Last month, I sat down with my nephew Jake who owns a 2006 Boston Whaler 170 Montauk, to talk about beach life and how he likes his Whaler. Jake has owned the boat for three years and is the second owner of the boat. Tyee Beach is located on the east side of Camano Island facing Port Susan.
It is a private beach that is made up of mostly vacation homes. However, many people live there all-year round, including my aunt and uncle.
Crabbing, shrimping & fishing
During the summer months, everyone at the beach spends their time out on their boats crabbing, fishing and shrimping – when it’s open that is. In Washington state, we have a very limited crabbing season and shrimp season is only open about two days.
Jake uses 27″ diameter crab pots that weigh about 20lbs. As you can see in the video above, you need a boat that can handle not only the load, but the dirty work. The great thing about the Montauk line is that it is designed to handle rugged activities like fishing and crabbing.
It’s rugged enough to beach it on rocky surfaces and you don’t have to worry about the boat getting messy. Once you’re done for the day, simply hose down the deck and you’re good to go!
At the same time, the 170 Montauk offers comforts to everyone – its easy to stand in, plenty of seating with comfortable cushions, tons of storage and optional fishing packages. It also has all of the navigation you need, including fish finder and GPS. Jake also added a crab pot puller and it makes life so much easier – trust me, I know first hand.
Great Family Boat
When Jake is not out fishing, he loves to take his family out for a cruise. With a young daughter and nephews, safety is his top priority – he loves that the Whaler is unsinkable!
Jake’s 170 Montauk is outfitted with a Mercury 90 HP motor, which gets him to where he needs to be quickly! He has even taken the Montauk over to Langley on Whidbey Island, about 8 nautical miles away. At 17′ long, you feel like you are in a much bigger boat than it actually is.
The perfect boat for the Pacific Northwest
I asked Jake when he thought he might buy a different boat. He said he has no plans to buy one as of now since Whalers can last a life-time. Their durability and easy to tow feature, makes them a great boat for the Pacific Northwest.
One funny and ironic story about Jake’s Montauk is from awhile back. My family had been teasing me about not trusting their mooring ball for our own boat (Bayliner 4087). It hadn’t been tested and we didn’t know if it could hold 23,000 lbs.
Scott and I were up at the beach on a stormy night and the Montauk was tied to the mooring ball. Winds started howling around midnight and got up to 30 knots. The next morning, my aunt woke me up at 5am to an emergency! The neighbor’s Bayliner 3988 had broken from its mooring line and the Montauk not only caught it, but it held it during the wind storm! It only suffered a couple of scrapes too. That’s impressive!
Scott and I are truly blessed to be able to enjoy time up on Camano Island and the fact that we can still go boating, makes it that much better! Thank you to Jake for taking us out crabbing and getting to spend a fun day on the water. The PNW is a beautiful place to live and we’ll never take for granted the beauty we get to experience here. Be sure to check out our interview with Jake below.
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