$12,999
Seminole, Florida
Category
Deck Boats
Length
23'
Posted Over 1 Month
1997 Monterey 230 Explorer Author: BoatingWorld Staff OK, I’m big enough to admit it. I’ve always been the slightest bit arrogant about deck boats. Deck boats, pontoon boats (whatever you call them) they seemed too Huck Finn-ish to count as real boats. But I’d see them on rivers and lakes across the country, and the people aboard them always seemed to be having a great time. Just like the people in ads: white-teethed, tanned, relaxed. They were waterskiing behind them, swimming off them, barbecuing on them, or simply sprawled on the lounges watching the scenery drift past. Now that I’ve got that admission off my chest, I realize that my arrogance was really a transference of envy. The one thing that seemed common to all the people I saw on these boats was that they were happy. And that’s a lot more than I can say for a lot of the boaters I encounter on the waterways. So, when the opportunity to test the new Monterey 230 Explorer Open came along, I jumped at the chance to see what the attraction is to these barge-shaped craft. And now I’m going to share it with you. But, first of all, the 230 Explorer Open really isn’t a deck boat. I know, I know — it looks just like one with that blunt bow, the big square shape, the walk-around space in the cockpit that stretches from aft swim platform to the, uh, bow swim platform. But really, it’s not. What the 230 Explorer seems to be is a Q-ship. Remember those from one of the numbered wars? They looked just like mild merchant ships but, when an enemy ventured near, they turned out to be bristling with hidden guns. In this case, the 230 Explorer is wearing what seems to be a mild-mannered deck boat layout but, in reality, the hull bears more resemblance to a high-performance sportboat than a tubby deck boat. To get to the bottom of this, let’s start right there — at the bottom. The hull shape draws from a number of influences, not the least of which is the classic tri-hull like the old Boston Whalers. But the V main hull is the largest of the three hulls, and the two â sponsonsâ on each side fade by the middle of the boat into a wide flat chine that continues to the stern. What appears to be the squared off bow of a typical deck boat is actually a wide flare of the topsides, supported by the two forward sponsons in each corner. The deck arrangement, however, is pure deck boat. Starting at the bow (which, in this case, is not the pointy end), you’ve got a short foredeck that doubles as an easy way to get aboard when you’ve run the boat up on the beach. There’s a ladder hidden under a hatch, and a lift-out door through the bulkhead that keeps spray outside the cockpit. For once, it’s easy to get off a beached boat without doing something embarrassing as you straddle the rail or slipping on a wet foredeck. The bow area has a wrap-around lounge with immense storage areas underneath the cushions, including a
