www.iFourWinns.com

Going to be finally spending a weekend on the new boat. Going down and staying at a marina for the long weekend. Hope all goes well. I havent slept on board a boat in some time. Really looking forward to it. Anyone else have any plans for the weekend?

We are still trying to work out our first overnight. We stayed until about 1:00 AM the other night, but had to get home so the 16 year old didn't throw a party or somethnig while we were gone!!!!

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1999 258 Vista
Floating on Easy Street
in Jonestown, TX

From the first week of May when the boat goes in, until the last week of Sep when the boat is hauled out, we spend each and every weekend on the boat.

We also spend 3 or 4 one week vacations on the boat during this period, depend on our schedule.

So about 60+ nights on the boat per season.

This will be the 5th season doing this for us.

We go if it is hot, cold, sunny, rainy, stormy, windy, or any other condition mother nature throws at us.

We live 100 miles from the boat, so we leave Friday night for the boat, and come home Sunday night. We use the boat as a weekend getaway, and it sure helps tolerate the stress of our jobs, etc.

For as much as we spend on the boat, slip rental, and other expenses, we have to use it as much as we can.

So we work out a formula, the wife and I do. We take what it costs us for the year, including boat payment and all the rest, and divide it by 60 nights. This works out to about $180 per night on the boat.

So, long-lost cousin throwing a party for their graduating kid we have not seen in 10 years; wife sez, party is Saturday, should we go. I say, is it worth $180? Nope, we send a check and a card - "geeze we're sorry, we cannot make it, here is some money" for their graduation and an invitation to stop by the boat some weekend - if they want to see us.

We had some near misses though. Last year, my nephew graduated from HS, and unfortunately, it would have been a family feud should we not attend. Problem was it was 2 hours travel in the wrong direction. And to make it worse, they had it on Memorial Day Saturday.

I was kinda ticked at first, but we realized that if we went on Saturday, stayed until 1pm, we could get to the boat by 5pm. We at least salvaged the holiday because we still had Sunday and Monday at the boat.

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1999 Vista 268

Vista Al Sounds like you have your priorities straight to me ! I am with you all the way.

I'm arguing with the Admiral about the Vista now. She is loosing interest. Ben and I spent Saturday night on the boat at Hontoon island on the St. John's River. Us and two other boats. Boy was it quiet!

Any ideas on how to rekindle some interest? She seems to be fixated on spending weekends at the theme parks. My problem is, that she can't seem to comprehend, I spend half the day waiting outside womens bathroon for her as they ALWAYS have a line out the door!

248, glad your getting to the boat. Al, what's your secret?

The boat club is going to Ft Myers for the weekend, Okeechobbe via the Caloosahatchee River. We are pasing on this trip since the week of June 19 we will be boating to St. Augustine for a few days and then probably on to Jacksonville. I always dislike boating on big weekends...too many "holiday only" boaters out there doing really really stupid human tricks with boats!

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

have her pick the next destination

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2005 Funship 214 5.0GXi/DP | 2006 Yamaha FJR1300

I did not know that people that lived in Florida went to the theme parks. I just thought they were all tourists that went to the parks.

I can't remember John, do you keep your boat in a slip or are you trailering it a lot?

My wife is an extreme-extrovert, and that means she just loves to mingle with the rest of the dock clan.

If we did not keep the boat at the marina, she probably might not have quite as much fun.

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1999 Vista 268

Al
You are a real trooper. I hope I use mine half as much as you do. Im thinking next year I might go ahead and slip her that way I will be able to use her more. But one thing at a time I guess. I wanted to stay away from bottom paint so that is my holdup. I would be keeping her in fresh water though so im not sure if I would have to paint her. I was just thing of resale because in a few years we will probably upgrade.

We do the same as Al. We go from May to Oct. We will spend more time away from the dock. We usully go up on Friday. Leave sometimes on Friday night or Sat morning. Stay till late Sunday. This weekend we will be out from Friday to Monday. We are usully with 10 or more boats each weekend.

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348 Vista ( Last Call )
Raystown PA

Al, we trailer exclusively. probably well over 5000 miles per year.

ifourwin, that's the problem, getting her to make a decision! I once stoped the truck in the median and sat there for 10 minutes until she told me what blasted restaurant she wanted to eat at. Didn't want this, didn't want that...I finally said Mickey D's and got slapped! At least I had some food (simulated food) in my belly

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

John; Try to slip the boat in the marina for a season and see if your Admiral likes it.

In all honesty, my admiral could almost care less if we went boating or not when we had to trailer our last boat. But with this boat, being in a slip made all the difference in her 'attitude'.

Part of it is ritual, I suppose. We get out of work early on Fri., make the two hour trip to the boat, stop off and have a nice dinner, then go to the boat. The major difference is we get out of town, away from the jobs, the house, and the other worries of life, and just relax.

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1999 Vista 268

I really think the issue is boiling down to the kids. She reminds me all the time how much work it is to "pack" the boat. I keep my stuff on the boat, she feels the need to pack and unpack. All of us have enough "stuff" to have the essentials on land and sea. One would think that with the years of boating she has under her belt she would have streamlined the process abit. When I "solo" on the boat, I take some soda, water and beer, the perishable food for the trip and everthing else is already on board. Takes 10 minutes.

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

We have our boat slipped from April 15th to October 15th. Our old boat was only a 20 ft cuddy, so we trailered most of the time. It got to be more of a hassle than it was worth, packing, unpacking, towing etc. So the wife wanted a cruiser we could stay on, thus we bought the 268. She was much happier haveing the boat in a marina. We pretty much leave everything we need on the boat, just bring stocked coolers and some clothes for the weekends.
The marina life is not for everyone, but we have found we use the boat much more than we did when trailering, and we have met some great people at our marina. Plus, we only live about 8 miles from our marina, so we just drive down there and take the boat out on weeknights when we want.
We will be taking Friday off work, and heading down to the boat for the whole weekend. Weather is looking good too, mid to upper 80's.

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

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

We hope to spend the night Sunday on the boat. Our problem is we have isolated thunderstorms in the forecast every day for the next 5 days, later storms worse than earlier ones! The first time my family experiences a thunderstorm, medium to severe, on the lake would probably be the last time, so if its iffy, we will merely spend the days on the lake. We might spend night at the marina Sunday night and go back out Monday.

My admiral likes (not loves) the boat and boating. She likes relaxing. What she misses is connection to the internet and e-mail. I'm planning on subscribing to Verizon wireless and taking one of the notebooks to the boat. Then she'd love it! I'd like having connection too. I'm planning on writing a couple of articles for my professional society's journal this summer and would have more fun writing on the boat, by myself, anchored in a favorite anchorage.

What could make the boat more fun for your wife, jvalich? I know it is a hassle carrying stuff on and off, particularly dirty bedding, making the beds, etc. We have a Magma grill so I do all cooking on board.

Its my teenage boys that don't want to go to the boat as much. But sometimes thats a GOOD thing!

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1999 Four Winns Vista 298, 5.0 VP DP
Goosepond Marina
Lake Guntersville
Scottsboro, Alabama

I gotta agree, our last boat was a 20' Cuddy cabin too. Trailering it, loading/unloading, launching, using the public access ramp - all that stuff is history now. Wow, looking back what a pain the the butt it was!
With the new 258, we have overnighted in it about 3 times now. Once at the marina, once at our friends yacht club, and another time at the metro parks here on Lake St Clair.
The only thing I was nervous about was showering. Im not really into "public" shower thing, it kinda weirds me out. So showering at the marina or park was out of the question. I must say showering in the 258 wasnt bad at all. The hot water never ran out, the head was easy to clean afterwards.
We are actually going out tomorrow (saturday) and not coming back to land until Monday. So that took quite a bit of coordination today at the supermarket. Had to plan meals (only 2) for each day, get supplies, get the cooler out of the basement, etc.
We overnighted before on our 20' cuddy and it was horrible. The boat would rock back and forth constantly, you'd wake up like you spent the night in your clothes dryer on the cool cycle...LOL Every time we've slept on the Vista its been smooth, quiet, and very comfortable.

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1997 Four Winns Vista 278
T - 4.3l EFI
Kohler 4esz Genset
379 hours as of 8/8/21