The Story Behind (and Full Review of) John Skinner's 18.5 Maverick Skiff!

[@jiggingjerks]

EDIT: John purchased the boat in late 2020, not 2021 as I said in the video.

[@jamesflynn263]

John, Skinner can’t ever stop fishing if he’s fishing. It’s great thanks, you guys are the best. Tight lines

[@bobrcthatsme1843]

Congratulations John

[@johnclemente6615]

john was differently out of his comfort zone! seems very humble!

[@mikeknottscreek8183]

Great video! Glad you did the video on Mr. Skinner's SW Florida boat.

[@harveymcfuddlestein5575]

Beautiful boat, John. That’s great. Perfect for what you’re doing down there. I love checking out boats and this review was well done as always.

[@RayA-rt6tp]

Another informative great video...thanks Johns!

[@glennverspoor6611]

👍good for John,, and nice overview

[@texasfishingonline]

Very nice. I’ve always owned similar boats as in used and in good condition. Not too expensive. It shows you can catch fish without a 300k boat. On the HPDI, I had a friend with 150 and it was rebuilt 4 times. I know there were a lot of problems with them. I hope he has a good one and lasts a long time. Heck for the price he got that boat for, he can always repower with a f150 4 stroke one day and they’re near billet proof.

[@jiggingjerks]

I’ve not heard that about the 150s. The 250s and 300 HPDIs are the time bombs. So when Skinner bought this boat, he ordered a brand new Yamaha F115 for it. It got installed last week, about 14 months after he ordered it. He sold the 150.

[@robertp7209]

By the way, the F150s had catastrophic failures when the nylon balance shaft gearing failed. Most don’t know that a spinning shaft countered weighted needs to be in every 4 cylinder inline motor, due to excessive vibration. Car motors had them for zeons. The owners don’t even realize it’s in there, and Yamaha made the components of nylon. Wrecked the motor. 4 stroke fan boys - you think they work for Yamaha. But you can google it or go on THT to read about it. Not to mention the F200 F225 (F250?) exhaust manifolds rusting apart destroying the powerhead when saltwater entered the crank case. Total loss. Owner can’t even inspect that area, nor flushing has any effect. The metallurgy was found defective. Those 4 stroke Fs were discontinued. Class action. Ironically just past the warranty phase, or still in it. I’d never buy one used. Never ever a recall on the 2.6L HPDI. 3.3L HPDI poor poor design. Yamaha sold a zillion V6 150/175/200HPDIs until they came up with the inline 4 cylinder F200HP, needed to go inline 4 cylinder to drop the 100 lbs or so of extra 4 stroke machinery over the 200HPDI to get the same HP as well. I’m going Mercs in the future or Suzie. Prefer the Mercs 💪😁.

[@texasfishingonline]

@@robertp7209 I like the new mercs. They maybe my next choice too

[@robertp7209]

@@texasfishingonline they have been developing an impressive range of choices.

[@jonsmith398]

beautiful boat that would be awsome on the brewster flats on cape cod

[@Redcrown48]

A good review as always and the back story was good too. This was the trip with the Dolphin stealing the fish in an earlier Skinner video, right.

[@jiggingjerks]

Yup, was that trip. Thank you

[@robertp7209]

I have twin CCR 2006 HPDIs, since day one. I don’t believe engine hours can be changed on the original computer, even by Yamaha techs. I have them both connected to NEMA 2000 inputs on my Garmin, can read the hours myself, or via firmware I have for a laptop connection. Also, let Skinner know, the best two stroke oil I’ve used and highly recommended since back then on THT, is Penzoil, XLF. The single gallon price delivered is about 18 bucks on Amazon. Until the 5 yrs were up on the warranty, I used the Yamaha oil, once I switched I found the plugs a lot cleaner end of season, besides saving a bundle 😁. Also, I do VST filter every year, the medium pressure metal filter every two years, the 2 micron racer filters in the boat every year. I clean the O2 sensor and it’s housing every 3rd year, lower unit fluid every year. Plugs every 2nd year. I let the water pumps go for many years, I stay out of the sand. I keep the motors away from mechanics. It’s all me. Let Skinner know if he has any questions - feel free. And most of all - I have been using the blue Skinner signature rod thru last season 👍😎.

[@jiggingjerks]

Hey Robert. Since this video was filmed a couple of months ago, Skinner has put a 4 stroke F115 on this. He actually ordered that engine back in Jan 2021 and had all but given up in it ever arriving at dealer. I mean, we didn’t even think to talk about it on this video

[@robertp7209]

@@jiggingjerks ok, and now he has the warranty coverage. All the better. And quieter at idle. 😁

[@johnm5714]

Skinner got a decent deal when decent deals are very difficult to come by.-that’s great.maybe a Bimini top on it might keep the sun from baking you guys.The weather looked outstanding the day you shot this video-it was February if I remember correctly.same day those dolphin were terrorizing you😆

[@jiggingjerks]

It was indeed February and the very same day/location that those dolphins gave us grief.

[@BLACKHILLSGUNNER]

That looks Rob Koch’s boat fished few times on there cool little boat.

[@jiggingjerks]

Was he based in the north fork of Long Island? If so, it has to be

[@BLACKHILLSGUNNER]

@@jiggingjerks sure was John, Rob lived in cutchogue I believe boat may have changed few hands but that’s where it was based. Same guy who surf caught 60+lb bass years back

[@walterwatkins8599]

It was meant to be!

[@oarfish12]

What brand, HP and year motor came with it? What is the max HP rating of the boat?

[@jiggingjerks]

I think 150 is max but I’m not sure Skinner knows what motor originally came with it. It’s a 1990 that he bought in 2021….

[@LongIslandLethals]

She probably moves, to my knowledge the 150 yamaha HPDI's were their best engine ever made until recently. My buddy Jaime has one that is 30 years old and runs great. He's said he's never had any work done other than regular maintenance with it.

[@robertp7209]

Same with my 2006 200HPDIs. Same design as 150/175/200. It is common for people to confuse the 250/300 HPDI large block with the smaller block. Entirely different designs. The 300 was the most powerful Yamaha motor for years, however it had problems, and discontinued. The 150/175/200 was the most reliable / fuel efficient motor Yamaha sold since late 90s- until the F200 4 stroke 4 cylinder was offered. It was an improvement over the OX66 fuel injection motors, in fuel and emission improvements. It has a 2 star CARB rating. Compared to the original Johnson 200 V6 carb motors on my 92 Grady Sailfish, the 200HPDI burn rate dropped about 35%, and oil way down more than 50%. I do all the maintenance, mostly fuel filters and lower unit gear oil, plugs every two years. Just did trim seals. I have about 700 hrs on them. Best money I spent, ironically the bill of sale for the twin CCR Yamahas with all new instruments and controls incl fuel management system, stainless props, and oil tanks was just $25k.

[@CurrentJAM]

Does John still have that other boat that was falling apart? (or at least looked like he was going to fall through it) haha

[@jiggingjerks]

Yes, that’s up in NY.

[@smokster0604]

Mint cool 😎

[@publicnme733]

What part of Florida is this?

[@jiggingjerks]

Pine Island area in SW Florida

[@BStavFishingAndHunting]

Skinner is God!

[@texasfishingonline]

Just as a follow-up, if I did have 300k to spend I’m sure I’d find a boat to used my whole budget 😂

[@TheNockingPoint]

There is a 1977 18' starcraft for sale just a few miles from me. It's not nearly as nice as John's Starcraft.

[@gasparaquino2098]

Any info on that boat by any chance ? Thank you !

[@TheNockingPoint]

it's rough on the inside. the hydraulic lift is shot or the transom needs support. It's hard to tell from the photos.