porthole
Retired
Now - what was your first thought?
The Cyclone? Nope, so far every day has been one of the best days, and planning on many more.
The screen name comes from our first boat, a 34 Luhrs Express "Porthole". That was sold in 98 to make way for the Porthole II, a 1980 42 Post.
We have a lot of great memories with the Post, but when fuel started to sky rocket, it got harder and harder to enjoy. Instead of "miles per gallon", we did "gallons per hour".
When fuel last spiked at $5.00 a gallon, burning 20-25 gallons per hour is pricey, real pricey.
One of our favorite stop over marinas was Trumps Casino located, Farley State Marina. 45 cents a foot for overnight and it included comps at the casino and breakfast.
Last time we were there is was $4.50 a foot! And no comps - never again.
Boating is a lot like RV'ing but with some significant differences. The biggest is of course costs. Although our trailers are considered rolling earthquakes with the respective issues, boating is a lot different in that aspect. 30+ years of boating and I am still convinced many of the items that are fitted to vessels are not up to the environment they are placed in. It is a constant battle to keep a boat afloat. Think stray current is bad with RV's? Stray current can sink a boat in hours if left unchecked.
The people are different too. For us, boat rallies seldom got dozens of like minded folks together. Mostly just one or two other couples. And when we traveled, because of the size of our boat we ended up docking with upper class of boaters, who tend to not give you the time of day. Unless of course, they find out you are a diver and have your gear with you and they just hit something or wrapped their prop on an errant crab trap on the way in. Then you have a new best friend.
Crude video I put together of the Porthole II leaving Shark River Inlet for the last time.
She was a little cranky starting after sitting two years, especially since the marina did not turn on the block heaters as requested (the crank time was shortened significantly for the video)
6-71's do not like cold starts!
Neat thing listening to these 6-71 cold starts is that when they finally start, it may only be 1 or 2 cylinders, as the cylinders start firing you can hear the engine change. Once all 6 are running the engine will "roll" a bit until things start to heat up and expand.
Since the first boat in 1991 it has been fun for the most part, and we will miss the adventures. But until we hit the lottery - I'll stick with land yachts.
The Cyclone? Nope, so far every day has been one of the best days, and planning on many more.
The screen name comes from our first boat, a 34 Luhrs Express "Porthole". That was sold in 98 to make way for the Porthole II, a 1980 42 Post.
We have a lot of great memories with the Post, but when fuel started to sky rocket, it got harder and harder to enjoy. Instead of "miles per gallon", we did "gallons per hour".
When fuel last spiked at $5.00 a gallon, burning 20-25 gallons per hour is pricey, real pricey.
One of our favorite stop over marinas was Trumps Casino located, Farley State Marina. 45 cents a foot for overnight and it included comps at the casino and breakfast.
Last time we were there is was $4.50 a foot! And no comps - never again.
Boating is a lot like RV'ing but with some significant differences. The biggest is of course costs. Although our trailers are considered rolling earthquakes with the respective issues, boating is a lot different in that aspect. 30+ years of boating and I am still convinced many of the items that are fitted to vessels are not up to the environment they are placed in. It is a constant battle to keep a boat afloat. Think stray current is bad with RV's? Stray current can sink a boat in hours if left unchecked.
The people are different too. For us, boat rallies seldom got dozens of like minded folks together. Mostly just one or two other couples. And when we traveled, because of the size of our boat we ended up docking with upper class of boaters, who tend to not give you the time of day. Unless of course, they find out you are a diver and have your gear with you and they just hit something or wrapped their prop on an errant crab trap on the way in. Then you have a new best friend.
Crude video I put together of the Porthole II leaving Shark River Inlet for the last time.
She was a little cranky starting after sitting two years, especially since the marina did not turn on the block heaters as requested (the crank time was shortened significantly for the video)
6-71's do not like cold starts!
Neat thing listening to these 6-71 cold starts is that when they finally start, it may only be 1 or 2 cylinders, as the cylinders start firing you can hear the engine change. Once all 6 are running the engine will "roll" a bit until things start to heat up and expand.
Since the first boat in 1991 it has been fun for the most part, and we will miss the adventures. But until we hit the lottery - I'll stick with land yachts.
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