Island boy lake Erie style

S

softsides

New Member
May 1, 2010
12
Catawba Is., Ohio, Lake Erie
Boat Info
310 Sundancer 2000
Engines
twin Mercruiser 350 Mag MPI 300hp
Inboards
Hi all, You may notice I've been a member for a while but have never posted. That's because about the time I "joined" I was also involved in a couple other (Un-named) forums and had had my fill of forums. I got tired of the old boy mentality for long time members and new members were tolerated at best. And God forbid you say anything contrary to the old boys because then you would be totally ignored. Since I'm a Searay owner, I thought I'd give this a try this time. I'm hoping Club Searay is different.
Anyway, that out of the way, my wife and I have been Searay owners for nine years now. Our first boat was a 1986 268 Sundancer, which was a great way to start and we loved that boat. We could sleep 4 "comfortably" and it was quick enough to pull skiers. But after 7 years it was starting to feel snug. And I was getting tired of outdrive maintenance. Two years ago we started a search, and while we did look at other makes, we kept coming back to Searays. We finally found a beautiful, well maintained 2000 310 Sundancer with twin 300 Mag Merc.s and V-drive inboard transmissions. We're in love again. This is our second summer on this boat. I'm lucky to have a wife who loves the boat and boating lifestyle as much as I do.
We boat on Lake Erie, the western basin, in the islands area. We dock in the West Harbor area of Catawba. Our favorite place to go is Put-in-Bay, which has been appropriately called the Key West of the north. It can get pretty nuts on weekends, but is a great place to be Sunday thru Thursday, which is our favorite time to go. It all depends on what you call a "good time".
Well, enough of my dissertation. You said newbies should introduce themselves, I think I've probably said enough.
Thanks
John
 
Welcome John! A lot of western basin boaters here. In fact we are having a CSR rendezvous on the 26th of July at the Sandusky paper district Marina. Look for details in the Great Lakes Forum!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for the invite to the Paper District. Unfortunately we're going to be using Saturday getting ready to leave for Canada on Sunday. It'll be our first time to cross the border. I've heard so many different stories, I don't know what to believe. Some people have told us customs check in is a piece of cake, others have said it was horrible and they'll never go back. Some have said getting into Canada is no problem, the problem is coming back into the US. I guess we'll find out.
 
John, Let me be the first to beat you up. Oh, wait a minute, that isn't allowed on this forum. I know what you mean about some of the others though. Kinda takes the fun out of being a member.

So welcome from a Left Coast boater!

Oh, and we really don't believe you own a Sea Ray until you post pics of the boat and your family using it. (just kidding.....sort of!)
 
softsides said:
Thanks for the invite to the Paper District. Unfortunately we're going to be using Saturday getting ready to leave for Canada on Sunday. It'll be our first time to cross the border. I've heard so many different stories, I don't know what to believe. Some people have told us customs check in is a piece of cake, others have said it was horrible and they'll never go back. Some have said getting into Canada is no problem, the problem is coming back into the US. I guess we'll find out.
Click to expand...


John,

I just did a trip to Georgian Bay over the fourth and declaring myself to customs in both countries went fine. I was worried based on stories I heard as well. Canada conducted just a phone interview and the US sent an inspection crew to the boat, though they did send five officers, seems like overkill for a husband and wife team. I gave short direct answers to their questions and added nothing to the conversation, worked well I think.

Hopefully your trip goes as well, have fun.
 
Oh, and we really don't believe you own a Sea Ray until you post pics of the boat and your family using it. (just kidding.....sort of!)[/QUOTE]


I'm working on the pic. I still had a pic of the old boat, so I took that one down and thought I'd selected one of the new boat but it's not showing up. Probably too big. I'll have to work on that from the laptop rather than this tablet.
 
Welcome.

We also boat out of West Harbor. We are all the way at the end as far as you can go at Catawba Bay condos. Hope to see you on the water.

Dan
 
cmount1 said:
John,

I just did a trip to Georgian Bay over the fourth and declaring myself to customs in both countries went fine. I was worried based on stories I heard as well. Canada conducted just a phone interview and the US sent an inspection crew to the boat, though they did send five officers, seems like overkill for a husband and wife team. I gave short direct answers to their questions and added nothing to the conversation, worked well I think.

Hopefully your trip goes as well, have fun.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your experience. That's what I'd heard, about the inspection crew. If you don't have an I-68 or Nexus, you can count on having to wait until agents arrive to do the interview. I've been told the people on the phone can sometimes be short and rude, but the agents are always nice and professional. Ironically, where we dock, there is a border patrol boat docked right behind us across the channel. Boy would I love a ride on that beast. Quad 350HP Mercs.
 
dcharna said:
Welcome.

We also boat out of West Harbor. We are all the way at the end as far as you can go at Catawba Bay condos. Hope to see you on the water.

Dan
Click to expand...

I know where you're talking about. My wife and I are considering looking there in a few years as a place for our retirement house. Nice area. Currently we're docked at the other end of the harbor at Foxhaven. Name of the boat is "Knot a Karen the World".
 
Welcome aboard!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Welcome! I'm also in the camp of those who believe that calling into Canada is a piece of cake, but returning, not so much (unless everyone aboard is carrying a Nexus pass) It helps that you're close to three video-equipped OARS stations. We're lucky in Ohio - the last time I looked, the only video-phone station in the state of Michigan was on Mackinac Island!
 
Welcome to CSR John. I'm positive you won't find your experience here the same as you described.

Mark
 
softsides said:
I've been told the people on the phone can sometimes be short and rude, but the agents are always nice and professional.
Click to expand...

90% of the time that I walk past the video phone, the person using it is frustrated. I'm tempted to hold up a sign that says, "On behalf of the United States, I want to apologize for our border crossing process!"
 
Sorry for being off line for a few days, just got back from a long weekend at Put-in-Bay. GREAT PLACE. Always have fun there. About coming back from Canada, I checked out the video - phone at PIB while there, looks pretty straightforward. However, got into a conversation with a border patrol officer. Asked him about proper procedure, etc. While talking about the video-phone, he admitted half the time it doesn't work. He finally handed me his business card and said, when we return just call that no. and he'll take care of clearing us. I have yet to meet one of these guys who isn't very nice, professional and helpful. I have another question about going to Canada, but will post it in general topics.
 
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