Aluminum Superiority

Aluminum is an excellent material for boat construction.

Aluminum has long been recognized as the premier boat building material. From America's Cup yachts and US Coast Guard patrol boats to mega and super yachts, aluminum has been the material of choice for decades.

Fiberglass is used because it's cheap not because of its quality.

Fiberglass is inexpensive and construction of fiberglass boats does not necessarily require skilled craftsmen. Fiberglass boats are built from molds. Fiberglass material is simply saturated with epoxy either sprayed, or laid within the mold, and left to dry. A 'high quality' fiberglass boat simply uses more fiberglass to make a stronger boat.

Marine-grade, plate aluminum alloy boats have traditionally been too expensive for the average consumer. Each quality aluminum boat (and we're not talking about the cheap, thin-skinned riveted boats) had to be hand cut, staged and welded by experienced craftsmen. In a real sense, each boat was a custom job with a hefty price tag. A 20-foot center console plate aluminum boat can easily cost more than $50,000.

Aluminum has become affordable.

Computers made aluminum affordable. Computer numerical control milling machines and advanced naval architecture have drastically reduced the most time consuming part of building quality boats. Pacific Boats orders many precision pre-cut boat parts that meet tight specifications. The boat parts are individually welded by experts in our factory according to our quality standards. There is no wasted material, nor time-consuming hand cutting. We concentrate on assembling the finest 19 to 33-foot plate aluminum center console boats on the market.

Aluminum is the ideal boat building material.

As boat construction material, aluminum excels in every important category!

• WEIGHT: An all-welded aluminum boat weighs 35 to 50% less than a well 'laid-up' fiberglass boat.
• PERFORMANCE: Less weight means better performance, fuel efficiency and easier trailering.
• DURABILITY: You can do things with a quality aluminum boat that you would never dream of doing with a fiberglass boat. Dock it against your favorite ledge, repeatedly beach it hard on shore, plunk your anchor onto the deck. Unlike brittle fiberglass, aluminum can take repeated abuse given the forgiving and yielding nature of the metal. Bang it, smack it, bounce, bonk and bump it into rocks, docks, beaches and even other boats and your aluminum boat will last and last!
• SAFETY: The two most dangerous boating hazards are sinking and fire. Our boats are fireproof and virtually unsinkable. If you have ever seen a fiberglass hull burn to the waterline, you already know the safety advantages of an aluminum boat.
• COMFORT: A naval architect once said the hardest thing to design into a boat is usable deck space. Our hulls have 1/4 inch bottom plate and 3/16 inch sides and deck allowing us to easily exceed fiberglass boats when it comes to usable space inside the boat. Fiberglass boats commonly lose up to 6 feet of deck space over the entire length of the boat due to the thick sides and coaming.

Electrolysis solved.

To have an electrolysis problem, certain conditions must be present. You must have two different metals in contact with the water. All of our boats are made out of a single metal, so they don't have this problem. The only metals in contact in the water are the aluminum of the engine and the boat. Since the aluminum of the engine is 'softer' it is the metal that will be consumed by electrolysis. The sacrificial zinc anodes supplied with your engine will protect it, but should be checked and replaced as needed. We install a very large sacrificial zinc anode designed specifically for aluminum boats, on the transom, as a secondary protection.

Pacific Boats are different from other aluminum boats on the market.

The riveted boats are made from thin, .080 inch, aluminum sheet material. Rivets work loose as the thin metal flexes, causing leaks. Pacific boats are comprised of welded, marine grade, plate aluminum alloy. There are no rivets to pop, no wood to rot and no plastic or fiberglass to break. Our boats have a unique one-piece bottom plate. We are the only plate aluminum boat manufacturer that forms the planing strakes into the hull, thus eliminating all exterior welds.

Don't just take our word on this.

Ask those who truly depend on their boats. Some of our customers include the US Navy, the US Coast Guard, law enforcement agencies, harbormasters, fisheries, commercial divers and anglers. These professionals trust their lives to the performance of Pacific boats. Our customers know our boats are the safest and sturdiest money can buy.