On 29 Jul 2003 10:26:09 -0700, (alincoln)
wrote:

Hi all,

New to the boating scene. I am in the market for a bowrider, 18-19'.
I have been reading all the literature I could find and have been
walking thru marinas over the last month. I have one question posted
already on boat manufacturers and materials they use, but another
question has come up...

http://www.yachtsurvey.com/Fiberglass_Boats.htm
This is what a Sea Ray (or any Brunswick Bubbleboat) looks like
inside....putty? Where's the beef?!

Now that I'm ready to start test-drives on these things, what can I
expect from the marina/sales team. For instance, am I required to
have a vehicle with the trailer hitch so I can tow the boat to a boat
launch? Or is that something the marina should be doing? Or does it
vary depending on how much money you're spending on the boat?

Salesman launches the boat and waits for buyer at the dock.....

Salesman welcomes buyer to the boat he's trying to unload on him with
friendly smile and helps the wife aboard pointing out the amenities
she's looking for in a boat.

Salesman demos boat and when we're safely away from anything an idiot
buyer might cram into before salesman can save the company's property,
he lets buyer drive the boat for a while, keeping close eye on nearly
empty gas guage he started with to keep demo ride SHORT and sweet.

"Were nearly out of gas.", saleman notices all of a sudden. "We'd
better head back before we run out.", he continues worrying the wife
and shortening the demo ride. It's almost lunch time!

Demo ride is over, salesman coaxes it back to dock and tries to act
professional as it wanders all over the place while he's desparately
trying to hide this ugliness from buyer.

A little advise on your demo ride......................

Any boat will go like hell on a demo with 4 gallons of gas and 2 or 3
people aboard.....no "stuff" loading her down. Expect it to be harder
to plane once the wife gets the "stuff" loaded up.

YOUR boat will spend HOURS at IDLE THROTTLE in the ever increasingly
restrictive NO WAKE ZONES.......

BE DAMNED SURE YOU RUN THE BOAT AT NO WAKE SPEED FOR AT LEAST 10
MINUTES WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING IT TO SEE HOW BAD IT WANDERS ALL OVER
THE PLACE WITH YOU DESPARATELY TRYING TO HOLD IT ON COURSE!!......See
why? Some really NICE boats just SUCK in a no-wake zone as you fight
the wheel against "Stern Drive Wander" running the wheel back and
forth and back and forth.....WILL IT STEER FAIRLY STRAIGHT IN A NO
WAKE ZONE? If not.....RUN!



Larry W4CSC

"No, NO, Mr Spock! I said beam me down a WRENCH,
not a WENCH! KIRK OUT!"

(Larry) wrote in message ...


snip
http://www.yachtsurvey.com/Fiberglass_Boats.htm
This is what a Sea Ray (or any Brunswick Bubbleboat) looks like
inside....putty? Where's the beef?!
/snip

I'll check it out...

snip
BE DAMNED SURE YOU RUN THE BOAT AT NO WAKE SPEED FOR AT LEAST 10
MINUTES WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING IT TO SEE HOW BAD IT WANDERS ALL OVER
THE PLACE WITH YOU DESPARATELY TRYING TO HOLD IT ON COURSE!!......See
why? Some really NICE boats just SUCK in a no-wake zone as you fight
the wheel against "Stern Drive Wander" running the wheel back and
forth and back and forth.....WILL IT STEER FAIRLY STRAIGHT IN A NO
WAKE ZONE? If not.....RUN!



Larry W4CSC

/snip

Larry et al,

Thanks a bunch. This was just the thing I needed to see/hear. I
would never have considered running a boat at NO WAKE speed...I would
have blindly run it at normal to above normal speed in an effort to
test the top end. No one ever thinks to test the bottom end...

The other thing I want to test is the ride in choppy waters...I'm test
driving a Larson on Sat...Just hope the rain holds off and there's a
little shop on the water...

adym

All v-hulls wander to some degree at that speed. I certainly wouldn't judge
a boat solely on that little item.

--
Steve (here to have fun) Barker


=======================
Remove the not dot from my address to abuse my email box
"alincoln" wrote in message
om...

snip
BE DAMNED SURE YOU RUN THE BOAT AT NO WAKE SPEED FOR AT LEAST 10
MINUTES WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING IT TO SEE HOW BAD IT WANDERS ALL OVER
THE PLACE WITH YOU DESPARATELY TRYING TO HOLD IT ON COURSE!!......See
why? Some really NICE boats just SUCK in a no-wake zone as you fight
the wheel against "Stern Drive Wander" running the wheel back and
forth and back and forth.....WILL IT STEER FAIRLY STRAIGHT IN A NO
WAKE ZONE? If not.....RUN!



Larry W4CSC

/snip

Larry et al,

Thanks a bunch. This was just the thing I needed to see/hear. I
would never have considered running a boat at NO WAKE speed...I would
have blindly run it at normal to above normal speed in an effort to
test the top end. No one ever thinks to test the bottom end...

The other thing I want to test is the ride in choppy waters...I'm test
driving a Larson on Sat...Just hope the rain holds off and there's a
little shop on the water...

adym

Steve Barker wrote:

All v-hulls wander to some degree at that speed. I certainly wouldn't judge
a boat solely on that little item.


Many, but not all, vee hnlls wander at that speed. It's a non-issue.
Larry is no boating expert.


--
* * *
email sent to will *never* get to me.

On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 19:09:37 -0400, Harry Krause
wrote:

Steve Barker wrote:

All v-hulls wander to some degree at that speed. I certainly wouldn't judge
a boat solely on that little item.


Many, but not all, vee hnlls wander at that speed. It's a non-issue.
Larry is no boating expert.

I just bought a '92 Four Winns Sundowner to expand my "fleet." After
manhandling a 36 ft housboat around the Sacramento River Delta (it's just a big
ol' forklift with a sail), I was expecting the runabout to track string-straight
at any speed.

Not even close! The boat handles beautifully on a plane, but at no-wake speed,
it's all over the place--I was surprised.

Just one more thing to adjust to.

Joe Parsons

On 31 Jul 2003 11:52:44 -0700, (alincoln)
wrote:

The other thing I want to test is the ride in choppy waters...I'm test
driving a Larson on Sat...Just hope the rain holds off and there's a
little shop on the water...

adym

A pretty, sunny day is NOT the day to test a boat. You need a little
WEATHER. Good luck on the wander.....stern drives are notorious
wanderers. Drives me crazy.



Larry W4CSC

"No, NO, Mr Spock! I said beam me down a WRENCH,
not a WENCH! KIRK OUT!"

Larry wrote:
On 31 Jul 2003 11:52:44 -0700, (alincoln)
wrote:

The other thing I want to test is the ride in choppy waters...I'm test
driving a Larson on Sat...Just hope the rain holds off and there's a
little shop on the water...

adym

A pretty, sunny day is NOT the day to test a boat. You need a little
WEATHER. Good luck on the wander.....stern drives are notorious
wanderers. Drives me crazy.



That's gotta be the shortest drive in history.


--
* * *
email sent to will *never* get to me.

It was longer because of the wandering.

That's gotta be the shortest drive in history.

Most runnabouts wander at no-wake speed. My outboard also wanders a lot real
slow. Routine.

-W


--

PLEASE NOTE: Email address change from to

"alincoln" wrote in message
om...
(Larry) wrote in message
...


snip
http://www.yachtsurvey.com/Fiberglass_Boats.htm
This is what a Sea Ray (or any Brunswick Bubbleboat) looks like
inside....putty? Where's the beef?!
/snip

I'll check it out...

snip
BE DAMNED SURE YOU RUN THE BOAT AT NO WAKE SPEED FOR AT LEAST 10
MINUTES WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING IT TO SEE HOW BAD IT WANDERS ALL OVER
THE PLACE WITH YOU DESPARATELY TRYING TO HOLD IT ON COURSE!!......See
why? Some really NICE boats just SUCK in a no-wake zone as you fight
the wheel against "Stern Drive Wander" running the wheel back and
forth and back and forth.....WILL IT STEER FAIRLY STRAIGHT IN A NO
WAKE ZONE? If not.....RUN!



Larry W4CSC

/snip

Larry et al,

Thanks a bunch. This was just the thing I needed to see/hear. I
would never have considered running a boat at NO WAKE speed...I would
have blindly run it at normal to above normal speed in an effort to
test the top end. No one ever thinks to test the bottom end...

The other thing I want to test is the ride in choppy waters...I'm test
driving a Larson on Sat...Just hope the rain holds off and there's a
little shop on the water...

adym