seeking feedback on marinas

[Glove]

Okay folks. Again, thanks to all for taking the time to provide advice and information. We are now in the midst of finalizing our purchase and marina...but more to follow on that in a later posting once the deal is "finalized."

On another website, I found a list of items that a new boat owner should consider that I'll paste here.

Also, I'll look around for some folks to show me around the lake. Here's the list I found:

Gotta haves:
- First Aid kit,
- Flares can come in handy (required in some places)
- Marine Fire Extinguisher
- Type IV PFD (this is the throwable type)
- Mooring lines (at least 2 but would recommend 4)
- Fenders (at least 2 with lines)
- Large Flashlight
- boot hook

Not required but will keep you from having a bad on the water:
A spares kit
- Extra prop with hub kit,
- Extra hull drain plug,
- Spare fuses,
- Extra light bulbs for nav lights,
- Extra engine hose clamps,
- Engine oil,
- PS fluid,
- I/O fluid,
- Power Trim fluid

Toolkit
- Prop Wrench,
- Wrenches,
- Socket set,
- screw drivers,
- Pliers,
- Grease gun with extra grease,
- Duct tape
- Any other tool that you think you might need

Nice to haves
- VHS radio
- GPS
- Fish finder

[EllyPoinster]

I bought a new Four Winns from Melvin Village Marina a few years back with no regrets. Great people to deal with, especially Tom in the sales office and Rob in the maintenance shop. They really came through when my boat broke away from its mooring in heavy winds. It wound up on some rocks - no structural damage but badly chipped, scratched and gouged. I was crushed. When I called Tom he said "I have some good news, some bad news and some more good news. Good news: we can fix it like new. Bad news: it is very expensive. More good news: your insurance company will pay for most of it (after deductable)."

He was right on all counts. Rob took the extra step to shoot 20+ digital pictures of the damage for the insurance claim. Since the work did not need to be done right away I held off until the end of the season and took advantage of the nice discount they offer on off-season labor charges. The savings covered storage and winterization.

[Mee-n-Mac]

Originally Posted by Glove

{snip} On another website, I found a list of items that a new boat owner should consider that I'll paste here.
Gotta haves:
- First Aid kit,
- Flares can come in handy (required in some places)
- Marine Fire Extinguisher
- Type IV PFD (this is the throwable type)
- Mooring lines (at least 2 but would recommend 4)
- Fenders (at least 2 with lines)
- Large Flashlight
- boot hook

Toolkit
- Prop Wrench,
- Wrenches,
- Socket set,
- screw drivers,
- Pliers,
- Grease gun with extra grease,
- Duct tape
- Any other tool that you think you might need

Under required you'll also have to have an anchor and rode (I'd get 150') and an approved PFD for each person aboard. I would definitely get 4 lines (double braided nylon, 3/8" is good for this size boat) for docking, you may wish to use spring lines at times. Don't skimp on fender size, get largest diameter you can reasonably store. To make things easy also get some method to attach fenders to your boat in differing locations ala clips or rail clamps or suction cups. If you're out at night I like to have small flashlights for each person on board. And don't get the the flares that are like highway flares, even if they are marine. Get the aerial flares. You don't want hot flaming stuff to drip on your fiberglass

Tool kit is good though I think the grease gun is overkill. Get some wireties/zip thingees in various sizes. They are good emergency clamps. I also have a cheapo digital multimeter to check voltages and such. Have spare batteries for any thing that runs on batteries.

[jrc]

Gotta haves:
A Safe Boater Education Certificate (this coming year if your under about 42)
http://www.boat-ed.com/nh/handbook/whomayoperate.htm

an anchor with line (8-12 lb danforth type)
a chart or map (I like Bizer)

Not required but will keep you from having a bad on the water:

another anchor (slightly smaller danforth ) really needed if you want to visit crowded sandbars

[Island Girl]

Paper towels
Plastic spoons and bowls.... for when you go to Wolfeboro and buy some Ben & Jerry's at the grocery store and go out into the harbor and dish it out and eat it slowly while cruising. Priceless!

IG

[Woodsy]

You guys forgot one of the most important pieces of equipment... duct tape! LOL!

The number of life jackets on board should equal or exceed the number of people your boat is rated to carry. They make some nice life jacket bags to hold them. I also have an officials whistle in case I have to signal someone. At 110 or so decibels, it tends to get some attention quick.

Anyway, if it were me, make sure you get a nice GPS with whatever boat you buy. Make sure it takes the Winni C-Map chip. It will help you to get oriented to the lake while making sure to keep you from skippering off into a hazard! You should still carry a good Bizer Map.


Woodsy

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by Island Girl

Paper towels
Plastic spoons and bowls.... for when you go to Wolfeboro and buy some Ben & Jerry's at the grocery store and go out into the harbor and dish it out and eat it slowly while cruising. Priceless!

IG

Excellent suggestion. We keep ours in a big Rubbermaid round container sized for a cake or big salad. It holds plates, napkins and plastic flatware nicely and can stay in the boat all the time.

We also bought cases of relish, ketchup, mustard and mayo packets to keep on board. They are far easier that dealing with jars and plastic bottle of stuff. We keep them in a small Rubbermaid container and replenish it as needed.

If you can mount it and store it easily, a marine gas grill is awesome. We have a Magma 17" party kettle grill and love it. Ours mounts near the transom in a fishing rod holder so that it is over water while in use. It also converts to a powerful single burner stove and is great for making coffee in a stainless steel percolator we bought at a kitchen store. Might seem like a silly little thing to have, but if you are like us, you'll find it's money well spent and will add to the amount of time you can spend on the water.

Be sure to get a bimini with the boat too. Shade is nice in July and August.

[Mee-n-Mac]

I forgot ... probably a good idea to have a manual bilge pump just in case. Also a large paddle to manually power your boat just in case. I also recommend some of those pullover rain coats in a pouch should you get caught out in a storm. OK that's 3 items, pick the 2 you like

[gtxrider]

You will also need water skis, wake board, knee board, tube, tow ropes, ski gloves, water ballon sling shot...Just remeber the list is endless. ENJOY the new TOY. There are hours of memories to be made on the lake hopefully all fond!

[Island Girl]

You will need a digital camera to record all of this fun. Windbreakers, hats and gloves to ride in the early spring and fall when the lake is incredibly beautiful.. and quiet.

.. and lots of money for gas!

[secondcurve]

Glove:

I came across this old post and thought about you and your young family. It pertains to a storm that ripped through Winnipesaukee just after the Fourth of July in 1999. I'll say it one last time....bigger is better!

I think the advice that other members have given about boating accessories is fairly comprehensive. I would add an air horn to replace the whistle requirement mandated by the state. It is much more effective in a situation where you have to alert another boater of your position.


I was in the Broads during that storm... I was never and have never been as scared as I was that day. I was in our smaller boat going from Cow Island to Wolfeboro with my husband and two sons. One of my son's was only 7 months old. The other was almost 2 years. My husband did an amazing job getting us to safety. It was sunny one moment and, then, the sky got really black and it started pouring... then came the hail (sp?). I am a spiritual-type person but, I believe more in about being a good person than about organized religion but, I can tell you that, while I was in that little boat holding my two boys, I was praying to God. We managed to get into Winter Harbor and my husband found an empty dock... I still have no idea how he found it as we could not see but 4 feet in front of us. (He was going to beach the boat and hope we did not hit a rock.) He had to keep the boat with the storm because if he tried to turn, the boat would rock and nearly capsize. The waves in the broads were at least 6 feet... maybe some more than that.... (My neighbor says they were 6-8 feet coming from Moultonboro Bay to Cow Island and were hitting his house from the water.) Well, we managed to get to a dock. My husband tells the story like this:

"I was going to try to beach it and hope we could get to shore. I happened to see an empty dock but had no idea how we were going to dock the boat with all the wind and the current, waves, etc. Then, a big wave came up behind the boat and pushed us right into the U-shaped dock. Almost as though something had lifted us, like a hand, and we landed softly at the dock."

I ran to the nearest house. Amazingly, no one was home and it looked as though no one had been up there since last year. There were sheets on the couches and other furniture. (Like the caretaker had not opened the house for the owners, yet.) I knocked but knew no one was home. I ran to the house next door and, before I could even finish my sentence, the nice, older woman came out and was running down to her neighbors dock... she heard me say my two little boys and she just said where and started running. She helped me carry them to the house while my husband tied the boat, tightly. Her husband and her kept us at her house until the storm broke. We thanked them profusely. The weird thing is that I have been trying to remember their name as I wanted to drop them off a token to let them know how thankful we are (were) but, I cannot.

I have written a post previously about this experience... and the events, etc. We sold that boat almost immediately and purchased a Grady White. Not that a bigger boat would have been any better but, I feel safer driving around in the Grady and, if a storm does kick up (as it always does on Winni) and we are out on the water, we will not capsize... the little Well Craft was a great little boat but, when water started pouring in over the side and from the open bow... I was scared to death. I prayed and sang to my children... it did not seem to bother them... as far as they could see everything was "ok". My husband said I never moved just trusted him and held my boys tightly. Now, Brian is almost 6 and Brodie is 4.5. We haven;t been in another storm like that one. Hopefully never are again.

My father knows of a family from Tewksbury who died in a storm on Winni. The boat capsized with 4 people on it and only one person survived. I believe their names were the DeCarlis' (but am not 100% sure). I believe the wife survived because her husband saved her but, then he went to save her parents and he could not do it.

I see storms coming, now, on Winni, and I watch the boats and think... I hope they get out of the water. Some seem to be headed for safety... others, who are less enlightened, seem to continue water skiing, tubing or just boating. I hope they do not learn the hard way.

[HotDog]

LAKEPORT LANDING MARINA!

[ApS]

Originally Posted by secondcurve

"...
I see storms coming, now, on Winni, and I watch the boats and think... I hope they get out of the water. Some seem to be headed for safety... others, who are less enlightened, seem to continue water skiing, tubing or just boating. I hope they do not learn the hard way.

1) This week was the 30th observation of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, a 704-foot freighter in a lake storm. Seems big enough.

On the anniversary-date, a caller to Coast2CoastAM radio program — now a truckdriver — said he just missed being a crewmember on that day 30 years ago, and that the captain had a poor record compared to the previous captain: Shortcuts were the rule.

2) I use two low-tech checks for the weather: an AM radio (for the forecast, and for "crackles"), and an observation of the upper and lower cloud-layer's movements relative to one another. (Buys Ballot's Law).

As is the case with aircraft, it is the weather that can determine one's fate, and not the size of the craft.

Originally Posted by secondcurve

"...
I came across this old post and thought about you and your young family. It pertains to a storm that ripped through Winnipesaukee just after the Fourth of July in 1999. I'll say it one last time....bigger is better!

In the same thread was this post:

"We were in anchored in Johnson cove that day and remember it quite vividly. I was in my 28 ft cruiser rafting with friends in there 41 footer. Bow and Stern firmly anchored. When the storm came visibity went down to zero and the wind got ferocious. The wind spun both boats around in circles several times and pushed us towards the rocks on shore. We had to make a choice, get washed up onto the rocks or fire up the motor and power off with the risk of tangling the anchor lines in the props. We opted to cut the anchors and fire up one engine. Visibility was zero so all we could do was try to keep the boats off the rocks but were unable to go anywhere else. When the storm finally ended we found that we had suffered very little damage. For two weeks following the storm we donned scuba gear looking for our anchors. We finally did find the anchors all twisted up about 200 yards from where we had initally anchored that day."

[secondcurve]

Aceres per Second:

I agree that one should be experienced, have a well equipped boat and watch the weather. However, sometimes you are just in the wrong place at the wrong time and it helps to have a larger, sea worthy vessel. You will note that the lady who told her story about almost sinking in the July 1999 storm upgraded to a Grady White. That boat is typically found on the ocean. Size does count and the bigger the better if you can afford the upgrade. Enough said.

[Senter Cove Guy]

You will not find a better run marina anywhere - that's anywhere as in "ANYWHERE - PERIOD".

I've been a sliprenter there since 1981 and the way it was run back then is the way it's still being run. Some of the personnel have changed but the friendliness and the service are top-notch, ALWAYS!

[Grant]

This spring, my brother and I had a problem with a REALLY old tank and fuel line for the little dingy we let the kids drive around. The guys at Melvin took the time to remove the old coupling from the original hose and re-mount it on the new hose...a very time-consuming process at a time when they were busy preparing boats for spring launching. Very helpful and friendly.

[Glove]

Okay thanks to all for your words of wisdom, which I appreciate. Needless to say, a lot of factors go into the purchase of one's first boat, and one has to accept various limitations and compromises (e.g. no "perfect boat"). That having been said, we purchased a Crownline 216LS bowrider (22 feet with swim platform), Mercruiser 5.0 MPI alpha/aluminum, and will be using Channel Marine for valet. Many of the boats we looked at were great....it's just too bad that we can only buy one of them!

Everyone's additions to the list of gotta-haves is helpful. This winter will be Ebay mania. (For now though, we'll pass on the marine gas grill.)

To JRC - Based on our age, neither my wife nor I have to pass the Safe Boater Education Certificate until January 2007, but will do so this winter anyway.

Now on to GPS navigation/chartplotter. I've decided on Navman 5500 rather than the Standard Horizon CP155 (both will take a C-MAP chip, and I'll purchase the Bizer Winni-chip). I just have to decide whether to get the one with external versus integrated antenna, and how to mount it so it doesn't obscure any of the dashboard instrument gauges.

Nonetheless, we'll see if can get someone from Channel Marine to take us out once to show us the "hidden but important" subtleties of the lake and its navigation.

Spring seems so far away...the only consolation is that I have plenty of time to work on the truck and snowblower.

Thanks for welcoming us to the forum.

[NHBUOY]

...You get a secret de-coder ring AND the magical mystery cruise too!... ...Congratulations on your fine choice of watercraft, and have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING...noweskioui?..Jay.. ...

[Mee-n-Mac]

Originally Posted by Glove

{snip} Nonetheless, we'll see if can get someone from Channel Marine to take us out once to show us the "hidden but important" subtleties of the lake and its navigation.

Spring seems so far away...the only consolation is that I have plenty of time to work on the truck and snowblower.

Thanks for welcoming us to the forum.

Congrats on the new toy. Come Spring I'm sure if you ask here you will find some willing "tour guides" to ease your way onto the Lake. WRT to the GPS and all else being the same, I do like the idea of an integrated (vs separate) antenna. No co-ax to run and no holes to cut Also on your winter list of things to get is a lake chart so you can commit it to memory before ice out. There will be a test !

[jrc]

Originally Posted by Glove

To JRC - Based on our age, neither my wife nor I have to pass the Safe Boater Education Certificate until January 2007, but will do so this winter anyway.

It can't hurt, I did it early too. I actually learned a few things, which is tough to imagine because my wife says I'm a know it all

Originally Posted by Glove

Now on to GPS navigation/chartplotter. I've decided on Navman 5500 rather than the Standard Horizon CP155 (both will take a C-MAP chip, and I'll purchase the Bizer Winni-chip). I just have to decide whether to get the one with external versus integrated antenna, and how to mount it so it doesn't obscure any of the dashboard instrument gauges.

Most people have found that the internal antenna works great on open boats, like yours. So why fuss with mounting an antenna. Obscuring the instruments was a problem for me as well. There is no clean answer on many boats. The GPS will have a speedometer which will be more accurate than your boats, so maybe you can block the boats speedometer. Someone on this board can up with that idea.

Originally Posted by Glove

Spring seems so far away...the only consolation is that I have plenty of time to work on the truck and snowblower.

I bought a new boat this fall as well, so I know how you feel.

[Dave R]

Congrats on the new boat! Ought to a be a sweet ride. Get the integrated antenna, I wish I had. Waste of time and money putting an external one on my boat. Oh well...

PM me if you want a "tour guide", we like to meet people and explore the lake.

[ThePlut]

Congrats, the 216LS is a great boat.

Get the 5500i (internal antenna). The internal antenna works fine on the lake, it's what I had all summer and will install in my new boat in the spring. Makes the wiring a piece of cake once you figure out how and where to mount it. Where I mounted mine last year, I obscured a few of the gauges a little when I was fully seated, but since I drive on the flip up bolster looking over the windshield most of the time, it wasn't a problem... Take that into consideration...

What other options did you end up getting? What color? I love to hear about boats, got any pics???

More reasons to look forward to next summer.

And Dave R is a great tour guide, plus his boat breaks the chop pretty well leading to a smooth ride while following

[Glove]

Here is the boat:

2005 Crownline 216LS (dealer's photos are posted...I was too much of a dufus to remember to take any photographs)

5.0L 260HP Mercruiser alpha (3 blade aluminum prop), spinale wine color (e.g. very fancy name for maroon), swim platform, depth guage, extra stereo speakers, wood dash, docking lights, key chain remote control for courtesy lightsoarding lights, forward boarding ladder, table, bimini, etc.

I didn't buy a trailer for now...we'll consider that in the future depending on our needs.

...Looking forward to spring....

...but as NHBUOY says, now its time for skiing....I just found the ski I want to demo this winter (Rossignol Zenith Z9 Oversize TPI), and then buy. ...heh heh, good thing I save *so much* money on the boat....