Month: October 2016

Gaining Experience with our Boat

We have the perfect boat now. She is a beaut and handles like a dream.  The twin screws are a joy to operate and the bow thruster is icing on the cake.  If I can’t make this boat do what I want it is my own fault.  The twin Cat 3208 TAs have enough power to get me into and out of trouble in the blink of an eye.   All I need now is practice.

To this end we have taken her out of the marina multiple times.  At first we only took her out for a couple of hours.  We ran her up Tellico Lake for about 10 miles and then returned her back to the marina.  Next we ran up the Tennessee River toward Knoxville for about an hour and then back again.

The run on the river and lake was mostly uneventful.  However like flying a plane there are two times when panic and fear creep into the psyche.   You are right it is the beginning and the end of the trip.  When we are leaving the dock and when we are returning to the dock is the time when most catastrophes occur.

I have been fortunate in that so far I have made the take of and landings without major incidents.  There have been a few that have been interesting.

Fort Loudon Marina is very forgiving to novices.  There is very little current and current that is here travels perpendicular to the slips.  Once you have the boat lined up correctly patience is the virtue. The wind is usually nonexistent however it too is usually perpendicular to the slips.  It will either enforce or negate the current. It only took me twice to realize this, I am a slow learner. So my third trip out of the marina I had a game plan for putting the boat back into the slip.

I would bring her slowly into the race way and when she was along side the slip just before my slip I would bring her around to be lined up with the slip.  This would then allow me to let the wind and current push her into position and I would then back her into the slip. The big moment came. I executed the plan precisely and it worked like a charm.  I almost broke my arm patting myself on the back.

I put this plan into memory and would use it over and over again.  I was so smart.  But then the very next time we took the boat out something changed.  The wind was out of the opposite direction.  But I am a cleaver fellow.  I knew exactly what to do.  I would let the boat go past my slip and perform the same maneuver and then let the wind blow me into position.  I am so smart.

I wish I could tell you that it worked like a charm, but then I would be fabricating.  I executed the plan as described.  I let the boat go past my slip in the race way.  I turned her and waited.  Instead of being rewarded with a slow movement toward my slip I was being slowly moved away from my slip.  The current was not as weak as I thought.  Now I had to use the bow thruster and the twin screws to crab her back to my slip.  It wasn’t pretty, but I did make it happen.  Fortunately I did not have to perform before a large crowd only the wife and she was gracious enough not to mention it, yet.

So I am a fairly intelligent person.  Like I have mentioned before, usually I learn fairly quickly.  I learned that the wind will not overpower the current here.  So the next time I will only perform my maneuver when I reach the slip just before mine.

We came back to the marina after another trip and I was ready.  I was a picture of control. I had command of the boat and she was performing flawlessly.  I reached the prescribed point in the raceway and turned her perfectly.  She was exactly lined up with the slip and half a boat width from being in the correct position to back her in.  I would now wait for the wind and/or current to bring into the final position and back her in.  I would wait.  I would wait!  Wait for it. Wait for it.  When is this boat going to move?  If I had not used the newly acquired skill to crab her over I would still be in the raceway.

What is the right Boat?

We began our journey around the Great Loop about a year ago.  We have yet to be on a boat on the water for the first nautical mile. But we have been on the loop just the same. I have been reading everything I can on the loop.  Pam has been listening to everything I have been telling her about the loop.  We have developed a strategy for completing the loop. But we lacked one essential ingredient.  The boat!

While we were making all of these plans we did not even own the Big Boat yet.  But that is part of the journey isn’t it?  Finding the right boat to spend the necessary time to travel some 5500 miles is part of the adventure.

So what is the “right” boat?  That question has been asked of the different forums on the Internet.  As a matter of fact it is asked with great regularity.  I have read with keen interest  MTOA, AGLCA and Trawler forums to name a few to determine the requirements of a great loop boat.

The answer seems to be universal. The right boat is the boat that is right for you. Of course there are many elements that make the boat right for you.  Length,  width,  height,  number of engines,  generator and luxuries all determine the right boat. Then there is the other things that cannot be quantified like does the boat feel like home when you walk aboard.

The final amount of money required to purchase,  equip and operate the boat sometimes is the overriding element of determining the right boat. After all if you purchase the greatest boat in the world but can not afford to equip it or run it, then you will never leave the dock.  Also, if you purchase the least expensive boat in the world but can not afford the repairs to make it capable of making the loop then you will never leave the dock.

Our quest began in absolute ignorance.  Well maybe not ignorance, but inexperience which can appear to be the same thing.  We did not know the answer to any of the vital questions about the boat we wanted. Heck we had not even run a boat larger than an 18 ft. run about with a 50 horse outboard on back. So length and width were merely numbers to us. The concept of two engines vs one engine was beyond our comprehension. But then we started looking at the size of these engines along with fuel consumption and engine hours. Our heads were spinning. I could go on with this for hours.  The options that determine the right boat are endless.

The most common sage advise for determining the right boat is to make a list of your requirements. As discussed previously we did not know enough to make a list.

So I am writing this after we found our right boat. I could not attempt to write this during the process.  If I had I would have sounded like a babbling idiot. Every other blog would have been 180 deg. out of phase. It took dozens of times walking aboard boats to even begin narrowing down our list of vitally important items. We had no idea what the actual answer was, just the question.

On the subject of walking aboard boats, let me say that the boating community is one of the most helpful and friendly communities that we have been a part of.  Our standard mode of operation was to walk around one of the marinas in our area looking at boats. There was a nice Grand Banks. I really like the looks of that Defever.  Wow could we ever afford that Fleming? And then it would happen. Someone would be washing their boat.  We would say hello.  That would lead to a conversation about their boat. Their likes and dislikes about boats in general. Their plans and experiences. Then they would invite us to board their boat. I love this community. I have babbled enough.

After driving at least three brokers crazy we started narrowing down the choices we deemed important on our list. We wanted:

  1. 45 to 50 ft. length
  2. 14 to 16 ft. width
  3. two engines
  4. sundeck
  5. cockpit
  6. fly bridge
  7. spacious saloon
  8. two state rooms
  9. two heads
  10. lower helm
  11. aft master state room, and
  12. open galley.

That is the short version.  There were literally 30 more items on our list. But let me say, we still missed some important things. So if you have begun your journey by looking for the right boat don’t fret about making the right choice. No matter which boat you choose, there will be some things that you will wish were different.  There will be some things that  will surprise you because you did not even think about them. And there will be some things that you thought were so important that you will find out is totally unnecessary.

At least that is my experience so far, but then I am only a novice and I am still learning about the greatest adventure I can imagine. Maybe your experience will be different.