My family and I are currently sailors with a Catalina 36. We have
decided to migrate to power. We have looked at Mainships (Pilot 34),
Sea Ray, Meridian, and Silverton. We seem to be migrating to the
Silverton 38 Sport Bridge. Does anyone have any feedback on any/all of
these?

On 24 Sep 2006 19:06:06 -0700, "TwinSailor"
wrote:

My family and I are currently sailors with a Catalina 36. We have
decided to migrate to power. We have looked at Mainships (Pilot 34),
Sea Ray, Meridian, and Silverton. We seem to be migrating to the
Silverton 38 Sport Bridge. Does anyone have any feedback on any/all of
these?

What are your priorities? Speed, comfort, economy, bridge clearance,
etc. Meridian is really Bayliner as I recall. None of the boats you
mention are really top quality in terms of durability or offshore sea
worthiness. Whether that is important or not depends on where and how
you boat.

Probably 50% of the time at dock - ... About 25% protected water runs
of 10-15 nautical miles to overnight anchor or entertaining. About
10%-15% includes a 2-3wk coastal cruise in NJ and NY waters, worst
being a 110nm run from Manasquan to Block Island.

The balance is likely to become fishing. Note this usage pattern has
been a function of the time limitations of a sailboat. No real
interest in offshore fishing but very interested in having a reliable
vessel for the safety factor in the case one gets caught unexpectedly
in a blow.


Wayne.B wrote:
On 24 Sep 2006 19:06:06 -0700, "TwinSailor"
wrote:

My family and I are currently sailors with a Catalina 36. We have
decided to migrate to power. We have looked at Mainships (Pilot 34),
Sea Ray, Meridian, and Silverton. We seem to be migrating to the
Silverton 38 Sport Bridge. Does anyone have any feedback on any/all of
these?

What are your priorities? Speed, comfort, economy, bridge clearance,
etc. Meridian is really Bayliner as I recall. None of the boats you
mention are really top quality in terms of durability or offshore sea
worthiness. Whether that is important or not depends on where and how
you boat.

On 25 Sep 2006 04:38:09 -0700, "TwinSailor"
wrote:

About
10%-15% includes a 2-3wk coastal cruise in NJ and NY waters, worst
being a 110nm run from Manasquan to Block Island.

Any of the boats you mention are OK for protected water, coastal
cruising assuming you run inside on Long Island Sound. If you go
outside you will need a good weather window and some tolerance for
rolling around.

"TwinSailor" wrote in news:1159149965.962444.320360
@m7g2000cwm.googlegroups.com:

Does anyone have any feedback on any/all of
these?


Let's do a little simulation, first, before you jump ship......

Every time you go sailing in the Catalina, start a stopwatch as you leave
the dock to time how long you actually move the boat....not anchor or
drift, which we'll let you do for free. If you stop for lunch, stop the
stopwatch until you're underway, again.

When you get back to your slip, read the time you were actually running.
Multiply the running time in hours and tenths by $70. Reach into your
wallet and hand the amount to the first dockhand you come to, simulating
him topping off your tanks every time you come back with the big pig.
Tell the dockhand you're simulating buying a big power boat and you need
to "feel" the pain of owning it before you buy, mostly to keep him from
calling in the cops and crazywagon guys. I don't think $70 and hour will
feed the pig these days, including maintenance, but the power boat will
go faster than the Catalina once you get out of the ever-increasing-in-
size no-wake zones, when, of course, power boat operating expenses shoot
up really fast as RPMs increase. $70 should be somewhere around
"parity" with the Catalina's operating expenses, just a guess on my part.

As you walk away from the smiling dockhand, look back at that pile of
money in his hand that was in your wallet and ask yourself, "Was there
REALLY that much more joy in owning the powerboat, TODAY?"

Repeat this exercise, as needed, until this insane notion clears itself
from your head during a time when the planet will soon be out of oil and
filling the powerboat will go for $25/gallon. After you've gotten over
it, give us all a call and we'll drop by your dock with the oyster roast
or crab boil and booze to celebrate your COMING TO YOUR SENSES!.....(c;

Buy the Catalina that new 150 Genoa it needs to replace the one with the
3 rips in it. A $1000 sail now looks really CHEAP after all you gave to
the dockhands over the last month.

Oh, don't be too surprised when you come back to your slip and 8 college
boys are standing there, smiling, waiting to grab your lines and polish
off your gelcoat from stem to stern....much to the astonishment of the
other yachties on your dock who can't even get them to answer the radio
while you're heading towards your slip...(c; This is a side effect of
this simulator, but it will only last until you come to your senses.





--
There's amazing intelligence in the Universe.
You can tell because none of them ever called Earth.

Have you ever looked into buying a Formula. The Bentley of boats in
the category you are looking into. We are offering only 0% for 18
months and then only a fixed rate of 2.75%. Check out
www.BuyFormula.com and let me know if you have any questions..Thanks,
Darren




TwinSailor wrote:
My family and I are currently sailors with a Catalina 36. We have
decided to migrate to power. We have looked at Mainships (Pilot 34),
Sea Ray, Meridian, and Silverton. We seem to be migrating to the
Silverton 38 Sport Bridge. Does anyone have any feedback on any/all of
these?

Every time you go sailing in the Catalina, start a stopwatch

If all you want is the journey that's fine. But if you actually want to get
somewhere and not have it take all morning/afternoon/days at a time, then
there's little use for sailing. Sure, you're not spending it on fuel, but
for many people their time's valuable and they don't want to spend it
futzing with lines and sails.

"Bill Kearney" wrote in
t:

Every time you go sailing in the Catalina, start a stopwatch

If all you want is the journey that's fine. But if you actually want
to get somewhere and not have it take all morning/afternoon/days at a
time, then there's little use for sailing. Sure, you're not spending
it on fuel, but for many people their time's valuable and they don't
want to spend it futzing with lines and sails.



If you "want to get somewhere and not have to take all
morning/afternoon/days at a time", you need a PLANE, or maybe a
motorhome, not a boat. All boats under 100 gallons per hour are slower
than hell!

Hilton Hotels are cheaper than driving a power boat to Y, paying to dock
it or living like a hermit, then driving it back at $4.20/gallon. The
food's better and so isn't the service....not to mention not having to
walk down the dock or dingy ashore in the pouring rain.....

I thought boating was all about the journey (well, and the sea stories).
God I hate to go sailing with anyone aboard who has to "be somewhere" at
a certain day. Ruins the whole trip.

We got becalmed 90 miles S of Charleston. There wasn't enough air moving
to even make a hanky move. Cap'n Geoffrey asks me what to do. "I'm
going to take a nap before dinner.", was my response. "What about the
wind?", he continued. "Have the watch wake me if it ever comes back."
The ocean was as smooth as glass, just west of the western edge of the
Stream we had been sailing all night in with a nice breeze over 14 knots
SOG. "It'll come back, some day. I'll be rested up by then. I have to
be back by next month to pay the bills.", I said to the group as I
unrolled my sleeping sack in the v-berth. 6 hours later, the adrenaline
addicts got too antsy and Cap'n Geoffrey started the engine. That was
the end of the Gulfstreamer Race to Charleston for Lionheart. Pity, with
our huge handicap on the "Slow Boat to Nowhere", we might have come in
very high up the cruiser class....

We had plenty of food and booze aboard. Man what a beautiful calm day of
rest gone to waste. Americans are in too much of a damned hurry!

--
There's amazing intelligence in the Universe.
You can tell because none of them ever called Earth.

Have no use for a blow boat. Power is the way to go. I go when I want, not
when the wind decides to blow enough to move the boat. I can get where I am
going, do what I want and be back before the blow boaters would even get
there. I do it in air-conditioned comfort, with plenty of power to run the
flat screen TV's and DVD players and the two reefers..got to keep the
beverages cold..g.

For you, laying around is fine, for me it is getting where I want to go,
doing what I want to do and get back.

Oh, btw...35 mph is not too slow for me, and I use about 45 gals per hour to
do it. So it can be done on less than 100 gph.


"Larry" wrote in message
...



If you "want to get somewhere and not have to take all
morning/afternoon/days at a time", you need a PLANE, or maybe a
motorhome, not a boat. All boats under 100 gallons per hour are slower
than hell!

It's not about cost. It's about enjoying the time you have available.

God I hate to go sailing with anyone aboard who has to "be somewhere" at
a certain day. Ruins the whole trip.

Uh yeah, because YOU CAN'T BE SOMEWHERE with any sort of predictability.
Quite a lot of folks don't have the leisure of gambling with how much travel
time it'll take to go boating. I'm all for the idea of sailing, bravo to
those that like it, but it's quite obviously not the right choice for
everyone.