What an incredible build this Stabicraft 2500 Ultracab XL has been for us! Designed to be the ultimate long range touring vessel, this one has been kitted out with some creature comforts and accessories to allow multi-day fishing and diving trips on the water a long way from port.
The 2500 Ultracab comes well equipped from factory for such a task - plenty of lighting both in the cabin and around the deck, lots of rod holders, suspension seat boxes, the Game Changer transom and a comfortable cabin with a forward raking windscreen and wipers/washers. This particular build was optioned from factory to include an electric toilet, U-Dek flooring, stage 3 full paint (Gunmetal Grey), deck wash, painted bow, hand and roof rails, foam filled pontoons (essential on a Stabi!), the Weekender 3 berth interior galley, fridge in port seat box - and even some custom options including twin live bait tanks and a 3 step ladder. The package came rolling in on a G-Fab triple axle trailer (with custom stoneguards and a Boat Catch), a serious trailer for a serious hull.
Powering the beast is a set of twin 200hp Suzuki outboards - fly by wire of course!
The electronics package on this boat is second to none. Starting at the transom, we fitted a Dometic Electronic EPS Steering complete kit - with joystick control and Garmin autopilot. This system allows for effortless steering at the wheel, joystick control for precise movements in tight quarters and all the integration possible through the network. A 200W solar panel from Enerdrive was mounted to the roof, which alongside the engine alternators, kept a 205ah Allion lithium 12V battery topped up through a day's fishing. As always, we stuck with our favourite Garmin products for the sounders and chartplotting. Onto the dash went a GPSMap 8416, with a GPSMap 8410 mounted on the cabin roof for easy viewing from further afield. The game changing Vision+ mapping was chosen which includes the Relief Shading, and all readings were done through a set of 1kw thru hull transducers (SS175HW and SS175L) and a smaller Garmin GT34UHD which linked to the head units through a GSD28 sonar module. On the roof went a Garmin GMR Fantom 24 radar, and we also installed a Garmin VHF 115i radio for communication purposes. For blasting those pump up beats on the return trip from a successful day on the reef, we chose a Fusion 670 stereo with a set of 6.5" XS speakers.
As we mentioned, the boat was set up for long range touring - and that means that food, fuel and water storage all need to be increased in capacity. For food, the interior galley and portside fridge allows for plenty of neat storage to keep things cool, dry and out of the way. For fuel, the vessel already came with a sizable tank but we fitted a custom 200L fuel bladder with a 30l/m transfer pump to increase capacity. The clients are keen divers and to accomodate for the much required post-dive hot shower, we fitted a Companion Aquaheat hot water unit with a washdown hose.
There were plenty of other smaller accessories installed around the vessel - underwater and gunnel lighting, U-Dek in the side pockets, rod holders along the cabin roof internally, electric reel studs, and a Stedi 22" lightbar. What a beast!