From the classifieds: Caribbean Crusader 235

Accomplished game and sport fisherman Dave Grainger is one of those boating and fishing enthusiasts who renovates second-hand rigs for pleasure. He’s refurbed two V19 Haines Hunters, two 20ft Bertrams, two 25ft Bertrams, a Caribbean Reef Runner and now this rather excellent 23ft Caribbean Crusader.

An enthusiastic boat rebuilder, Grainger’s latest completed project is now advertised for sale on our sites with a $50k asking price. The 1984 model Crusader 235, Runamuk, the second last one built he says, is being offered as a keenly priced new-boat alternative, with some warranty remaining on the new MerCruiser motor.

Grainger will tell you that the completed Crusader 235 is a great boat and now better equipped than new. For insurance purposes he had to get a survey and the boat passed the test with flying colours. The survey report comes with the boat, which is being sold to make way for his latest project, another (bigger) Caribbean, of course.

TOP HULL AND LAYOUT
The Crusader 235 is regarded as one of the best-riding hulls in the famous fishing-and-family boat stable. It has an almost identical 23ft hull to the Caribbean models today. With a 2.48m beam, it’s legally towable without wide-load permit. But it’s no lightweight, tipping the scales to about 2.48t on its dual-axle braked trailer in good working condition.

The Crusader 235 is a cuddy cabin with hardtop and three-sided clears for great weather protection. It also has sleeping for two in a vee berth and there is a manual toilet. Grainger reupholstered the whole boat, with a new cabin liner and cushions, new seat coverings and padded cockpit coamings.

REBUILT FROM BARE HULL
Stripped back to a bare hull and shell, Grainger set about rewiring the whole boat. The refit also included new Caribbean fittings, then the transom was resprayed, and the fishability of the boat improved.

There are five 130lb Reelax heavy-duty rod holders, twin live bait tanks, the original rocket launcher off the hardtop for rod storage, and new electronics including twin 12in Simrad MFDs, Bluetoothed and all interlinked together, with a deep-water 1kW transducer. The boat has trim tabs, twin bilge pumps, a deck wash pump and new batteries.

There are Reelax outrigger bases with six-metre precision poles that are all new, plus LED spotlights, new switch boards, new anchor winch, new Fusion stereo, new VHF radio and new steering wheel.

REPOWER AND PERFORMANCE
Found for sale in Noosa, the original boat was in sound but tired condition with a 260hp 5.7L MerCruiser. So Grainger ripped that out and added a brand new 300hp MPI MerCruiser petrol inboard with Alpha One leg spinning an 18in four blade prop.

Actually, Andrew Weeks from My Marine at Gold Coast City Marina completed the professional engine installation and there’s still four months’ warranty on the MerCruiser. The twin fuel tanks hold around 270lt.

"I’m doing 20 knots at 3000rpm. I’ve worked out I’m using about 1.1-1.2lt/nm, which I pretty excellent, especially when people are raving about 1lt/nm on the latest outboards," Grainger says.

"My last boat was a 20ft Bertram with a 225hp outboard. This boat with inboard is using about the same amount of fuel, but the boat is bigger and heavier. It’s a great sea boat."

He will also tell you that with the engine weight down low, there's terrific stability in this deep-vee Crusader 235 hull and that the balance and trim of the boat is just right, unlike some aftermarket outboard-on-pod repowers he has experienced.

FAMILY AND MARLIN BOAT
So why are you selling?
"The new project has come along. It’s time to upgrade. But this boat is a great fishing and family boat. I have three kids and they loved being taken up the river, with the boys free-boarding off the back, and then me game fishing offshore on other days.

"We got a few nice blue marlin from this boat off the Gold Coast. The best fish this season from Runamuk was an 180kg blue marlin. Solo! I won’t do that again. It’s too hard work," Grainger says.

Asking price for the 1984 Caribbean Crusader 235 is $50,000 negotiable including four months' engine warranty. It's a lot of boat for the money, especially if you had to price all that labour and love. More information on the listing on our sites at