Aaaannnnd.............Stop. (Boating season ends)

C

C_Spray

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Winterized the boat yesterday. Six hours of hard work just to render our favorite possession unusable. Where's the sense in that??
 
I know with what I paid for mine, I want to get as much use out of it as possible in a season. Have not winterized mine for the past 3 seasons until early December. Hope that holds ture again this year.
 
Today's (Thursday) forcast is sunny and mid 70's. Plan to leave the dock about 1300 for a bit of a cruise.
 
Unfortunately, I am restricted by availability to my rack-storage building. I would have loved to be using the boat instead of winterizing it yesterday - It was VERY nice on the Susquehanna...
 
You got plenty of boating season left Chuck!

Actually, I'm planning on pulling mine on Friday. I'll start winterizing within the next couple of weeks. I have to pull the starboard motor so if you want to stop by and give me a hand sometime... :)
 
I am pulling out early this year. 11/9
This is the earliest I will have pulled. For the last 3 years I pulled the week before Christmas. There is some good boating after Thanksgiving and before Christmas and I have been the only one on the river on days when its been upward of 65*.
 
This year, we said "screw it"....we're not winterizing ..... we're pulling it south. We're in rack storage with forklift service in South Florida for the winter. With great prices on Jet Blue, Southwest, and occaisionnlly American, it just made too much sense to pass up. Life's too short to winterize. We pulled it down in early October, and plan to go down and use it in parts of December, January, and March. .. Plus the trip down in early April to bring it back. This will help break up the long winter.
 
Great idea. Every season I debate running mine down but I can rent a place cheaper then the cost of the fuel down. Rented for January but now working on a boat. Looking for a small one, maybe tow down or buy down there. How can you be in FL without a boat. Don't like the idea of renting a boat down there. Viking get hauled today.
 
Glenn - We missed you and Janet at the races this year. While The Admiral's Jell-O shots were as tasty as ever, there was a lack of Key Lime pies. We may be at the Miami show in February. Let me know if you need someone to exercise the boat...
 
No boat to haul yet but I will have to get dirty hauling the dock out of the water pretty soon. We're taking a week off from our respective salt mines beginning tonight and we'll be at the Still Pond house until the end of the month so I guess the dock will come out sometime in the next 10 days. Let me know if any of you will be in the area next week. I'll keep the beer cold and the coffee hot.
 
Chuck -

Wish we could have gone to the races, but we had a scheduling conflict with something else. We look forward to it next year..
 
Where in South Florida did you put it? I was thinking of doing the same thing with my bowrider, as we have a free place to stay in North Miami. I need to decide within the next week or two.
 
alk -

It's at the Rickenbacker Marina in Key Biscayne. Technically, that marina is on Virginia Key, but the address is Key Biscayne. Virginia Key is the where the Miami Seaquarium is located ..(and for those of us over 40, it's where "Flipper" was filmed). It's right along the Rickenbacker causeway. Ask for "Jay". The marina number is 305-361-1900.
www.rickenbackermarina.com

They'll store your trailer, too, for an extra $50 / month.

Let us know if you end up with your boat there.
 
Not sure yet if I'm going to make it; there are some rumors a relative moved into the condo my grandmother vacated, so it may not be happening after all, but if we do - based on where we will be staying, will probably keep the boat near Haulover inlet. I was down there last winter, and found a decent spot around 130th or so street, but can't seem to remember the name, or find it online. Was hoping to tow it down there in November, leave my truck, and fly home. A week from Christamas to New Years, back in early Feb around the time of the Miami Boat show for an extended weekend, and then back in March for a week and tow the rig back was my plan.
 
alk - Pascal can expand on this, but I think you'll find it better at the south end of Miami....into the open Biscayne Bay. Up near Haulover, you'll have lots of No Wake Zones, unless you go out the inlet to the ocean. The water clarity is also better when you get south of the city.
 
Glenn,

I like your winterization plan. It inspired me to take a look at some options for myself. I am considering Clearwater. In addition to the occasional weekend, I would go down for Phillies spring training in February.

I found a place in Largo Fla for about $250/month. My biggest concern is trailering down there...it's a long way for me..about 1,000 miles. Not sure if it's worth it...but it is definitely enticing to be able to use the boat over the winter.

How far of a tow is it for you? Have you done it before?

Bob
 
I will partially answer for Glenn. I know he is around Baltimore/DC area and has trailered down to Miami and keys before so over 1,000 miles. I also drive down from Baltimore but never hauling my boat (I hate the gas bill hauling my boat 2 hours let alone 16). The "good" thing is that I95 and all roads in Florida are very flat. So aside from the gas consumption and having to travel at 60 mph, I don't believe it would be a bad haul.

One precaution that does come to mind, make sure to check this with your insurance company. I know my policy specificly states that coverage is for Chesapeake and surrounding waters so you might need a rider to cover insurance down there.
Dan
 
We tow our 30x10' cat down each spring from Baltimore to central FL (Stuart/Ft. Pierce). It's not that horrible. We usually make it in 24 hours (a nap here or there at Flying J's in the boat). It's not something I'd like to do every weekend, but once a year it's great. The MPG on the Excursion does drop from about 16 to 9 though (7.3L diesel, thankfully).
 
Dan....yes I know I will need to get a rider. Good to hear that it is mostly flat. I tow a few times a year..the truck does great when it's flat...but those hills from a dead stop are a pain.

Mix - I was thinking I would do it in two days...maybe 12 hrs the first day and a shorter second day. I need to make the go/no go decision soon.
 
Bob -

I tow from Herndon, VA (in northern VA 20 miles west of Wash, DC) to Key Biscayne, FL which is 1,067 miles by the most direct route. When I tow, I usually avoid the DC Beltway and I-95 north of Frederickburg, because it is a continuous traffic jam on that stretch of I-95 from the big interchange at the bottom of the beltway, all the way down I-95 to Fredericksburg. So, I swing to the west and take US 29 south out to Warrenton, VA. then US 17 south to Fredericksburg. This adds about 20-25 miles, but well worth it to me. All in all, it's about a 1,100 mile tow.
Once you reach central VA, the rest of the trip south is very easy driving.

I do it in two days, with one night over on the way down. I generally stay overnight in SC, and have a few hotels in mind that I know have good turn-aound room for trailers. Actually, in the Carolinas, most hotels just off the interstate have lots of room.

I actually enjoy the drive down. I usually go about 70 mph the entire way, and that is the speed limit for most of the trip. VA is 65, and most of the southern half of NC is 65. A couple pieces of GA and FL are 65, but the majority of the trip is 70. The trailer does fine at 70. Hubs are barelt warm when I check at rest stops. I bought an "overkill" trailer with the big 6 bolt hubs for this boat. The original trailer had barely enough capacity. The new one is not worked very hard. It's capacity far exceeds the boat's weight.

Assuming you have a decent trailer, you should definitely do the trip. You will not regret it. But, go down there enough to make it worthwhile. We took it down this month. we'll be down again in December with relatives joining us. We have our plane tickets for January and March. Then there's the return trip towing it north in April.

Another consideration is trailer storage, so you don't have to bring it back with you to NJ and you don't need to tow it down to FL again in the spring to pick up the boat. It's best if it is left there in FL to avoid dragging around an empty trailer. We store our trailer at the marina in Key Biscayne.

Let me know if you have more questions.
 
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