CapriFleet.com
Title
CapriFleet Charter Services offers Lake Erie fishing charters and custom Great Lakes cruising charters.
Description
the Iron Pumpkin
We also have a 26 foot Scott Cruiser, 9 foot beam, another steel hull boat with a layout similar to the Lesa L. It is powered by a single 255HP modified Chevy 350 engine. It is currently in standby reserve. With that name, you can guess what color it is. Pictures not available.
Hull Material
We have chosen to use STEEL hull boats almost exclusively. It's weight, while not always doing wonders for fuel economy, provides a smoother ride than most lighter boats of like size. Unlike most other materials, steel hulls can be modified and repaired without losing any of the originally designed strength. Also, under impact, steel tends to bend rather than break up. This, along with heavy "skegs" to protect the propellers and rudders, and high heavy keels to help protect the bottom, let us safely operate near rocky areas (slowly, carefully, and in good conditions). Lesa L's skegs are made of heavily braced 3/4" x 4" flat bar about 8 feet long. they will easily lift the boat without bending. The broad bows on these boats, although throwing up a lot of water, provide a high level of lift in big waves, increasing rough-water seaworthiness. These wide bows also provide much more usable space belowdeck. The steel hull plating provides an abrasion resistance matched by no other hull material. This lets us run when there is a danger of the water skinning over with ice. Any other material would be "cut off at the waterline" in short order.
We're not above using FRP (Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic) boats where our primary considerations are high speed at low cost, trailerability, cheap easy hull maintenance, and when we're not overly concerned with operating in rough-water or shallow rocky areas.
