ready for a week ender....cruiser!

[Slip Away]

Re: ready for a week ender....crusiser!

Re: ready for a week ender....crusiser!

Too bad you don't want a slip. My boat is in Sanford (see the avatar) and is for sale. It's a great boat to spend a week or two on.

Nice Boat.

My neighbor has a 540 Voyager and you could live on one of those !

 

[bekosh]

Re: ready for a week ender....crusiser!

Re: ready for a week ender....crusiser!

Long drive for you. Lake was a 5 mile drive for us. It was fine for those years, but the novelty does wear off in time. Boat gas and truck
gas does add up too, but we enjoy the freedom to travel.
You are making the progression nicely from your 1972 15ft. SeaStar TriHull, to the 1991 Wellcraft 216XL Eclipse and now to the 2870. So next may be a 35 footer ?? You have sure done your share of trailering with your first two boats. So I can see your current preference for a slip.

Yeah, it seems that about every 4 years I get the 6 footitus itch. I hope to hold off a while this time and make the the move to around a 40 footish diesel trawler for retirement, then do the Great Loop until they plant me in the ground. That's the dream anyway.

 

[ricohman]

Re: ready for a week ender....crusiser!

Re: ready for a week ender....crusiser!

Interesting...all good information. The newer F150's with the eco boost v6 motor are rated for 11300 lbs- actually more than the 5.0L rating but I won't be looking at a truck that new...I think I have figured out that the 28 ft Bayliner is just to big to be pratical for my budget and I really do not want to slip the boat. I store my Tahoe in my garage with the folding tounge that 19 1/2' boat actually fits but I have no where else flat to store a boat...couple more questions come to my mind...if I dry store it somewhere at a Marina, how do I keep everything charged up? Tell me about over night in one of these boats...I understand the a/c if equipped will only work on generator or plug in at a marina (is an on board generator an option on this boat?). How is the fridge powered? I want to go down the river, find a nice cove and be able to stay over night..do you have to leave the motor running to say keep the fridge going, watch tv etc??

Forget the ecoboost. Max weight is just that. And its rated with a driver in the seat and nobody else, or gear.
I have a 2010 F350 and towing weight isn't my concern, size is. I don't want to deal with permits and launching big boats.
I went for the smallest boat I thought would fit my needs and ended up with a 22.5 ft cuddy. I didn't spend one night on it last year. Hope to this summer.

 

[rasbury]

Re: ready for a week ender....crusiser!

Re: ready for a week ender....crusiser!

well Fireman...if we are talking that boat for what I want to spend, your in business! Like 80% of the people that have a boat, spent more than we should have I suppose....nice boat though, love the Sanford Marina! Wolfees, yeah!

 

[rasbury]

Re: ready for a week ender....crusiser!

Re: ready for a week ender....crusiser!

how about my power questions? Give me a typical night on the boat not plugged in and how the power is used so you have a battery to start in the am.....are there batteries just for accessory use? How do you charge them, just off the engine? Worst fear is that nice over nite and forget to leave something on or just use to much juice and be dead in the water...how is the frige powered?

 

[Slip Away]

Re: ready for a week ender....cruiser!

how about my power questions? Give me a typical night on the boat not plugged in and how the power is used so you have a battery to start in the am.....are there batteries just for accessory use? How do you charge them, just off the engine? Worst fear is that nice over nite and forget to leave something on or just use to much juice and be dead in the water...how is the frige powered?

I think it was already answered.

The AC draws a lot of power so that pretty much requires shorepower or a generator. Wisconsin is different weather than Florida, but usually at night I get a decent breeze through the hatches to keep it cool.

The fridge should be an AC/DC model. Shore power/generator or battery power. I can overnight on 2xGroup 27 deep cycle batteries with just the fridge and lighting on and still have power in the morning. If I'm anchored all day running the fridge, radio etc, on batteries, I will usually run my generator for a while around dinner to use the microwave or stove and I will run the battery charger at the same time to top off the batteries.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: ready for a week ender....crusiser!

Re: ready for a week ender....crusiser!

how about my power questions? Give me a typical night on the boat not plugged in and how the power is used so you have a battery to start in the am.....are there batteries just for accessory use? How do you charge them, just off the engine? Worst fear is that nice over nite and forget to leave something on or just use to much juice and be dead in the water...how is the frige powered?

Most "cruisers" have at least two batteries, sometimes three. One is a "starting battery" for starting the main engines, the other one (or two) are usually deep cycle batteries that are used only for the accessories (like outlets, fridge, stove, etc). As long as the main starting battery is isolated from the accessories, you won't have a problem starting the engines in the morning.

However, power management is still necessary even with two deep cycle batteries if you run a lot of stuff all night. You sure won't be able to run A/C off the batteries. Coffee pots, microwaves, and other high-draw accessories should be kept to minimum use as well. You can buy a boat with a built-in genset, or you can get one of the good 'ol Honda 2000-style generators and strap it to the swim platform if you absolutely need to run the A/C overnight. There are safety concerns with running a generator (built-in or not), but if proper precautions are taken, you can minimize the risk.

 

[bekosh]

Re: ready for a week ender....cruiser!

To expand a little more on my previous post. A cruiser style boat will or should have dual electrical. 120v/30amp AC from shorepower or generator. And 12v DC power from batteries. For battery power you can get by with a single starter battery hooked up to your motor. But it's better to have separate starter and house batteries. That way you can run the fridge, radio, lights, etc off the house circuit and not run down you starter batteries. You do this with either an automatic isolator or a switch. With a separate house circuit you can add additional and or larger batteries to extend your battery life.

My Cruisers has 2 starter batteries, one for each engine, and 2 Group 27 deep cycle batteries for the house circuit. The 2 Group 27's give me enough power to run the fridge and anchor lights overnight without a problem. And the isolator separates the starter batteries so that I won't run them down by accident.

Even on my 21ft Wellcraft Eclipse I added a second battery and a switch so I would have a backup if I ran down the battery listening to the radio. The wiring and battery install is pretty simple and straight forward.

To determine if you have enough battery power you would need to add up the amps per hour that your electrical equipment uses, multiplied by the number of hours, and compare that to the capacity of the battery or batteries that you are drawing from.

 

[agallant80]

Re: ready for a week ender....cruiser!

Lets see. I have 2 group 27 batteries. One is dedicated for starting the other is for the "house". When I go out at night I have the anchor light on, the fridge, radio and some times TV, and cabin lights. Its not dead in the morning but pretty close.

 

[Cptkid570]

Re: ready for a week ender....cruiser!

Ahhhh, the truth comes out! The wife wants it to be comfortable like a hotel! hahaha Now we see why you want a 28' and not a 24'. LOL, just kidding.

I agree with the Honda generator. Quite, reliable, great on gas. That is the way to go. I think the EU2000i would be too small to run air conditioning, but would run everything else. If you want to run a/c, refrige, etc, you'd want the EU3000. Honda Power Equipment: Honda Generators, Lawn Mowers, Snowblowers, Tillers

As for keeping your batteries charged when the boat is stored, you could just bring them home with you or buy a solar battery charger to leave on it.

Boat engines work harder and run at higher rpms than car engines, so you can't really compare boat hours to car hours, but I understand your thoughts on that.

I'm sure we'd love to see some of the ads from the boats you are looking at

 

[agallant80]

Re: ready for a week ender....cruiser!

For what it's worth I can run the ac and fridge on my generator and one of the following: battery charger or hot water heater. It's a 2200 watt ryobi. I think it's a great value.

 

[rasbury]

Re: ready for a week ender....cruiser!

ah...talk to me like a four year old and I understand! Hopefully, since I am buying used everything will already be set up...I'm reading more about the a/c systems on these boats, reverse a/c? Am I heating or cooling? And yes, my wife wants a hotel on the water, the only way I can sell this! Is there a room service option? I much better understand the limitations of the batteries now and sounds like the ability to charge on the water is a must if doing a couple or several days. I always see the boats at Silver Glen with gens for the weekend stays... tell me about the a/c systems though, that sounds confusing. I searched the forums but nada came back.Thank you all for your posts as I'm getting a much better understanding of operating these boats