Where can I buy an Action Craft boat near Jacksonville?

Which Action Craft models does the shop carry?

Six, in two series. The Flats series is the 17 FlyFisher, the 19 Flatsmaster and the 20 Flatsmaster. The Bay series is the 20 Coastal Bay, the 22 Coastal Bay and the 24 Coastal Bay. Each has its own page on the shop’s site, linked from the Action Craft page, with the figures below.

What is the difference between the Flats series and the Bay series?

Beam and draft, mostly, and what those buy you. The three Flats boats are skiffs built for shallow water, with drafts the site lists from 7 inches on the 17 FlyFisher up to 14 inches on the 20 Flatsmaster. The three Coastal Bay boats share an 8’6″ beam, draw 12 to 14 inches, carry 60 or 68 gallons of fuel, and are described on their own pages as boats for backwaters and light offshore work.

Construction differs a little too. Every Coastal Bay page lists an all-composite build with no wood, a composite transom, fiberglass foam-injected stringers and flotation chambers between hull and liner. The Flats boats list the composite transom, the same foam-injected stringers and foam chambers between hull and liner.

What does Action Craft build into every one of these hulls?

A composite transom, fiberglass stringers that are foam injected, foam chambers between the hull and the liner, and a 10-year limited structural hull warranty. Those four items appear on all six model pages. So do stainless pull-up cleats, trim tabs with an indicator, a coated aluminum fuel tank, a livewell with lighting and pumps, a self-draining cockpit and engine well, an automatic bilge pump, a dual battery switch and a 12-volt USB port.

The full equipment list is on each model’s page on the shop’s site, and the shop can say what is standard and what is optional on the boat in front of you.

Which outboard goes on an Action Craft?

Anything up to the maximum power rating on the model’s page: 150 hp on the 17 FlyFisher, 200 on the 19 Flatsmaster, 250 on the 20 Flatsmaster and the 22 Coastal Bay, 225 on the 20 Coastal Bay, and 300 on the 24 Coastal Bay. Trolling Motor Services Plus is a certified Yamaha dealer that sells, maintains and repowers Yamaha outboards, so a Yamaha is the engine the shop can supply and fit with the boat.

The maximum is a ceiling, not a recommendation. The shop’s page on what size Yamaha outboard a boat needs explains why the hull, the use and the load decide the engine, and the Yamaha repower page covers putting a new engine on a boat you already own.

Can the shop rig the boat before it leaves?

Yes. Trolling Motor Services Plus sells Minn Kota, MotorGuide and Rhodan trolling motors and installs every make and model, fits hydraulic shallow water anchors, installs radar, autopilot, outriggers and chargers, rewires boats, fabricates custom mounting plates and powder coats in house. A flats or bay boat ordered through the shop can have its trolling motor, Power-Pole and electronics planned with the boat rather than bolted on afterwards.

Read the Power-Pole installation page and the marine electronics page for each of those. Ask for the rigging to be itemized on the estimate.

Does the shop sell the trailer as well?

Trolling Motor Services Plus is an authorized Venture Trailers dealer, and sells Venture aluminum trailers in bunk and skiff styles, with single, tandem and triple axle bunk models. The Venture Trailers page lists the load capacities and has a form that asks for the boat model, length and width, which is what the shop needs to match a trailer to a hull.

Aluminum is the shop’s recommendation for saltwater. Its page describes the Venture trailers as light, which helps towing capacity and fuel economy, and as resisting corrosion well.

Where is the shop?

6735 Greenland Industrial Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32258, open Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm. The business describes itself as boater owned and operated and says it serves Northeast Florida. Call 904-573-0480 or use the contact form, and say which model you are looking at.