Carolina Skiff has long been recognized for building tough, affordable workboat-style flat-bottom skiffs. So when I arrived to test their latest boat, I was surprised to see a very different craft, one that resembled the boats my friends used when we were kids, but this one was much larger. I was curious about the boat's bottom which was reminiscent of cathedral hull designs of days gone by.

I first noticed the capacity plate, which said the boat was rated for 17 people. Surely someone had made a mistake; this boat was 25 feet long and, with 17 people aboard, would have to be more like a cruise ship in scale. However, the placard was correct — the company purposely built this boat to hold that many folks. With nine degrees of transom deadrise, this rig is certainly better suited for inshore work, or offshore duty on calmer days.

In the bow, the boat has an on-deck anchor locker, recessed stainless handrails and pop-up cleats on each side of the forward deck, as well as a large U-shaped seating area with storage under the seats and an optional deck table. An in-deck locker aft of the seating area, in front of the console, is large enough to store the cushions from the forward seating area and the table.

The console has an optional 120-quart cooler seat up front and features a starboard-side door with step-down access to the large head area, which contains a standard porta-potty or an optional electric flushing head with a nine-gallon holding tank. The business end of the console has an ample dash for gauges and flush-mount electronics. A switch panel with rocker switches to control all bait pumps, lights and the like is mounted at the base of the electronics dash, under the steering wheel.

The wheel is positioned left of center, with the binnacle to starboard. There are several leaning-post configurations available, including one with a 70-quart cooler underneath, another one with a 32-gallon livewell and one with a built-in tackle center. Our test boat had the optional T-top with four rod holders along the aft edge and spreader lights forward and aft.

There are rod, mop or gaff storage racks capable of holding 16 items under the gunwales on both the port and starboard sides of the boat. An 85-gallon fuel tank lies beneath the deck aft of the console, and along the transom, there's a full-width aft cushion seat with a livewell to port and battery storage to starboard. Under the center is a 120-quart insulated cooler. There are four backrest rod holders along the transom, and access to the bilge is via the hatch in the engine well.

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