for. Is there a minimum viable deadrise angle? What about freeboard? As I've been looking online, it seems that new boat manufacturers list their bow deadrise and stern deadrise, which are often different. Is one more important than the other? I'm generally gathering that stern deadrise is, at least, very important, so is there a minimum angle I should be looking for there?
4) Materials. I see that fiberglass boats are far more common, but I also have been reading things like, "how to buy a used boat" and a lot of the articles talk about things like stringer rot and all kinds of things that I just wouldn't know how to look for. I feel safer looking at aluminum boats, because I feel like there's less to be "hidden"?either it floats with no leaks, or it doesn't. Is that just me being paranoid? Might I be fine with a fiberglass boat?
5) Engine. It seems that twin engines are a must for safety, so we'd be going that route for sure. Is there a minimum horsepower that is recommended? We certainly don't need to go fast, at all... if we could get up to like 5 miles an hour, that'd be great.
6) Anything else that I've neglected to ask? As I said, I basically know nothing. My ideal from this post would be to get a broad overview of what to look for, and then start looking, and then be able to set out a fairly accurate description of the vessel we will likely end up purchasing.
Thank you so much! This seems like a fantastic community, and your advice will be greatly appreciated.
-Amy
I am working on a grant to do research on pinniped (seals, sea lions, etc.) movement near the Gulf of the Farallones off the coast of California?basically, the section of open ocean that is right around San Francisco, although I will likely be just a little south. Part of the grant will be for a research vessel, and it would be used mostly for transportation... we'd spend a few hours at a time out there, but wouldn't be sleeping overnight or anything. We would budget for an experienced boater to do the actual piloting/driving, but since we don't know if we will get the grant, and don't know which university/institution we would be operating through, we haven't started looking for one yet. For this grant, since we're applying through a private institution, we need to budget for our own vessel (liability purposes, I would guess) and we need to be fairly specific about what kind of vessel, and how much of our budget we needs to be allocated for that purpose.
I hear that this stretch of coast can be particularly treacherous, so I want to make sure we're well equipped. While we would not go out on large, stormy days, in a perfect world, we'd be out 3/4/5 days a week, at least. We will have the luxury of somewhat picking our days, but we won't necessarily be able to wait for a month for the one perfect day, so we're looking for a fairly robust vehicle.
To that end, I have a few questions. It'll probably be pretty clear that I've started doing my own research but still don't know enough to ask intelligent questions (that wonderful stage where you've done just enough research to almost sound like you know what you're talking about, but still ask dumb questions), so please bear with me!
1) Just ballpark... what are we looking at in terms of budget? If I'm being honest, we'd probably just turn to craigslist or something (yep. When you're begging for grant money, things need to be as cheap as possible), so... I'm afraid to even throw out a number. Just looking for a very general sense so I can put something down in the budget.
2) What are we looking at in terms of size? This will be important for storage considerations, but also, we'd ideally fit 4-6 of us on this boat at any given time. I think the smaller the better, but I also understand that there's a correlation between boat size and ability to handle open water, so I assume there's a minimum viable length we'd be looking at? I also understand that people go out great distances on things like jet skis and zodiacs. Is this risky, or is this normal? Zodiacs seem nice because they're inflatable and so I assume they're basically unsinkable.... but they're also tiny.
3) When it comes time of the actual purchasing, what things should we be looking for? I am understanding that hull shape plays a big role in ability to handle open waters, but I don't necessarily understand what to look for. Is there a minimum viable deadrise angle? What about freeboard? As I've been looking online, it seems that new boat manufacturers list their bow deadrise and stern deadrise, which are often different. Is one more important than the other? I'm generally gathering that stern deadrise is, at least, very important, so is there a minimum angle I should be looking for there?
4) Materials. I see that fiberglass boats are far more common, but I also have been reading things like, "how to buy a used boat" and a lot of the articles talk about things like stringer rot and all kinds of things that I just wouldn't know how to look for. I feel safer looking at aluminum boats, because I feel like there's less to be "hidden"?either it floats with no leaks, or it doesn't. Is that just me being paranoid? Might I be fine with a fiberglass boat?
5) Engine. It seems that twin engines are a must for safety, so we'd be going that route for sure. Is there a minimum horsepower that is recommended? We certainly don't need to go fast, at all... if we could get up to like 5 miles an hour, that'd be great.
6) Anything else that I've neglected to ask? As I said, I basically know nothing. My ideal from this post would be to get a broad overview of what to look for, and then start looking, and then be able to set out a fairly accurate description of the vessel we will likely end up purchasing.
Thank you so much! This seems like a fantastic community, and your advice will be greatly appreciated.
-Amy
