21R3DFSH Posted March 8 Report Share Posted March 8 Hello all after lurking around the shadows for several months I decided to sign up and contribute to the forum hopefully help someone with their decision on purchasing a 21 Redfisher as the information out there is limited. I live in miami and have been boating these waters since I was a 13 year old kid 1996, I have owned several boats through the years first 2 were pleasure crafts with my family and they were no good for fishing so I knew once I could purchase my own vessel they would be more geared towards fishing and simplicity. In 2013 I purchased my first vessel a tidewater 250cc and that boat taught me a lot about fishing/diving and also build quality and what worked and didn’t work on the water. My second boat was a Bluewater 2150 as my biggest complaint with the previous tidewater was that it didn’t run well with any type of speed in the chop offshore when getting to the reefs for diving or heading out for offshore Bluewater fishing. The Bluewater 2150 was smaller and ran much better offshore but suffered from small boat syndrome in the big stuff and never really filled my needs for fishing (crappy live well design) and the narrow beam 8’1 and deep V design meant a rocky day offshore on the drift. I did love the Armstrong transom though was excellent for diving and getting in and out of the water. The fact that my buddies had larger center consoles available for offshore fishing just didn’t make sense to hang on to it any longer so I sold it last July. The funny thing is Before purchasing my Bluewater center console I flirted with the idea of the Redfisher 21 as it was in my price range for a new boat and after sitting on it with the family I figured it would be plenty for us, but the lack of information and the desire to get offshore got the best of me as did my buddies saying what you going to do with that big bass boat in Biscayne bay haha ya we all got a few of those friends! Finally after weighing the pros and cons and finding the right deal I pulled the trigger on my 21 Redfisher found it in a showroom up north and the numbers were right so I made the road trip up to SC to pick her up and bring her down to miami in early December. I wanted to log a few hours before sharing my thoughts so 27 engine and 40+ hours later and I couldn’t be happier with the platform, she rides fast and secure no pounding or hull slapping which was my biggest fear coming from a Deep V center console I thought for sure that the 15 degree deadrise wasnt going to be enough for crossing the bay comfortably and boy was I wrong… I am not one to wait for the weather man to tell me it’s going to be rainbows and sunshine all day, if I am off I am going to splash the boat and fish or enjoy the water in whatever best way possible that day and she hasn’t disappointed or put me in an uncomfortable situation. So far we have fished the finger channels by stiltsville, gone chasing the yellow brick roads 6miles off shore and have definitely put a hurting on the stone crab population haha needless to say I am loving the new sled. I have also taken the family down to the keys for a lunch date leaving from homestead bay front to snooks in key largo and a few sandbar trips and she has handled it all with ease. My biggest draws to the platform were simplicity, reputation of the brand and the fishability. So far this has been one of if not the funnest boat I have owned as it feels fast almost like riding a jetski but more stable obviously haha, and everything is Easy on it from loading her up with gear, trailering, launching and retrieving at the ramp, the clean up afterwards it’s all just easy to do which equals more time on the water and the desire to get out more frequently! Who doesn’t want that? my biggest complaints on the platform, wish the storage under the seat was insulated, I am not a fan of how the backrest and cushions attach to the deck, the rod holders on the console could be a little larger diameter for some rod combinations, and lastly it seems I might have a faulty Bilge pump as the float switch does not activate when I tested her out. The last thing that takes some getting use to is driving in a seated position coming from a leaning post but I knew what I signed up for. favorite upgrade has been the trolling motor it’s a game changer on the water was truly worth the investment. I look forward to the summer and the many memories we are going to make on her! I know this was kind of long winded but like I said before if it helps anyone in making their purchase decision than it was worth it. I reached out privately to anyone and everyone I could prior to making my purchase and truly appreciated they’re help so if anyone ever has any questions or lives in South Florida and wants to go for a ride pickup a bottle of Pilar and message me haha you won’t get me to shut up 😜 Carpe Diem friends! Adrian 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted March 8 Report Share Posted March 8 Nice write up beautiful sled! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted March 8 Report Share Posted March 8 9 hours ago, 21R3DFSH said: and my boat specifically does not have a bilge float switch so I need to manually check for peace of mind although she stays very dry to her credit. Can you please clarify ? There should be an automatic bilge in some shape or form. Are you sure it's not a bilge pump with a sensor on the bilge pump? And not just a pump that is supposed to have a float and does not? I'd leave in the plug, tilt the bow upwards, and then fill the bilge with fresh water to check to see if the bilge comes on....if not, you have a safety issue..... DC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted March 8 Report Share Posted March 8 1 hour ago, HoneyB said: Nice write up beautiful sled! x2.... dc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Seither Posted March 8 Report Share Posted March 8 Nice boat, great outing pics! If it has one of these bilge pumps in it the float is built in the pump 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
21R3DFSH Posted March 8 Author Report Share Posted March 8 2 hours ago, Wanaflatsfish said: Can you please clarify ? There should be an automatic bilge in some shape or form. Are you sure it's not a bilge pump with a sensor on the bilge pump? And not just a pump that is supposed to have a float and does not? I'd leave in the plug, tilt the bow upwards, and then fill the bilge with fresh water to check to see if the bilge comes on....if not, you have a safety issue..... DC Edited my original post after reading it again I did the homer doh! Did this and it didn’t set off the pump, I’ve got my service appointment set for this Monday and was planning on diving deeper into the bilge over the weekend to inspect the pumps etc. The pump works just doesn’t go off automatically hence my casual nature towards it just part of the new boat shakedown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted March 8 Report Share Posted March 8 7 hours ago, George Seither said: Nice boat, great outing pics! If it has one of these bilge pumps in it the float is built in the pump I know that view dc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted March 8 Report Share Posted March 8 5 hours ago, 21R3DFSH said: The pump works just doesn’t go off automatically hence my casual nature towards it just part of the new boat shakedown. There are 3 wires to the bilge pump set up 1.) on / off manual 2.) on when the float switch hits 3.) black wire - ground What I suspect is that the float switch wire is not attached to a positive contact....look up the type of pump you have then see what is the color coding....it's usually a brown and white for the constant on....but, I could be wrong. trace the wires and you might save yourself a trip to the dealer. DC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted March 8 Report Share Posted March 8 7 minutes ago, Wanaflatsfish said: The pump works just doesn’t go off automatically hence my casual nature towards it just part of the new boat shakedown. so, you may have saved yourself....great to be open and learning....from what it looks like , it appears the boat does not drain overboard with scuppers and drains into the bilge from the deck....I can't tell from your pictures, and I don't know the RF 21 that well.....my RF 18 and many others, drain through the hull using scuppers and it will naturally sit in the water where it will drain at rest. If by chance, you left your skiff in the keys over the weekend and you get several hours of pouring rain, you could have lost your vessel due to sinking since the auto bilge did not come on....I've seen it many times on the internet. It can happen with a good bilge pump....that's why I am always checking my bilge the night before I leave and just fill up the bilge as I'm finishing the cleaning and wait for it to go on.... Also, I always carry a manual bilge pump....just in case....you can carry a 12v and rig it with a long wire, hose, and gator clips and just hook to the pos/neg on the battery in a disaster scenario DC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
21R3DFSH Posted March 9 Author Report Share Posted March 9 51 minutes ago, Wanaflatsfish said: so, you may have saved yourself....great to be open and learning....from what it looks like , it appears the boat does not drain overboard with scuppers and drains into the bilge from the deck....I can't tell from your pictures, and I don't know the RF 21 that well.....my RF 18 and many others, drain through the hull using scuppers and it will naturally sit in the water where it will drain at rest. If by chance, you left your skiff in the keys over the weekend and you get several hours of pouring rain, you could have lost your vessel due to sinking since the auto bilge did not come on....I've seen it many times on the internet. It can happen with a good bilge pump....that's why I am always checking my bilge the night before I leave and just fill up the bilge as I'm finishing the cleaning and wait for it to go on.... Also, I always carry a manual bilge pump....just in case....you can carry a 12v and rig it with a long wire, hose, and gator clips and just hook to the pos/neg on the battery in a disaster scenario DC Boat drains overboard nothing to the bilge thankfully she stays nice and dry which is great very happy with the on board drainage as I’m constantly cleaning the deck with 5 gallon buckets of saltwater especially when collecting our traps. it was late and my thoughts weren’t clear in that sentence haha 😂 set off a few alarms glad everyone spotted it 😅 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeviam Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 Great write-up - thanks for sharing. I'd love to own a new RF 21. There was a nice 2022 for sale in Georgia recently, but I missed my chance. It doesn't look crowded with 4 grown men onboard, and has room to spare! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 16 hours ago, 21R3DFSH said: Boat drains overboard nothing to the bilge Adrian, I've been on the forum for over 20 years (first RF 18 was a 2003) and I"m pretty familiar with the skiff of MGB. I see the two drains on the corners at the stern....and they appear to drain into the bilge ? I looked at stern in some other pictures from the Boat Trader and I can't see where it's exiting at the stern. The specs indicate "Self Bailing"....maybe I'm not understanding.... Great to have you on the forum.... DC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeviam Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 4 hours ago, Wanaflatsfish said: Adrian, I've been on the forum for over 20 years (first RF 18 was a 2003) and I"m pretty familiar with the skiff of MGB. I see the two drains on the corners at the stern....and they appear to drain into the bilge ? I looked at stern in some other pictures from the Boat Trader and I can't see where it's exiting at the stern. The specs indicate "Self Bailing"....maybe I'm not understanding.... Great to have you on the forum.... DC You're right DC. The only place the overboard drains might possibly be is on the top of the pocket. I don't see them in any pictures, and I have many. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
21R3DFSH Posted March 10 Author Report Share Posted March 10 10 hours ago, Wanaflatsfish said: Adrian, I've been on the forum for over 20 years (first RF 18 was a 2003) and I"m pretty familiar with the skiff of MGB. I see the two drains on the corners at the stern....and they appear to drain into the bilge ? I looked at stern in some other pictures from the Boat Trader and I can't see where it's exiting at the stern. The specs indicate "Self Bailing"....maybe I'm not understanding.... Great to have you on the forum.... DC Self bailing aka overboard haha need to sharpen up my writing skills I see we have an eye for details on the board. it was hard finding information online so glad to provide photos and information on the forum. Photo below of where everything drains out of at the stern, nothing goes to the bilge from the deck or other drainage areas, these drains also have valves in the bilge area. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted March 10 Report Share Posted March 10 thanks so much for taking the time to post more information....I have not seen this skiff up close....and was trying to figure out how it was draining. Enjoy the skiff and the forum...... DC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mangroovin Posted March 11 Report Share Posted March 11 Welcome to the Forum Adrian from one 21 RF owner to another. 👍👊 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
21R3DFSH Posted March 11 Author Report Share Posted March 11 Got out yesterday, it was Snotty here are a few videos I took been posting them raw and unedited on YouTube, no plans on becoming a YouTuber haha just posting content for all to see 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeviam Posted March 11 Report Share Posted March 11 Nice ride in those conditions, and moving right along too! 👍👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeH Posted March 11 Report Share Posted March 11 Nice video! The boat is handling that chop in a similarly amazing way as my 21' Master Angler does. The hull design on our boats is the best. Wishing you years of happiness on your boat with your family and friends. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted March 11 Report Share Posted March 11 Nice ride in the chop..... dc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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