New Boat: Check Out Flamingo 180 Dream Catcher

Marine or river, fishing or waterski, you name it and all-new Flamingo 180 cabin cruiser Dream Catcher can do it

Excellent handling. Fishing or watersports. And the joy of overnight family fishing trips. This is the first-ever new Flamingo 180 cabin cruiser by Nauti-Tech Suzuki. It’s called Dream Catcher and it was custom built for Dr Krianandan Pillay and family from Port Shepstone.

A few weeks after delivering his new boat Dream Catcher, we caught up with Dr Pillay to see how he likes his custom-built Flamingo 180 that’s powered by a new Suzuki DF100.

“Oh, it’s magnificent,” says Dr Pillay. “It looks very good and performs well. I had a similar Flamingo cabin boat before, the older 2006/2007 model, and that had what was at the time quite nice: those wooden insets and things all over. But they wore down with time.

“The new Flamingo is all fibreglass and just a little bit more modern. It looks really great and I can take my whole family of five out on it comfortably.”

HANDLING AND STABILITY ON THE NEW DREAM CATCHER

Aside from the look, Dr Pillay also took the opportunity to have a few nice new extras installed on his new Flamingo cabin cruiser. “It has the new hydraulic steering, which is just a pleasure. And then we had an electronic anchor fitted to it, too.

“The steering is so much lighter and it handles very well. So I’m impressed in terms of stability,” says Dr Pillay. “You know, this is the first time I can trim the motor right down all the way to the bottom and still feel comfortable and in control.”

POWERED BY A NEW SUZUKI DF100

“This is the first time I’ve gone with a Suzuki and I must say it is very silent and fuel-efficient. I’ve always been partial to the other big outboard brand, and then it’s usually a two-stroke. But this four-stroke Suzuki with the Lean Burn really has me feeling confident. No regrets.”

And Dr Pillay likes the idea of having a good solid motor for estuary fishing but also wants enough power in reserve to enjoy a bit of waterskiing with the family every now and again.

“I can do it all with the 100 Suzuki,” he says. “When skiing, though, I feel I could maybe even have gone as high as the 140. I’ll maybe try fit a bigger prop for a bit fo extra thrust or upgrade later. But I’ll stay with the Suzuki because it’s so smooth, silent and it really runs on fumes.”

GOOD FOR FISHING

Dr Pillay and family do most of their fishing in the estuaries at Port St Johns and sometimes Richards Bay. Here, they target mainly Garrick, grunter and maybe some kob. And it’s when fishing that Dr Pillay says he really gets to appreciate the new all-fibreglass deck of the Flamingo 180. It’s clean, easy to maintain and for a 17-foot (about 5.5 metres) cruiser, it really has all the space and equipment you need.

“You know we like to spend nights out on the river, and that’s when the cabin really comes in handy,” he says. “We can be out fishing, but when it gets a bit chilly or the wife wants to just relax a bit, you can go into the cabin and put on some music. We usually pack a picnic basket, and it’s just a nice experience for everyone.

“And you know who’s the champion angler on this boat, though? My daughter. She’s only 12, but she shows all of us how it’s done. Just the other day she caught a 14kg Garrick.”

PERFECT FAMILY GETAWAYS ON DREAM CATCHER

Speaking of fishing on the river, Dr Pillay says that he’s taken the family out on Dream Catcher a few times already. And you’d be surprised how many people it can accommodate.

“You know we can fit about 5 people very comfortably. And I’ll tell you there’s nothing quite like it. When you’re out on a moonlit night and it’s just so quiet and peaceful all around. And you’re out fishing the river.

“It’s something we love doing as a family. We’ve been doing it for years. And we can keep enjoying it with this new boat,” Dr Pillay concludes.

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NEW BOAT: DREAM CATCHER

Custom-built monohull New Flamingo 180 Cabin Cruiser
5.5 metre, 2.3 beam and 580kg weight
Powered by Suzuki DF100

More new boats: Also see Robin Vermaak’s new CarryCat 760 Piromero and Phillip Erasmus’ centre console Seadation.

PLUS: CHECK OUT THIS NEW LAUNCH

We’ve just launched Jan Hendrik Hattingh’s new CarryCat 900, the Carry On 2.

Plus: See all our custom-built new boats and all our favourite new launches under our full collective post on our boats.

Plus: Check out the Flamingo 180 and the Suzuki DF100 featured here. 

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NEW: CUSTOM-BUILT FLAMINGO CABIN CRUISERS

Check out the four awesome new cabin boat models available from our showroom: Discover Flamingo boats.

ALL NEW BOATS

Plus: Deep sea, ski-boat, river or cabin cruisers: See all our custom-built new boats.

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THE PURSUIT OF AWESOME

Legend also has it that most boats run better under Suzuki power. Discover it for yourself among these Suzuki outboards.

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