Re: Stuck In One Puddle
I see many ads for wide beam boats of ten and eleven feet.
That's because they're so frigging expensive to operate, maintain, and store. They'll get around 1 MPG (it'll be sucking down just over 20 gal/hour on cruise), if you don't do your own maintenance figure $300-$400 per month for average maintenance (including yearly haul out, etc), and a cheap slip around here is $350/month plus electricity. Marina gas is at least $1/gallon more than gas at the gas station, and it'll take at least 150 gallons to fill up. They are extremely nice though if you have a family who just enjoys being on the water, cooking out, etc.
You'll have 2 engines, 2 outdrives, 2 sets of controls, and 2 sets of instruments to maintain. You'll have an air conditioner and a generator on board. A fresh water system, microwave, stove, refrigarator, etc. Separate 110 volt system with switches, relays, etc. Another 12 volt system for running off the batteries. Lots of batteries and an on-board battery charger. A toilet system with valves, hoses, pumps, etc. If it's not on a trailer, all this stuff is living in a marine environment 24 hours a day which is NOT conducive to long life!
You can find some great deals if you're capable of doing some work yourself. I bought a 30' Sea Ray Sundancer 2 months ago because I couldn't pass the deal up. I've got all the maintenance records over the life of the boat. It's unbelievable what the previous 2 owners spent in maintenance at a marina.
I bought a trailer to store it on and allow me to work on it. It needed some work on the outdrives (shift cable, etc). I found that it's not that big of a deal to trailer a big boat. No difference launching or loading the 30' Sea Ray or the 22' Crownline or the 18' Bayliner or the 16' Mark Twain. Back it in and idle off the trailer to launch, back the trailer in and idle back on to retrieve. You do have to be more careful to make wide turns and try not to take out mailboxes, stop signs, etc,
. If you want to try out some new waters a few hundred miles away, it only takes a couple of tows to pay for the trailer since the boat is only going to get around 1 MPG. Just make sure the launch ramp is long enough that you don't drop the trailer wheels off the end. It's nice to be able to go somewhere within a few hours on the highway and spend the weekend. I've only owned mine for a couple of months but we've really enjoyed it.
You'll need an "oversize load" permit because of the beam (not overweight - you won't be even close to the weight limits). Many states (at least the southern ones) have provisions for "recreational" wide loads. In Louisiana it takes 1 day to get one over the internet, and it's $10 a month. I think Alabama is $20 a year, and Florida is $10 per month. You have to check individual states, but as far as I've researched you don't need an escort for anything under 12' wide. You will need orange "oversize load" banners on front and back.
There's lots of info on trailering big boats on the "Club Sea Ray" forums. There's lots of people on there who routinely trailer the big stuff.
