New TF Member

[Leonard Atkins]

Hello. Have been following the forum since August when I retired. Have enjoyed many of the discussions which I found to be interesting, varied subjects and opinions from fellow boaters.

My wife and I have been active boating since 1987 and found our retirement boat (2000 Rosborough RF-246) in 2006 with trips including the Hudson River, Lake Champlain and the New York Canal system to Lake Ontario. We definitely plan to extend our cruising next year from our homeport along the Hudson River. The name of our boat is "Dream Come True" and we will be traveling with our Black Labrador "Caleb".

Please contact me if I can help you with any questions on our boat or areas of travel. Looking forward to participating in the forum.

Leonard

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

Nice RF-246! Welcome.

 

[Comodave]

Welcome aboard. Congrats on your retirement and the new boat.

 

[dpil222]

Beautiful boat, welcome.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Welcome abaord.

 

[Pack Mule]

Nice rig. Welcome to Trawler Forum.

 

[Skipper Bruce]

Welcome Leonard,We live near where your boat was built,beautiful lines!hope to get down your way one of these years enjoy your retirement & cruising Bruce.

 

[Bacchus]

Welcome aboard TF.
Give a shout out if you get west into the Finger Lakes.

 

[Crusty Chief]

Welcome aboard and glad to see you dont leave her tied to the dock all year. Enjoy your retirement, we sure are!

Cheers

 

[Steve]

Very nice!
Welcome!

 

[rsn48]

Looks larger than 24 feet, nice lines.

 

[CaptTom]

Welcome!

We've done the Hudson and canals a couple of times, and look forward to coming back.

I always liked the Rosboroughs. Sort of a "pocket trawler" with lots of usable interior space.

 

[Leonard Atkins]

Thanks for everyone's replies. We have tended to have smaller boats up to 30' for our inland boating. When replacing our prior 24' aft cabin we were looking for a small boat with more room, amenities and no more canvas/plastic. The Rosborough fit the bill with a level floor from stern to cuddy cabin, 360 degree visibility, better ventilation, extended galley/storage space, pressurized hot water/shower, hard top, expanded electronic package incl. chartplotter & radar, AIR CONDITIONING and 2X our prior fuel economy. We first priced a new Rosborough with twin 115 OBs on a trailer with options at $155K. Loved the boat but not the cost so searched and found a used well maintained 2000 RF-246 which we purchased for $60K in 2006. The boat is 28' overall from bow rail to end of outboard on the hull bracket. Outboard also requires less maintenance than I/O or I/B packages and plenty easier to repower which we did in 2009. Replaced original Yamaha 115 with new Yamaha 150 allowing use of existing controls/gauges. Depending on length of trip usually cruise from 7.5-20 mph with economy ranging from 3.5 to 4.0+ mpg with 30 mph (lightly loaded) at WOT. On longer trips we travel with a 11' Walker Bay inflatable on the roof with a Yamaha 6 HP OB. While trailerable we elected not to purchase a trailer since we are 1/4 mile from the marina and I was traveling by train to the office. Much cheaper to hire and set up boat at house for off season projects and can always hire a marine transport company if the need arises. Now I just trailer my new 18' CC (wife's retirement gift to me).


That's our story and really looking forward to retirement travel next year.


Bacchus-will reach out to you as we do plan to include Cayuyga and Seneca Lakes on our canal travels next year.