My EVOx is 5 years old now. I’ve done similar year end reviews on another forum that I don’t care to mention or re-visit to review my comments. So here are the numbers for the season and then comments and thoughts following:
- 425.12 total hours run time
- 41.54 hours run time for the season (November-November)
- 85 gallons fuel burned
Previous years I’ve put around 100-110 hours on the engine. This past season was interesting to say the least. I took the boat to Louisiana in January and left her there through April. I made 6 trips over there to fish. While that’s not many fishing trips, the runs are much longer than my home waters. In most cases, we would run over an hour each way from Hopedale to the outer islands. Add in moving around between spots and I’d have thought the engine hours would be higher. Beginning of May, the skiff was sent back to East Cape to repair some cracks in the cockpit floor and have some other upgrades. East Cape covered the repairs under warranty. I had them add a grab bar on top of the console, install white LED’s inside the center console (wired into the existing hatch lights circuit), upgrade the rod holders under the gunnels to the VMarine spools and a few other miscellaneous item. As usual the quality of work was fantastic and they touched up a few gelcoat dings while doing the cockpit repairs at no charge.
Work, weather and life events have kept me off the water an astonishing amount but let’s get into the final summary and my thoughts. First off, I still love my EVOx (I should clarify it as the 18 EVOx now). I’ve thought a lot about getting the 17 EVOx but my boat does everything I want it to and does it with the least amount of compromises in draft, ride quality, poling behavior, and speed. The console grab bar was the option I should have ordered from the very beginning. If you have or are ordering a center console skiff, the grab bar over the top should be mandatory. The VMarine spools for rod holders are a worthwhile upgrade over the standard rod holders on the EVO’s. The standards are fine for conventional rigs but the larger reels for saltwater fly fishing need more offset and that’s where the spools really shine.
So what would I do different if I ordered a new skiff?
- Of course the console grab rail and the VMarine spool holders as I just talked about
- Definitely get the largest GPS display you can afford. I’d go so far as to say, drop an option or two to afford the larger display if you have to. I went from a 7” to a 12” Simrad and the difference is unbelievable. It’s like double the viewable screen area.
- I’d spec out a different jackplate. My Atlas micro is still holding on but last year it developed a seal leak on the acuator. Every few months I have to top it off with fluid. The seal replacement requires almost complete disassembly of the jack plate and at that point, is almost easier to just replace the whole thing. The complaints about the Atlas micro are well documented and discussed. Let’s call it lesson learned.
- No coating on the metal. I love the look of the black out package on the metal and the Raptor coat is the most durable I’ve had on any of my boat but I’d choose the simplicity and cost savings of bright anodized aluminum.
- Lower height casting platform. I’d say 8-9” to the top. You cannot be stealthy when stepping up or down 12-14” off the platform. I don’t think the sight advantage from a couple inches makes much difference. The higher you are, the better the fish can see you as well. Besides, the person in back is standing at least 36” higher up and has way better visibilty to see fish. The pros and cons are debatable but I’m talking about my skiff not yours, lol.
- Spec out using Sunbrella for the seat cushions instead of the marine vinyl. Sunbrella is way more durable and doesn’t hold the heat like the vinyl does, assuming you choose a light color.
For me and where/how I fish, I wouldn’t hesitate to order the same skiff from the same builder. This is my second East Cape and you can bet that my third skiff will be another East Cape.
