Incredible Boats From Great Designs
To build a great boat you have to have a great design. Our naval architect uses a semi-monocoque design that takes advantage of the aluminum's plate strength. You may be familiar with this design type in the carbon fiber car bodies of both Indy and Formula 1 cars where there is no true frame... the skin is the frame. This design is incredibly stiff and strong.
By removing lateral stringers, combing, and ribs, more usable deck space is available to you. In traditional fiberglass boats the usable floor space is much smaller due to the thickness of the hull and its structural supports. As one author on boat design put it, "There's nothing more difficult to design into a boat than a usable square inch of deck space." Our boats have nearly 20% more deck space than comparably sized fiberglass boats giving them a true feel of a much larger boat.
Your plate alloy boat, by virtue of its construction, will weigh 33%-50% less than a well made heavily laid-up fiberglass boat. For you this means that your plate alloy boat is easier to tow, achieves higher cruise and top-end speeds, as well as saves fuel.
We Use Only The Finest Materials
Every material used on our boats is meticuously researched and tested for strength and durability.
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We use only the finest materials available. The 5000 series of marine-grade alloys are specifically made for full-time saltwater applications. ALCOA put a plate of this alloy in Narragansett Bay, RI for thirty years and took it out because nothing was happening. With combined 3/16” and 1/4” construction, these boats are 2-3 times as thick as most regular aluminum boats you may be familiar with. If you’ve ever seen a U.S. Coast Guard 47 footer than you’ve seen 5000 series alloy at work afloat.
This material is applied to the self bailing deck and consists of a phenolic, alkyd rust-inhibiting etching primer base and alkyd enamel topcoat surrounding an aggressive non-skid abrasive. Not for the faint of heart, nor the bare of foot, this material is similar to the new bed-liner material you may be familiar with as an aftermarket application in pick-up trucks. It gives you tough, durable, surefootedness in all weather conditions.
This 2 3/4” oval in cross-section extrusion gives the edge of your boat incredible durability. We’ve had demo rides where a prospective customer inadvertently slammed the boat into cement pilings with just a slight rub to show for it. The only reason to own fenders is to protect the other guy’s boat.
Along the length of the chine is an extrusion that both the side and the bottom plates fit into. This high impact area is then double welded on the inside the entire length of the boat. This level of quality is unheard of even in custom alloy boats.
Meticulous Construction Methods Produce Our Quality Boats
Every step of our building process is precise, controlled, and quality checked along the way.
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The alloy plates are router-cut to exact dimensions and assembled in our state-of-the-art factory. Our team of expert craftsmen first spot-weld the plates together as the boat takes shape. It is then placed on a full scale jig where welding in earnest takes place.
Sides, bottom, gunwale, frames, self-bailing deck, and gunwale-deck all are welded using the best materials and technologies available. An aluminum internal fuel tank is placed beneath the self bailing deck and acts as a double safety. Should the hull be pierced at any time, your fuel cell will remain intact, both saving the environment and enabling you to get home.
We inject pressurized closed cell foam into the below deck cavities (and the gunwale decks on the 19’ series) to ensure unsinkability.
The boat, now 80% complete, is then placed in the wash booth to remove all of the smoke and un-sightly residue left during the welding process. Out comes a beautiful and clean hull ready for final assembly.
Next, the non-skid deck coating and readies the boat for rigging. Finally, we install components including; steering system, navlight system, cushions, glass, electronics, engines, etc.
A Very Green Building Product
Pacific Boats has built earth friendly products since 1986. Our Boats are 97% recyclable! A Pacific boat's light weight makes it more fuel efficient than a comparable length fiberglass boat.
Have you ever asked yourself "where do all the old fiberglass boats go?" For the most part, they end up in a landfill. Fiberglass does not break down. Over the years, this has become an environmental issue.
A Pacific boat is durable, less toxic, reusable, and easily recycled.
