New to this Forum

[jimL]

Hi,

We're currently living in Albany NY for the next several years, before we relocate way south to SC/GA/FL area.

I'm a life long boater, on and off, but wish it was mostly on. We have moved around a bit with the military and seem to have changed boats every several years. We're moving from the sport cruiser mode to considering a trawler.

I'm hoping to learn a lot from you all. We're planning a trip to FL in July (yes July) to learn what the ICW has to offer and to rent a trawler - to see if we like it. We're looking to rent a Grand Banks or similar 30+' with an Aft Cabin.

Can anyone point me in a direction of where to look? We're open to ideas as to which part of FL to start with. Eventually we'll check out both the east and west coasts of FL.

Thanks,

JimL

[O C Diver]

Hi Jim,

Welcome to the forum! I'm originally from NY and just kept moving further South. Best cruising in the USA is in SW Fl. Far better than PNW at least during the winter. Summer is a great time to charter boats in SW FL as the winter is their peak season. Rates are significantly reduced during the summer. Be mindful of hurricane season; go early July for reduced risk. Don't charter a boat without air conditioning.....just saying. Here is a charter company out of Cape Coral (Fort Myers area) that has a very good reputation.

Southwest Florida Yachts

Fort Myers is a great area to retire to with less people, lower housing costs, and great cruising opportunities. They also have a very modern international airport with lots of inexpensive flights from the NE. They are very focused on snow bird business (seniors going south for the winter) around here.

Ted

[loafs and fishes]

+1 for Southwest Florida Yachts.

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Welcome aboard.

[magicdelmar]

Member

City: Rockport, TX
Country: USA
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 9


Hi, I am new to this forum and experiencing some problems with my 44 Kong Halvorsen. I installed 3 years ago two new marinaire heat pump units, one in stateroom and one in salon. The salon heat pump salt water pump is new but it seems I am always fighting a priming issue. No prime and the unit shuts down on safety. The salt water feeder hose runs up 3 ft. then probably 6 ft. to the unit itself. Am I doing something wrong?

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Welcome!

[Marin]

Originally Posted by O C Diver

Best cruising in the USA is in SW Fl. Far better than PNW at least during the winter.

While I always support comments extolling the virtues of somewhere other than the PNW in the hopes it will encourage people, particularly boaters, not to come here, I am always baffled by the moth-to-a-flame attraction of Florida. I've been there a few times (for work, not by choice) and my four lasting impressions are it's terribly hot, terribly humid, totally flat, and always on fire.

Our boat in the PNW is a Grand Banks 36 Classic, which is what American Marine called the tri-cabin. Having two staterooms separated by a main cabin is a great arrangement particularly if one has guests or kids aboard.

But.... a Grand Banks Europa is an equally great arrangement. It's primary advantage is that it offers covered side and aft decks. Up here this is great because the covered aft deck provides a way to be outside without being outside. It's not uncommon to see the aft deck on a Europa-style boat up here enclosed with clear curtains that can be opened or closed. This makes that space usable even in our 24/7/365 rain/wind/fog/volcanic ash environment.

I would think the covered aft deck would be very advantageous in hot climates as well, providing a covered outdoor space out of the sun.

The downside of the GB36 Europa is that with a small handful of examples that crammed a tiny second stateroom in with the V-berth up forward, guests or kids have to sleep on a convertible berth in the main cabin. So it has to be made up every night and then taken down every morning.

In the larger GBs--- 42' on up-- they can be had with two decent size staterooms up forward although often only one head. An advantage of the Classic is that the forward and aft staterooms each have their own head and (usually) shower.

Anyway, both configurations have their advantages and they're all excellent boats.


If you wanted to charter in this area I could provide the name of a couple of good companies. But since you need to charter down in Florida I can't suggest anyone.

I can, however offer my sympathy for the fact that you have to do your charter in a place where the highest object is the fellow standing on shore looking for a high object.