How was your Labor Day weekend?

HUMPH

Well-Known Member
Nov 4, 2009
7,618
SF BAY AREA
Boat Info
2003 410DA
2009 Walker Bay 13’
Engines
CAT 3126TA's 350HP/
50HP Honda
Sitting at home after 5 days at our annual Circle Cruise. There was a change this year with the person running it for 20 years retiring from boating so a few of us took over the cruise management. We had smaller attendance but a very nice circle from the shots we saw from the helicopter and great weather. A fun time had by all with kids swimming and meeting new friends, us adults just enjoying each other's company and a special conversation with Captain Rusty to discuss how it was comparing to his experience last year. Too tired to mess with photos but will add some tomorrow.

How was the holiday for everyone else?
 
We had a great weekend. It was a "progressive cruise" weekend put on by the yacht club we just joined. It started off with a cruise Friday nite upriver a few miles to the docks at Richland, then hors d'ouvres and cocktails at Anthony's, a seafood restaurant. We went by car because we weren't going to stay overnight on the boat that night. On Saturday they cruised downstream about 12 miles to a place we go to a lot that's called "The Mudhole". It sounds horrible but it's nicely sheltered from the prevailing SW winds, there's plenty of room for many boats to anchor or tie to the two mooring buoys.

The Mudhole consists of three islands that resulted from the channel being dredged in the Snake River. They sit at 46*11'26.12" N, 119*01'15.08" W if you want to take a look at the location.

The entrance to the sheltered area is between two of the islands and is easy to navigate. When we arrived in the area the wind was blowing about 10-15kts from due southwest, which put it blowing right in the opening. By the time we got into the anchorage area the wind had picked up to a sustained 25-30 with higher gusts. I had to swing the boat around and drop an anchor about 150' out upwind from the raft up, then fed out chain and backed the boat downwind to get tied up. At the time there were about 12 boats there. The wind kept picking up so we took our stern anchor and wedged it between two large rocks on shore and pulled the stern in as tightly as we could get it, leaving us about 50' offshore.

Then the party started. The club furnished pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw, potato salad, baked beans and a few desserts for dinner. Plus all the munchies everyone brought. This group DOES know how to eat! The wind slowed down a bit as the sun was going down but was still kicking up a bit. As it got chillier people started migrating to our boat. We all spent the evening (until about midnight) together in our salon. There were 21 of us so it was a bit crowded, but nobody cared. We laughed, drank, told jokes, laughed, drank, sang songs, drank, laughed and just had a great time. Finally, about midnight people went back to their boats. One couple who had come on a pontoon spent the night in our boat. We weren't about to let them sleep on the 'toon.

Sunday morning we all had a great breakfast, again provided by the club. Breakfast scrambled eggs in tortillas, sweet rolls, gallons of coffee, fresh fruit, etc. The day was beautiful, no wind, only a few clouds and about 85. We spent the day lounging in the water, going boat to boat swapping lies and just having a good time. We pulled out of the raft up about 6:00 Sunday evening. It was breaking up as most of the boats were headed to another anchoring area to listen to an outdoor rock n roll concert.

We put Beachcomber back in the slip, had dinner at the restaurant at the top of the dock then headed for home. Today we had GW's family over for some steaks and a great dinner was enjoyed by all.
 
I took four teachers out on Friday for their last relaxing boat ride. Great wines, tasty treats, and great conversations.

All my other trips out this weekend ether involved towing or someone running aground or folks with dead batteries. I'm begaining to think I should buy a small to mid size Rib to do these assistance trips.

I finally go to just go swimming yesterday but off another friends boat. All in all...it was great weekend, spent with good friends. They best part, we got all boaters back to their trailers safe and sound
 
Last edited:
422 mile roundtrip to the Chowan River in NC and back. Never saw any wave high than 1 foot.

That's a good trip.
 
Was Great, BUT now I need a new boat...

Well Saturday and Sunday my dockmate and I, (Wai aka. Ethan's Tank) took our families out to a little private beach on the backside of an estate/farm property which was great. It's near Tims II on the Potomac River. Saw a few other Sea Rays out there as well, not sure if any of them are on the board. It has been our normal spot since we met back in July. We anchored off the beach, took the wives/kids/dogs out to the beach to play. Got some wakeboarding time in since my wife is determined to get up on plane on the wakeboard and ride it out, she hasn't been able to yet. Overall Sat/Sun was awesome.

Then Monday rolled around and this is the reason I need a new boat (not as bad as the title makes it seem).

Wai invited us out on his boat to cruise a little further down the Potomac to Gilligan's Pier restaurant. So we packed our day bag and hopped on his Sun Dancer 350. Well going from riding around on the 240 to really relaxing in the incredible amount of space offered on the 350 has my wife convinced that we need to upgrade. While it wasn't planned that way :huh:, I can't say that I am upset with the results. My wife graduates from nursing school with her Bachelor's in Nursing this coming Saturday so once she starts working we will see what lies ahead for us in the future :smt038
 
i worked all weekend and i'm still working. FML. next day off is thursday
 
Ken, you guys are definitely more active up there in no-cal, compared to the so-cal scene . A big raft up down here is 5-10 boats. Got to hang with Kevin on NSN/36DB at anchor for awhile.
 
Nice to see people enjoying the holiday weekend. Here are a few pics...

Rick, that is a long short trip!

Bill, the Delta was very busy with boats everywhere over the weekend.
 

Attachments

  • DSC_0241.JPG
    DSC_0241.JPG
    74.1 KB · Views: 288
  • DSC_0344.JPG
    DSC_0344.JPG
    45.1 KB · Views: 280
  • DSC_0431.JPG
    DSC_0431.JPG
    78.7 KB · Views: 275
  • P1030042.JPG
    P1030042.JPG
    37.4 KB · Views: 279
  • P1030045.JPG
    P1030045.JPG
    50 KB · Views: 280
  • P1030055.JPG
    P1030055.JPG
    39.9 KB · Views: 280
  • P1030068.JPG
    P1030068.JPG
    35.6 KB · Views: 278
  • P1030084.JPG
    P1030084.JPG
    56.7 KB · Views: 297
  • P1030111.JPG
    P1030111.JPG
    25.4 KB · Views: 277
  • P1030118.JPG
    P1030118.JPG
    36 KB · Views: 279
  • P1030132.JPG
    P1030132.JPG
    66.1 KB · Views: 278
  • P1030148.JPG
    P1030148.JPG
    45.8 KB · Views: 282
  • P1030150.JPG
    P1030150.JPG
    44.8 KB · Views: 278
  • P1030152.JPG
    P1030152.JPG
    39.4 KB · Views: 275
  • P1030158.JPG
    P1030158.JPG
    38.5 KB · Views: 275
  • P1030160.JPG
    P1030160.JPG
    35.8 KB · Views: 281
weather sucked...went to the fuel dock...head quit...I fixed it.
did find out that my wipers did a pretty good job.

Good weekend overall
 
The guy who retired from doing the circle rafts must have taught you guys well. Looks damn good to me.
Thanks Rick, lots of hard work and adjustments every time someone dropped out or were added in. Alex would LOVE our spreadsheet! Damn thing has probably 2 dozen tabs and formulas that make you scratch your head.
 
Great pics - I gotta get a bigger boat...

So Thursday and Friday I was off and so was my lovely bride - we took the boatout and apparently sucked up something on the port engine...alarms, sirens,guardian mode, flares shooting off, reduced power and a sweeping turn as the decelerationand panic set in. F@)&)@@(*^&)#_&&# yes, I cursed a bit.

Shutdown the engine quickly and opened the hatch lookingfor a belt missing or obvious signs...nothing. Vessel View shows a high tempengine warning so we left it off and limped back to the marina..BTW, why wouldn’tboth power steering pumps be used??? Really, a t valve of some kind couldreally come in handy. I had no idea that pump was just a prop. That sucked steering that beast home...

At marina, pulled plugs and water is spraying out of the rear cylinders....notgood (at least in my mind)...pull all the plugs and turn over the motor toclear as much water as possible and spray some oil in cylinders to protectthem. Tell the mechanic at Hope Springs what's going on and he's a coolcucumber...no worries, happens all the time, we'll take care of it. Go home and get some sleep... right

Long story short - they replaced the plugs, two oil changes and we're inbusiness the next morning by 1100. Amazing - I was having dreams of crackedthis and that and a new engine.

Engine runs perfect and no oil in water - really made me feel good about theguys at Affordable Outdoors. I’m supermechanical, but this had me concerned.

There were several others in trouble this Labor Day weekend and I saw themhandle everything very professionally...one boat lost a shaft and was taking onwater...they got it pulled out very quickly.

The rest of the weekend was way more relaxing and I slept like a baby Fridaynight after hearing two great engines hum along the rest of the day.

 
I love looking at your Circle Deal! Such precision! Looks like veryone had a good time!

My weekend started late, we made it to the boat about 4PM Saturday and everyone was getting ready to fill the dock with food, including my lovely bride! It was a good night, but I turned in early, I was whipped!

Sunday was nice but choppy. We all headed out to our favorite cove and hung out. Again, coming in about dinner time and had another feast!

Monday was clean up and relax. My kind of weekend!

Matt
 
Re: Was Great, BUT now I need a new boat...

Well Saturday and Sunday my dockmate and I, (Wai aka. Ethan's Tank) took our families out to a little private beach on the backside of an estate/farm property which was great. It's near Tims II on the Potomac River. Saw a few other Sea Rays out there as well, not sure if any of them are on the board. It has been our normal spot since we met back in July. We anchored off the beach, took the wives/kids/dogs out to the beach to play. Got some wakeboarding time in since my wife is determined to get up on plane on the wakeboard and ride it out, she hasn't been able to yet. Overall Sat/Sun was awesome.

Then Monday rolled around and this is the reason I need a new boat (not as bad as the title makes it seem).

Wai invited us out on his boat to cruise a little further down the Potomac to Gilligan's Pier restaurant. So we packed our day bag and hopped on his Sun Dancer 350. Well going from riding around on the 240 to really relaxing in the incredible amount of space offered on the 350 has my wife convinced that we need to upgrade. While it wasn't planned that way :huh:, I can't say that I am upset with the results. My wife graduates from nursing school with her Bachelor's in Nursing this coming Saturday so once she starts working we will see what lies ahead for us in the future :smt038


I saw your two boats on Sunday I believe. I had my 310 anchored in front of the circle of boats that come out of Hope Springs marina. The area next to Tim's II is referred to as the horse farm...was my first time there. All sand under the feet, just like a Tim's.
 
We took delivery of our boat on Saturday. It needed some work (batteries, minor fixes) so Saturday and Sunday were spent at the dock getting everything ship-shape. Sunday we took it out for a quick spin and filled the gas tanks. We were also going to pump out the waste, but the deck fill was frozen solid. I had to break the plastic plug apart back at the dock. I'll get a new one this week. I still have a little more to do, but It was great just to sit out on the boat and look at the city. We have a great view of the Space Needle from our slip.
 
Great pics - I gotta get a bigger boat...

So Thursday and Friday I was off and so was my lovely bride - we took the boatout and apparently sucked up something on the port engine...alarms, sirens,guardian mode, flares shooting off, reduced power and a sweeping turn as the decelerationand panic set in. F@)&)@@(*^&)#_&&# yes, I cursed a bit.

Shutdown the engine quickly and opened the hatch lookingfor a belt missing or obvious signs...nothing. Vessel View shows a high tempengine warning so we left it off and limped back to the marina..BTW, why wouldn’tboth power steering pumps be used??? Really, a t valve of some kind couldreally come in handy. I had no idea that pump was just a prop. That sucked steering that beast home...

At marina, pulled plugs and water is spraying out of the rear cylinders....notgood (at least in my mind)...pull all the plugs and turn over the motor toclear as much water as possible and spray some oil in cylinders to protectthem. Tell the mechanic at Hope Springs what's going on and he's a coolcucumber...no worries, happens all the time, we'll take care of it. Go home and get some sleep... right

Long story short - they replaced the plugs, two oil changes and we're inbusiness the next morning by 1100. Amazing - I was having dreams of crackedthis and that and a new engine.

Engine runs perfect and no oil in water - really made me feel good about theguys at Affordable Outdoors. I’m supermechanical, but this had me concerned.

There were several others in trouble this Labor Day weekend and I saw themhandle everything very professionally...one boat lost a shaft and was taking onwater...they got it pulled out very quickly.

The rest of the weekend was way more relaxing and I slept like a baby Fridaynight after hearing two great engines hum along the rest of the day.



When was the last time the exhaust manifolds were replaced?
 
Never - engines have 66 hours on them. No signs of rust. This was just something getting sucked up in the engine and too abrupt of a stop.
 
Re: Was Great, BUT now I need a new boat...

I saw your two boats on Sunday I believe. I had my 310 anchored in front of the circle of boats that come out of Hope Springs marina. The area next to Tim's II is referred to as the horse farm...was my first time there. All sand under the feet, just like a Tim's.

Yep that woulda been us... his is the big blue hull 350 and mine was the white 240 tied along side. Was a relaxing day out there til we noticed the tide going out had our lowers sitting in the sand. We trimmed up and pulled them further out by picking up the anchor and walking them out. Next time you see us out there swing on by. I know Wai was really looking forward to meeting you and trying out your diagnostic set up. He has been having some fuel issues lately and has been running pretty rich on the starboard side.

As as far as the horse farm beach it's nice because as you said, it's all sand for the most part. We have actually brought food out and started a fire on the beach and roasted some dogs for the kiddos before with no issues from the property owners.

Where in stafford do you live? I'm close to old concord/hope rd, so I'm fairly close to hope springs. Let me know if you ever need anything.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,872
Messages
1,420,835
Members
60,871
Latest member
cbrcassio
Back
Top