328 Vista Anchor Rode

weather · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 11:32 am

I'm in the process of buying my first boat, a 1999 Four Winns 328 Vista (pending sea trial, survey and mechanical). I've driven 18-20' bow riders for many years but this will be a new learning experience!
I have a few questions that I'm sure are obvious, or would be obvious once I take ownership of the boat, but in my excitment I'm looking for answers now. If anyone has the time I appreciate it.

1. What is the factory anchor rode that is included? What is the make up (how much line and how much chain?) I could not find this in the spec sheet on the Four Winns site.
2. Can you fill both gas tanks from one side if the valves are all open or do you need to fill each one? I'm thinking the tanks would act like a water level and equilize levels with each other filling from only one side but I'm not sure.
3. What is typical way most run the fuel valves? Both tanks feeding both motors (and gen.)? What are the reasons why you would run one method over the other?
4. General question - when anchored off a lake beach (Lake Ontario in this case) is it typical to only use a bow anchor and let the stern swing, or is it more common to use a stern anchor as well as bow, to lock the boat in one place?

Thanks in advance (and I'm sure there will be many more to come).

Steve.

aguyindallas · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 11:56 am

Congrats and I hope it goes well for you. The 328 is a GREAT boat with a nice wide beam.

1. No idea about the rode/chain situation.
2. No, you have to fill the tanks seperately. They do not equalize.
3. Run all the fuel valves in the open position. The only reason you would shut one down is if you were having trouble with one tank or the other.
4. I often times use a box anchor for my stern anchor. I like it to be locked in place. It may be different where you boat and remember that tides/currents can change and it could quickly become dangerous to have your stern locked into place and casue you to take on water. If you are anchoring off a beach, its generally safe if you have the bow pointed out, stern to shore and have your windlass set...then toss a stern anchor to keep the boat square with the beach. Just be sure of water changes/wind changes.

Now, lets see some pics!

weather · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:45 pm

aguyindallas wrote:

Congrats and I hope it goes well for you. The 328 is a GREAT boat with a nice wide beam.

1. No idea about the rode/chain situation.
2. No, you have to fill the tanks seperately. They do not equalize.

So do you have to turn the boat around to fill both, or does the hose usually reach both sides?

3. Run all the fuel valves in the open position. The only reason you would shut one down is if you were having trouble with one tank or the other.
4. I often times use a box anchor for my stern anchor. I like it to be locked in place. It may be different where you boat and remember that tides/currents can change and it could quickly become dangerous to have your stern locked into place and casue you to take on water. If you are anchoring off a beach, its generally safe if you have the bow pointed out, stern to shore and have your windlass set...then toss a stern anchor to keep the boat square with the beach. Just be sure of water changes/wind changes.

Just looked up a box anchor, I've never seen one of those before - looks effective and easy to store. I've never used a windlass before, does it automatically hold the line once you stop playing it out or is there something you need to do to 'set' it?

Now, lets see some pics!

Only pictures I have are from yacht world. The boat is in great shape, 260 hours or so, in a few years it will need new canvas and the clouded isenglass needs to be replaced.

StirCrazy · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:21 pm

Welcome! Very nice boat, glad you found the site

Decision · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:39 pm

weather,

Hope all goes well with your 328 purchase. Just a quick couple comments...........

- Our 328 only has about 8 feet of chain and the rest is rode.

- I have never taken on fuel where I have had to turn my boat around to fuel both tanks.

- Regarding fuel valves, there is a crossover valve that when shut forces each engine to draw from its respective tank. I keep this crossover valve shut, then I can monitor to make sure when filling up that each engine is burning approximately the same amount of fuel. If you left this valve open, you may find one engine draws some fuel from both fuel tanks and as such your fuel tanks may contain an unequal amount of fuel. This really boils down to personal preference.

Good luck with your purchase.

Mike.

weather · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:55 pm

Decision wrote:

weather,

Hope all goes well with your 328 purchase. Just a quick couple comments...........

- Our 328 only has about 8 feet of chain and the rest is rode.

- I have never taken on fuel where I have had to turn my boat around to fuel both tanks.

- Regarding fuel valves, there is a crossover valve that when shut forces each engine to draw from its respective tank. I keep this crossover valve shut, then I can monitor to make sure when filling up that each engine is burning approximately the same amount of fuel. If you left this valve open, you may find one engine draws some fuel from both fuel tanks and as such your fuel tanks may contain an unequal amount of fuel. This really boils down to personal preference.

Good luck with your purchase.

Mike.

Have you found an issue with only having 8 ft of chain?
Good to hear I shouldn't have to turn the boat around at the fuel dock.
Great idea with the valves - only thing is that the gen only pulls from the port side tank with the center valve closed, so there would likely be a difference most of the time.

Thanks for all the answers - I'm sure I'll have more questions but if you think of any general advice to a first time cruiser send it my way!

Steve.

weather · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:59 pm

StirCrazy wrote:

Welcome! Very nice boat, glad you found the site

I have always found that product forums are very helpful as someone has always hit the same problem you currently have. The boat feels like the perfect size for our family (2 kids, 4 and 6). Best thing is it came with a slip in the marina we wanted and we even like the name so we wont need to change it.

Decision · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:20 pm

weather wrote:

Decision wrote:

weather,

Hope all goes well with your 328 purchase. Just a quick couple comments...........

- Our 328 only has about 8 feet of chain and the rest is rode.

- I have never taken on fuel where I have had to turn my boat around to fuel both tanks.

- Regarding fuel valves, there is a crossover valve that when shut forces each engine to draw from its respective tank. I keep this crossover valve shut, then I can monitor to make sure when filling up that each engine is burning approximately the same amount of fuel. If you left this valve open, you may find one engine draws some fuel from both fuel tanks and as such your fuel tanks may contain an unequal amount of fuel. This really boils down to personal preference.

Good luck with your purchase.

Mike.

Have you found an issue with only having 8 ft of chain?
Good to hear I shouldn't have to turn the boat around at the fuel dock.
Great idea with the valves - only thing is that the gen only pulls from the port side tank with the center valve closed, so there would likely be a difference most of the time.

Thanks for all the answers - I'm sure I'll have more questions but if you think of any general advice to a first time cruiser send it my way!

Steve.

Nop, I have not had any problems with only 8' of chain for the anchoring I typically do. Ideally, I would like more chain , but I have two larger sized anchors and rode I can use if I plan to anchor out overnight.

With 110 gallons of fuel per tank you'd have to run your genny quite a bit before your fuel tank imbalance would mean anything signifcant to you.

Where do you plan to dock your 328 should your deal work out?

Mike.

weather · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:28 pm

Decision wrote:

weather wrote:

Decision wrote:

weather,

Where do you plan to dock your 328 should your deal work out?

It will be on Lake Ontario in Bronte Outer Harbour (Oakville) - I'm only 5min away, so the drive is much better than a cottage!

jrcinnh · **Joined:** Fri Sep 14, 2007 9:13 am **Posts:** 313

regarding filling dual tanks:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7012

aguyindallas · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 3:00 pm

My marina has multiple pumps and hoses that are plenty long enough. They just turn two pumps on for me and the dockhands fill the boat up.

My generator pulls form the port tank and it causes that tank to need more fuel to fill, but its not enough that its a hassle by any stretch.

Paul I. · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 3:41 pm

I have a V258, one engine & one fuel tank. As to the rode, I use 30 feet of chain. If the wind & waves kick up, you are going to want the holding power. For me, 8 feet of chain is not enough, more so on a 32 footer

weather · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:01 pm

jrcinnh wrote:

regarding filling dual tanks:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7012

Thanks for that, a good read. I must have used the wrong words in my search. So close the middle valve and open each tank to it's respective engine for normal operation. Got it.

wkearney99 · **Posted:** Sat Jul 23, 2011 7:10 am

When anchoring it's a matter of personal preference. I have inboards in my 348 so I tend to go with anchoring off-shore a bit and swing. This means leaving enough room for everyone else to be swinging around on anchor too.

Getting close into shore is a bit trickier with inboards as the props are the lowest thing on the hull. It's really expensive to use them to feel for the bottom. With sterndrive setups you can trim them up to avoid the props hitting bottom.

And don't forget to take tides into account. You don't want to have the boat drop down with the tide and end up hitting bottom.

weather · **Posted:** Sat Jul 23, 2011 2:54 pm

So we took the v328 out for a sea trial and it runs great, few minor issues like one tach not reading quite right and the syncronization gauge not working at all. One thing I am a bit concerned about is the Windlass, it appears to be stuck. The anchor is in really tight and will not go down at all. I guess I need to try taking a rachet end and see if after manually lowering it it functions. Is this common, and is it likely the Winlass is shot?

www.iFourWinns.com

328 Vista Anchor Rode

Who is online