# Hello from a (hopefully soon) new Gheenoe owner



## grey2112 (May 25, 2020)

Howdy, guys. Me and the wife are looking at a nice Gheenoe that by this weekend we may be owners of.

A little about ourselves:

We started off late getting into fishing and boating. At the age of 44 we got our first boat, a 196 BayReef Key West with 150 2-stroke and iPilot. Took that boat everywhere (except really shallow water) and it was a great boat, but I got into diving and offshore fishing, so bought a 25 ft. Cobia WA. Still have it and am keeping it for my diving/spearfishing and offshore stuff in less-than-ideal conditions. After a few years of it being our only boat, wife and I were missing the ease and simplicity for short day trips, snorkeling, and shallower water fishing that our Key West gave us. So we purchased a Key West 1720 with 90HP 4-stroke, GPS trolling motor, etc. Ran it for a few years but sold it for a number of reasons, thinking we were over that inshore stuff.

So, fast forward to now. We really, REALLY like exploring rivers, lakes, inshore and shallow waters, protected bays, marshes, etc. Living in New Port Richey just north of Clearwater and within driving distance of SO many neat spots all around us has made us realize we need something that can get into shallow water.

Wife loves to "active/sight" fish.

So, from everything I have read and seen, an LT25 is ideal for our desires and needs. And it appears that the Gulf Coast offers countless opportunities for us if we get one.

Is my thinking correct?


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## TripSmith (Sep 18, 2019)

Hey grey and welcome! 

By your description it sounds like the gheenoe would be a good fit for you two. The LT25 is a jam up nice design. I had a Classic that I put quite a few miles on and I loved it. Wish I still had it for the backwater creeks and such but I just don't have the space or the money. Maybe one day I will!

Best of luck in your search. There are lots of different layouts to consider. Myself, I like raised decks front and rear. Mine was tiller steer with a guide box and I enjoyed that setup. My best suggestion would be not to settle with one that's under powered (25hp is good) unless you plan on getting a new motor. Some folks toss a 9.9 on it or a 15hp. Not enough for me personally but may work for some.


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## grey2112 (May 25, 2020)

Thank you for the help and assistance. With a 25hp 4-stroke, what sort of MPG might I expect? I realize most of these have 3-6 gallon fuel tanks - coming from a boat that on a good day gets 2.2 MPG, I just want to get an idea of my range.


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## TripSmith (Sep 18, 2019)

You're welcome. On mine with the 25hp 2-stroke I got about 11mpg at 25mph. So that's not running wide open, but a good efficient feeling cruising speed. My top speed was 30-31mph. This was with one person (165lbs), camping gear and 12 gallons of fuel onboard.

So with an equivalent load, you can expect a little bit better fuel economy since you will be running 40stroke. 

There were times when I carried 18 gallons of fuel at once.


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## grey2112 (May 25, 2020)

Gotcha - honestly I can't imagine ever doing more than 30 miles during a day of boating with this set up. So if it does have a 5-6 gallon tank I would never have to worry about anything like running out of fuel.


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## TripSmith (Sep 18, 2019)

Very true. You'll be good to go.


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## Louisiana Man (Nov 16, 2020)

grey2112 said:


> Howdy, guys. Me and the wife are looking at a nice Gheenoe that by this weekend we may be owners of.
> 
> A little about ourselves:
> 
> ...





TripSmith said:


> Hey grey and welcome!
> 
> By your description it sounds like the gheenoe would be a good fit for you two. The LT25 is a jam up nice design. I had a Classic that I put quite a few miles on and I loved it. Wish I still had it for the backwater creeks and such but I just don't have the space or the money. Maybe one day I will!
> 
> Best of luck in your search. There are lots of different layouts to consider. Myself, I like raised decks front and rear. Mine was tiller steer with a guide box and I enjoyed that setup. My best suggestion would be not to settle with one that's under powered (25hp is good) unless you plan on getting a new motor. Some folks toss a 9.9 on it or a 15hp. Not enough for me personally but may work for some.


Love the YouTube channel, Trip. You single-handedly made me want to by a Gheenoe.


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## VANMflyfishing (Nov 11, 2019)

grey2112 said:


> Thank you for the help and assistance. With a 25hp 4-stroke, what sort of MPG might I expect? I realize most of these have 3-6 gallon fuel tanks - coming from a boat that on a good day gets 2.2 MPG, I just want to get an idea of my range.


Just a heads up, it is 2.2 GPH (gallons per hour) versus MPG. A 6 gallon will last all day. I've had 2 Suzuki's (20hp manual tilt and 25hp electric start/tilt). Both sipped gas as I regularly traveled 30 miles and would have a lot to spare. I'd go with the 25hp and a carbon marine tiller extension with the switch at the end. It's nice to be able to trim when you are standing in case you come off plane in shallow water.


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## grey2112 (May 25, 2020)

Trip, me and the wife watched and enjoyed a number of your videos yesterday. Thank you for doing them - some of those spots I have been to (canoed up in the Panhandle - I was born in Pensacola, wife in lower Alabama, went to school at UWF), and now down here in New Port Richey, I've been on the Chaz, Weeki Wachi, etc.

VANMflyfishing - the 2.2 MPG I was referring to was for my boat, a 25 foot Cobia WA decked out for spearfishing. The Honda 250 on it is very fuel efficient, but when pushing 8000 pounds it still sucks when it comes to MPG.


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## TripSmith (Sep 18, 2019)

Louisiana Man said:


> Love the YouTube channel, Trip. You single-handedly made me want to by a Gheenoe.


Hey happy to hear that! I wish I had a gheenoe to use on flat water... Loved mine so much.



grey2112 said:


> Trip, me and the wife watched and enjoyed a number of your videos yesterday. Thank you for doing them - some of those spots I have been to (canoed up in the Panhandle - I was born in Pensacola, wife in lower Alabama, went to school at UWF), and now down here in New Port Richey, I've been on the Chaz, Weeki Wachi, etc.


Hey you are both very welcome, glad yall are enjoying them. There are definitely some nice spots to enjoy around.


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## Willitaylor (11 mo ago)

grey2112 said:


> Thank you for the help and assistance. With a 25hp 4-stroke, what sort of MPG might I expect? I realize most of these have 3-6 gallon fuel tanks - coming from a boat that on a good day gets 2.2 MPG, I just want to get an idea of my range.


One of the first times we were out in our LT25
We went almost 40 miles and used less than 3gl of fuel. Our typical fishing trip only uses 1-1 1/2 gallons.


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