CSR Northeast Flotilla 2013

Violation? If you use it to sell something or to make money...yes. That's free advertising for them for thousands of people to see. They'd be insane to complain. Just give them a plug in the same post!
 
Take a picture of the picture then it's your picture.
 
Out on the river today, heading back in at around 5pm and who's flying around Brick, NJ? The boatpix.com chopper. They circled us and got some pix. I've never seen them near our marina. The got me a couple of times with the previous boat out on the bay, but never way up on the Metedeconk River.
 
I don't think I'm buying mine, I was hoping for pics with the flotilla . Actually Greg and Alex captured some really nice shots of us anyway. And this way I save $1000.
 
It seemed like they communicated well with Alex early on, but when we needed good communication from them for the photo shoot, they weren't, maybe some instructions on "staging" the shoot would have been helpful from them.
 
I spoke with Alex yesterday on this and I'm surprised that their only on site communications are via text messages due to the noise in the copter, If there is a VHF noise cancelling radio I suggest they invest in one to use . I will reccommend them in the future as they shot some nice pics of my 320 a few years ago. This shoot had a plan that just didnt pan out.
 
$1000??? YIKES. That's a lot of gas money!
 
I still didn't get mine. I wonder if they couldn't see the name because of the dinghy.
 
Greg...if you guys used boatpix.com, they will not contact you. You have to send them a request for the pix. They'll send them to you and you pay for what you want. I visited their site yesterday. Check it out.
 
Yeah, I did that a while ago. Had to give a credit card number also. I saw a phone number on their site. I think I'll call tomorrow.
 
It seemed like they communicated well with Alex early on, but when we needed good communication from them for the photo shoot, they weren't, maybe some instructions on "staging" the shoot would have been helpful from them.

I have to say that communication is one of their weak areas. I've called about 10 times and explained in great details what exactly we're looking for the photo shoot of the group. I told them that we'll be very much interested in the group photos having the caravan with the Block in the background. I sent them our complete schedule, so they knew exactly when and where we'll be. The day before our trip to Block I talked to the pilot and we were all set for the following day. I had no problem with texting, don't we all do it all the time? Let's facing, as long we can communicate effectively that's all that matters. Oh well, after all my efforts they screwed up big time. I got only two group photos at a huge distance where you can barely tell who's boat is where. At first they lost our caravan and started shooting few other boats that were approaching Block. Then, after my intensive texting exchange they still managed to do the complete opposite and did the photo shoot of our group mostly after making a u-turn and came at us from Block having the Block behind them...Dah...So,

I guess, we can say that their method of communication is not working well at all. I have no idea how much the VHF head for the helicopter cost, but I would guess that with one or two successful group shots they would break even. In the meantime, they lost our business.

They did make some nice individual shots, but what we were looking to have as a hole group shots they totally dropped the ball.

Greg...if you guys used boatpix.com, they will not contact you. You have to send them a request for the pix....

Yeah, that's another "interesting" twist on how they do business.

I bet if they got their act together they could have make a lot more money and bring the cost of the pix down and attract a lot more clients.
 
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Alex, you should have sent them the spreadsheets (sorry, couldn't resist!)

So you're saying you were texting and driving and the pilot was texting and flying (again, couldn't resist?) ;-)

There is/was another company that would put the pix up online (less costly than printing and mailing). I got shot heading over to Tices Shoal years ago. Boatpix has chosen a different way of contacting the customer. They must have valid reasons for doing business this way but if you can't effectively communicate with your customers, you're doomed. They should have made your group priority 1.
 
Looks like you guys had a great time..... I have some questions concerning being on the hook for a long time.

1. Could you go into detail about the water maker system. I'm considering this....

2. You mention the drain / strain on the batteries... Do you have a recommendation?

3. I have a 400DA with a 3' swim platform. Trying to figure out the best balance of function / size / practicality for a dinghy. Thoughts? Ideally like a 12' console with a 40hp but figure that's way too much weight for the stern. Then even thought about the extreme of an inflatable with oars to save weight and room.....Thoughts?

4. Any other thoughts about staying on the hook for 10+ days?
 
Looks like you guys had a great time..... I have some questions concerning being on the hook for a long time.

1. Could you go into detail about the water maker system. I'm considering this....

2. You mention the drain / strain on the batteries... Do you have a recommendation?

3. I have a 400DA with a 3' swim platform. Trying to figure out the best balance of function / size / practicality for a dinghy. Thoughts? Ideally like a 12' console with a 40hp but figure that's way too much weight for the stern. Then even thought about the extreme of an inflatable with oars to save weight and room.....Thoughts?

4. Any other thoughts about staying on the hook for 10+ days?

I can answer about the water maker. It's been something I've been thinking about for a few years, going back and forth. From everything I've read, it seemed like it is not a good idea if you are not going to use it all the time. They also make it sound like there is a lot of 'maintenance' that needs to be done to keep it running properly.

I looked into several 'box' type water makers that you can buy, but decided against it for a few reasons. The primary reason was size. I would have to mount it down in the lazarette and I would lose a lot of valuable space. Another reason is that checking on it, changing filters, etc. would require a trip downstairs.

My decision was to build a DIY system. There is not much to a water maker. Basically the water comes through a thru-hull passes through a sea-strainer, then through a booster pump into a bank of pre-filters. From there it goes into a high pressure pump (a pressure washer type pump) and then into the actual RO membrane. The product water then passes through a UV filter and finally dumps into the regular fresh water tank.

By doing it the way I did I was able to tuck the pieces that you don't really need to get to out of the way, and keep the pieces you need to get to easily accessible. For example I put the pre-filters under the stairs in the cockpit, and the control panel behind one of the cabinet doors in the cockpit. I also added an auto flush feature so you don't have to pickle it when you leave the boat during the week.

As for the drain on the batteries while at anchor for so long, my answer is to leave the genny running. Other than to shut it down to clean the jellies out of the strainer and change the oil, my genny ran for about 11 days straight.

I loved staying on the hook for this trip. Although being tied up to a great group of friends probably had something to do with that.

Plus, it was a lot cheaper than getting a slip for the week.
 
Greg's system worked flawlessly for the entire trip , he actually filled everyone's boats daily with fresh water. A much needed commodity for us as I only hold 75 gals. And much appreciated too!! Thanks again Greg!!!



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Tom, this is great!

We did Boston and few other ports in July. Boston was awesome, it's very different when visiting by water. I'd love to go back there. Let me know when you're in LIS area, maybe we can meet some place.

If you need any tips on any of the ports you're going to, feel free to PM me. Whatever you do, don't underestimate Buzzards Bay during SW winds, especially if it was blowing for couple of days. Have fun with the rest of the trip and safe traveling.

Hi Alex,

Liz and I left Boston for Ptown on the 10th. We headed for OB in the Vinyard on the 11th where we were held up for an extra day due to foul weather out in RI and BI sounds....there are worse places to be stuck in!! Departed OB on the 13th for Montauk for a night and decided to make the 7.5 hr run straight to Haverstraw on the 14th.

Buzzards Bay was reasonably tame but Woods Hole Passage was just insane. Zero tolerance for error there. Liz wasn't allowed to talk or distract me for the 5mins it takes to make the passage but only seconds for disaster to happen up on the oh so close rocks.

Our journey (Haverstraw-Milford-Shelter Island-Block Island-Newport-Boston[lots of cruising around Boston Harbor]-Ptown-Oak Bluffs-Montauk-Haverstraw) in total by the numbers;

1091 miles
80 hours
755.2 gallons of diesel consumed

That's a fun season and knock on wood....no mechanical or safety issues!

Tom


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
A run through woods hole with the tide at full flow is a hair raising experience. It doesn't look too bad on a chart and then you get there in person it seems as though the rocks are everywhere, and they are. When I was a kid we used to run through there and didn't think twice about it.(probably not even in the channel if I remebr correctly) Now, I second guess myself every time I run through it.
 
Alex, you should have sent them the spreadsheets (sorry, couldn't resist!)

So you're saying you were texting and driving and the pilot was texting and flying (again, couldn't resist?) ;-)

There is/was another company that would put the pix up online (less costly than printing and mailing). I got shot heading over to Tices Shoal years ago. Boatpix has chosen a different way of contacting the customer. They must have valid reasons for doing business this way but if you can't effectively communicate with your customers, you're doomed. They should have made your group priority 1.

You nailed it, Ron. They didn't have my spreadsheet.....Oh man what was I thinking....:lol:

Yeah, you think when a person calls requesting a group photo shooting it means that there's good chance to make some money. I guess in their business there are other priorities.

Looks like you guys had a great time..... I have some questions concerning being on the hook for a long time.

1. Could you go into detail about the water maker system. I'm considering this....

2. You mention the drain / strain on the batteries... Do you have a recommendation?

3. I have a 400DA with a 3' swim platform. Trying to figure out the best balance of function / size / practicality for a dinghy. Thoughts? Ideally like a 12' console with a 40hp but figure that's way too much weight for the stern. Then even thought about the extreme of an inflatable with oars to save weight and room.....Thoughts?

4. Any other thoughts about staying on the hook for 10+ days?

No question, Greg is the man when it comes to water makers. I did only preliminary high level research (as I'm also thinking on installing one) and I really liked Greg's installation. It made perfect sense, it took minimum space and performace was outstanding. Greg's unit was supplying water for 6 boats all week long with ease. Now that's some real life test phase.

I'm very much consider installing a water maker on my boat and I'm planning to clone Greg's system.

Answer for #2:
I mention in another thread that staying on the hook or mooring for a week is VERY different than your normal weekend getaway routine. When you're back at the dock after 2-3 days on the hook the batteries get fully recharged when the boat gets plugged in for days. So, you don't feel much of an issue the following weekend. But, when you're settled away from the dock for a week or longer and try to follow your usual approach (running genny for couple of hours in the morning and then couple of hours in the evening) is not going to cut it.

There are two things going on:
1- The batteries need time to recharge fully and the minute you fire up the genny they'll be demanding all the juice form the charger they can get.

2- Our boats have ton's of 12VDC equipment (especially lighting) that constantly draw juice from the batteries. If you have more than one fridge running on 12VCD it only makes it worst for the batteries. So, when you're back from the shore and now want to use "the house" you draining your batteries with lighting, water pump, etc....etc....while you think your genny is charging the batteries. So, at the end of the night you feel like running genny for 3 or so hours should be plenty for your batteries to last over night, this is not the case.

So, what's the solution?
1. Be prepared to run your genny for much longer. Gas boats need to keep an eye on the fuel reserve. The fact that only few selective models have an option to choose what side to feed the genny from doesn't help either. Luckily my boat has this option.

2. Maximize your 12VDC side of the house. Install either larger house batteries or add extra. I'm planning to add 3rd battery to each bank. My batt. charger is designed to charge 3 banks, so I have room to load it up.

3. Try to conserve 12v appliances, don't let the crew flip every light switch on the boat, make them aware of what's going on and make it a mutual effort. When everyone is on the same page it's not a big deal at all.

Answer for #3:
I'm almost positive that a 12 footer dink will be too much for your boat. Have you thought about where it'll be stored on? Will it be on extended platform with a hydraulic lift or something what I have, which is a hydraulic lift with a cradle?

Be very careful with both, the large size making difficult for docking and too much extra weight at the stern affecting performance of the boat. 40 footer will feel it big time, while something close to 50'er (480/500/52 DA or DB) will not as much.

Answer for #4:
Be more specific.

Hi Alex,

Liz and I left Boston for Ptown on the 10th. We headed for OB in the Vinyard on the 11th where we were held up for an extra day due to foul weather out in RI and BI sounds....there are worse places to be stuck in!! Departed OB on the 13th for Montauk for a night and decided to make the 7.5 hr run straight to Haverstraw on the 14th.

Buzzards Bay was reasonably tame but Woods Hole Passage was just insane. Zero tolerance for error there. Liz wasn't allowed to talk or distract me for the 5mins it takes to make the passage but only seconds for disaster to happen up on the oh so close rocks.

Our journey (Haverstraw-Milford-Shelter Island-Block Island-Newport-Boston[lots of cruising around Boston Harbor]-Ptown-Oak Bluffs-Montauk-Haverstraw) in total by the numbers;

1091 miles
80 hours
755.2 gallons of diesel consumed

That's a fun season and knock on wood....no mechanical or safety issues!

Tom...

Hey Tom,

That's great to hear. What a trip, man......way to go! I'm glad everything worked out nice and smooth and the Buzzard Bay run southbound was uneventful.

Woods Hole...oh man, :lol:.....try everything you described and then add FOG, RAIN, crossing situation with a HUGE barge and having a Mega Yacht on my tail. And of course going against the tide. Now that will keep the crew quite....:smt043Oh yeah, and I was going to a totally new harbor I've never stayed before, which I had to navigate to in unmarked channel in the Woods Hole.

It get's a little "better". When I was approaching Cape Cod Canal a nasty storm that was 3hrs South of us came so fast that it caught up with us as we entered the Canal. this was the first time I had to fuel up during a storm (Sandwich has the best prices in the area). Phew.....good and fun memories...:lol:. Kids were very excited when we met up with Mega Yacht up in Boston.
 
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