JAK wrote:
Boxlaxman,
Been waiting to see how the ride home went? Did you end up purchasing the V378?
The ride home went great. This was my longest run ever (260m) and I had never driven the boat nor been on that water in my life. I was VERY nervous on the car ride up and then finally convinced myself I didn't have time to be nervous. I took one of my best friends and my brother with me. My brother is a life long boater like me but cruisers are new to him. The friend was just along for moral support.
Friday - We left DC around 1pm and got up to Croydon, PA at about 5pm. I got a hotel room for my wife and I and one for my brother and Joe (friend). We decided to stay in and relax but the boys found a casino a few blocks away and were out late. Needless to say, getting them up at 4am was not easy.
Saturday - We headed down to Neshaminy State Marina at 6:45 to meet the previous owners. My marina is private and I was not used to a place that had an "opening" time. We met the couple at the entrance and waited for the marina to open. After about a 30-minute debrief, we put the throttles in gear and headed out. I was nervous but not too bad.
We hit the Delaware only to have a 300 foot tanker behind us by 100 yards. That was a first and pretty scary. We had to dodge a lot of debris for about 2 miles but then as we got closer to Philly it cleared up. We just stayed in the channel and followed a predictable but easy path. It was COLD!! We had all of the canvas up but I wanted the center eisenglass open so I could have a good view. My face was frozen.
Once we got below Philly, the Delaware got real boring. I started to play with the AutoPilot and finally figured it out. Never had it before but WOW...what a Godsend. It really helps make a long ride more enjoyable. It also gave me time to do some real charting.
The old boat had all Garmin stuff (which I now prefer btw) and the new boat had all Raymarine which I was not familiar with. Because of this, I turned to paper charts for heading. I used my ADC MapBook of charts for headings once we got into the Chespeake Bay.
The water was SUPER smooth and we were making great time. We were cruising at about 26mph and hit Annapolis by 1pm. This was our original stopping point because my brother lives there and it was about halfway. Since it was so early, we changed our plans. We pushed on down to Chesapeake Beach and were in our slip by 2pm.
My brother got a call that his dog was ill and asked if we needed him for the rest of the trip. He came up with a great idea that my wife would drive his truck (he came to our house before we left) and come to the marina in the morning and he would go home and she would ride the rest of the way.
Sunday - My wife arrived around 7am and we got everything settled and shoved off. The day was absolutely spectacular. There was a bit of rough water with 3-4' chop in the lower bay but once we headed up the Potomac, is was flat as glass.
She got her first taste of the AutoPilot and was blown away. In think we made a total of 12 course corrections once we got inside the Potomac. Our track was so straight when we went back and reviewed it. It made the trip more enjoyable having her along and also being back in familiar waters.
Our friends kept texting and wanted to know when we were getting back. We got into our marina at Belmont Bay (just off the Occoquan about 30 miles south of DC) at about 1pm to a crowd of about 30 people. That was fun docking the boat for the very first time with a crowd but needless to say, I had a lot of help. I was immediately called a "cheater" for using the bow thruster. It was and is great to have such supportive boating friends.
Final Thoughts - We love the new boat. It has not yet been winterized since the weather has been so nice. We have been super busy but have already spent more time just hanging out down in the cabin with friends that we ever did on the old boat. My mind is already working on upgrades like new electronics, cockpit tv, etc.
I am very luck as a teacher to have the summers off. This means that my boats get a lot of TLC in the summer during the day while the wide is at work. We live at our marina so we often eat dinner nightly on the boat. We are really happy with the decision and looking forward to a great summer.
Here is a link to the pics of the boat and the trip...
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cfaic2b3kwukalj/-x8R2qBCxtThanks,
Marty
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