New Texas Boaters

Hello All,

This is my first post on TF, after nine long years of lurking. My wife and I are the new owners of "Rhapsody", a 1986 Present Yachts 38 Sundeck MY with twin Perkins 6.3544M NA's. We started this adventure a week ago. So far, so good.

Our initial cruising grounds will be Galveston Bay and the Texas Coast, with hopes that we will be able to stretch it out some from there. Who knows, maybe the Loop could be in our future someday.

We are as close to complete newbies as there can be. We've never owned a boat before now, but I have some experience with ski boats and center-console fishing boats. Needless to say, the learning curve is looking pretty steep right now, but the knowledge that we have garnered on TF has given us confidence that we're going to do just fine going forward (baby steps and Safety First!). Just buying the boat is evidence of what we've been able to absorb here. The knowledge gained from the great people on TF made the purchase process nearly seamless and painless. In fact, I believe we got a darn good deal because of the confidence we had going into negotiations.

I would like to thank everyone here for giving their time to share boating knowledge and experiences. I would also like to give a special thanks to the moderators for creating and maintaining such a great forum.

I'm looking forward to joining the boating community and getting to know you all, physically and in cyberspace.

Welcome Aboard. Pretty boat, I'll bet she looks HUGE from the flybridge coming into a harbor.

pete

Welcome aboard. You should try to get a class from the Auxiliary or Power Squadron if you can. It will help you a lot. Good luck.

Welcome aboard. Looks like you have a beauty there.
You might consider hiring a captain experienced on twin engine trawlers for a few days to teach you the ins, outs, and sideways of docking and boat handling as well as basic maintenence. I did that and it was a great help to me, as I had not handled a boat as large as what we bought, a Cheoy Lee 40 LRC
As a former Texas resident (Corpus Christi) we hope to see you on the water someday.

Naw. Just do it but move very slow in tight quarters. Doing is learning.

Welcome aboard.

Take lots of pics, we like lots of pics.

Of the boat, anchorages, sunsets, dinner on the grill.......

You get the idea!

Thank you all for the warm welcome. I'm surprised RT Firefly hasn't chimed in yet. I'd swear he must be the Chairman of the Welcoming Committee.


Pete, she's the biggest boat I've ever operated, so everything about her seems huge.


Dave, I agree and will seriously consider classes when the Covid-19 situation is over. Fortunately, I have a long-time buddy who has been a boat captain for decades (and owns a very similar boat) that has been very helpful so far. He helped me move the boat (which included some training) from one marina to another right after purchase.


John, thank you for the compliment. I agree about the training. My buddy is going to help me there, and it'll only cost me a nice dinner or two.


Mark, I do like the way you think.



Menzies, I will do my best to get lots of pics. I sure wouldn't want to disappoint anyone.

Thanks again, everyone!

There are exceptions, of course. Sometimes people win the lottery, sometimes a rich uncle dies and leaves someone a fortune. But generally if a person is able to buy a 38 foot boat as nice as yours looks it indicates to me you have at least some intelligence. You have or had a job, you lived a certain number of years without falling off a cliff or shooting yourself. It doesn't take a genius to learn to drive a boat, and it doesn't take a millionaire to buy a boat.
Mostly just takes a modest amount of brains and a few years of living.

I have some pretty standard advice for new boaters:

Go slow,
Go often,
Stay sober.

You will quickly get the hang of docking and close quarters maneuvering.

pete

So I see your boat is still posted, is that you in the picture or the seller? The boat looks in amazing shape for a 1986, you done well. And the price seems quite reasonable.

https://www.sealakeyachtsllc.com/boat/1986/present-yachts/38-sundeck/1228/

I guess the guy in the pic is the broker.

Hope all goes well for you.

Welcome aboard RC!
Hope to see you down South when all this madness is done!

Welcome!


Sounds like you are experienced in the waters around Galveston Bay.
I would recommend all the above plus get a Tow insurance from one of the operators in the area. As you probably know in some places just wandering a few feet outside the channel and you are in the mud.


Also--get your Air Conditioners serviced. ;-)

Pete, thanks for the advice. I hope you're right about me having a semblance of intelligence, even though my wife has questioned it a little bit lately. Your 3 Simple Rules a very reasonable, especially the Stay Sober. That won't be a problem for me.

RSN48, that is either the PO or Seller's Broker. I'm not sure which. I haven't gotten a pic better than the listing one, hence the use, but as soon as I get a good one, it's going to be posted. We got the boat for considerably less than the listed price of $45,500, which was quite a bit less than the original list price of $65,500 about this time last year.

Luke, thanks for the welcome. I do hope to stretch it out in your directions sooner or later.

Ken, thanks for the welcome. Yes, I am fairly familiar with Galveston Bay (have lived in greater Houston my whole life of 61 years). I insisted on towing insurance from Day 1. Too much shallow water around. Good running A/C's in this area is a must. Already fired them up, but will get them serviced soon.

Welcome aboard Rick

I'm just down the dock from you. The Blue and white Trawler THE VENTURE. I was friends with your previous owner for about 10 years. I moved off my boat last year but I'm aboard almost every week-end. Stop by and say Hi.

O.B.

Howdy Rick, fellow Texan here too. First off, Congratulations on the new boat. That is about as perfect as a boat you can get in my opinion. It is the perfect balance of size and comfort....especially for someone new to boating. You'll get the hang of it in no time. A buddy of mine had a boat across the way from Rhapsody for 20 years...we always admired that boat. The aft cabin layout is awesome. I love the way Present/CHB does their drawers....big giant stack of drawers. You will soon learn how important that is.

Finally, I think I saw your boat in South Shore? Pier 12ish??? The only reason I know is because I stopped to admire it and tell my girlfriend the history of my lust for that boat. I have chosen to go fast for now because I am not retired, but will get back to going slow. Anyway, if that is you in SS, come by and say hello to the Dock 1 people. Yes, we are usually the troublemakers. But we got a great group of folks over there and most are competent active boaters with knowledge of systems and such. I/we can certainly help you out on topics as they relate to boating in this area.

Give me a shout any time on here.

John

Baker said:

Howdy Rick, fellow Texan here too. First off, Congratulations on the new boat. That is about as perfect as a boat you can get in my opinion. It is the perfect balance of size and comfort....especially for someone new to boating. You'll get the hang of it in no time. A buddy of mine had a boat across the way from Rhapsody for 20 years...we always admired that boat. The aft cabin layout is awesome. I love the way Present/CHB does their drawers....big giant stack of drawers. You will soon learn how important that is.

Finally, I think I saw your boat in South Shore? Pier 12ish??? The only reason I know is because I stopped to admire it and tell my girlfriend the history of my lust for that boat. I have chosen to go fast for now because I am not retired, but will get back to going slow. Anyway, if that is you in SS, come by and say hello to the Dock 1 people. Yes, we are usually the troublemakers. But we got a great group of folks over there and most are competent active boaters with knowledge of systems and such. I/we can certainly help you out on topics as they relate to boating in this area.

Give me a shout any time on here.

John

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The boat was in SS during the boat show and some time after while it was for sale.. The boat has been in Blue Dolphin otherwise for at least the last decade.

obthomas said:

The boat was in SS during the boat show and some time after while it was for sale.. The boat has been in Blue Dolphin otherwise for at least the last decade.

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Well this was yesterday. So there is another Present 38 on the lake!!!

Edit: I thought I was replying to the OP. Thomas, if you look in one of his posts, he talks about moving his boat from one marina to the another. So it may be his boat. ANd yes, I had friends in Blue Dolphin and they were across the fairway from Rhapsody....for at least a decade.

Welcome to the Texas club. .

We are headed to Key West, get packed up and come on!

John, thanks for the Congrats. You are correct. Rhapsody is moored at South Shore Harbor on Pier 12. We moved her over last week from Blue Dolphin. I'm glad to hear another person has lusted for her. Makes me feel even better about the purchase. I'll be sure to look you up on Pier 1. You folks over there DO have a reputation. Be sure to say "Hey" if you pass by. We're in Slip 3, right next to the parking lot.


OB, thanks for the welcome. As you can see above, we've moved, but I recall seeing your boat at Blue Dolphin. Nice boat!


Choices, thanks for the welcome. Cruising to Key West sounds like a hoot, but we've got to take a few baby steps first before we can take a giant leap like that.

OH MY GOODNESS!! to get a boat as nice as that for under $45,000 tells me the "crunch" is already in full swing. I honestly always thought I could get around $35 or more thousand for mine. I had the engine rebuilt last summer to the tune of $20,000. I bet if I put it for sale today I wouldn't recover even the cost of the engine work.

Glad I love my boat and have no plans to sell it. Glad I am healthy enough to use it. Glad I have a few $$ to keep it floating.

My kids will have to deal with it when I tip over.

pete

Congratulations on the boat purchase RCNeely. I oogled the Present 38's and especially 42's for a good while back in the 90's when we had a 32 Carver aft cabin. (Hurricane Ike got her). All good advice above. Start slow, go often, practice, practice... And you've probably already been advised to never approach the dock (or shoal, reef, or other hard object) any faster than you want to hit it.

Also, there are boating clubs/associations in the area that you might be interested in joining. We've enjoyed being Texas Mariners Cruising Assoc members for some years. A very active cruising group with regular weekend and holiday cruises to various bay area destinations. Lots of local knowledge available there as well.

Good luck

When are you getting to Key West?

Choices said:

Welcome to the Texas club. .

We are headed to Key West, get packed up and come on!

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Choices, When are you planning on getting to KW?
Feel free to PM me



Sorry OP not trying to derail this thread but, Key West and all of Monroe County, FL aren't exactly welcoming visitors for the next few weeks at least.
We're in the Keys now but been here since early Feb.

Pete,


Sorry to hear you may be upside down on your boat, but, like you said, in the end it may not be your problem.


Rhapsody does seem to be in pretty good shape, at least to my untrained eye. The mechanicals are good, which was my main concern. We have a few water leaks, which we are already taking care of. The aft head toilet isn't working, but it may just be some corroded wires. We're going to replace the headliner in the saloon and both staterooms in the next couple of weeks.


So, she's not perfect, but we feel pretty good about her.

Boatfever,
Thanks for the congrats and advice. We've already looked into TMCA and may join. Our marina, South Shore Harbor has a club that we may also join.

Enjoy your time in Key West. Hopefully, we'll run into each other if/when you get back to TX.


.

RCNeely said:

Boatfever,
Thanks for the congrats and advice. We've already looked into TMCA and may join. Our marina, South Shore Harbor has a club that we may also join.

Enjoy your time in Key West. Hopefully, we'll run into each other if/when you get back to TX.


.

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We came from a 40 Sea Ray Express cruiser to a 48 Hatteras Motor Yacht. The view from the flybridge was frightening at first. The boat looked HUGE. We went out during the week and practiced docking in every open slip in our marina until we were very comfortable. Next waited for a windy day and did the same. In a matter of weeks the intimidation subsided. Just for practice threw in single engine only docking, a few times switching engines; can do it but it won’t be pretty! Enjoy

Welcome Aboard and Congrats on the new boat! Let us know if you head south around the bend to Rockport. It's an easy run on the ICW with a few nice stops on the way.

Walked by your boat a couple of times this week. Didn't want to interrupt so I didn't stop. We owned a '86 Present 38 aft cabin trawler. Slightly different from your boat. Went back to a sailboat. Pier 14, slip 16.
Bob

Welcome aboard, and congrats on the boat. We have a 1988 42' Present Motor Yacht - that sounds a bit pretentious - it has a deep keel, cruises at 9-10mph, and sips diesel - sounds like a trawler! We love our Present so far. Bought her about 18 months ago, and have about 120 hrs on her so far. Yep, that view from the flybridge is a bit intimidating at first, but you will get comfortable with it - as has been said, just use it and go slow. A few lessons won't hurt either.

I don't prefer to use the term "upside down" regarding boats. "In over my head" also has a bad ring to it.

How about just saying I'm waiting for an economic reversal.

pete

OK, you Present owners, who was the builder? We had a '86 Present 38 and it had the worst gelcoat I've ever run across. The guy who used to buff and wax our old sailboat, way back when, said he was afraid to buff this one because he thought he would go through the gelcoat. It actually showed fiberglass in places. Ours was build by Nautica something in Taiwan.

Captain Doug said:

We came from a 40 Sea Ray Express cruiser to a 48 Hatteras Motor Yacht. The view from the flybridge was frightening at first. The boat looked HUGE. We went out during the week and practiced docking in every open slip in our marina until we were very comfortable. Next waited for a windy day and did the same. In a matter of weeks the intimidation subsided. Just for practice threw in single engine only docking, a few times switching engines; can do it but it won’t be pretty! Enjoy

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Thanks for the advice. I'm definitely going to follow it. My current marina has some open spaces and plenty of empty slips. I might as well make use of it.

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