Bye bye sea ray :(

J

JamesBay

New Member
Aug 20, 2013
36
Emeryville, CA
Boat Info
1998 Sea Ray 370 Aft Cabin
Engines
Mercruiser
After 6 lessons and way too many upgrades, I am sorry to say I am selling my sea ray for a meridian. I simply cannot dock my boat without bow and stern thrusters and most meridians come with both. Thanks to everyone who helped me with advice. Wish it wasn't so expensive to upgrade my current boat with thrusters.


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Do what ever it takes. Boating is supposed to be stress RELIEF. Good luck, and send some pics when ya make a deal.
 
Have you considered just starting with a bow thruster, and holding off on stern? A boat your size shouldn't need stern thrusters, really!
 
James,

I hope you do not take this the wrong way and if you lived in Central FL I would come do it.

But I and certainly many others can teach a monkey to dock your boat, anywhere. Please give it another try and find someone that knows how to teach. I hold a Flight Instructor Rating, but anyone who has a teaching background will understand the need for different approaches in certain situations. This is not hard, and can be one of the most fun thing in maneuvering a boat.

Good luck in whatever you decide.
 
Dog: I have a combination of issues. The slip I have is very narrow and only gives me 1' on each side. No bigger slips available. It is windy 95 percent of the time and current usually goes in the opposite direction than the wind. Most of the other boats in my marina have thrusters. And the coast guard captain I am paying for lessons has tried to help me six times to dock. I just can't it right. I have watched some of the other monkeys without thrusters break stuff off their boat trying to get into these slips. I don't want to be that monkey any more. I love my boat, but I will have to either move to another marina or get a new boat. This sucks.


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Best of luck, whichever direction you go. As others have mentioned, this is pleasure boating. A little bit of challenge occasionally pumps the adrenaline - and is not bad. But it should not be something that you dread.

One thing I found when my wife wanted to learn how to back in a slip - that I was not the best teacher. I can dock, but not teach docking. I think it is my heavy equipment background, it is instinctive to steer the stern with transmissions. She would ask why I did something, I didn't always have an answer better than "that's just what I had to do".

I got someone else to teach her, I sat back with a bottle of water and bit my lip a lot -- but she learned.

Reason I mentioned this - trading boats or marina's will involve cost. Always the chance its not "you" - rather your instructor.

Not saying anything bad about the instructor - but there are a lot of people who are very proficient with a boat - they take an action instinctively - without thinking. Sometimes that is a challenge for the student when they are teaching someone.

Just my 2cents...

Good luck - keep us posted what you decide to do.
 
I would move to another marina if you truly "love" your boat. That Meridian, even with bow and stern thrusters will be much more
susceptible to wind than an express.
 
I did a bare boat charter on a 40ish Meridian. Nice boat, had bow and stern thrusters.

Make sure you "try it out" first. Maybe it was just the boat I had, stern thrusters were not powerful enough to move the boat into the wind if there was over 10 knots or so. Bow thruster was a bit better, but still one of the weaker ones I had ever seen.

Limited knowledge and experience on the Meridian - just on that one boat for a week. Was wondering if the Thrusters were added on as part of a marketing bundle - and not all that powerful.
 
KnotEasy said:
That Meridian, even with bow and stern thrusters will be much more
susceptible to wind than an express.
Click to expand...
While your statement may be true, it is irrelevant to JamesBay... He has a 370 Aft Cabin per his details.
 
To answer the piling question. Yes. About 12" from the edge of the dock. Tall concrete ones on each side. So even if I get the bow in just a little, as soon as the stern slips a little to the port or starboard, then my railings are hitting the concrete. I was going to put cushions on the pilings, but the marina said it would look bad.

And I really didn't want to put my gas boat back into full salt water. So there aren't a lot of marina choices in the delta unless I want ghetto.


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May i ask why you think a meridian, or any other boat for that matter is going to make a difference? Any bridge boat is going to have a larger freeboard essentially making it a sail, much like you are experiencing now. Why not just add thrusters to your current boat.
 
Zorba said:
May i ask why you think a meridian, or any other boat for that matter is going to make a difference? Any bridge boat is going to have a larger freeboard essentially making it a sail, much like you are experiencing now. Why not just add thrusters to your current boat.
Click to expand...

Have to admit I thought the same thing. For about $8k you could get a bow thruster installed and wouldn't that be cheaper? Actually had a lady Captain at our last yacht club that had a newer Meridian with those pod drives and she said in the wind she was just a B!!@h and if windy she stayed put at the dock.
 
I had the same issues with my first boat. I was on the Hudson River with a wicked current. I hired a captain for two full weekends 8 hours a day to get me up to speed on docking in less than Ideal conditions. So He scheduled me only when the wind was great than 25 mph, preferably gusting to 35 mph. at the end of 4 full days, I was pulling that boat into the slip. It cost me $900 and I don't have to maintain thrusters now.
 
JamesBay said:
And I really didn't want to put my gas boat back into full salt water. So there aren't a lot of marina choices in the delta unless I want ghetto.
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Click to expand...
Very confusing statements. Emeryville IS full salt water and how many delta marinas have you been to? It is nice to come down to the bay a couple of times a year but I would rather boat mainly in the delta as I currently do. I can go anchor and swim (in the Summer months), fish, go to restaurants on the water, use my tender to go most anywhere, etc. Don't knock it until you have tried it.
 
Maybe I didn't update my profile. Boat is in pittsburg. Brackesh water.

And going in bow first.

And no way is it only $8k to add a bow thruster. I asked around and it is minimum $14k just for bow. Another $5k for stern. Not worth it on a boat worth only $100k.


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