"NOYB" wrote in message
.net...

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
. ..
NOYB wrote:
"JohnH" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 20:21:44 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
NOYB wrote:
"Dene" wrote in message
...
I've owned a boat for 20+ years and yet this was the first time
I've
attend
the Portland Boat Show.

Impressions.....

1. We own a 25 foot pocket cruiser ('96 Starcraft 2531). After
walking
through various 25 footers, we were relieved to find none as
suitable as
the
one we have. Our aft sleeping berth is the best design and size.

Whew!

2. The two boats that impressed us most were the 34 foot Glacier
Bay
Catamarin and the 25' C-Dory Tom Cat.

Regarding the former, it had beautiful workmanship and design. My
wife
was
so impressed that ended up going through it three times. However,
the
new
30 footer they have coming will be even better (for us) at 150k
less.
One
reason is the placement of the galley....up on the main deck
instead of
stuffed below. This allows my wife to be up at all times. The
only
reason
to go below is to use the head or sleep in the roomy queen size
berth.

The sales guy mentioned that Glacier Bay is putting 190 hp Volvo
diesels
in
it, with COMPOSITE outdrive. Supposedly far superior than metal.
My neighbor has composite drives on a 35' Regal. He wrapped a rope
that
was hanging from his dingy around the prop while cruising, and it
cracked
the lower drive unit.

I'll stick with metal.

I don't think I could come up with more than a dozen reasons to avoid
outdrives.
You mean besides the fact that there's just a piece of black rubber
(that
must remain completely pliable and flex with the drives) between you
and the
bottom of the Atlantic?

Was that meant to inspire confidence in my boat?

That depends. Do you have muskrats by you? A damn muskrat nearly sunk
my dad's boat when it chewed a hole in that rubber housing.




That's one kind of muskrat fun, eh?

The fun was running out there with my pellet gun each morning trying to
shoot the muskrat. But they're amazingly quick, and I never was able to
hit him. My neighbor finally put an end to it with a 12-ga.




We had them at our old marina before they put in new retaining walls. No
problem with them and no damage to our outdrives even though on of thier
holes was right behind our boat.