First long cruise this weekend...

gerryb

gerryb

Well-Known Member
TECHNICAL Contributor
Oct 12, 2006
1,974
Somers Point, NJ
Boat Info
"On Vacation"
2006 40 Sundancer
Raymarine E125 & HD Radar + Garmin 5208
Engines
QSB5.9 380 Cummins
Wife and I are joining our Marinemax dealer on a 'getaway' trip this weekend. Somers Point NJ, to Ocean City MD. Staying at the Sunset Marina there. 75 mile trip down the coast, straight shotm departing Friday morning. We're with a group of about 15 other boats and we'll have a MM mechanic along for the trip. Wondering if there are any tips from other CSR members who make long runs like this. My experience to date has been limited to the bays and creeks along Ocean City NJ. Our 7-year old will be with us and we're excited. I'm concerned about 1) driver fatigue and 2) not having any problems with our child as I won't be able to stop and deal with it. (Parents prolly know what I mean...)


Aside: anyone looking for a hard-to-get transient slip Friday and Saturday in Seaview Harbor may have a shot :thumbsup: . Feel free to contact me via PM.

Thanks, Gerry
 
Kids on the Water ....

Bring toys that don't fly away ... request the flotilla consider a swim break half way ... do a quick raft up ...

Get the children in games of watching for things spot this or that along the way ...

Driver fatigue ... Oh man this ain't work! Long cruises you gotta pry the helm from my hands!
 
Gerry:

I tried to get in on that trip but they were booked. I was told I was first on the waiting list and that was about 1 1/2 months ago....I guess no body backed out...... :smt089

Anyway, enjoy the trip and don't forget to post some pics when you get back....
 
Best way to deal with young kids:

1. Put "Jaws" in the VCR/DVD (2 hours)
2. Convince them there are lots of sharks in the water
3. Tell them if they make a peep, they are going overboard

That should cover you for 3 hours.
 
Grinning

FourSinns, that only works with daughters, with sons they'll will say "neat" and act out even more because they wanna see their brother eaten!
 
gerryb said:
Wife and I are joining our Marinemax dealer on a 'getaway' trip this weekend. Somers Point NJ, to Ocean City MD. Staying at the Sunset Marina there. 75 mile trip down the coast, straight shotm departing Friday morning. We're with a group of about 15 other boats and we'll have a MM mechanic along for the trip. Wondering if there are any tips from other CSR members who make long runs like this. My experience to date has been limited to the bays and creeks along Ocean City NJ. Our 7-year old will be with us and we're excited. I'm concerned about 1) driver fatigue and 2) not having any problems with our child as I won't be able to stop and deal with it. (Parents prolly know what I mean...)


Aside: anyone looking for a hard-to-get transient slip Friday and Saturday in Seaview Harbor may have a shot :thumbsup: . Feel free to contact me via PM.

Thanks, Gerry
Click to expand...

How did it go?
 
Just getting back from our ocean run to Ocean City, MD. About 15 boats headed down for the MM getaway. My wife and 7 yr old had a great weekend. Met lots of nice people and we all enjoyed ourselves at the wonderful Sunset Marina in OC, MD...

Things that went well.

1)No problems with engines or drives. Guages basically didn't move throughout the 10 hours engines were run.

2)Foam pads on berths. We use a memory foam pad on the aft berth and a cheap but effective foam pad on the forward berth. No better use of $75 than for these 2 items as they actually allow you to get a good night sleep on the otherwise very hard cushions.

3)Kudos to Marinemax in SomersPoint for the way they plan and execute these getaways. Mechanics and parts go along with the group, they handle many of the details with the marinas and restaurants, and handle other logistics such as when a boat is having mechanical problems. Made us truly feel like a member of the family.. which from their perspective is the best form of product marketing.

4) Sunset marina is probably the nicest marinas we've been to.. Palm Trees all around...with real hard core fishing yachts and a great bar/restaurant. (I learned that the palm trees get crated and shipped to Florida to survive the winter, then they all come backup in the spring!)

5) Travelling in a group makes a lot of sense. 4 boats had breakdowns during the trip. 1 had a fuel filter issue, 1 had a serpentine belt slip off, the 3rd ran our of gas (bad guage perhaps?) and the 4th, a brand-new Meridian 41, blew a pan gasket!


Things that didn't go well.

1)Fuel Burn. Was expecting better than the 1.4 MPG I got.

2)TrimTabs. Spent a lot of time playing with them throughout the trip as they definately made a difference in the ride. So how can something so useful be implemented so poorly? And indicator lights should be STANDARD in a $100,000 boat! (Admiral asked me why there was no automatic, self-adjusting setting?)

3)Traveling with a group of bigger boats which like to go 20MPH. My boat doesn't like 20MPH as it is not really quite on plane - bow still up. I can go slower and create a wake, or go faster to 23MPH to get the better ride. I was constantly adjusting the throttle on the way down. (On the way back, we ran with a faster group of boats at 25MPH or so, and then I ended-up running the last stretch myself at 30MPH! Nice!)

4) Sub-30 foot boats just don't do well in 3-to-5 foot swells. We had one of the smaller boats in our group (there was a 290 and a 260). Most boats were in the 3xx or 4xx range, with a new 58Sedan Bridge (that was an awesome boat btw). I was hoping for less rocking and swaying since the 280 does weight over 10,000 lbs.

Bottom line is that the trip was fun and it allowed me to really spend some quality time with the family doing something different. We're now looking at the Cape May getaway in August...


Gerry
 
Thats great! I was very interested in this run and was glad you posted. Sounds like the 280 handled the seas well. Thats what I wanted to hear. Always great to hear about a succesful run. I made the exact same run last year (but in a go-fast boat)leaving from Somers Point to OC, MD (Sunset Marina) and had a great time. Did you get to watch the races?? Visit the Boardwalk??
Also glad to hear that Marine Max in Somers point plans these runs well, because thats who I've been dealing with. :smt001
 
CasinoRunner said:
Did you get to watch the races?? Visit the Boardwalk??
Click to expand...

Casinorunner, yes we stopped to watch the ofshore powerboat races yesterday. 100's of boats three - pretty amazing site. The MM boat made the run across the bay on Saturday to the boardwalk and rides for my little one.
 
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