Just checking in.... (intro)

[GFC]

Hello. I found TF a few days ago when following a link to the thread on having marijuana on your boat. I looked around for awhile and found a lot of good information on here as well as some very knowledgeable people.

I'm an old grey haired goat who's been around boats for as long as I can recall. I got my first one, a row boat, on Lake Huron when I was 5, got a 7.5hp Evinrude for it when I was 7, then at age 11 I got a Sailfish. I went through many years of raising kids without a boat, then bought a 20' bowrider.

I had that for many years then upsized to a 330 Sundancer. After 2 years with that I got hit by a drunk driving his boat and my 'Dancer was totaled. I liked the boat so well I bought one just like it.

Two years ago we upsized again to a 550 Sedan Bridge that I bought in Michigan and had shipped to Portland, OR where it was reassembled. My wife and I (She goes by GW--Galley Wench) cruise it up and down the Columbia and Snake Rivers and have put 165 hours on it just in the past year.

OK, OK, I know it's not a trawler, but if money were no object I'd have a new Nordy. Does that qualify me for hanging out here? I hope so.

Here's a couple of pics of our baby....

Beachcomber is powered by twin turbocharged CAT 3406C's that turn out 580hp each. She's pretty fuel efficient at hull speed, getting somewhere around 1mpg. We haven't had her on any real long trips yet, but did spend 12 days aboard earlier this summer when we cruised to Portland for the Blues Festival.

 

[skipperdude]

Welcome aboard.
Your boat she's a beaut
You are right lot's of good folks on the forum.
Jump right in.

Both feet.

No one bites but Woody and Gonzo.

SD

 

[FlyWright]

No one bites but Woody and Gonzo.

SD

Pineapple Girl and Cpeudonym are still teething, but they're sharpening their Mod incisors. Watch out for them!!

Welcome GFC! Nice Sea Ray ya got there. We don't discriminate here, as long as you agree to travel at displacement speed or less in the no wake zones.

Love the waters of the Columbia and Willamette. Would love to travel the rivers and lakes to Lewiston, ID someday. Is it still navigable? What a trip that would be!

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Personally I don't care what kind of boat you have. You like boats therefore you belong here.

 

[GFC]

Thanks for the comments on the boat and the warm welcome.

For the record, I do travel at idle in No Wake Zones, but I'm afraid I still toss up a bit of a wake. My idle speed is right around 8 kits, so when I'm in one I generally go in and out of gear to keep the speed down.

Flywright, Yes, the Snake is navigable up to Lewiston, but once you get there it's a bit chance getting into the marinas because of sand buildup at the entrances. But any time you're up in this area, give me a shout and I'll treat you to a cold one..

RTF, no offense taken. We all have our preferences. That's why they make more than one kind of boat.

 

[markpierce]

. My idle speed is right around 8 kits, so when I'm in one I generally go in and out of gear to keep the speed down.

Eight-knot idle speed? Yikes! The "no-wake" speed limit in California is 5 MPH (less than 5 knots). My boat's max speed is 7.3 knots.

 

[Pau Hana]

Eight-knot idle speed? Yikes! The "no-wake" speed limit in California is 5 MPH (less than 5 knots). My boat's max speed is 7.3 knots.

7 knots no wake speed up here on Lake Union/Lake Washington.


GFC- welcome! I'm fairly new here, and find the natives pretty friendly!

 

[Nomad Willy]

I don't care how fast GFC goes. I'd go 22knots if I had his boat and enough money for fuel. I'm not into the boat style but I'll but it's wildly comfortable inside. L'd even go for the FB on this one. 1000hp?????? yippeeeeeeee

 

[Andy G]

I don't care how fast GFC goes. I'd go 22knots if I had his boat and enough money for fuel. I'm not into the boat style but I'll but it's wildly comfortable inside. L'd even go for the FB on this one. 1000hp?????? yippeeeeeeee

Ummm, maybe the mods better check how Marin got hold of Eric's avatar?

 

[CPseudonym]

Thanks Andy. We'll look into it now.

Welcome aboard GFC!

 

[steve poole]

Your boat is beautiful. Looks like it has plenty of room to hide your stash!

 

[Moonstruck]

7 knots no wake speed up here on Lake Union/Lake Washington.


GFC- welcome! I'm fairly new here, and find the natives pretty friendly!

Welcome, you'll do fine around here. Like your boat. We crossed over to the Bahamas in 2010 with one like it.

Just watch out for the topic creep. He can show up when least expected.

 

[GFC]

"I'm not into the boat style but I'll but it's wildly comfortable inside. L'd even go for the FB on this one. "

Manyboats, here are two shots of 'my office'. The second one is me navigating up the Columbia from Portland because we didn't have a working chip for the GPS. We made the trip using the compass and chart book. Old methods still have a place in today's electronic world.

Here's both sides of the salon. Stbd galley has refrig, freezer, trash compactor, convection microwave, coffee maker and ice maker. Oh, and a liquor cabinet at the end of the counter on the stbd wall.

The port side has the lower helm, entertainment center and dining table.

The boat has three staterooms, two full heads and lots of storage space and hanging locker space. Those pretty much sum up the reasons we bought her.

Pau Hana, thanks for the welcome and heads up on the friendly guys. I like that. There's enough bitc*ing in the world without running into it on boating sites.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Thread creep!

 

[GFC]

On a related note, how the heck do I turn off the feature that sends me a loving email every time someone replies to one of the threads I've posted on?

It's like having a steering wheel sticking out of my pants....it's driving me nuts!

 

[markpierce]

On a related note, how the heck do I turn off the feature that sends me a loving email every time someone replies to one of the threads I've posted on?

User Control Panel -- edit options -- messaging and notification -- default thread subscription mode -- set to no email notification

 

[Giggitoni]

Greetings,
Personally I don't care what kind of boat you have. You like boats therefore you belong here.

That's right! Welcome!

 

[GFC]

"User Control Panel -- edit options -- messaging and notification -- default thread subscription mode -- set to no email notification "
Done. Thanks Mark

 

[FlyWright]

OK, who let Moonstruck out? Down boy....be nice to the stranger...he seems like a nice guy.

Oh, waitaminute...you didn't say you had a lower helm on the wrong side!! What is that, a SeaRay from down under?

Seriously, I'd love to share a cold one with you, GFC. I plan to be in Portland/Vancouver area next spring on a fishing trip with a friend who lives near Woodland, WA. I've had the good fortune to meet several of our TF members over the past few years and have yet to meet one in person I would hesitate to call a friend. Definitely lots of great folks here.

 

[hollywood8118]

GFC,
Welcome to the Dark side of Boating.. we both used to hang out in the same place.. I still spend 99% of my time here on TF as the crew here is a great bunch and a wealth of information ( no matter if you request it or not ). Your 550 is a great looking boat and I noticed her while we were out East this summer skiing in the " Mud Hole". The Trawler Forum has a few Sea Ray owners here , I still count as one as the 400ec we have is what is keeping us from signing on our next trawler. Your boat is really a great way to "Go First Class "
Welcome Aboard
HOLLYWOOD ( aka Expressboy )

 

[Art]

Ahoy and Welcome GFC

Very nice SR craft you have there! 1160 Horse Power... Let's see, now - With horses at approx 1,200 lbs each, your displacement is???

Aww heck - Again, Ahoy and Welcome GFC

 

[Egregious]

GFC,
Welcome to the Dark side of Boating.. we both used to hang out in the same place.. I still spend 99% of my time here on TF as the crew here is a great bunch and a wealth of information ( no matter if you request it or not ). Your 550 is a great looking boat and I noticed her while we were out East this summer skiing in the " Mud Hole". The Trawler Forum has a few Sea Ray owners here , I still count as one as the 400ec we have is what is keeping us from signing on our next trawler. Your boat is really a great way to "Go First Class "
Welcome Aboard
HOLLYWOOD ( aka Expressboy )

Wealth of Information="Dusty old boaters who are senile"

 

[hollywood8118]

Wealth of Information="Dusty old boaters who are senile"

I was trying to be kind....

HOLLYWOOD

 

[Moonstruck]

OK, who let Moonstruck out? Down boy....be nice to the stranger...he seems like a nice guy.

GFC, don't pay too much attention to Flywright. He has suffered oxygen deprivation from many years of being at high altitudes. All I did was warn you about the topic creep that lurks around.

Here is a picture of the "buddy boat" that we crossed from Stuart to the Abacos with in 2010. Great boat.

 

[Pineapple Girl]

Hey GFC I see you have been warmly welcomed! Our boat is on a dock with a whole row of Sea Rays, many of them big sedan bridges like yours. I personally like a little teak on the inside but I wouldn't say no to all that space and the handy dandy liquor cabinet, LOL! Welcome aboard.

 

[dwhatty]

GFC, don't pay too much attention to Flywright. He has suffered oxygen deprivation from many years of being at high altitudes.

I've wondered what his problem was. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[Egregious]

I was trying to be kind....

HOLLYWOOD

Just wanted the newcomer to understand the group (not sure how dusty you are individually!) they are dealing with

 

[GFC]

"Very nice SR craft you have there! 1160 Horse Power... Let's see, now - With horses at approx 1,200 lbs each, your displacement is???"
Art, my bad. It's 580hp each so 1160 ponies total. Displacement varies with the fuel/water load. With the boat empty it was just shy of 60,000 pounds. Full it's somewhere near 68,000. We really enjoy that much weight when we're running through some bigger waves. Here's a link to a video I shot this past summer when we were taking the boat down the Columbia to Portland. We were running about 22kts (on the GPS) and had about a 4kt current pushing us, and running in ~4' waves.

M2U00419 - YouTube


"I personally like a little teak on the inside but I wouldn't say no to all that space and the handy dandy liquor cabinet, LOL!"
Pineapple Girl, no teak inside, but if you look closely at the interior photos you'll see a bit of wood trim around countertops, cabinets, etc. One of the things we did not want was any wood on the outside of the boat. A bit on the inside is OK, as long as it's not much.

My brother lives in MI and wants an old, wood Chris Craft so bad he can taste it. He teases me about my 'Tupperware boat' and that's OK, because I tell him while he's refinishing his 'popsicle stick boat' I'll be using my Tupperware boat. Here's the little jerk at the helm of my Tupperware boat earlier this summer. He made me promise not to tell anyone he liked the boat...

 

[skipperdude]

Looks like a master of all he surveys.

Sd

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr.GFC. Oooooo....I can feel the weight...very nice vid'. You've got about +10K lbs on me but I appreciate solid feel. Thanks And stop picking on your little brother! He'll come to his senses the first time he discovers how much dry rot a CC can generate and he WILL taste it...trust me.