Splashed her for the first time Friday. I have family (in-laws) visiting, so couldn't do a lot of fishing, but I managed to get to as many WWDs as I could and did a little perch fishing as well. She lived up to my expectations both in Friday's 2.5' chop where I cruised at 30 knots into the wind with no problem, and today's skinny water when it took 18 inches to run her aground.
I looked at a lot of boats, and decided on the 27CC for several reasons. First off, I'm used to 26' boat having fished out of the Sea Ray for three years. I wanted something of similar length so I could fish in rough weather, but I also needed a boat that is easy to trailer to where the fish are. Other interests were a bass boat style casting platform, a place to duck in out of the weather or sleep in emergencies, a shallow draft for top-water spots, and a long comfortable warranty. Finally, price because I still owed a little on the 383 Stroker I recently put in my other boat. It came down to three brands and the Judge had the best price even after the modifications I needed.
I went with the 225 Honda after talking to as many people as I could about the engine with the deciding factor being high recommendations from some agency and tow boat guys. I added a Lowrance HDS-8 GPS/sonar combo and tagged on the Structure Scan unit 'cause it's so dern cool. (The first fish-finder I owned in 1974 was a Lowrance and I've never seen the need to change.)
My wife christened her today with mason jar of Tennessee's finest. Her name is "Thunder Road" after the song & movie, and is a tribute to my best friend who passed last year. He made the best corn liquor I ever tasted. We grew up along the original Thunder Road that Robert Mitchum sings about. Here are some pics taken over the weekend including a few fish I caught and released and some shots of the electronics in action.
