Awaiting for Spring 2010...

As a prologue to my acquisition story, my 270DA now looks like a giant deformed marshmallow on jack stands as the boating season has been officially closed since the end of October. Of course, the Rideau Canal water level has been lowered for winter. Though I took delivery of my 2009 Sea Ray 270 Sundancer late in the boating season, at least I got a few weeks of use and enjoyment. Of course, the downside is that I didn't get my fill of my new toy and now I'm eagerly awaiting spring to arrive so that I can commission "Summer Dreams", my boat's official name. Going through the pictures I took in the brief time I was on the water was my muse for all my posts.

In my last post I said that it was the beginning of a new story and I wasn't kidding. It's not much of a story as it's more a learning experience. It starts with our impromptu trip, traveling south down the Rideau Canal, towards Smith Falls for the Thanksgiving weekend (in Canada that was October 10th to 12th).


We were cruising at about 10 kph, enjoying the scenery as the above picture shows. My wife Maria is down below chilling in the mid-cabin and Catherine is playing World of Warcraft on her laptop. Of course, temporarily installing 3G wireless/wi-fi sort of throws one of my arguments overboard; hope that the wife will let that slide. Just after the above picture was taken, I got a warning alarm on the generator then it shutdown. The error code that was flashing on the controller's LED two digit display was L6. Of course, I pulled out the 4 inch thick owner manuals for the boat (I'm not kidding about the manual being 4" thick; Sea Ray really has to cut this down). For the generator, there were lots of codes but I be damned if I could find out what L6 was. I decided to anchor and check in the bilge.

Of course, to access the bilge the entire back of the boat lifts up by an electric lift. This is my first time opening the engine hatch to the bilge, by myself that is. I unlocked the hatch and pushed the hatch lift rocker at the helm. Nothing happens. I check to that I did everything right and still nothing happens. I was at a loss so I decided to radio the marina to ask them what is an L6 code on the generator. Of course, being a new 2009 model they were not familiar with the systems. What to do? I can't continue the trip without the generator so I pulled anchor and started heading back to the marina. Then it donned on me to check the fuse panel. Sure enough the fuse to the hatch blew. One mystery solved but I have no replacement fuse (a suggestion to those who own brand new boats, get some extra fuses) so I was still headed back to the marina.

Just as we were approaching the gas bar at the marina, the master alarm on the SmartCraft diagnostics went off. No gear lube/oil pressure. Docking was interesting as I shutdown the engine, obviously not wanting to break my new toy. I went to service to get a fuse and tell them about the lack of gear lube/oil. When I mentioned it, the service guy goes "you have a Bravo III stern drive right?" I say yes. He says, "always keep a extra bottle on hand because the Bravo III goes through lube quickly". Now they tell me... Lucky I didn't go far.

So I replace the fuse and open the hatch. Yep, no gear lube so I fill it up and have a spare bottle on hand. Of course, I made a mental note to keep an eye on the lube level just in case there is a functional problem, i.e. bad seal. I'm guessing that there was air in the drive which eventually bubbled up lowering the level. Again something that only time and use will tell.

Now back to the generator, I check everything including the raw water intake strainer. It's blocked with water weeds so I clean it out and check everything before I reset/clear the error code. As I was staring at the readout, it dawned on me. The code was not L6 but Lb, (L)ine (b)locked which was a error code in the manual. I felt really stupid at that moment. Sure enough, I started everything up and resumed our trip.

Unfortunately, a good few hours were expended which meant making the next set of locks impractical. No matter as I was just happy to be out on the water and that the family was having a good time. Of course, the weather was off and on but once and while the view from the helm was breathtaking as the below pictures shows.




Of course, Maria and Catherine were down below enjoying themselves. Catherine helped herself to the munchies I brought on board (ate all the sour cream Pringles ) and pretty much used up all my monthly bandwidth playing WoW.


My wife was very happy to relax and read her books. In the evening, we all piled into the V-berth for a movie night out on the water. With the cabin speakers (hidden at the front of the cabin) and the TV speakers (which is tied into the sound system), it was like a mini-home theater.


Suffice to say that we had a Happy Thanksgiving out on the water.

Cheers,
Kaoru

Posted by Kaoru [Boating] ( December 13, 2009 11:04 AM ) Permalink | Comments[0]

How I became a 2009 270 Sundancer owner... Done Deal.

Finally, this story (links to the first, second, third and fourth posts) is coming to a conclusion. However, it should be noted that this is not the end but really the beginning of a whole new story. Without dwelling on this further, Monday rolled around and "cough cough" I took the day off of work.

Obviously, you can see where this is leading. The Sunday before I spent the afternoon pitching to my wife why we needed the 270 by presenting a cost benefit analysis. I've used this technique before to smooth over the sticker shock of any large purchase. In this case, I presented the following:

1. If we get the 270, we can have the life style you want without the stress or worry of wake waves. We can use it every day after work to decompress, and we won't be messing up the house (big selling point).
2. Also, I'll do all the work which will be good for my health and with all the extra activity, I'll lose weight. (Hard to say that one with a straight face. )
3. We'll have more family time and activities for the kids, especially for my youngest daughter who plays WoW practically 24/7 (another big selling point).
4. AND the clincher was: we'll stop eating out (fast food) and I'll do the cooking (I'm actually a good cook). This is what clinched the deal since in the month of August, for example, we spent $872.65 on eating out/fast food. (No, I'm not kidding!)

So that was my case but, of course, my wife mulls it over and decides to ask her father for advice on what to do. My heart pitched up and sank to the depth of Davy Jone's locker. My father-in-law is an old fashioned Portuguese who believes in saving money for family and nothing else. He doesn't speak English so as I was listening in to my wife's conversation with him, I had no clue how this was going to play out. I swear that I've never been so nervous, dreading the final outcome. With all that happened, will this be the end? How will I go back to my lowly 175 Sport knowing how close I came to a cruiser? Time seemed to tick by at a snails pace. Finally, my wife addressed me, "my dad says that if we put the money in a cottage, we'd probably spend more and pay more taxes. And if you look at my cousin, whose cottage flooded this year, it's not worth it." I was bewildered since I didn't even think of that, probably because I think that if you have a house it should be as good as you can make it; a cottage is a waste. My wife finished with "this boat can be our floating cottage." At that moment, I swear that I heard the sound of clearing trumpets.

So on Monday over my wife's lunch break, we found ourselves in Hurst's business office inking the deal we made on Saturday with a few additions. First, our 2009 Sea Ray 175 Sport with the installed electronic package was traded in for $3000.00 over what I paid for it, essentially I got full value for it. Second, the artic white 270DA Sundancer had about 20K worth of manufacturer incentives applied to the invoice. Then finally because of it being late in the season, Hurst threw in the complete winterization, shrinkwrap, and storage (a $2500 value) for free. Of course, there was still a month left before the Rideau Canal officially closes so there was time to commission the 270, do the water test, and enjoy the symphony of fall colors on the Rideau. Of course, I was given another slip that could easily fit the 270.

Now I could write about how, for me and my wife, this was the best possible decision. But instead, I'm going to show some pictures I took of our [Canadian] Thanksgiving weekend out on the Rideau. So now the REAL story begins...

My beautiful 2009 Sea Ray 270DA Sundancer.


Heading out on Thanksgiving weekend, the trip was eventful since getting to know a new boat certainly bound to have some surprises.

A picture of putting anchor at a spot close to the Rideau Provincial Park; while we enjoyed ice cream from the Ice Cream Float (his last day open).


Serenity... pure serenity.


Some practical shots... And yes, I couldn't wait to customize my 270 with wireless/wi-fi and Sirius satellite radio with a temporary installation.


A shot from the stern, for its size there is a lot of room. And yes, I love the double seat helm since it's roomy and I like having my wife sit next to me. Notice the Ericsson W35 3G router on the helm dash and the external antenna duct taped to the arch.


Cheers,
Kaoru

Posted by Kaoru [Boating] ( December 06, 2009 04:06 PM ) Permalink | Comments[0]

How I became a 2009 270 Sundancer owner... Really!

So as the story (links to the first, second, and third posts) continues to unfold, my life as a boater began to settle down as summer vacation was winding to a close.  My wife and I really began to enjoy ourselves especially after work, when the canal is quiet, and we could enjoy dinner and a sunset cruise.  On weekends, we took advantage of Hurst Marina's clubhouse and facilities to enjoy some family/friend time.  Of course, both me and my wife got to know some of the other boaters.  Before I knew it I was invited to the season end potluck put on by the Hurst Marina Boaters Association.  Now the importance of this is only because I had the chance to mingle and get some valuable information.  One excellent piece of information was the ease of "trading up" to a larger boat at Hurst.  The second piece of information is that new stock had arrived and that there some factory incentives available by Sea Ray.  I filed this information, not really expecting to act on it any time soon.

Then another fateful but fortunate event occurred on the following day.  Basically, my wife decided that entire family, including her mother and father, are going to have a picnic.  The weather was beautiful and it seemed to be an excellent Saturday.  We packed up a cooler and headed out.  However, being such a nice day so did a lot of other people.  This was especially true for some wake boarders who trying squeeze as much time on the water before the end.  Unfortunately, they were ruining the day for everyone else as they ignored the posted signs and were being complete *ss*oles.

So let me paint the picture, we're anchored in a nice scenic spot, away from the main navigation passage, having our picnic on the boat.  Being such a small boat, picnicking is an exercise in patience.  Then out of no where these wake boarders, with flanking sea doos, decided to churn up the water in front of us.  My wife just lost it.  Her exact words were "Ed, we need a bigger boat".  I did a double take and couldn't believe what I heard.  At a loss of words, the ones I found were "do you mean right now?"  I did a triple take when the reply came back "yes, now!"  That's when my mind started to work on automatic (like it does when my wife is ordering me around) and before I knew it we were in Hurst's showroom staring at three brand new 2009 Sundancers, a 350DA, a 310DA, and finally a 270DA.

Three Sea Ray Sundancers, all artic white and lined up which made for a very interesting picture but excellent in comparing the size differences.  Me and my wife scrutinized all three but basically fell in love with the 270.  It's a big boat, though obviously smaller than the other two, it held its own with a 28' 8" length and a 8' 10" beam.  But the dimensions are just part of it, the use of the space was well thought out.  This made the 270 seem larger.  A good example of this is the cabin entrance being on the port side instead of center like the other two.  Apparently, this design change is new for this year and I can see how it's an improvement.  The cabin seems quite large for the size of the boat.  And the cockpit seems to rival the cockpit of the other two boats.  The deal clincher was that this 270 was fully loaded with 350 Mag/Bravo II, generator, hot/cold water systems, transom shower, vacuflush head, fully appointed galley, HDTV/DVD, Sony Stereo/iPod dock (and sat. radio ready), Raymarine C70 GPS/chartplotter, SmartCraft, windlass, snap-down carpets, full camper top, electric grill, and more.  That's when my wife said "we won't buy it now but come back Monday after we check our money situation..."

So the story continues...

Cheers,
Kaoru

Posted by Kaoru [Boating] ( December 06, 2009 01:10 PM ) Permalink | Comments[0]

How I became a 2009 270 Sundancer owner... The Good, Bad, & Ugly.

So as the saga continues (do read the first and the second posts of the story). My brother and family arrived soon after we got our 175 Sport. For a period of a couple of weeks, the whole gang essentially lived out on the canal. The good part of the Rideau Canal, besides the scenery, is that boating there is more slow and relaxed. This is due to the fact that there are speed/power limitations since it is a canal. In those areas, waterfront properties and even some restaurants utilize the waterway as the below pictures show.

A blue heron crane perched on one of many navigation signs.


All manner of waterfront properties line the canal. The below modest property, however, appeals to me more.


Kelly's Landing, from the street side it looks like a gas station. From the canal side, it's amazing with plenty of dock space. Their seafood chowder rivals the chowder I had at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.


Back to the story, so you can imagine that we had a great time for the most part. However, you have to take the good with the bad. The bad part is that a Sea Ray 175 Sport is one small boat. Add to that the fact that my wife is nervous about boating, being on the water and she doesn't swim, then finally having a fairly crowded boat. This, of course, put a damper on things especially when I started to get a serious case of footitis. When it comes to my wife, I essentially kept my mouth shut as to not rock the boat, pardon the pun. I was happy as is.

Then came the ugly. By ugly, I mean the situation where one has a small boat, traveling on a waterway that is a prime tourist destination for all manner of cruisers and yachts. Everything from 30' weekenders to 110' ship/riverboat (whose bridge/top deck canopy would lower to clear bridges) carrying tourists. The ugly part is some of the boaters rushing to make the lock schedules, creating massive wake waves by plowing water. This further complicated by the fact that being a canal, there's hardly a day where the wind creates waves. This makes it good for water skiing/wake boarding at all times, ugly for traffic, noise, and more wake waves. This is the ugly of the Rideau Canal.

Now how does this all fit into me being a proud owner of a 2009 270 Sundancer, it fits because it prompted my wife to give me permission to fix it. It started when we experienced a few harrowing moments when we were subject to these wake waves, being knocked about and/or even crashing over the bow (if we were anchored). In the end, she still loved and wanted the relaxing boating lifestyle but in her words, "buy what you need to give me what I want. I hate waves!" Enough said but I thought that getting a new boat would be too drastic, that I would be overstepping my bounds. I honestly thought she was talking about safety. Please remember that my expectations up to now were low to begin with and I was happy so far. So with that misdirected thought and me being very safety conscious, I had professionally installed ($$) a Raymarine A57D GPS/chartplotter/fishfinder, a SR50 Sirius receiver (which connects to the chartplotter) for satellite radio/marine weather, and a Ray49 VHF/DSC radio. The AIS receiver was just out of my price range, as I was broke from the other stuff. The service guys at Hurst Marina were great and we were all amazed on what I squeezed into my bow rider. Basically, at a push of a button my wife can call for help. The real selling point was that I could issue a DSC safety call/hail where all DSC radios in range will pickup. That means that I had the ability to tell these 34'-44' cruisers to "WATCH THEIR WAKES!". Problem solved.

Not quite as the summer went on. My wife continued to dread the traffic, which in turn made me modify where we boated and when. Thinking that this is it, little did I realize another fortunate event was about to occur...

The story continues...

Cheers,
Kaoru

Posted by Kaoru [Boating] ( December 05, 2009 07:23 PM ) Permalink | Comments[0]

How I became a 2009 270 Sundancer owner... The boating lifestyle.

Continuing with the story (read the first post first), me and my wife finally took delivery of a brand new Sea Ray 175 Sport bow rider. I was on cloud nine since achieving one of your life dreams is a rare occurrence in life. Little did I know at the time how much further I will go beyond my dreams and blow away all my expectations. So for Father's Day, my gift was the fulfillment of my summer dream of boating, not on the Ottawa River, but on the Rideau Canal. The Rideau stretches all the way from lake Ontario to the Ottawa River at heart of Canada's capital as below map shows.

[quote]The Rideau Canal; a National Historic Site of Canada, a Canadian Heritage River and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, consists of a series of beautiful lakes and rivers connected by canals. It stretches from Kingston, at the foot of Lake Ontario, to Ottawa, Canada's capital. Maintained by Canada's Parks service it is arguably the most scenic waterway in North America. Whether you visit by boat, car, bicycle or on foot, the Rideau has something for you.[/quote]Of course my home port, Hurst Marina, resides in Manotick along the longest stretch of canal between the Long Island locks and the Burritts Rapids locks, a total of 29 miles. This is where my saga picks up. When me and my wife took delivery, we were given a "floating slip". Of course, I was a total newbie regarding "slips" and such. As I found out, a floating slip is basically the normal slip for sport boats as it was the least expensive. The more expensive "fixed slips" were reserved for cruisers and yachts as those slips had shore power, etc.

So here in Canada, the federal government was in the process of instituting pleasure craft operator licenses. The actual license is easy to obtain since it can be done online. All you do is review some provided material about navigation, safe boating, and various maritime regulations then write an online exam. The second part, the practical portion of the operator license, has been left to the boat dealers. They're mandated to provide a water/operation test on the delivery of a new boat. So we took delivery of our bow rider and immediately did our water test with Hurst's sales staff. When we returned to the marina to tie up to our slip, to our dismay there was no more room in the "floating slip". Our salesman called the office saying there was a problem and he was promptly told that someone is coming out. A few minutes later, an older gentlemen came walking. I knew something was up since the salesman immediately stiffened and talked to the gentlemen very formally.

The older man perused our situation, looked around and said, "put Mr. Daigle there in the corner" as he was pointing to a fixed slip right next to an older but large Sea Ray cruiser and a 30' pontoon boat. I couldn't believe it but panic then set in as thoughts of paying extra $$ for the slip flashed in my mind. I guess the gentlemen saw the panic on my face so he added "by the way, don't about the price difference, it's all good", nodded to the salesman and walked away. I later found out that the gentlemen was the owner of the marina.

Now your most likely wondering why I even mention this. As it turns out, it became one of the key catalysts in moving to a larger boat. As I mentioned, our slip was among a slew of Sea Ray (Doral, Four Winns, etc.) cruisers. It was actually funny to see a lowly Sea Ray 175 Sport, the smallest of the small, rubbing fenders with 28-34' cruisers. But besides that picture, my wife immediately noticed the lifestyle. Our slip neighbours, an older couple, would sit in their Sundancer sipping red wine as the sun set over the canal, having quiet conversation and what appeared to be a most relaxing moment. The expression on my wife's face on seeing this was the same expression I had when I entered the showroom floor of all those shiny new Sea Rays. This was the first indication that my wife is going to enjoy boating.

The story continues...

Cheers,
Kaoru

Posted by Kaoru [Boating] ( December 05, 2009 11:31 AM ) Permalink | Comments[0]

How I became a 2009 270 Sundancer owner...

I've been reading CSR for awhile now, ever since I began researching Sea Ray boats which began just after Father's Day this summer. I've decided to share how I became a proud owner of a brand new 2009 Sea Ray 270 Sundancer with all the bells and whistles. Believe me when I say that I'm still trying to figure out how it happened.

To start the story, a little background first. I grew up in the land that God gave to Cain, namely Northern Labrador. Though winters are in the -40's (doesn't matter if its Celsius or Fahrenheit; it's the same at that temperature ), I've always enjoyed boating/fishing in the summer since there's more lake than land. Even though boating consists entirely of sport boats/runabouts and the odd pontoon boat, I've always dreamed of having my own boat. Of course, my expectations in terms of a boat was no more than that.

Fast forward to just before Father's day. I'm now living in Ottawa (Canada's capital) married to the most wonderful wife who has given me two beautiful daughters. My dream of owning a boat, unfortunately, was always pushed aside for other priorities. Then a strange fortunate string of events took place.

It started with my younger brother and his family coming from Labrador to Ottawa for summer vacation. Prior to their arrival I suggested to my wife that we do something different. That suggestion was to rent a pontoon boat and spend the day on the Ottawa River. Of course, it wasn't taken seriously since my wife tends to be nervous around pretty much any mode of transportation. The suggestion, however, was revisited without my knowledge with my wife's classmates, as she was taking a course on how to deal with stress. It was suggested to her that boating is an excellent way to learn how to deal with stress (of boating/flying, etc.). As the eminent arrival of my brother approached, as well as Father's day, I mentioned the boating idea again.

This time my wife jumped at the idea, which of course left me bewildered but happy. Since we were already in the car driving around, we passed by some marinas to see how much it would cost to rent a pontoon boat. The $500+ per day sticker shock made me utter the words "at that price I'm better off buying a boat". Imagine my shock when my wife said "why don't we look?" I was beside myself. Once that passed I realized that I should seize this opportunity because it may not come again. I quickly said that we should see what wares the local boat dealers have.

At that point, we were looking for a pontoon boat. The first dealer/marina we went to sold pontoon boats and had a beautiful marina with a park, the works. My wife's exact words were "I can see myself relaxing in a place like this". I thought that I had it made, it was a done deal, boat here I come. Nope. "We'll only get a boat if we can get a slip" issued my wife. The marina was full. Crap. "Why can't we just trailer the boat?" I asked, trying to save things. Nope. "I don't want anything in the garage" was the reply. As I was processing this, the salesman chimed in that a pontoon boat wasn't really practical for trailering. Crap. We left with a cloud hanging over my head.

On the drive back to the house, we passed another marina/dealer namely Hurst Marina in Manotick. I knew of it before but I dismissed it out of hand since they sold high-end cruisers/yachts, and as I found out is Ottawa's only Sea Ray dealer. Of course, I assumed my wife would insist that it's beyond our price range. To my surprise, "Hey! That marina looks nice" my wife chimes in.

We enter the large indoor sales center, my eyes wide like a kid in a candy store. After a brief conversation with the sales staff, I find out that they don't sell pontoon boats. But that fact seemed to evaporate as my wife was staring at the shiny new Sea Ray's. Add to that the statement by the sales staff that if we buy a boat, they will provide a slip in the marina. Before you know it me and my wife were proud owners of a "2009 Sea Ray 175 Sport"... (that was identical to the below)



The story continues in the next post.

Cheers,
Kaoru

Posted by Kaoru [Boating] ( December 05, 2009 02:53 AM ) Permalink | Comments[0]