www.iFourWinns.com

Funny thing, soon after posting the above, a friend of mine bought a sailboat and wants me to crew it with him this summer. It's a beautiful boat, and basically has everything a Vista has, but without the engine (haaa). Anyways, I think I may put off my Vista search for this year, besides the Admiral gives me the stink eye whenever I mention it. Maybe I will upgrade to a bigger Sundowner before making the Vista plunge, I always liked the SD265's....hmmm....

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1996 205 Sundowner DLX
5.0FL Volvo SX Cobra
Tow Veh: 2012 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X

We have been cleaning and taking things apart on our "new" boat. Hoping to have everything ready for next weekend to launch! I pulled the drive and replaced the bellows, installed a new impeller, and changed the drive oil so far. We scoped out paths for speaker wiring and lighting to the arch, I think we have it figured out now. I ordered the speakers and am still researching the lights I want to use. Also would like to install underwater lights at the swim platform, any suggestions? So far, very pleased and ready to get her in the water!
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... 8bfa89.jpg http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... 3bdeb8.jpg http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... cdd7e1.jpg http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... d01ac3.jpg

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2006 Vista 278
First Boat:
2005 Sundowner 205
Columbus, OH

Thats a great looking boat hutch...

There is a thread here somewhere on swimdeck LED's (with pics). Can't remember who did it tho...

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1996 205 Sundowner DLX
5.0FL Volvo SX Cobra
Tow Veh: 2012 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X

She's a beauty!!

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Our Boating Blog: http://ben-dana.blogspot.com/

2005 268 Vista "Sea Pickle II"
1979 AMF Alcort Puffer
Previous:
2003 FW190 Horizon
1973 Startcraft 18ft "Sea Pickle"

Very nice!

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2004 248 Vista "Amante"
MC 5.0MPI/B3

wow she is a beauty...but don't tell my boat I said that....

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Chris and Alicia
Las Vegas, NV
ALTIVA
1996 Four Winns 238 Vista Dlx 5.8Fi

Welcome to Club Vista Captain!

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-Tony
2016 Robalo R200 w/Yahama 200!

Previous boats:
2003 Four Winns 248 Vista - sold
1994 Sunbird Corsair 200 - sold
1980 Checkmate Predictor - sold

Nice boat! Congrats!

Well, I had her out last weekend! That was a lot of fun!! I was impressed with how well she ran and how quickly she was up on plane. I havent figured out the sweet spot really with trim and throttle, but I think I am close. I was about 29-30 mph on GPS at 3800 RPM. It was really fun getting to know all of the bells and whistles too.

We used some time to practice docking, since it is like a ghost town at my marina. I figure, only having to worry about other docks would be a nice trial. I did not do well. My first shot, I got her within the two spaces. Then I tried again and completely missed. I have to back in since the docks are only 22ft long and it was very tricky. I am extremely worried about docking when there is a boat in the slip right next to me It seems as though if I just have it idle forward or reverse, I get no response at all in steering. That made me give it more throttle and all I was doing was pivoting. This was very frustrating.

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2006 Vista 278
First Boat:
2005 Sundowner 205
Columbus, OH

Thats awesome you got the new boat out. What I found to help with docking, is if pulling to the fuel dock...head straight in. Go full port in forward....when you get about a 45-50 degree angle, quick put it in neutral then reverse as you go full starboard and it'll line right up along side the dock.

Keep practicing in open water and then near a dock. You will become a pro in no time!

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2007 358 T-5.7GXi IB
Previous Boats
'08 H240, '08 V318, '04 268, '04 225

I've posted many times before, don't go too slow when moving to your docking position.

The hulls on most powerboats will wander a bit too much if you're just poking along dead slow. I know with my 348 I have to get it to about 3.5 to 4 knots in order to maintain really good, straight tracking through the marina.

Just remember to be prepared to make a controlled transition to reverse and apply a fair bit of power. You can haul the boat to a quick stop that way. Just don't do it back/forth too quick otherwise your gearbox will line up for a big bite outta yer wallet.

Of course, you don't want to be going so fast as to be unable to control the boat. The adage of only 'going as fast as you want to hit something', I think, leads people toward a much harder learning process. It's all about using the power you have at your disposal, in ways that get you docked successfully without a lot of stress.

To me the key to docking is be thinking two steps ahead of where the conditions are putting me. Predict and act, not react. Sounds easy but it's not. It comes with practice. What really helped for me, after the speed thing, was learning just how far the boat could get out of line before I'd be in trouble. As in, too far over toward the sea wall due to wind, so I'd track closer to the wind to avoid losing precious room to maneuver. Or learning just how much swing I'd need to bring the stern around to follow the bow. With inboards your turning point is much closer to the center of the boat than the stern. Otherwise the stern will swing wide and hit. So when I'm fighting a gusting wind in tight conditions I keep a sharp eye on just were my 'points of no return' will be and plan ahead.

For fuel docks I find it most often works to nose the bow to the dock and get that line tied down FIRST, and then use that to pivot the stern over. But then I've got inboards and don't have the luxury of steerable reverse thrust. You can always dock using just the throttles (inboard style) but outdrives do offer more choices once you get the hang of them.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Figure out what radar arch lights you wanted to install? Just installed two Hella Rakino Downlight's into my 268's radar arch a few days ago... Here's the end result:



Got the "White LED Spread" version... Puts out more than enough light in my opinion. Wired them up to a separate switch on the helm. Great Lakes Skipper had a matching Carling light switch for around 10 bucks + shipping.

Here's a link to the product page:
http://www.hellamarine.com/en/products/ ... pread.html

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Current Boat:
2006 Chaparral 310 Signature

Previous:
2003 268 Vista
2004 Sea Doo GTX

Hutch, here's my best advice for getting used to the docking characteristics of your new girl. Go to open water, toss a fender overboard and use that fender as a "pretend" dock. You can approach it from any angle you want to simulate different wind headings. Before long you'll have a pretty good feel for docking. The best part is, not being embarassed in the marina and NO dock rash.

John

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07 Azure AZ200,
Previous boat,
95 278 Vista,
And a lot of others.

Ontario, Canada

That is really sharp! Nice job with them. Those would be perfect, but I am really trying to keep the color more of a natural incandescent bulb. I would like something around 2700k. Peaked around their site and dont really see a "warm white" option.

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2006 Vista 278
First Boat:
2005 Sundowner 205
Columbus, OH

Hutch,
Can't you just replace the bulbs in your current lights? That is , if you have arch lights.
That's what I did on our last boat. Cheap, easy fix and a variety of colors and brightness available...

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy