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ya fair. club also runs a winter race series so I may be able to hop on for some of that, too. I'll probably reach out to the club and get their thoughts.
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Sep 13, 2022 14:01
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crewing on races is by far the best way to become thoroughly competent (eventually)
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Sep 13, 2022 16:32
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Different people learn differently. Some people want to get thrown off the deep end, some people want to read a textbook first. Have an honest appraisal of what works well for you in general. “Jump on a race boat” is one of the go-to recommendations but there should be a lot of caveats. Ideally you want to be a fill in for somebody on a boat where the rest of the crew have sailed together for years. Worst case is you’re on a boat with a bunch of other noobs and the people running the boat have no chill. There is definitely a place for more structured teaching, but expect to forget most of what they cram into you over a couple weekends until you get out and apply it a bunch. You’ll be a lot more useful on a race boat if you know real basic poo poo like which way to wrap a line around a winch. Or where the icebox is so you can grab a beer.
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Sep 13, 2022 17:00
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I've been out a few times and am not totally untried at things like winches and cleats and ropes, so I am not 100% green but I am pretty useless without moderately specific instruction. I generally learn well by doing but like to have a theoretical framework in my mind to organize everything, so if anyone has some light reading recs that would be cool.
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Sep 13, 2022 18:16
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Learning styles differing is a good point, I mainly learn by doing and being on a race boat is a good way to do things as much as possible (or at least see them being done in front of you).
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Sep 13, 2022 20:18
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It can't be understated what a n00b move it is to wrap the wrong way on a winch Also, learn how to tie a rope on a cleat, tie a bowline. Bowlines are really simple knots if you learn what it's actually doing, rather than how to memorize how to tie one
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Sep 15, 2022 04:53
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Hadlock posted:
I'm in a similar boat (  ) with trying to practice basics after taking a sailing course awhile back, and tying a bowline is something I'll sit at home and practice sometimes with a length of cordage from the hardware store. Tying them the opposite direction, one-handed (tough), blindfolded, etc. It was something that even came up in my very chill sailing course, I'd think I knew how to tie one and get a little stressed because I knew people were waiting on me and forget completely how to do it.I think there are a number of different ways to tie a cleat (some more acceptable than others), but being able to tie a bowline quickly and without having to concentrate is solidly useful.
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Sep 15, 2022 20:36
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Yeah if you tie any normal knot, pull on it and study why it slips (there's a straight line part of the load path with low friction, that doesn't load up on itself) and then tie a bowline, study why it doesn't slip, you can pretty much immediately see how the bowline is different, because the twisty S path that doesn't follow the load path, doesn't allow it to slip Once you understand that you should be able to recognize most knots from a distance, wether they're a slip knot, bowline, or "probably good enough until the next tack"
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Sep 16, 2022 21:12
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I've been toying with the idea of getting a boat for fishing for a while. Looking for something in the 14 to a max of 17-18 foot range. I realize of course that thats a big range and a big cost difference between the two depending on options and whatnot. I've checked out Legend boats as I'm in Canada and I like made in  stuff. But I can definitely entertain other manufacturers.I don't care about bombing around at 100 knots, but I don't want something under powered for the size. I live within 15 minutes of Lake Ontario, an hour or so from Lake Erie, and the Niagara River. And I'm not that far from Lake Simcoe, Georgian Bay and Huron. Since the smaller Canadian Shield lakes that I really like are a bit further away, I'd probably be out on Ontario and Erie the most. They are of course big lakes and the wind can blow them up pretty good. Another reason for making sure I have a decent amount of power. Safety. Also don't care for driving around for hours wasting fuel to not catch any fish downrigging and spending all the money for gear that that entails so I'm mainly after bass, pike, walleye and the like, and thus won't be straying that far from shore most of the time. I'd like a side console, doesn't need to be the walk through windshield type, probably seating for 4 people. It seems like most of these yo can move the seats around which is handy. I guess things like a front mounted trolling motor are important as is a fish finder and GPS. I don't typically keep any of the fish that I catch or use live bait for that matter, but whatever I get will probably have a livewell. It would probably end up as storage tbh. Enclosed, lockable rod storage would be handy and a place to have several rods at the ready as well. Its probably frivolous but I definitely want a radio of some sort. I'm not typically the phone music listener, but "gently caress yeah tunes bro"!! What are things that I shouldn't really care about if I have option wise as I'll probably buy new, and what are some things aside from the obvious safety implements/spares that I probably should have? What are things I should look for WRT construction and/or design of the boat itself? The trailer? Are roller guides better or worse than the carpeted bunks (I think thats what they're called)? I know that Boat stands for Bust Out Another Thousand, and while I'm mechanically competent, what sort of poo poo can I expect to have to deal with with a boat? Fuel costs, insurance, maintenance and? I already am building a trailer wiring/repair kit in my head, but I've dealt with trailers and lovely wiring before. No so much with boats/motors though. Seems like a lot of boats come with Mercury engines, are they good? Bad? I used to work with a guy who grew up at a marina and had been around boats all his life and he used to say that Yamahas were the best and talked some poo poo about just about everything else. Lastly, I guess anybody know of a reputable boating safety course around the Toronto area? I have a boating license, but anyone who has actually gotten one knows that they're pretty much license mills and once you've taken the test for the 15th time and finally got that one question right to bring you past the minimum needed to pass, you pay your 40 bucks and you are completely qualified to operate a boat.
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Sep 21, 2022 03:10
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I'm not much help since my experience is primarily driving sterndrive speedboats in Michigan, but on this side of the Detroit River 16ft is the cutoff for things like when you need to start carrying flares and throwable PFDs. Its also where the registration fee more than doubles. None of that is a big deal, but its worth considering. I'd at least look up your local laws online. I've been on Lake Huron and Lake St Claire and being out on the open water can get kind of hairy even on my dad's 24ft speedboat with over 400hp. Don't skimp on a radio. You'll want something to listen to Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald on. Kidding! (Mostly) Its nice to have background noise though. You'll be fine if you stay near shore and don't try to go full Miami Vice across 3+ft waves. From what I've been told by a boat mechanic, Mercury sterndrives are easier to work on than an equivalent Volvo or whatever. I don't know if that applies to outboards. I think when it came up in the other boating thread in AI, Yamahas are really nice but you want to make sure you have somewhere nearby that can work on them. Mercury's are fine. The big advantage is pretty much any shop can work on a Mercury because they're so common. Maintenance wise you're lucky you don't need to deal with salt water  , but you'll still need a way to attach a garden hose to the motor so you can flush it out every once in a while and to ever run it out of the water. Most raw water impellers need water to lubricate them and will burn up within seconds if you ever start the motor dry. Aside from that and depending on what you get: spark plugs, fuel filter, oil, (sometimes) the raw water impeller often should be changed every year. Some stuff you'll need to grease. Biggest thing is winterization. Change your outdrive oil every year. You'll probably have some drain plugs to empty the water jackets and refill with pink RV antifreeze that won't kill all the fish. If possible, do the method where you pour it in, not the one where you hook it into the intake and run the engine. The intake way is slightly easier but it wastes a ton of antifreeze and takes forever. I've heard of people running their engine for 30 minutes and still opening a drain plug and having clear water come out. There will be a guy on Youtube that can show you all of this. Just make sure you find someone who has your engine, not a similar engine or you'll miss a drain plug and have a water jacket explode over winter....or you might get lucky and have a setup where all the water drains out as soon as its out of the water. Everything I've ever heard about roller guides is to stay away from them. They put pressure points on the hull if you leave it on the trailer and you end up with little indentations. Carpet is probably the best for trailers and if a bunk wears out you can grab some wood, outdoor carpet, and a staple gun from Home Depot and fix it yourself instead of trying to source a roller exactly the same as your other rollers. If you ever end up with a hoist that stays in the water, the pro strat is bare wood bunks. Unlike a trailer, they stay under water the whole time you're out so sand can collect in carpet to scratch the hull. Wood, on the other hand, gets slippery if you leave it submersed for a few hours. On the subject of Canada though, I used to have a Sea Doo jet boat that Bombardier put one extra digit on the hull number compared to what the Georgia DNR was expecting and they'd have to truncate it even though they're one of the biggest manufacturers of PWCs. Also had some trouble with getting it serviced because all the dealerships in north Atlanta weren't set up for boats so they couldn't even sell me parts unless I looked up the number myself. There was literally one independent shop I could take it to. Horrible parasitic draw on everything of theirs I ever encountered too. That said, I loved that thing when everything ran right. I'm sure you have your own feelings about Bombardier though. I don't know if you plan on fishing alone, but if you have a spouse or a regular fishing buddy teach them to go park the trailer and to later either back it down the ramp or drive the boat onto the trailer! Probably 80% of the people I see at the boat launch end up holding up the line because one guy does everything himself, so he puts the boat in the water and then needs to tie it to a dock while he parks the truck and later do the same in reverse while his wife sits there like its the 1950s and she's not allowed to talk. On that subject: don't hold up the line if you don't have to. When you get to the boat launch, pull over where people can get past you and put your drain plug in, take your straps off, put the cooler in the boat etc so once you're at the ramp all you need to do is start the boat and unhook the winch line. Yes, someone will go past you and then hold up the line doing all that poo poo on the ramp. Lead by example. Some places are less tolerant of this behavior so you'll want to be well practiced before you go to one. As my dad used to say to entertain me as a child while we waited: "Look at these bozos. That'll get you stabbed at [random big lake]" That said, most people are accommodating to new boaters as long as you're making an effort. Still might be a good idea to bring an experienced friend your first time to quietly watch and let you know if you're about to gently caress up. Speaking of loving up. Some things you will definitely do at some point:
Hopefully someone that knows anything about fishing comes to help you with the rest of your questions. I have no idea where all that poo poo I wrote came from just now.
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Sep 21, 2022 08:09
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Thanks for the insights. Definitely want a radio, and I like Gordon Lightfoot. If I do end up buying something maybe I'll make sure thats the first song I play on the maiden voyage. I've wanted a boat for years but its a big investment, and nervous etc etc etc. I do have the money to get something pretty decent though but still am contemplating things like "I can afford to buy, but can I also afford to maintain it in the long term"? for example. I'm pretty sure theres at least one Yamaha dealer in town, and maybe even two. My city has two or three marinas as its right on Lake Ontario. But yeah, Mercury seems to be everywhere. Also, good reminder on the boat launch etiquette. Thats one thing that I've consciously thought about in the past, but not recently. I've heard of fist fights at some nearby boat launches. Its nice though that you mention stabbing at (boat launch on lake X) I figured being USA-stan it would be a shooting . But I definitely don't want to be "that guy".My brother has a boat and has had one for years, so he and my nephew would probably be good to help teach me the ropes. That being said, I've helped him launch and land his boat before so I'm not completely ignorant of what goes on. Also good point on the garden hose thing, I've seen those before and will make a point to get one. Do engine service manuals typically have winterizing instructions in there? My experience with a lot of various equipment is that owners manuals have operating instructions and whatnot, but thats it. I'm not going to try and fix things under warranty, but if there are instructions on how to drian X and Y for winterizing then gently caress yeah, I'll do that myself and gently caress paying 100 bucks to have someone else do it for example. I do have opinions about bombardier but not necessarily about anything made in the last 40 years or so. And its not a terrible one.
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Sep 21, 2022 18:17
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E: nevermind
wesleywillis fucked around with this message at 03:48 on Jan 26, 2023 |
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Jan 25, 2023 23:38
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wesleywillis posted:E: nevermind I have a boat financing post over in the other boating thread over in AI. From what I remember your deal sounded not completely out of normal Buy the boat
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Jan 26, 2023 06:39
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Thanks, I just looked at it again. I'm not sure why I deleted my other post just blah I guess. Bank of Canada Prime was 4.5% as of yesterday and I think I saw today that "lending rates" for the four or five major banks in Canada is currently 6.something percent. Your post mentioned something like 10 % rates. I guess I just was wondering if that was a totally extortionate rate or if its more like "not the best rate ever, but still 'good' or at the very least, 'ok' ". gently caress me I'm going to buy this fuckin thing. Ninja edit: I won't hold it against you when this thing bankrupts me.
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Jan 26, 2023 23:58
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You can always sell your house and move on the boat, if things get really dire. Good decision making is not a requirement of this thread
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Jan 27, 2023 02:35
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Hadlock posted:You can always sell your house and move on the boat, if things get really dire.  Until I can get a slip for this thing I'll probably have to find a storage place. If I can get an indoor one, that'll be even better, particularly in the winter.
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Jan 27, 2023 03:22
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It's a dream of mine to learn to sail and one day have my own sailing yacht. I know that boats cost an arm and a leg to maintain and have a whole bunch of horrible assorted running costs. That being said, my current plan is: - Join my local sailing club to learn how to sail on those little dinghies - Sign up and enlist on one of those Sail on Board vacations where you basically pay to become a crew member on a sailing boat and learn the ropes - Once I am capable of sailing and feel confident in my abilities, I want to buy a sailboat - I would then use it for all my vacations, where my dream is to sail around the Mediterranean Is this stupid? I figured for the periods of time where I am unable to sail and have to return to work, how realistic is it to moor the boat somewhere whilst I get back to my regular life? I was even considering perhaps approaching landowners and asking if it would be possible to just park the boat on their land but I think a yacht the size I'm considering (3.2m beam) isn't legally allowed to be transported on land. Feel free to slap some sense into me.
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Sep 14, 2023 19:18
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3.2m is about 10.5 feet in freedom units You can transport a boat that wide on public roads you just need a wide load permit, which varies by location. Your plan sounds fine. Racing dinghies is very helpful for learning the basics of sailing dynamics but I would switch over to crewing on keel boats within one year. The loads and forces on a keel boat are completely different. If you get hit by the boom on a dinghy you might not notice it. If you get hit by a boom on a keel boat you might go to the hospital. There are a lot more things that can go wrong in new and interesting ways on a keel boat. And yeah expect to pay $350-700/month to keep a boat in the water. Expect to pay $1500 to haul out and return to the water. A good option is something like a 27' boat especially for the Mediterranean where you're rarely at sea for more than a day or two. Easier to single hand, mooring and haul out costs are about half that of a 35' boat, and often they can be trailered without a wide load permit
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Sep 14, 2023 19:53
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Thanks for that, especially the advice at the end regarding a good size boat to get for the Mediterranean. The hauling out cost of $1500 made me pucker up a bit, so it'd be nice to half that seeing as I'd most likely haul out whenever I head back to work since I only get 35 vacation days a year. I imagine some harbours charge way less per month and I could just sail my boat there and moor up before flying back home? I recently came back from vacation to Italy and some of the local people were doing sailing trips for tourists and I imagine they were earning a hefty amount of money, because each day their personal boats were filled to maximum capacity with tourists. I was considering finding someone trustworthy and reliable and offering them the chance to do something similar with my boat, under the assumption that they handle all costs whilst using it. But then that might come with it's own set of headaches or them potentially damaging it and leaving me high and dry.
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Sep 14, 2023 20:24
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Charter boats get used really hard. That would be like vacationing in a rental car except you're on the hook for all the repairs. Plus now you're a charter boat so your insurance is XYZ commercial insurance, you need to register a business and pay taxes etc. Not all marinas will allow charter boats to operate out of their facility either.  whole can of worms. There's a guy here who charters a boat (big taint ?) he can probably tell you more. I've always avoided trying to make the boat pay for itself because it's a proper jobI would expect the boat to cost you about $1000/mo to own and operate, maybe $600 for a 27' boat But yeah join a sailing club yesterday
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Sep 14, 2023 20:51
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Qubee posted:The hauling out cost of $1500 made me pucker up a bit this does not bode well for boat ownership where are you located? I would join a local sailing club, try to crew on various racing keelboats to actually learn sail handing (wed night racing is super casual and it’s fairly easy to find boats looking for new crew and willing to train them up), do some longer port to port races and cruises, and then assess the whole ownership thing (vs just chartering a boat for travel)
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Sep 14, 2023 21:27
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I live in the Middle East and am situated beside the Persian Gulf. Sailing here is not exactly doable as the weather is so drat hot and I'd most likely be bullied by the Iranian coastguard if I tried sailing along the coast. Maybe owning a boat isn't something in the near future then, because dropping $1000 a month for something I can only use for 35ish days out of the year seems stupid, even though it's affordable. I suppose I could get my sailing fix by just joining random boats as crew but then I don't get to go where I want or do what I want.
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Sep 14, 2023 23:45
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Qubee posted:dropping $1000 a month for something I can only use for 35ish days out of the year seems stupid, Welcome to luxury goods, I guess Follow your dream though, it's a good and rewarding one. I spend about that per month on mine and do not regret it, even if I only spend maybe realistically 2 days a month on it (24 days a year). We just had a baby two years ago and probably spent half that time on the boat in recent years Most dreams and rewarding experiences don't make a lot of financial sense. But there's still a lot of boat owners out there for some reason You can find any number of "buy vs charter?" articles/calculators out there to talk you out of boat ownership, but I find it rewarding My best advice on boat ownership is: 1) 27' is a good balance between overall size/maintenance cost 2) Get something with a pump/flush toilet I kind of regret going 35' but with a toddler on board the extra space is worth it Maybe try lying your way into a bare boat charter in the Caribbean, if you like that then maybe private boat ownership is for you
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Sep 15, 2023 00:09
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| # ? May 3, 2024 22:25 |
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I know its kinda small time compared to a lot of the bigger boats being discussed, but does anyone have any longterm experience with surface drive motors? I currently use a longtail for duck hunting and Im looking into a surface drive to accomodate longer trips on open water.
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Oct 9, 2023 23:02
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