OT: The Boating Thread

[Craig Vecchione]

This one's inspired by the boating thread last week.

 

Are we nuts? Isn't boating supposed to be a relaxing diversion from the daily grind? Yeah right. This morning I feel as if I was run over by a burning tank.

 

I've got a 1997 Bayliner 2855. Decent little cruising boat. Only problem is I don't need a decent little cruising boat. I need a crew. Every spring I'm trying to beat the rain to bottom-paint the hull. All summer I'm washing and paying for gas and fixing all the little things that go wrong...in 85-degree heat of course. Every fall I'm trying to beat the first freeze to get water systems and the engine winterized.

 

Well, this is the end of the line for me. No bigger boats. With luck I'm trading in the '97 for an '05 Bayliner 195 bowrider. No more AC system that won't prime. No more clogged head ( ) when someone fails to heed the "if you didn't eat it first and it ain't tiolet paper, don't flush it" warning. No more, "I can't sleep. The boat is moving too much (in still water:rolleyes: ). No more $3,700 annual marina slip rental.

 

And if I had any doubt that I want to get rid of this boat, the past weekend cured me. Before letting the trading dealer send his folks out to survey my boat, I figured I'd better go down and clean it up and make it look its best. This is the first time I've been down to see it since I winterized it in October. Every time I show up for the first time in the season it's a new horror. Saturday was no exception.

 

At first I thought everything was fine. Cover was intact, the boat wasn't covered in leaves, no damage from the winter. Then I opened the companionway and looked inside...

 

Apparently a bird had discovered that my anchor rode hatch was easy to open, and built a nest inside the locker. That would be bad enough, but at some point the access hatch opening to the cabin had opened as well. Said bird(s) made full use of the cabin. Bird{censored} and feather everywhere. If you've ever seen a grown man want to cry, it was Saturday morning.

 

10 hours, 2 gallons of bleach, a gallon of Simple Green, and a gallon of Zep deodorizing cleaner later, I've got the cleanest, feshest-smelling boat interior on the planet. Even got rid of that weird fiberglas/polyester smell that all boats have. FWIW, the straw from the nest filled a 20-gallon garbage bag. I have no idea what sort of bird it was, just that it was gray and fit down a 3" hole. I consider myself fortunate the bird didn't decide to use the interior to sharpen it's beak.

 

That done, I only had to spend all day yesterday doing the work I'd planned in the first place. All's good, at least as good as it's getting...it is an 8 year-old boat after all.

 

"The two best days of a boater's life; the day he buys a boat, and the day he sells it."

[mrcrow]

 

On a damp windy day in tempestuous May

In a most insufficient attire,

What a pleasure to row for a furlong or so

And to glow with the patriots fire:

There is glory to win in the fray

There are crowds to applaud all the way

We shall very soon be at the top of the tree

If we all go out every day

 

Chorus:

Let's all go out every day,

From now to the middle of May

We shall very soon be

at the top of the tree

If we all go out every day.

 

By the top of the tree as I think you will see

Is the head of the river, I mean:

An appropriate place

For our vessels to grace

And at which we shall shortly be seen.

There are still a few boats in the way

But Rome was not built in a day

And I have no doubt we shall bring it about

If we all go out every day

 

Chorus

 

Captain's Verse:

Oh our captain says he

"May all of you be

Dissected and roasted and skinned

Five rowed with his back in the shape of a sack

And then, when I swore at him, grinned.

Six, get those hands faster away

Keep your eyes in the boat three I say,

Now get down to it, do

Get your body down two,

Your time's worse than ever today

 

Chorus

 

And as we sit in the bar

We're the most pissed by far

And we're still seen as some kind of joke.

But when we're on the Cam

We don't give a damn

'Cos the hangover helps with our stroke

We're all drunkards, our marks are all low

Shouting 'right-on' it's quite cool to row

But within the next term

All the polo necks burn

And we'll get all the trendies to row

 

Chorus

 

When the stewards shout 'Off!'

All the other crews scoff

And their coaches and coxes jeer:

'Have you heard about King's?

Those poor little things

They can't row 'cause they can't take their BEER!

Seconds later our bows are ahead

And some ducks in the water are dead

As we push for the line,

As we do ourselves in,

'cause it's spiffing to actually WIN!

[J the D]

That's why I stepped down to an open outboard boat that can be hosed down when I'm done for the day. I keep it on a trailer in the back yard, too. Of course, we use our boats all year round in Florida.

[Rowka]

A hole in the water into which money is thrown.

[g.ghost]

You pay way too much at a marina. You should have joined a yacht club. The one I'm in is known as a "self help" club. All the work to be done around the club is done by the members (to keep costs down) except major projects like building the clubhouse. Each year you pay into the equity of the club and when you leave the club you get it back. Our yearly dues are $1600 which incudes a dock for the summer with water and hydro. It also includes hauling the boat out at the end of the season , winter storage on land and launching the following spring. We also have a restaurant that is serving meals and drinks all year. I've heard from other members that it's also much friendlier than at marinas.

 

You have complained about the upkeep of the boat but to me that's part of the fun of ownership. I love spending a day down on the boat just "tinkering ". Finding problems and fixing up other stuff. There tends to be a little bit of socializing with other members doing tha same of course.

 

The bird in the boat sounds bad but a boat owner I know had a family of racoons living on board his boat all winter ! Totally ruined the interior. Cushions were torn to pieces and of course piss & {censored} everywhere !

 

Sorry to lose a boater, I'll be out on the lake lovin' it for you this summer.

[The Insomniac]

I gave up on my boat. I found it

[timmerz]

You guys, you're going about the boating thing all wrong....if you really dig boating, and are tired of berthing costs, etc......move to the water.

That's what I did, 6 years ago, and haven't regretted it yet....

I'm attaching a pic of my backyard, taken just a few moments ago from the back porch....

Yes, I still have to have the beast hauled-out every three years for hull maintenance, but with a steel hull and a thick coat, she doesn't suffer during the meantime....

Here in California, the Winters are nowhere near as harsh as you guys get back East, and I still take the jet boat out even in the rain, for stress relief after work sometimes....

[SA Rios]

 

My two friends and I are in the process of refinnishing a 58 Lyman very sinilar to this one. Its taking forever, though, because we only worked on it about 3 or 4 weekends last year

[Sixgun77]

I want to learn to sail. Then I want to aquire a sailboat with a kitchen, toilet, and shower to live in. No mowing the grass, no property taxes. Seems like marina costs are cheaper than an apartment. I also want to maove somewhere where nobody knows what winter means.

[Perfessor]

The "kitchen" is a galley and the "toilet" is the head.

We sailed our 14 ft. homemade boat last Wednesday and had a wonderful time. We trailer 60 miles to Pymatuning Lake rather than put in to Lake Erie because it's not a big boat and only has a trolling motor back up. I built it for $900 and found trailer to asemble from Northern for $310, later saw the same one at Harbor Freight for $220. We have a blast and once I got over the fact that boats get knocked around I stopped caring that much about it's looks. It already looks like something form the 1800's, made from spruce, etc., so I don't worry about it. I've been with fussy boaters and wonder why they bother. It's supposed to be fun.

[Sixgun77]

I know about the terms, but in Baltimore-ese(mainly in the Essex and Dundalk areas) "toilet" is pronounced "toolit" and that nasal goofy accent sounds funny as hell. Much funnier than head.

[Perfessor]

I like that one. Good luck finding a boat. There are lots for sale when you get around the water. I'll bet we pass 10 for sale on our trip to the lake.

[Sixgun77]

My uncle was telling me to try for a 30 footer. He said it's about the most comfortable living space you can have and still pilot the boat by yourself. I like the fact the a lot of what I've seen on ebay all had stainless sinks and countertops.

[Paul Buerk]

Is the term "Alcohol-related boating incident" redundant?

[Craig Vecchione]

 

Originally posted by g.ghost You pay way too much at a marina. You should have joined a yacht club. The one I'm in is known as a "self help" club. All the work to be done around the club is done by the members (to keep costs down) except major projects like building the clubhouse. Each year you pay into the equity of the club and when you leave the club you get it back. Our yearly dues are $1600 which incudes a dock for the summer with water and hydro. It also includes hauling the boat out at the end of the season , winter storage on land and launching the following spring. We also have a restaurant that is serving meals and drinks all year. I've heard from other members that it's also much friendlier than at marinas. You have complained about the upkeep of the boat but to me that's part of the fun of ownership. I love spending a day down on the boat just "tinkering ". Finding problems and fixing up other stuff. There tends to be a little bit of socializing with other members doing tha same of course. The bird in the boat sounds bad but a boat owner I know had a family of racoons living on board his boat all winter ! Totally ruined the interior. Cushions were torn to pieces and of course piss & {censored} everywhere ! Sorry to lose a boater, I'll be out on the lake lovin' it for you this summer.

 

 

You haven't lost me yet. As I wrote I'll be trading this one for the bowrider. All depends on the survey...hopefully they won't find

anything wrong that I don't know about. If it pans out, the marina can put the slip up for sale and I'll get a refund of the remaining 9 months rental. If not, I'll launch the new boat....19-footer in a slip generously sized for a 35.....

 

There's a yacht club that started 3-4 years ago at this marina but it has virtually no benefits, not even reciprocal privileges anywhere worthwhile. There aren't any clubs as you describe in the area. At this point my needs would be best served with a smaller trailerable boat...I can work on and store it at home, which is a huge plus over the 45 minute drive to the marina. There are also several destinations that would be easier to access by trailering to the area rather than boating to along the coast at 1.2 nmpg fuel economy.

 

I really never imagined I'd prefer to downsize. I moved from a 26 to the 28' after the first year, and really wanted to go to something like a 30-32' mni-yacht w/inboard diesels. But that's only attainable if I devoted most of my life to it. I'm very handy (used to be a mechanic many years ago) but there's a limit to how much work I enjoy, and I don't make enough to pay others to do all the boating work.

[s4001]

I guess this is one thread that won't sink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't hit me

[Craig Vecchione]

 

Originally posted by s4001 I guess this is one thread that won't sink. Don't hit me

 

 

 

*Hits s4001 with an oar*

 

 

 

Hey, that got me thinking...anyone ever made an oar into a bass?

[FreestyleIntruder]

 

Originally posted by Craigv *Hits s4001 with an oar* Hey, that got me thinking...anyone ever made an oar into a bass?

 

 

Ned Steinberger

[NeonVomit]

Originally posted by FreestyleIntruder Ned Steinberger

 

Is there anything that man HASN'T done?

 

He was the one that made that crazy bass with retractable frets, no?

[Kaesh]

 

Originally posted by The Insomniac I gave up on my boat. I found it

[Kaesh]

Originally posted by Paul Buerk Is the term "Alcohol-related boating incident" redundant?

No, it's a pleonasm

[Kaesh]

Originally posted by NeonVomit Is there anything that man HASN'T done? He was the one that made that crazy bass with retractable frets, no?

Actually that one was more likely done by one of his workers, but yes it bore his name

[bholder]

 

76 Reinelle 26'

 

...and just for good measure:

 

 

new Hobie Mirage tandem kayak, pedal or paddle.

 

[Craig Vecchione]

Originally posted by Kaesh Sheesh that's expensive. You can't rent a small (4 crew) cabin yacht for a week for 100$ here. Not to mention wintering a yacht costs 200$ for everything tops. And we got awesome lakes too.

 

I've rented boats just about everywhere I've visited that had water, and an 18-20' bowrider with outboard is usually about $350/day plus fuel.

 

Reminds me of a somewhat funny story. The very first time I did any boating on my own, I was in Bermuda on vacation, and rented a 16' whaler for the day to explore Hamilton Bay. We found a couple of small islands with small beaches and 20' of clear water between. Perfect spot to stop. Only trouble is that I had never anchored a boat before, and didn't realize I had no clue how to set an anchor...or even that the anchor had to be set. I just dropped it straight down and tied it off when it hit bottom....which I could clearly see in the pristine water. The current would then pull the boat slowly along, and I'd move it back where I wanted and repeat my procedure. After three tries I realized i was doing something or everything wrong and gave it more thought. Eventually I realized giving out more rode would actually let the anchor do what it was designed to do...and then had to figure out how to get the boat where I wanted it as it swung.

 

That was Lesson #1. There were many more, all embarrassing and educational, and fortunately not too many which were life-threatening.

[Craig Vecchione]

Here are the two possible replacement boats:

Bayliner 195:

 

Bayliner 210 Cuddy: