New V358 Owner

bsteven43 · **Joined:** Sat Mar 22, 2008 5:04 pm **Posts:** 41

Sierra wrote:

bsteven43 wrote:

I'm just concerned that when you get into dealing with them, getting them to pay a claim would be like extracting a molar.

And that should never be the case. When I was looking into the warranty for the Sea Ray, it was clear which programs were accustomed to dealing with SR and Merc and could be counted on for appropriate reaction to a warranty claim. I haven't looked into it with Four Winns or Volvo, but I assume they have partnerships - perhaps even under Genmar (and perhaps this was what your dealer was trying to sell you). When it comes time to start looking, I'm sure there are FW members on the board with experience to share in this area.

Remind me - when do you splash?

Schedule to take delivery April 26th. We will be doing it near Sandusky on Lake Erie. Hoping the weather is decent so we can go out in the open lake and run, otherwise, we'll be limited to the Sandusky Bay. Either way, I'm sure looking forward to it.

Better Luck · **Posted:** Thu Apr 03, 2008 2:55 am

I had the Liberty Protection plan on my SR 340. Since SR only gave us a year on the ships systems as a warranty, we took the extended. I think it ran concurrently with the regular warranty. Last season we needed some service after our 1 year warranty was up and we had to pay the deductible plus travel time. I didn't know I had to pay travel time to my marina from the dealer.

When I made the deal to buy the FW, I told them I had an extended contract on the SR and they bumped up the trade in price a bit to allow for that. I called Liberty the other day and wanted to know about transfering the warranty or cancelling. Here is what they told me: The warranty is only transferable to an individual not a dealership. I could cancel and get back about $2800.00. Then I called the SR dealer who said they take trades with extendeds all the time and transfer the ownership to the new buyer. Now I am not sure which version is correct since the FW dealer now owns my SR. I suppose if they don't do anything with the warranty, they can transfer it to the new owners when the boat is sold.

I was not offered an extended this time around but like the idea of looking into it at a later time. Mayber there are better deals. I also like seeing how things go with the FW to see if I will really need an extended service plan.

On my cruiser plan, many systems and components were covered and the contract was pretty specific as to what was covered and not. I think Liberty is a pretty good outfit.

bsteven43 · **Joined:** Sat Mar 22, 2008 5:04 pm **Posts:** 41

Better Luck wrote:

I had the Liberty Protection plan on my SR 340. Since SR only gave us a year on the ships systems as a warranty, we took the extended. I think it ran concurrently with the regular warranty. Last season we needed some service after our 1 year warranty was up and we had to pay the deductible plus travel time. I didn't know I had to pay travel time to my marina from the dealer.

When I made the deal to buy the FW, I told them I had an extended contract on the SR and they bumped up the trade in price a bit to allow for that. I called Liberty the other day and wanted to know about transfering the warranty or cancelling. Here is what they told me: The warranty is only transferable to an individual not a dealership. I could cancel and get back about $2800.00. Then I called the SR dealer who said they take trades with extendeds all the time and transfer the ownership to the new buyer. Now I am not sure which version is correct since the FW dealer now owns my SR. I suppose if they don't do anything with the warranty, they can transfer it to the new owners when the boat is sold.

I was not offered an extended this time around but like the idea of looking into it at a later time. Mayber there are better deals. I also like seeing how things go with the FW to see if I will really need an extended service plan.

On my cruiser plan, many systems and components were covered and the contract was pretty specific as to what was covered and not. I think Liberty is a pretty good outfit.

That's helpful... thanks. If the plan is not transferrable to a dealership though, as you would trade to a new boat, that certainly makes it of less value. I don't understand that. I think I'm going to hold off on Liberty and shop around and see what else is out there too.

bsteven43 · **Joined:** Sat Mar 22, 2008 5:04 pm **Posts:** 41

Sierra or others with a new V358. How much anchor rode did FW supply to with your boat? How much chain? I looked quickly and didn't look in the day hatch to see. I assume 1/2" nylon rode?

Better Luck · **Posted:** Mon Apr 07, 2008 9:42 am

Not sure of the amt of rode FW supplies. But it is a great question.

Ben · **Posted:** Mon Apr 07, 2008 11:46 am

I believe there is a total of 250' of rode, the vast majority is 1/2" rope. The first 20-25' are chain. I can't remember the exact length, though I've never had any troubles getting the anchor to set with the amount of chain FW supplies. My bigger complaint with the anchor is that FW doesn't include an anchor washdown.

Ben

bsteven43 · **Joined:** Sat Mar 22, 2008 5:04 pm **Posts:** 41

bsteven43 wrote:

Sierra or others with a new V358. How much anchor rode did FW supply to with your boat? How much chain? I looked quickly and didn't look in the day hatch to see. I assume 1/2" nylon rode?

Guys - Just got off the phone will a fella at FW and learned my boat should have come with a rode consisting of 150' of 1/2" nylon rope and 30' of 1/4" chain. That's a solid set up. It came with a nice sized plow anchor as well.

wkearney99 · **Posted:** Mon Apr 07, 2008 1:40 pm

That 150/30 setup sounds about right. I think that's what I've got on my 348. I put those anchor length flags into mine last year (the heavy cloth ones from west marine).

I added my own washdown. Jabsco makes a washdown kit that is designed to sit flush into a deck. It has a 25' coiled hose. I took the lid off the anchor locker and cut a round hole into it. I then mounted the washdown canister into it. I then popped this whole thing back into the regular rode locker hole. From below I ran some flexible hose up to the top/starboard side of the locker. There's "just enough" lip up there to accommodate a hose. I then snaked that hose down the cabin side of the bulkhead. Again, there's "just enough" room for it between the bulkhead and the cabinetry. The cabinets have an approximately 5" front facing that descends below the bottom edge of the window ledge and cabinets. There's more than enough room for the hose behind there. At that point I just ran it to the water feed line just after the pump. I put in a stackable Tee fitting into the existing ones. The water fitting are made by Whale and they're very easy to work with. I did use a bit of the hard plastic tubing from the pump over to the bulkhead and then up to the hose. This to give a more secure material to anchor to the various surfaces along the way. Whale makes a whole slew of the necessary fittings, elbows and adapters for this.

I did have to pull the tank to do this and that was quite the wrestling act since I also have the forward stateroom door option. But I had to pull the tank anyway to put new level sensors into it. It did involve removing the door and it's frame. Once again my right-angle DeWalt cordless drill was a godsend on all those philips-head screws.

Tangentially, I also put in a loop around the pump to let me refill the tank from the shore water connection. I put a valve just up inside the drawer below the forward berth. To fill the tank I just kill power to the fresh water pump, rotate the valve and water then follows that loop around the pump into the tank. I basically just eyeball the fill level by monitoring the tank level monitoring panel (which I also installed last year to replace the crappy Xintex one). The loop was easy to set up. It's just a Tee after the pump and a Tee just ahead of it. Then there's a loop that runs up the bulkhead, over the center of the berth above the drawer and back. If I could've found some sort of flushmount valve I'd have used that but nothing really fit the purpose. I toyed with the idea of using box like the kind seen on some boat's transom showers. But there again nothing was sized small enough to work in way that didn't look strange. So instead it's just a "secret knob" up under the berth.

Since it's manual I do have to be sure not to overfill the tank. Depending on the pressure it's possible to get the tank BULGING a bit, heh. But for us, since we dock stern-to, it's a lot less hassle than using the bow filler port and a reeeeeeelly long fresh water hose.

The anchor washdown is very handy. Just turn the latch, pop the hatch and the hose is right there ready to go. Washing down the anchor usually takes only 10-20 seconds of water, probably about a half-gallon at maximum. I used the fresh water supply since I didn't want to get into adding another pump for raw water and a through-hull for it. If there was already one present for a bait well or something then I'd have tied into it. But for this it didn't seem worth the hassle of the extra tubing, pump, hole and more money. If I had to guess, the whole job was under $200 total in parts. About a weekend's worth of my time, but it was crappy weather anyway.

Ben · **Posted:** Mon Apr 07, 2008 2:38 pm

150', 250', I was close (as long as you consider overshooting by > 50% close)...

Bill, that sounds like something I might like to try. I took a look at routing some wiring through the cabinets a while ago and couldn't really figure out how to get behind them. Did you pull them out entirely? Or drop the headliner? I was trying to figure it out starting with pulling the backing board from the ceder hanging locker on the starbord side (just ahead of the galley). I was succesful in pulling about 200 screws put not so succesful in actually gaining access behind the cabinets. Any hints?

Thanks
Ben

wkearney99 · **Posted:** Tue Apr 08, 2008 3:38 am

Let's break this out into another thread: http://www.smwebhead.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1701

bsteven43 · **Joined:** Sat Mar 22, 2008 5:04 pm **Posts:** 41

Guys - I've got delivery scheduled for our new boat on Saturday morning ... can't wait! I've been told to expect a six hour session or so including a couple hours running on the water and docking practice.

I've begun to put together my own list of priorities for the day but I was hoping for some input from my more experienced bretheren on what to be sure we go over on Saturday.

I never fully understood the electrical system on our last boat .. I want to be sure to cover that in detail during delivery. I want to get a good tutorial on using the radar - I'm not sure how much to expect of the delivery captain in terms of actually interpreting the radar returns. Of course, low speed manouvering and docking is high on the list since I'm moving up 8 feet or so and from I/Os to IBs. The bow thruster is new too.

Any other ideas to make sure I flush out would be appreciated. Thanks guys ... Brad

Sierra · **Posted:** Wed Apr 23, 2008 8:26 am

Hey Brad - congrats again on making though the waiting! My shakedown was last week - land delivery to my home port is tomorrow (77 and sunny

)

There are certainly a lot of specifics to understand with the electrical system - ship's system breaker in the battery panel, battery parallel switch at the helm, multiple chargers. The bow thruster has its own battery - make sure you know where its switch is. Really have an understanding of how sensitive the DTS is before the first time to handle it - it is VERY sensitive. Make sure you understand the parameters of using the sync mode. Your cap will obviously show you where all of the seacocks and sumps are, but be sure he/she does. I read the manual front to back over the winter and still didn't realize there were seacocks in the mid cabin. Hearing everything first hand from your delivery captain beats all - take notes!

I know you've been through this before, but I also know how overwhelming delivery day can be. So as a reminder, obviously, check every system. There will be things you may forget about - I worked from bow to stern.
-Turn on every light, run the stove, microwave, coffee maker - don't forget the vacuum.
-Run the AC/Heat for a while
-Check the portholes, hatches and companionway doors for smooth operation - shower door in the head too. Really run the water systems. I had some minor leaking plumbing in the head. Don't forget about the transom shower and cockpit sink.
-Check every snap on the canvas.
-Make sure the transom door latches properly and that its canvas secures on all snaps.
-Try the TV, CD, DVD. Check every speaker.

Have a blast - take pictures and report back!

wkearney99 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 23, 2008 9:34 am

bsteven43 wrote:

I want to get a good tutorial on using the radar - I'm not sure how much to expect of the delivery captain in terms of actually interpreting the radar returns. Of course, low speed manouvering and docking is high on the list since I'm moving up 8 feet or so and from I/Os to IBs. The bow thruster is new too.

During delivery you'd want to get familiar with how to get it trimmed properly. Dealing with the trim tabs and outdrive trim are important for maintaining proper fuel consumption and overall stability when underway. Then be sure to learn where things like the sea cocks, bilge pumps and other drains are located. These are important and when they're NEEDED you really won't have time to go digging through the manuals.

There's too much to learn during the typical 'delivery' to even come close to learning everything about the radar and docking. At least not beyond the simple stuff.

Radar is hard to use properly. Fire it up and see big stuff? Sure, that's easy. Really get a handle on fine tuning it to see small bass boats up ahead, at night, during fog, a light rain and 1' chop? That's a LOT harder to learn and quite likely the real sort of skill you need. And unless you're out, at night, in rain and chop you really can't learn enough to become anything close to an apprentice, let alone expert.

That said, I include myself among the "not expert" category when it comes to the radar gear. I've used it a couple of times but conditions here and times when I'm boating just haven't required it. Thus I haven't had a lot of time to practice.

As for docking the boat, it really does help to spend a full afternoon learning JUST that. Approaching and maneuvering through piers, marinas, etc are one skill. Actually putting the boat into a slip is another. I was fortunate to have a local friend take the time to go through it with me (and I still owe him and his wife a nice dinner for it). It may be worth hiring a captain just for this purpose. I wouldn't think it reasonable to get that level of training during delivery. That would be NICE, of course, but I wouldn't expect it.

And if you're dealing with a spouse, you may want to do this without their company. That and if they're interested in learning it then a separate lesson is also advisable. Everybody learns differently and having an audience does not usually help this process. It's one thing to go to a boating safety class together (you HAVE done this already, right?). But hands-on stuff might be better without someone else watching, heckling, second-guessing, etc...

As for initial inspection, WRITE DOWN ANY ISSUES. It's a good idea to create a punch list for things that need fixing. Keep a copy of that list yourself and give one to the dealer. If they're trivial issues it's often good to have those addressed during the 20 hour oil change. Just make sure you schedule enough time without the boat to let them get all the work done properly. Boats are not like cars, they're essentially all hand-assembled. As such there WILL be things that need attention. With luck they'll be few and quick to deal with.

www.iFourWinns.com

New V358 Owner

Who is online