Located within minutes of the Nerang River that leads to the main waterways of Queensland’s Gold Coast, Makocraft Australia is celebrating its 20th anniversary. BARRY WISEMAN checks out their latest 631 Island Cab.

TIM Stessl, a family name well cemented into the aluminium boat building scene in Australia for 50 years, operates a marine business with his wife Sally.

With 30-odd years of boat building experience behind him with the Stessl Boats family business, the opportunity arose for him to branch out on his own and move to the inner suburb of Ashmore, where he launched the Makocraft name.

Over the past 20 years the Makocraft brand has earned a solid reputation for building serious offshore fishing vessels, with the larger craft boasting 4mm 5083 high-tensile aluminium bottom plate and 4mm 5052 sheets on the sides.

As an optional feature, buyers can go for an upgrade to 5mm plate on the bottom, which is exactly what the Perth dealership did when placing the order for the vessel featured in these pages.

Another major plus often sought after over here on the west coast is the full 2.5m beam, giving you plenty of room on the rear deck to fish several anglers or haul four or six rock lobster pots.

The review boat was in fact all rigged for the whites cray season, which was about to happen, complete with capstan winch on the starboard gunwale plus stainless drop-in rod holders on the port side to accommodate an aluminium pot tipper.

The winch comes pre-wired to a foot control so all you need are the cray pots, ropes and floats and you’re in business to put fresh rock lobster on the table for Christmas Day.

WA’s agent for Makocraft is Searano Marine, located in Malaga, and owner Johny Lupu can help you out there with the necessary tackle too for a day out on the water.

In fact, the day we headed out of the Hillarys Marina onboard the 631 Island Cab, a couple of recreational boats were transporting what looked to be new craypots offshore, possibly to soak the timbers while waiting for the whites to move from inshore reefs to the deeper water.

This vessel’s wide beam and acute reverse chines under the water are safety factors well recognised by recreational crayfishers and anglers alike.

You need stability, especially in a rolling sea, when hauling heavy pots to the surface and over the gunwale.

You need the ballast in the pots to stop them moving around on the bottom during a big swell, so consequently you need a stable platform to haul them to the surface.

Many fishers are installing the capstan winch on the gunwale plus a tipper on the opposite side to counter the weight factor while bringing a wooded-sodden pot over the side, hopefully with a few crays for the table.

The wide beam on this Makocraft Island Cab is an excellent safety feature that has been addressed, plus the heavy-duty chequer-plate deck cockpit can easily store four pro-sized rock lobster pots.

However, most amateurs use the slightly smaller pots sold by tackle stores so I don’t think you would have any problem carrying the six pots allowed if fishing three licences as is often the case.

There’s safety in numbers and having a boat capable of carrying three people and their pots is very comforting.

On the transom of the review boat was the latest 150hp four-stroke motor from Honda Marine and it had plenty of power to get this vessel up and on the move.

A good beefy power plant when required heading into that south-westerly chop.

The high freeboard is another major plus when tackling west coast conditions and for those heading for remote northern adventures, the fuel tank on this craft holds 250 litres, giving plenty of range particularly with the Honda BF150 on the back.

That extra weight below deck adds to the stability of the boat, lowering the centre of gravity.

The walk-around feature is a big plus with anglers.

There is plenty of room for three people down the back while a fourth fishes the bow, all being able to freely walk around the vessel when playing fish to the surface.

I’m a beefy bloke and had no trouble navigating around the central cab.

The foredeck is raised about 200mm from the rear cockpit and there’s good safety railing to hang onto in a pitching sea.

The cabin roof doubles as a seat for any angler working up front.

The bow is fitted with an electric anchor winch, plus there’s an aluminium mounting welded on the port bow for an electric trolling motor, which are proving increasingly popular these days.

A couple of rod holders are welded into the forward gunwales.

While 5mm plate has been used on the bottom, the superstructure is made from 4mm, all fully welded to the hull for strength.

The front bunk has an infill cushion and while it may be a bit tight for overnight stays, it’s a good storage area and day-time rest zone for the ankle biters.

There is plenty of head room and lots of natural light.

Without much effort a toilet and soft cover could be fitted for privacy.

Although not fitted at the time of this review, plastic clears can clip on the curved windscreen to close in the helm against foul weather.

Behind the screen was a utility shelf fitted with cool drink holders and a Garmin VHF marine radio.

A large binnacle is incorporated in the dash and housed a flush-mounted Garmin 10-inch sounder/GPS combo at the helm.

The Fusion sound head unit was located nearby.

With home storage in mind, along with those long-distance road trips to northern waters, Tim and his design team at Makocraft have made it so the hard top folds down into the rear cockpit, reducing the height and saving on wind drag when towing.

Two bolts removed, and the roof supports lower into the rear deck area.

A pair of Relaxn swivel seats are mounted on aluminium boxes which double up as storage centres.

Deep side pockets run the full length of the cockpit and double up as steps when alighting the vessel.

The craypot winch and foot control are permanently wired and stored in the starboard pocket.

Along the transom, there is a fold down three-quarter lounge and walk-through door to the marlin board and dive ladder on the starboard side.

With the seat in the up position, there’s padded coaming support when leaning at the very substantial bait station.

The cutting board doubles as a lid to a large live-bait tank or bait storage area below.

Rather than using the stylish polyboard for carving up your bait, there’s room to sit a cheaper kitchen cutting board that can be replaced every couple of years.

This would preserve the factory fitted board, which as I say doubles as the lid to the live-bait reservoir below.

This is a very neat fish/tackle station and I would want to keep it that way, complete with the twin drink can holders, knife/tool racks, and bank of five rod holders.

The heavy-duty deck is self-draining with the scuppers accessible from inside the cockpit.

This Makocraft 631 Island Cab with the optional 5mm high tensile bottom sheets gives it that bit more weight welcome here in the open west coast ocean conditions.

The transom plates are also 5mm and a below-deck kill tank is also available if required.

The hull is rated to a maximum of 175hp and has an approximate weight of 940 kilograms.

It’s a solid rig and performed well with the economic Honda 150hp on the back.

NUTS & BOLTS

MODEL: Makocraft 631 Island Cab

LENGTH: 6.35m overall

BEAM: 2.5m

BOTTOM: 5mm high tensile plate upgrade

SIDES: 4mm side sheets

WEIGHT: 940kg approx.

TRAILER: Dunbier aluminium series

MANUFACTURER: Makocraft Australia, Ashmore, Gold Coast, Queensland

AGENT: Searano Marine; 795 Marshall Road, Malaga; (08) 9248 2242; www.searano.com.au

PRICING: $125,950

PROS & CONS

PROS

• Beefy and stylish.
• Folding hard top.
• Bottom plate upgrade to 5mm.
• Full 2.5m beam.
• Heavy-duty chequer plate walk-around deck.
• Rigged for rock lobster fishing.
• Substantial fish station aft.
• Well suited to west coast conditions.
• Dunbier alloy series tandem trailer.

CONS

The Makocraft 631 Island Cab is a very capable rig fitted with the powerful, yet economic Honda BF150 motor.

The folding hard top is a terrific plus for long distance towing and storing under the carport.

The only other extra I could think of was an extended shade awning over the rear deck for hot days.