HookedOnFishingBoats.com

Note the extremely fine entry on the 22's hulls.

Some hulls are so good, they live on in fishing boat history forever. One such boat is Glacier Bay’s 22 center console. Sure this cat has some quirks, and we’ll get into them later. But it also has one trait that’s so important to so many boaters that it’s propelled the 22 into saltwater fishboat fame: an astonishingly low-impact ride.

Point the 22 head-on at a two-foot wave. Make that a three-footer. Nah, go for the five foot beast that would make any monohull slam so hard that it fuses your vertebra. The Glacier will coast right over and through such waves without so much as a thump or a bump. What gives? This cat leans far more towards displacement then planning, and most of its waterline length remains in the water at all times. So it rides more like a 26’ cat then a 22’. And since the waves are sliced open by a pair of razor-thin entries instead of a single ever-widening one, decelerations and impacts are greatly reduced. You think there’s a 22’ monohull on the water that can compare? No way. Maybe there’s another 22’ cat that gives this one a run for its money? Maybe when considering other factors, but when it comes to smooth riding alone the Glacier Bay rules.

So, what’s the down-side? First off, since it doesn’t plane much its cruising speeds are pretty pokey. I have a 1998 model of my own, powered with twin 2009 Suzuki 90-hp four-strokes (the maximum power for this model. Note that the new generation 22 Glacier Bay can take twin 115’s, planes a bit more, and goes notably faster.) Cruising speed at 4500 RPM is between 23 and 25 mph, depending on sea conditions. But it can go that speed in virtually any seas, without compressing your spinal column. It’s surprisingly efficient at these speeds, too, thanks to those little Suzys. It gets about three miles to the gallon or better depending on how heavy-handed you get with the throttles, and at trolling speeds the 90’s sip fuel so slowly you literally can’t notice any change in the fuel gauges throughout the course of a full day of fishing.

Lay down the throttles, and top-end isn’t much faster then cruising speeds. At wide-open you need good conditions and a relatively light boat to break 30-mph. And there’s one other negative trait to these hulls: in some following sea conditions, particularly when the waves are quartering off the stern, the (thin) bow of one hull gets pushed down while the (wide) stern of the other hull gets shoved up. The net result is a snap-roll that can be quite uncomfortable. Adding hydrofoils to the outdrives helps a bit, and reduces the roll by 20 to 30 percent in my gut estimation, but in this particular sea you’ll still need to hold on tightly.

Fishing-wise the 22 Glacier Bay rules. I defy you to find a boat of this length which has a larger aft cockpit – there simply aren’t any. This is due in part to the fact that the console is much farther forward then it would be on a monohull. Again, this is a result of the smooth-riding hulls, which allow the console to be moved forward in the boat without beating up the captain. (On monohulls, the farther aft that console is the smoother the ride feels.) That means you’ll enjoy the elbow room usually found on 26’ to 28’ boats, when it’s time to set the spread or cast to a cobia.

Fish stowage capacity is another high point. With a pair of boxes over five feel long sunk into each hull, you have enough space to ice down a pair of 100-pound tunas. They pump out with dedicated bilge pumps so they require extra maintenance, but they’re well insulated and hold ice like a dream – a pair of 40-pound bags will hold for days on end, even in hot weather. Stowage is a bit on the thin side for your delicates, though, with a bulk compartment in the starboard hull (which holds plenty of gear but remains wet most of the time,) and room for a watertight box or two in the port side’s head compartment. The leaning post also has a sizable stowage compartment which some folks will use for gear, but addicted anglers like me will find that there’s no room for extra stuff here because it makes an excellent tackle station, holding enough gear for both inshore and offshore action. Drinks and food reside in the forward cooler seat, in front of the console.

The 22’ is built as well as any modern powerboat around, with hand-laid glass, multiple bulkheads in each hull, foam floatation, a through-bolted hull to deck joint, and all 316-grade stainless-steel hardware. Between it’s stoutness and its seaworthiness, the Glacier Bay 22 is one of the most competent boats of its size around. Just how much confidence do I have in it? Enough to run all three of my kids to the canyons in it regularly throughout the season. In fact, we managed to log 280 hours of ocean time this past summer, and much of it was spent at the edge of the Continental Shelf. You couldn’t find a more comfortable, economical, safer boat of this size for such adventures. Just ask the kids – the Glacier Bay 22 has already given them many experiences that will live forever, in their memories.

LOA – 22’0”

Beam – 8’6”

Draft – 2’0”

Dry weight – 2,800

Fuel capacity – 100

Max. HP – 180

Price – $22,000 to $26,000 on the used market; hulls can be found for $11,000 to $14,000. The new version goes out the door for $50,000 to $60,000.

Performance observed with 2 people onboard, full fuel, with twin 90-hp Suzuki four-stroke outboards, swinging  15" x 21" stainless-steel three bladed prop.