Only two more boating trips to Winnipesaukee for us...

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by Cal Coon

Nice looking boat, Dave. Congratulations for making your dreams come true!! I would love to do the same thing eventually, when the time is right. I'm just wondering about a couple things if you don't mind. First, what is the fuel capacity, and the range on that boat, and I'm assuming it has a gas generator (?), and if so, was wondering what the fuel tank capacity is for that as well? Just wondering how many days in a row you could cruise without having to refuel. Also wondering what the fresh water holding tank capacity is? Does it have a 110/220 washer/dryer, or do you need to do laundry on shore somewhere? Just curious to know if it is completely self sustaining or not. Thanks.

It has 400 gallons of fuel capacity and a range of 300 miles at 25 knots to 1000+ miles at 8.5 knots.

It has an 8000 watt generator that runs off the same tanks as the main engines.

The water tank holds 140 gallons. It has 40 gallons of black water tank capacity. It has vacuflush heads so the black water tanks can be relatively small.

The boat is 120V only. At present, it does not have a washer/dryer but we plan to add a Splendide combo so we can wash clothes on board. We intend to line dry clothes, bu the Splendide will dry on 120 volts, if you don't mind waiting awhile...

My understanding is that it is good for a week for a couple until water is needed. The black water tanks can be emptied outside of no discharge zones. We may add a 120V 37 gph water maker to extend time away from water sources.

This is not an ocean crossing boat. It's made for coastal cruising and island hopping. That's precisely what we plan to do, so it's a good fit. We intend to cruise at 8.5 knots (10MPH) most of the time and open it up a couple of times a day to load the diesel engine up and blow out the soot. We like that we can run at 25 knots if needed to outrun weather or make a port before sunset when running late.

We plan to add 1000 watts of solar and some major electrical upgrades to keep generator use to a minimum and allow for world-wide shore power voltage. We also plan to upgrade the anchor from a 50 Lb CQR to a 73 lb Rocna Vulcan. The boat has three reverse cycle air conditioners, but we hope to avoid using them at anchor. The boat has reputation for good natural ventilation and it came with Sunbrella window awnings to keep the sun out and allow the windows to remain open in the rain. We hope it all works as planned. Having the ability to follow the good weather should help a lot.

[tis]

Maybe I missed it but wondering if you will be doing the intercostal in Florida?

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by tis

Maybe I missed it but wondering if you will be doing the intercostal in Florida?

Indeed, not just FL, but we plan to do the whole ICW many times.

[Dave R]

Sad day yesterday saying goodbye to the old boat. New owners took it home it to live on Champlain. Guessing the boat knows that lake better than they do, it's been all over it on multiple trips...

I'm as happy today as I was sad yesterday, I just got word from the sea-trial/delivery captain that my new boat performed flawlessly after a long Winter's slumber. There was some question about the condition of the house and MMC batteries, so prior to the sea trial, they installed 6 new batteries. The marina is going to wash it tomorrow and the Captain will be delivering it to me outside of MI (I have to take possession outside of MI to avoid MI sales tax) on Saturday.

I'll start the cruise home with my wife and a friend/experienced captain/teacher that's joining us for the first week, on Sunday morning. Hopefully the flooding will recede by the time we get to the closed portions of the Erie Canal 100 miles in. If not, we might be stuck in Newark, NY for awhile. At least the dockage/power/laundry are free to transient boaters on the canal walls in that town.

[Rich]

Good like with the new boat! I know you will enjoy it!

[Puffin]

Congratulations, Post lotsa pics...

[robmac]

Congrats Dave,I had alot of good times at Hampton river marina with my Sundancer.Friendly people and lots of memories. Enjoy this new chapter of life ! and don't be a stranger to the forum,we can live vicariously through your adventures.Safe journey

[Dave R]

On the last leg of the trip home from Lake Erie. Currently anchored in Onset, MA near the entrance to the Cape Cod Canal. We plan to hit the canal early in the morning and take advantage of the 3.5 knot current afforded by the tide. After that, it's a quick trip up the coast to Hampton and we should be in our slip by Sunday afternoon. IT's been a really fun two weeks living on the boat and we love it.

The Erie Canal was really cool and I highly recommend checking it out. The little towns along it really do an incredible job of catering to every need for the canal boaters. It's truly special. We routinely had free docks, free shore power and free showers along the way.

[Dave R]

My favorite picture of the boat from the trip. This was in Fairport, NY. Cost 17 bucks to tie up there for 24 hours including 50 amp electric and nice bathrooms with great showers. The bridge tender and dock master checked in on us frequently to make sure we had everything we needed. Just a wonderful experience.

[robmac]

Beautiful picture

[Cal Coon]

Originally Posted by Dave R

My favorite picture of the boat from the trip. This was in Fairport, NY. Cost 17 bucks to tie up there for 24 hours including 50 amp electric and nice bathrooms with great showers. The bridge tender and dock master checked in on us frequently to make sure we had everything we needed. Just a wonderful experience.

Sounds waaaaaay to good to be true... ONLY IN AMERICA!! That is an awesome picture.

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by Cal Coon

Sounds waaaaaay to good to be true... ONLY IN AMERICA!! That is an awesome picture.

Not just in America, Canada has beautiful towns and cities with canal walls and similar deals. This was our last boat, last year, on the wall in Ottawa. We stayed all day for free. Overnight would have been 25 bucks Canadian, which is a bargain in US currency.

We also stayed in a slip in Perth, ON (the prettiest town in ON and the last pic) overnight for $18 CAN

[Dave R]

We've put over 200 hours on the "new" boat so far and having a great time, but miss Winnipesaukee at times and looking forward to getting back on it in a couple of weeks with some friends on their new boat.

We've made it as far north and east as Port Clyde in Maine and I gotta say the New England coast is just fantastic to cruise and teeming with life. We rarely don't see whales, dolphins, sunfish, and seals; always see a huge assortment of birds, and often see sharks in our travels. There are a surprising number of loons in salt water, was not expecting that this time of year. Based on the massive schools of fish we see (they create a huge dark shadow in the water), they likely eat well.

There is apparently no concept of "safe passage" between power boats in the salt and it's refreshing. It's great to be able to anchor overnight and we do it often. We also enjoy the plethora of available transient slips (municipal and private) in different ports. Still scratching my head about how these concepts lack support on Winnipesuakee, but I'm glad they are normal everywhere else.

We've met some really cool folks in anchorages and over the years have anchored overnight 50+ times without ever experiencing any problems with noise or bad behavior. Last week we shared an anchorage with 4 super yachts (one was 223' long) one night, and on another night, we shared one with some German folks who had recently crossed the Atlantic from Greece and were enjoying New England immensely.