The Coastal Skiff 171 looks quite simple and straightforward, so what makes it a true standout? Back in the olden days when my hair was black, a bag of bloodworm cost three bucks, and I thought an algorithm was some sort of vegetable, you could wander any boat show or dealership and find plenty of simple, inexpensive skiffs. Lots of builders offered 16’ to 18’ boats that were ideal for fishing and crabbing—heck, even Sears had its own lineup—and most were well within the financial reach of an ambitious 20-something. These days? Good luck finding a new skiff that doesn’t cost as much as a new car.
At one boat show I attended this past winter I saw a 15-footer with a 50-hp outboard boasting a sticker price of $50K. Ouch. On top of that, the boat was thoroughly gentrified and complexified with stuff like lighted push-button switches, a four-speaker stereo system, a touchscreen MFD, courtesy lighting, and a cell phone charger. Don’t get me wrong, it was a cool little boat and if I were a bazillionaire I’d probably have bought one on the spot. But I’d have done so knowing that all that fancy stuff drove its price through the roof and meant gobs more maintenance than an old-school skiff would require.
Then a few isles over I saw a very different kind of boat: the Coastal Skiff 171. Also rigged with 50 horses and sitting on a trailer, the entire package cost about half as much. Half… for a larger boat. The interior was gray/black spackle and its systems amounted to a switch for the nav lights and a single digital gauge for the engine, which means this skiff will be about as close to maintenance-free as it gets in the world of boats.
The Coastal Skiff isn’t just built simple, it’s built smart, too. The hull incorporates a slight tunnel aft and draft is a mere six inches, so you can slip into those shallow water hotspots usually reserved for kayaks. Below the waterline the bow has a slight rounded V to break waves, and above it there’s an elevated casting deck with stowage underneath. The design also incorporates a small aft deck, seating consists of a swing-back helm cooler seat and a forward console seat, and there are vertical rodracks on the console sides. Yes the deck does self-bail, and no there isn’t any wood whatsoever in the boat’s construction.
Another attractive feature of old-school skiffs is that they’re light, which makes them easy to handle around the ramp and easy to tow with a small vehicle. The Coastal Skiff 171 tips the scales at a mere 1100 pounds, so you can haul it with anything from a Tacoma to an Outback. Yet believe it or not this boat has a maximum capacity of five, and while a blustery wind will have you fishing the tributaries, on nice days it has plenty of space and plenty of beef to hit the open Bay.
Why don’t the big mass producers build rolled-edge, spackle-interior skiffs like this anymore? As is often the case, it all comes down to money. Why spend your time building a boat that’s affordable to just about everyone, when you could build one with a much larger profit margin? Well, maybe because some folks want to build boats that people who love the water can actually afford even as they’re trying to raise a family and cover a mortgage.
There’s a small, simple rolled-edge skiff sitting in my driveway right now and I love boats like this, because I don’t have to spend hours at a time waxing, cleaning, and fixing stuff. So this bazillionaire is glad he kept walking and turned down the next isle. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go get some bloodworms. Where did I leave those three bucks?
Coastal Skiff 171 Specifications
- LOA – 17’1”
- Beam – 6’7”
- Displacement – 1100 lbs.
- Draft (hull) – 0’6”
- Max. Power – 60 hp
- Area Dealers – Scott’s Cove Marina, Chance, MD, (410) 784-7624.