My first post - Glad to be aboard

[FootballFan]

Hello All,
As several others have said – long time lurker – finally decided to come inside.Have been following the site for a couple of months and have enjoyed following the conversations.


I have appreciated the mix of very experienced boaters along with those that are just getting started.


We fall somewhere in the middle.


The admiral and I have been into the coastal boating world for a few years.
Just sold our most recent boat, looking for the next boat.Not sure what the term is – but I would call us maybe remote boaters.We live in Texas, but kept our last boat between Miami and Fort Lauderdale.


On that boat our pattern was to be on the boat every few weeks.When we got there we would stay 10 or 11 nights.Typically only nights in the home marina was the day we arrived and the night before we were flying home.Last year was 70+ nights on the boat.


We are squarely in the requirements phase talked about in the Boat Search 101 thread.List of preferences and requirements is getting fairly long.Along with the list of – don’t want that again…


Hope to have manufacturers narrowed down by this fall/winter and starting to look at specific boats on the market.Last few months since we sold our boat have been tough on us – we have the “we are boatless” discussion at least once a week.


Look forward to participating in the forum.


Thanks,
Mark

[FlyWright]

Welcome to the forum, Mark! Good luck as you refine your needs and start the search. Keep us posted!

[O C Diver]

Welcome to the forum! Happy boat hunting.

Ted

[CaptTom]

Welcome! Boat shopping can be fun, and frustrating.

Feel free to post specific questions here. Just be warned, if you ask for general advice about which boat is "best", be prepared for a loooong thread!

[Ted]

Old Norse saying:

A man without a boat is man in chains.

Ted

I know this too well

[dhays]

Welcome. I am firm believer that it is better to be without a boat than to have two boats.

With the experience you have coming up with your requirements list should be pretty straightforward since you have spent a lot of time on your old boat. Good luck with the process.

FWIW, I currently have two boats. Want to buy a 40' Sailboat?

[mbevins]

[QUOTE="dhays;477741"]Welcome. I am firm believer that it is better to be without a boat than to have two boats."

Not sure I agree.
I own four and I'm quite happy.

[O C Diver]

Originally Posted by dhays

Welcome. I am firm believer that it is better to be without a boat than to have two boats.

Not exactly. I own 4 that require registration. One of them is my work (charter) boat. Definition of insanity though, is owning 2 boats that require pilings around them.

Ted

[BandB]

Wifey B: No boat?

Unimaginable. Must remedy. Meanwhile charter. Must boat.

What was your last boat and why did you sell it?

[FootballFan]

Originally Posted by CaptTom

Welcome! Boat shopping can be fun, and frustrating.

Feel free to post specific questions here. Just be warned, if you ask for general advice about which boat is "best", be prepared for a loooong thread!

I followed the thread about having a Pilot House - feel like I got to see a thread go on and on. For the record - Pilot house fan!!!



Mark

[FootballFan]

Originally Posted by dhays

Welcome. I am firm believer that it is better to be without a boat than to have two boats.

With the experience you have coming up with your requirements list should be pretty straightforward since you have spent a lot of time on your old boat. Good luck with the process.

FWIW, I currently have two boats. Want to buy a 40' Sailboat?

No to Sailboat. All those lines going up and down, when do you raise the bed sheet (is that what its called?). Sailing looks like way too much work.

Mark

[dhays]

Originally Posted by FootballFan

No to Sailboat. All those lines going up and down, when do you raise the bed sheet (is that what its called?). Sailing looks like way too much work.

Mark

Well, not a lot of work, but a different kind of recreation certainly. My back and knees were calling out for a different environment, hence the switch to power.

[FootballFan]

Originally Posted by BandB

Wifey B: No boat?

Unimaginable. Must remedy. Meanwhile charter. Must boat.

What was your last boat and why did you sell it?

We just got back from a week long charter in the San Juan Islands and Canada. That was a great trip - just too short.

Last boat was a 47DB Sea Ray fly bridge. Knew that was not a boat that we wanted to cruise on any distance. Had a chance to sell so we did. Just accelerated what we were going to do in a year or so anyway.

Love the Sea Ray's, excellent boat in the category to zip around at 20 something knots (burning 60GPH). Boat before that one was a 37ft Sea Ray Sun dancer.

Admiral announced she did not want to be in South Florida in the summer. I decided I didn't want to move that model of a boat far enough north to be in cool weather. (we were as far as North Carolina on the 47 in previous years).

Moving to something with Pilot House & Fly Bridge - along with a lot of other requirements suited to how we want to use the boat. Looking at different manufacturers.

Mark

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by FootballFan

We just got back from a week long charter in the San Juan Islands and Canada. That was a great trip - just too short. ...

Good excuse to do it again, and do it better.

[jwnall]

Originally Posted by Ted

Old Norse saying:

A man without a boat is man in chains.

I've always thought it was kind of the reverse. Nice chains, to be sure, but still chains. Kind of like a good marriage.