Scout 245 Dorado Boats For Sale

The Scout 245 Dorado is a dual console crossover built for family fishing, cruising, watersports and day boating, and it replaced the earlier 242 Dorado with a revised cockpit, an updated bow and added storage. Scout Boats has built this family-owned line since 1989, and the 245 carries the brand's intent of a 24.5-foot hull that does several jobs well rather than one. It runs as a single-engine boat, typically rigged with a Yamaha 300-horsepower four-stroke, with examples also fitted with a Mercury 300 four-stroke or a single 250, and it carries roughly a 100-gallon fuel tank, enough that burning through it in a single day on one four-stroke is hard to do.

The hull uses a triple-stepped, variable-deadrise design with a 21-degree deadrise at the transom that progresses through about 22.5 and 23 degrees up the running surface. At full speed the boat rides on the flatter 21-degree section for less drag, and as conditions build and you ease the throttle the hull settles deeper onto the steeper sections for a softer ride in chop. The boat holds offshore speed comfortably alongside larger hulls on that single 300.

The helm runs an adjustable hydraulic steering setup, aircraft-style switches, resettable breakers in place of fuses, a tachometer, speedometer, compass and an LED trim-tab indicator switch, behind a stainless-steel-capped windshield. Electronics on equipped boats include an 8-inch Garmin GPS/plotter/sounder, Lenco trim tabs, a Fusion stereo and an Icom VHF. The windshield is sized to see over while standing and under the bar while seated, and a walk-through gate with a closing door seals the cockpit against rain, cold and spray. The two helm seats swivel, slide and fold into standing bolsters.

The cockpit is sized large for a 24-foot boat, with coaming pads for fighting fish, deck-mounted rod holders plus rod holders and speakers integrated into the hardtop, and LED spreader lights for night fishing or entertaining. There is a deep lighted livewell with rounded internal corners, rod storage in the gunnels, and a large insulated fish box in the floor that doubles for drinks or dive gear. An easy flip-up stern seat opens access to the swim platform and boarding steps, then folds back into a transom couch running port to starboard. The hardtop carries a tow point mounted high for wakeboarding, tubing, skiing and kneeboarding.

Up front the bow has aggressive anti-skid for sure footing, lounge seating, a fold-out table with cupholders and a built-in cooler, and deep storage under the starboard seats that also keeps children seated low inside the boat. An enclosed console head with a portable toilet sits to the left of the helm and is notably roomy for the class, with enough storage for a week's gear on a Bahamas crossing. Rated capacity is 10 people.

Build details include Scout's Prefix-finished vinyls, treated with a UV-resistant barrier coat, and a cream-toned gelcoat chosen to cut glare and hide staining rather than a bright white. Flooring can be snap-in carpet or non-skid. When shopping a used 245 Dorado, inspect the hardtop carefully: it is a forward-swept arch with a cantilevered top and no front supports, and on at least one older example the structure had pulled away from the deck under that forward weight, a defect to confirm is sound before buying.