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Will you be cruising in the Summer? SW Florida has a lot of thunderstorms in the Summer. I really recommend having a boat fast enough to get out of the way of storms. Lots of shallow water if you plan on cruising Charlotte Harbor and other inside cruising grounds. I wish I had fully protected...

Dude! That's awesome. No need to check the forecast now! That's a relief. "No significant long-period swell is anticipated to impact the Atlantic waters for the next several years."

It was scary to try, but we were just DONE with the leaks. As it turned out, it worked great. It didn't look too bad (got a tan colored liner that kinda looked "teaky"), and stopped all the leaks for the six years I owned the boat afterwards. One thing I did have going for me that others might...

You already have a stern thruster on a single screw boat: the rudder. Bow thruster is the obvious choice if you have to choose. Cheers! Dave

Teak decks . . . oh man, this is a subject about which books could be written. So, starting with the condensed version: Teak decks often cause leaks. Leaks lead to problems. Thus, if you want to avoid the probability (not the certainty) of problems, avoid teak decks. The longer version: Some...

How much is your draft? At the current lake level of 11'8" the maximum draft for route 1 across (cross lake route) is about 5'7". My guess is you draft less than that. If that's true, I'd totally go with the canals across the state. It's easy. You don't have to worry about weather, and since...

I owned a Bayliner 3870 for about 7 years. Surprisingly, this boat had pockets for the props. It was a great choice for cruising in the shallow waters of SW Florida. If you were sensible and went slowly through shallow bits, the deepest part of the boat was about midship. You could stick the bow...

Put some high temp gasket goop on it, then take a soup can, open it on both ends, make a cut down the side, wrap the soup can around the hose such that the one edge of the slit you've cut slides under the other, and compress the can with several hose clamps. I repaired a large rip in an exhaust...

Cool! Thanks.

It sucks. They call it "Hell's Gate" for a reason. Avoid it if you can. When I brought my first boat to the area from Stuart, FL I ran it up South Matlacha pass and it was a white-knuckle experience. Very windy. Very shallow. Go around the West side of Pine Island and come in from the North...

Steve, "Micksbuddy" is correct on all points. Just to add on. . . I have found that there is a beach at Tween waters that they don't seem to mind if you pull your tender onto. With just a trolling motor I'd not try to motor up to the more Northerly docks. If it's blowing Easterly I would...

15/20 minutes sounds AWESOME. One hour and change to get through the trip captured in the video. Then another 30 minutes at 11 knots to get to the "deep" water North of Matlacha pass. Hence the reason I keep the boat in the Burnt Store Marina during the cruising season. St. James City looks...

All: Thought you all might find this interesting. I keep my boat at my folk's place on a lift in NW Cape Coral in the off season. It takes a LONG time to motor all the way down Matlacha Pass from my marina, and through the canals to their house. This year when we took the boat out for the...

Re: Pine Island Sound Been cruising in that area for about six years now. There is plenty to do and see for a 4-5 day destination. - Captiva: Very nice little party district with live music from multiple bars. You can drink on the street, rent golf carts from YOLO, great sunset view on the...

Here's a post I did on a diesel heater from the Bayliner forum. Hope it helps. Dave Hi All: I recently installed a VVKB Apollo-V2 heater on my 3218. It's a heater that is often used by truck drivers to heat their sleeper cabins when parked. I was a bit worried about this because it's much...

I boat in SW Florida out of Cape Coral. The owners of SW Fl Yacht Charters are member of my club, Useppa Island Club. As a result, those who charter one of their fleet have guest access to the marina at Useppa and I've been able to look at their boats. In my experience looking at the boats and...

I'm 235 and it hauls me just fine. Pretty sure if you're under 300 it'll work, just with a lower mile range.

For what it's worth, here's a post I did on another forum on the heater I installed in Alaska last year. If you're looking for a cheaper solution, it's a pretty good one: Hi All: I recently installed a VVKB Apollo-V2 heater on my 3218. It's a heater that is often used by truck drivers to heat...

Funny. I grew up in the commercial fishery in Alaska. Spent all my childhood and teenage Summers fishing on the family boat. Spent the better part of a decade as a young man running the family tender (boat that buys fish from the fishermen on behalf of the salmon processors) and I've never heard...

If you want a smaller alternative, check out folding electric scooters. I got two of these for the kids to ride around when we park at a marina. They work great, go 15MPH and seem to last forever. The official range is 10-12 miles, but depending on how heavy you are, it varies. The kids could...

Dry exhausts are great with one big but very rare exception: Fire hazard. I grew up in the commercial fishing industry in Cordova, Alaska. All the diesel boats had dry stacks, including all of the boats owned by my family. 99% of the time they are simply bullet proof in my experience, but if...

In case you don't know this trick for finding the source of a tracking leak: 1: Shut all hatches and portals tight. 2: Open the deck hatch in the fo'c'sle. 3: Cut a piece of plywood to make a temporary hatch cover for that hatch. 4: In the plywood cut a long oval slot that mirrors the output of...

But they're as reliable as a hammer, and have more freeboard than most 50' boats. I never felt like I was putting my family at risk on that boat even when we were really far out in Prince William Sound, Alaska. On the aft cabin: Agreed. My small family of 3 (me, the admiral and the kid) slept...

Thanks for sharing this. Brings back memories. I owned a 34' CHB tri-cabin for almost 10 years. Best boat I've owned in many ways. I miss her. Enjoy. Dave

Durant, The easiest way to share videos is via YouTube. So, in the spirit of "reply slowly:" 1: You need an account with Google. Do you have a Gmail address? If not, create one by going to Gmail.com and clicking the "Create Account" link in the bottom left. 2: Once you have an account an are...