Taking the Plunge

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THD said:
George-I think looking at used boats might be a lot like learning a new congregation, among the many sinners will be a few real saints. You have to work your way through all the sinners to find the few saints. One day, as you walk down a dock, the saint will call to you and you will have found your boat!

Good Luck!
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Great!! Observation!!!!! :thumb: :socool:
 
Lots of horror stories about good folks that spent there "hard found funds" on a boat, usually all they had or could put together. They just wanted to live the dream but the boat they bought was a nightmare. Bad tanks, rotted bulkheads, cabin sides, decks, soggy balsa, etc. (all of which can be concealed) There are a few decent boats out there in your price range, but it takes years of collecting knowledge to know them and not get sucked into the sales pitch. Any boat in your size range at your price point is suspect. In God we trust, no mention of brokers in that.
 
Welcome George,

Been gone from the board for awhile, but we are on our third year as a liveaboard and love it everyday. Those pesky picture and old albums can easily be dealt with. Digitize all that source material. Scan the pictures to your lap top or hard drive and pick up a viewer that will play the pictures for you. I have been scanning for the past month and I have 20+ years to scan, but being retired now I have more time then money and it is fun to see the old pictures again.

Same with the music, convert your albums, CD cassettes / 8-tracks to an MP# format and play them on you radio, IPOD or whatever. That way you get to keep all you stuff, just in a smaller format.

We'll be leaving the SF Bay area in early May so I'm trying to get all my scanning done. Take care and welcome aboard.
 
We took a few days off to celebrate the Admiral's birthday. Just hung at the beach and didn't look at a single boat ad. It was a good time to take a break. Gonna hit it again this weekend.

Thanks to everyone for all the great comments and for following along. More updates to follow!
 
Marin said:
Yes. He has a beautiful de Haviland Beaver (on wheels) that Kenmore built for him from a Viet Nam era surplus hulk, so I asked him if he'd write the forward for my book and he agreed.
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Is that the same Harrison Ford who crashed today when the engine of his yellow 1942 Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR failed? ... I don't understand why people who wouldn't trust a single-engine boat but will fly in a single-engine airplane.
 
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Yes, it is.

We fly a single engine airplane into some of the most rugged country in North America but we will only own multi-engined boats. It has little to do with safety.
 
Marin said:
Yes, it is.


We fly a single engine airplane into some of the most rugged country in North America but we will only own multi-engin
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You wrote the Kenmore air book? That's one of my favorites. I've recommended that to others.
 
ghost said:
You wrote the Kenmore air book? That's one of my favorites. I've recommended that to others.
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Yes, I wrote it during later 1990s after my floatplane instruction book had gone through three editions. Glad you enjoyed the book. The Kenmore story is remarkable for both the aviation and business aspects, regardless of who wrote it up.
 
Marin, when did you write Flying a Float Plane?
 
HopCar said:
Marin, when did you write Flying a Float Plane?
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First of all, don't blame me for the unimaginitive title. It was the publisher's idea. I wanted to call it Wings, Water, and Floats.:)

I was invited to write it by TAB Books in late 1983 after they had seen a bunch of my float flying articles in flying magazines like Private Pilot. I submitted a proposal and it was accepted. I wrote it in nine months and did all the photos and line drawings and the first edition was published in 1985.

TAB liked to update their books about every five years, so in 1990 I wrote a second edition which had more material in it. The third edition, which included new chapters on flying turbine floatplanes and basic floatplane maintenance came out in 1995 (I think).

TAB was then purchased by McGraw-Hill. They began to up the price of the book until it was something like $35 (the second edition had been priced at $17.95). Considering that it was still being printed on the same mid-quality paper and was still a soft-cover book, this severely overpriced the book and sales, which were never huge as it's quite a niche market, began to drop off. They took it out of print in the early 2000s as I recall. They gave the copyright to me but I've not seen any value in trying to get it printed again.
 
Marin said:
First of all, don't blame me for the unimaginitive title. It was the publisher's idea. I wanted to call it Wings, Water, and Floats.:)

I was invited to write it by TAB Books in late 1983 after they had seen a bunch of my float flying articles in flying magazines like Private Pilot. I submitted a proposal and it was accepted. I wrote it in nine months and did all the photos and line drawings and the first edition was published in 1985.

TAB liked to update their books about every five years, so in 1990 I wrote a second edition which had more material in it. The third edition, which included new chapters on flying turbine floatplanes and basic floatplane maintenance came out in 1995 (I think).

TAB was then purchased by McGraw-Hill. They began to up the price of the book until it was something like $35 (the second edition had been priced at $17.95). Considering that it was still being printed on the same mid-quality paper and was still a soft-cover book, this severely overpriced the book and sales, which were never huge as it's quite a niche market, began to drop off. They took it out of print in the early 2000s as I recall. They gave the copyright to me but I've not seen any value in trying to get it printed again.
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Can it be turned into an "ebook" that would be available on sites like Amazon? Seems like that's a better distribution model, but I don't know anything about book economics so maybe not.

What is the cost to produce an ebook vs a traditional paperback?
 
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cardude01 said:
Can it be turned into an "ebook" that would be available on sites like Amazon? Seems like that's a better distribution model, but I don't know anything about book economics so maybe not.

What is the cost to produce an ebook vs a traditional paperback?
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Those are both excellent questions and I don't have the answer to either one of them.

In the case of the instructional book, it is heavily dependent upon photographs and line-drawings/diagrams that show how to maneuver a floatplane in such-and-such a situation. The drawings in particular are very important, in my opinon, to help the reader understand the maneuver to be done or the forces acting on the plane in a particular situation.

It's been my experience with my Kindle that while it can display photos and drawings, they are very small and not particularly sharp or large. On something like an iPad they would probably reproduce quite well. But on a pure e-reader, I've so far not been impressed with their abilities to deal with photos and drawings.

The Kenmore book, Success on the Step, has lots of photos and they add a huge amount to the story. Again, if their reproduction is poor, the reader will not get the benefit of them.

I know the technology is getting better all the time, and what was the case five years go may well not be the case today. But my books have all been published by established publishing companies (or in the case of the Kenmore book, a brand new publishing company) and they're the ones who call the shots in terms of how the books are published and distributed.

All I'm supposed to do is write them.......:)

And now it might be a good idea to let this discussion get back to the OP's original question of what kind of boat will be best to do what he wants to do and how he should best conduct his search.
 
We spent the weekend in the Keys. Our first time to Key West. Liked everything but the traffic coming back North. Gee wiz!

Several boats down there for sale but all the brokers took the weekend off too. Oh well. Good excuse to go back.
 
Turns out driving four hours to the Keys, walking my ass off and then the 4 hours back killed my back. Had a real bad couple days since we got back.

On good side I started PT today and they think is all muscle spasms.

We are planning a FL west coast boat hunt as soon as we can. Several boats from ft Meyers to Pensacola that might deserve a look. Gonna use my new buddy Art's 20 question routine to separate the wheat from the chaff before we head out.

Some of these are gas powered. Up in the air about those. I know pros and cons of both diesel vs gas but, you never really know how hard those gas engines have been run. I will search forum for more opinions.

God bless everyone. All the best.

George+ and Betty Jo
 
frgeorgeh said:
....Some of these are gas powered. Up in the air about those. I know pros and cons of both diesel vs gas but, you never really know how hard those gas engines have been run. I will search forum for more opinions
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It`s good you know the pros and cons of diesel v gas, that will save a massive thread drift, you`ll find plenty on that already. FWIW, as a diesel user, I understand gas engines can be much cheaper to rebuild. Do they wear out faster, can`t say. Art is a gas expert.
 
BruceK said:
It`s good you know the pros and cons of diesel v gas, that will save a massive thread drift, you`ll find plenty on that already. FWIW, as a diesel user, I understand gas engines can be much cheaper to rebuild. Do they wear out faster, can`t say. Art is a gas expert.
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On your West coast run give us a ring for happy hour we can show you the projects we are in the middle of

Also several boats hera t this marina and in the area in your range
 
siestakey said:
On your West coast run give us a ring for happy hour we can show you the projects we are in the middle of

Also several boats hera t this marina and in the area in your range
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Oh I will also have a physical therapist on board to give you some ideas on your back
 
Quickie - Gas - vs - Diesel Engines:


In used boat both types have same basics... regarding what is the condition and how much $$$ may be needed to keep em running for the long term. That IS... How good was the previous owner care for engine and how many hours on engine and is engine of a good make/brand/size/year.


George - Hit the search in TF for many threads on gasoline/diesel engines... enough to boggle your mind!


Cheers! Art
 
Marin said:
First of all, don't blame me for the unimaginitive title. It was the publisher's idea. I wanted to call it Wings, Water, and Floats.:)

I was invited to write it by TAB Books in late 1983 after they had seen a bunch of my float flying articles in flying magazines like Private Pilot. I submitted a proposal and it was accepted. I wrote it in nine months and did all the photos and line drawings and the first edition was published in 1985.

TAB liked to update their books about every five years, so in 1990 I wrote a second edition which had more material in it. The third edition, which included new chapters on flying turbine floatplanes and basic floatplane maintenance came out in 1995 (I think).

TAB was then purchased by McGraw-Hill. They began to up the price of the book until it was something like $35 (the second edition had been priced at $17.95). Considering that it was still being printed on the same mid-quality paper and was still a soft-cover book, this severely overpriced the book and sales, which were never huge as it's quite a niche market, began to drop off. They took it out of print in the early 2000s as I recall. They gave the copyright to me but I've not seen any value in trying to get it printed again.
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Cool Marin!

I read that book when doing my float training in my 1947 Taylorcraft BC12D-4-85 on EDO 1320 floats.

Here's a bit of aviation history. The Taylorcraft is Type Certified for Edo 1320 floats. No 337 required. Just a logbook entry to switch between wheels and floats.
 
siestakey said:
On your West coast run give us a ring for happy hour we can show you the projects we are in the middle of



Also several boats hera t this marina and in the area in your range
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We sure will. Can u PM me with contact info? Love to see u.
 
A little late to the party, but welcome to the madness, and welcome to Florida. God knows (absolutely no pun intended), that we can you more people like you here:thumb::thumb:

OD
 
Ok kids. Just a quick update. Though we have a good list of boats to go look at, I have been unable to drive too far due to my back pain, Dr appts and other family stuff.

We are going to see a well tended 42' Californian in Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow. It is a little over budget but u never know.

There is a Grand Banks down in Key West that looks interesting too. I don't need much of an excuse to go back down to Key West!

Hope everyone is doing well.
 
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We are making an offer today on a beautiful Californian 42' LRC. Looked at her this morning performing a presurvey. Clean as a pin I really couldn't find a potential major problem anywhere.

It is a bit over our budget but I believe - pending survey of course - she is basically ready to go.

More to come...
 
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Great news, George! Hope it all lines up well for you. When she's yours, we'll enjoy some pics.

Is it the 1981 (Ten Knots) listed in YW?
 
FlyWright said:
Great news, George! Hope it all lines up well for you. When she's yours, we'll enjoy some pics.

Is it the 1981 (Ten Knots) listed in YW?
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That is the one!
 
At first, my wife did not like the "Ricky and Lucy" beds in the master but once she found out they were both doubles she was fine with it. I think they will work great when she has to work late into the night "Sawing those logs"! Gives me another bed to scooch over to.
 
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