The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: kilopaparomeo on May 07, 2010, 07:54:50 PM
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Not as big as the yatchs twyatch works on but it is mine.
My family and I just took the plunge with a 2004 Crownline 230 BR, Mercruiser 5.7L/350 Mag, Bravo III outdrive with 62 hours. Drove to the Detroit area last Saturday and picked it up. As you can see, the wife and kids are pretty excited for summer to come.
I was hoping to get it out for a familiarization run sometime soon but 12-14 hour days at work for the next month aren't letting that happen. Now it has to sit racked in the marina warehouse until things calm down. Here's to looking forward to Memorial Day weekend and the start of the season!!
(http://i44.tinypic.com/6jj2u1.jpg)
(http://i40.tinypic.com/2wq7far.jpg)
These days they call this model the 236 LS.
(http://www.crownline.com/downloads/wallpapers/800x600/236ls.jpg)
I'm sure the next happiest day is when I watch the new owner pull it out of the driveway...until then, its tubiing and cruising with the family.
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Congrats!
It is a long summer, and this is still early, I'm sure you'll get lots of days to enjoy.
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Congratulations!!!,
Fantastic size. Great motor and sterndrive combo. If it has the little "Porta-Potty" option, that's when boat ownership is truly worthwhile. ::)
Do you have two batteries, with a selector switch? They are really an asset, when anchored or beached listening to the radio, or having a backup in case something happens to a battery, you have a spare.
Enjoy. You certainly covered ONE of the happiest days in a boaters life.
Plus, dragging kids around in a tube, and slinging them around, listening to them scream, is a reward all its own.... ;D
Happy Boating!
I miss "smaller" boats. So much easier.... :P
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Thanks!
Yup, there were a few things on "my" list: 300+ hp motor, duo-prop, switched dual batteries, trim tabs, deep vee, low hours. I got those, although the deadrise is a little shallower than I wanted.
The family's wish list was a little different than mine: extended swim platform, porta-potti, walk through transom, transom shower. They got those things.
Can't wait to get it out.
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Wheres the gun racks :P
Looks like a fun machine!
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I'm really trying to figure out how to mount this in it...
(http://i49.tinypic.com/1qrepv.jpg)
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Walk through tranom is a plus, paticuarly if you fish with the thing, like trolling for salmon etc. My advice? Spend not one serious nickel more till the end of the season. Keep a list, but do nothing more then evaluate on big stuff. Then decide for next year.
FQ13
PS One exception. Garmin GPS Depth sounder if you are going to fish. Otherwise save your money.
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all of these toys....
You must be one of the two people in Michigan to still have a job!
;)
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I'm really trying to figure out how to mount this in it...
(http://i49.tinypic.com/1qrepv.jpg)
you need two gun rings...one behind each seat.
You have the right crew... one pilot, one navigator, 2 gunners and one communications operator.
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Gotta second FQ's recommendation for GPS/Sounder.
It's been said that there are only two types of boaters--those who are currently aground; and those who will be, soon. That's maybe not so true on the Great Lakes, but it's simply fact here in Florida. So a sounder is vital.
GPS is nifty for a variety of reasons but the biggest reason is it will get you back home when you don't know for sure where "home" is--in the dark, in the fog, in the rain, etc. The next reason is it will get you back to that exact spot where you caught the "big one." Civilian mode GPS gives you two-dimensional accuracy to within 30' while mil-spec-types will give you three dimensional, 3-meter accuracy at mach-one. Pretty neat stuff. Plus, GPS has such a low price point these days that if you break one, you don't have to sell the house to replace it. Garmin is not a bad choice--they probably make more units than any 4 of the other manufacturers combined. You can get them with a number of charts built-in--still, it's always a wise thing to carry paper chart (or a ChartPak) for the area of operations.
And with all that said, go have some fun with the family and friends. You have a really neat toy. Play with it as often as you can.
Crusader
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Not as big as the yatchs twyatch works on but it is mine.
My family and I just took the plunge with a 2004 Crownline 230 BR, Mercruiser 5.7L/350 Mag, Bravo III outdrive with 62 hours. Drove to the Detroit area last Saturday and picked it up. As you can see, the wife and kids are pretty excited for summer to come.
I was hoping to get it out for a familiarization run sometime soon but 12-14 hour days at work for the next month aren't letting that happen. Now it has to sit racked in the marina warehouse until things calm down. Here's to looking forward to Memorial Day weekend and the start of the season!!
Ah, yes, the joys of a hole-in-the-water-you-throw-money-into possession ownership. And to think you are already enjoying one of the key benefits - letting it sit in some yard while you pay the yard owner, and hoping for an opportunity - and a birth - in which to enjoy the thing for a few hours - after fighting traffic just to get to the water, and then waiting for an opening in the slip traffic to get it wet.
Sorry for the snark, my pickup battery's dead this morning, and i still have to go haul 50 bags (that would be a ton) of decent topsoil for the veggies beds today. So I'm grumpy. sue me!
;D
PS: Congrats, maybe it's a tad bit of jealousy as well? ? ? ?
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Look at the glass as half full Path. You could take advatage of Dakota's flat open spaces and frozen weather and buy a horse and sleigh for less money and less maintainence. No ramp lines etc, plus earth frendly. Winter coyotes?
FQ13 ;D
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Gotta second FQ's recommendation for GPS/Sounder.
Crusader
Agreed. It has a Lowrance depth sounder built in. I'm a pilot and have been flying with a GPS since they first came out so I definitely am a believer...have already been looking into good marine GPSs.
Ah, yes, the joys of a hole-in-the-water-you-throw-money-into possession ownership. And to think you are already enjoying one of the key benefits - letting it sit in some yard while you pay the yard owner, and hoping for an opportunity - and a birth - in which to enjoy the thing for a few hours - after fighting traffic just to get to the water, and then waiting for an opening in the slip traffic to get it wet.
Yes, the wait is killing me but given that work is horrendous right now...12-14 hour days and weekends -- it is probably better that I don't have the opportunity to go right now.
As for the blistering traffic...one of the good things about living in a po-dunk little town is that there's rarely any traffic here, I live 3 minutes from the marina and the boat is in a call out service. I call and an hour later it is sitting in the water waiting for me.
Fighting the sailboats through the navigation channel out to the lake is another thing ;D ;)
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Nice rig KPR. Haven't been boating years. Did a lot in my teens and 20's with some friends. One group did the partying, cruising, skiing, and tubing. The other group did some serious trolling and fishing. With the first group we were fortunate that no one ended up seriuosly hurt or in jail as we did some pretty stupid things. Not someone from our group, but did see a boat that ended up parked on top of the south pier one evening after a long party day. They hit the pier square at high speed from the lake side and some of the occupants landed in the river. It was a new boat and the kid hadn't even made a payment on it. They used a crane on a barge to remove it. The hull was trashed, but the props never hit a thing.
Lake Michigan is pretty forgiving in our area, but the fog can be tricky and river can be treacherous at times, especially with that first group.
Back in those days we didn't have GPS, but LORAN C whcih I think was recently decommissioned. It sure helped to find the pier heads coming in in the fog.
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I don't know about the 2 happiest days deal, I miss all the boats i've owned, execpt one. 17' TR2 cole(runner bottum flat) It was a true 100+ mph boat with a blown and injected 517 in it. I don't miss that boat one bit. my old 14'6" runabout I bought in HS, I'd give anything to have back, and it was a POS back then.