Tested by Capt. Bob Smith

The Serenity 1800’s fishing features start up front with a task light built into the back of the navigation light. With a push of a button you can see what you are doing while baiting the hook at night and not blast out the vision for everyone else for ten minutes. Also in the bow is space for a trolling motor outlet and room to stash the foot control when not needed. Slick conversion seating up front makes forward facing bow seats, or you can insert a tall post in the floor for a casting seat, flip the two seat cushions over and have a huge casting deck forward.

At the Wheel

The family will appreciate the European style wraparound windshield with walkthrough when the air gets a nip to it. At six feet tall I never felt like my cap was even about to get ripped off at top speed. The elevated companion and helm stations offer plenty of stash room underneath with ample leg room too. Three Concept DX chairs are standard and have four locations in the cockpit with two more in the stern, besides the position up front.

The helm is nicely laid out with instruments just in front of the wheel and circuit breakers in the turn of the dash line to starboard. Rocker switches with red lights for night indicators are along the side panel, and the tilt steering adjusts to fit the driver’s particular comfort level.

Storage for your gear

Lockable rod storage is located in the port side panel. The door is hinged so you have a large opening that doesn’t require a lot of cockpit space to use. Rod Savers keep the gear from tangling while safely stowed away. The stern casting deck has a 22-gallon livewell to keep your catch fresh and lively until you reach the dock or are ready to release them for another day. The Extruded Gunnel System (X.G.S.) gives you a wide footprint for boarding from the sides and for adding trolling gear, or fishing rod holders to your boat.

Specs

Crestliner’s Serenity 1800 measures 18’2” overall in length and sports a 95” beam width that carries all the way to the transom. She has a maximum hull depth of 41” with a maximum cockpit depth of 27”. The 1800 weighs in at 1,470 lbs. and carries up to 39 gallons of fuel on board. The 1800 can handle up to a 175-hp outboard on her transom which has a height of 20”.

Performance

The Serenity 1800 was a cool customer when tested, handling well except for some high speed steering tightness when turning, which may just need adjustments. With two people on board we achieved a top speed of just over 48 mph at 5400 rpms on a calm lake. We found her best cruise at over 23 mph turning 3000 rpms and burning about 3.6 gph. Our test boat was anything but serene coming out of the hole in just 2.2 seconds and cruising along at 30 mph in only 4.1 seconds.

So if fishing is important to you, yet you and your family also enjoy other water sports, the Serenity 1800 offers you a feature rich boat that fits well and can accommodate both activities.

• Top speed for the Crestliner Serenity 1800 (Not in Production) is 48.3 mph (77.7 kph), burning 14.3 gallons per hour (gph) or 54.13 liters per hour (lph).


• Best cruise for the Crestliner Serenity 1800 (Not in Production) is 23.5 mph (37.8 kph), and the boat gets 6.51 miles per gallon (mpg) or 2.77 kilometers per liter (kpl), giving the boat a cruising range of 229 miles (368.54 kilometers).


• Tested power is 1 x 150-hp Mercury Optimax outboard.