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I am very tempted to upgrade and buy a model I have never heard if before, Offshore 27, model year is 1995 and it is powered by two Yamaha 225 four stroke engines, probably a later year than 1995 but I am not sure.
Anybody who has any comments about Offshore 27? Is it a good model? Why is it no longer in production?
Anybody who has any comments about Offshore 27? Is it a good model? Why is it no longer in production?
The offshore 27 is a great boat. It has the same hull as my 1989 Whaler 27 FC WD, and it is rated for up to 600 HP. The hull that was used on all the Whaler 27 models has not been taken out of production, and in fact, you can still buy a new one from Brunswick Commercial and Government Products division.
The Whaler 27 model of hulls have a 10'4" beam, and require wide load permits to trailer. These boats are not boats you would want to trailer to a ramp and offload routinely due to their size and weight, although it is possible to do this. You would need permits for the highway use and a crew of 2 to ramp launch. You also need at least a 1 ton truck for a towing vehicle. I personally believe this was the reason Brunswick discontinued selling them as recreational fishing and cruising boats years ago.
If you have a boat lift or slip on the water, or if you have access to a dry stack marina as I do, and you are willing to spend a LOT of money to operate, maintain, and store a boat, the Whaler 27's are great! Don't be fooled into believing you are getting a cheap boat when you look at them for low initial purchase price on the used market.
That was certainly very useful information, many thanks. If I can get a decent price for my Outrage 19, I will go for the 27 Offshore, agree that I need a marina to store it for the winter, little worried about the running cost but I really like it!
OK...I have an idea here. I own a 1986 Outrage 18, ( from what I understand, this is the same hull as the later Outrage 19's), and I have pictures of it on it's trailer before it was redone recently. The black Ford F-150 towing this boat can be used in direct size comparison between my 2 boats, as I also have a photo of the same truck parked beside the Whaler 27 FC WD before I repowered it.
Keep in mind that the F-150 pictured is TOO SMALL a truck to actually tow that Whaler 27, and that the hull on an Offshore 27 is the same size as my hull, minus the cabin and bow cap that is on my boat. The gunnels on the Offshore 27 sit at the same height from the ground as my boat. The engines are the same size.
If you look through all the pictures of these boats, you will also find a photo of my wife standing beside the new engines being installed at the time of the photo with the Whaler 27 boat on the trailer. There are a couple of photos of people standing around the Whaler 27 when I picked up that boat in Wisconsin for it's trip back to Texas, but the truck that you see it hooked up to is a Ford F-350, (14000 lb towing capacity), truck. That F-350 is physically larger than the F-150 in the comparison photo links above. Look at the size of the Whaler 27 hull in comparison to a full size forklift in pictures as well.
These are MUCH larger hulls than even the Outrage 25's.
I hope this helps you to grasp what going from an Outrage 19 to a Whaler 27 hull actually entails... you will not be in the same class of boat at all, even though the way that the hull is designed looks the same in photos. :) Make certain you are prepared such a drastic change in your boating habits and costs before making that leap :)
We call the Outrage 18 our little boat. We call the Whaler 27 our Big boat, and it used exclusively as our offshore Gulf Of Mexico fishing boat. I spend $1000 US every time I go on an offshore fishing trip in this boat, and many times I spend twice that amount. The fuel tank is larger on the Offshore model than mine, and I still use over $500 US for a day out on the water offshore minimum. It costs over $800 US just to get the routine required service on those engines done every 100-300 hrs of use. You can expect to spend a LOT of money on top of this to repair and replace parts as they deteriorate on the boat, if you can even get them at all. The costs you will incur in Sweden will be about 3-10 times what they are here in the US, at least that is what my relatives over there,(Lindstrom's), tell me.
I do not wish to discourage you from this boat, but I see most of these boats that have survived neglected due to the high cost of ownership in comparison to just buying a new boat of similar proportions, and it disturbs me to see them rotting away on trailers or at boat docks here in the US :( All I am saying is BE PREPARED TO SPEND A LOT OF $$$$ :) I have well over $115000 US, (not including the costs I have mentioned above), in my Whaler 27 AFTER it's original purchase , and I bought one that didn't have a single problem with ANY original system on the boat. Just sayin' :)
Hmmm, I see your points on cost and also a lot of practical issues, perhaps I am living in a dream, but I will certainly consider everything. The question is how much I am prepared to spend for these fantastic few days out there on the water in a proper and well equipped boat. Today I have painted the bottom of my 19 Outrage, nightmare job as it sits on a trailer. With a bigger boat I would delegate this kind if work to the marina staff, at a high cost of course. We will see how it goes.
Geting wrote:
Hmmm, I see your points on cost and also a lot of practical issues, perhaps I am living in a dream, but I will certainly consider everything. The question is how much I am prepared to spend for these fantastic few days out there on the water in a proper and well equipped boat.
This boat will only cost you what you let it. There isn't the demand for the large Whalers like there is for the little ones so you should be able to buy this for less than you will ever sell it for. Cost of purchase zero, and most likely you make a profit. Storage & docking by the year is a cost you have to absorb, so plug that number into your budget and expect that cost to rise in the future.
The real variable in cost is how much you use the boat. You implied that you only get limited time in the boat, and if so the cost of actually running the boat can be very manageable.
Today I have painted the bottom of my 19 Outrage, nightmare job as it sits on a trailer. With a bigger boat I would delegate this kind if work to the marina staff, at a high cost of course. We will see how it goes.
When you find a marina to store & dock your boat they will have to pull your boat out of the water at least once, so have them set the boat on stands. I could probably bottom paint 5 of the 27' boats on stands in the time it would take to paint one 19' on a trailer.
I feel like a real amateur, which I am, but will not give up yet. One day I will upgrade and accept the cost, but I will never ever paint the bottom on a trailer, never
I bought a few boat stands so I could paint the boat. I lowered teh front of the trailer to the ground and put 2 stands on the transom Then raised the front of the trailer up nice and high put under some blocks and lowered the trailer back down. Gave me about 12" between the bunks and the boat. Made painting it doable but no way I could sand it down if I had to remove paint.
