Run to the sun!?!?

Could you send a picture or explain how you extended the Bimini 2 feet? I also have a problem getting on an off the side due to the placement of the camper supports.
 
Been raining for two days now......please take me.... :grin:
 
susanandlance said:
Shaun, The camper top is a must down here, I don't have screens but in summer it gets so darn hot they would be nice. I changed how my factory camper was set up from SR, I didn't like the rear bimini frame, as it got in the way boarding on the sides of the boat so I extended the rear bimini that attaches to arch by 2 ft, and did a camper from there, I like it much better.
Click to expand...

I'd really like to see the pictures...I am ready to re-canvas and want more shade without adding all the bows required by camper enclosure.


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As always, thanks for the info and for confirming what I think I already knew as far as wanting shade. Called my canvas guy tonight and he's gonna get going on my camper top!


Shaun
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I also, through a friend of a friend got ahold of a local funeral home who seems interested in me! I will be meeting with them when we come down next month!!


Shaun
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Hey Shaun -

Just found this thread, so I'm a little late to the party. Don't mean to throw a curve ball at you, but...

First, you sound EXACTLY like me, in that in 2007 I was all ready to leave friends and family and move my wife and son down to Florida. We had our house on the market, but then the housing market crashed, and we couldn't sell it. I have wanted to move down there since 1997 when I first learned to SCUBA. Anyway...

Found out later that my wife really DIDN'T want to move - just that "I'll go where you go." Hmm - did I want the pressure? So, I came up w/ a plan B...

Fortunately, I have a job (software development) that lets me work from where ever I can find an Internet connection. So, my plan B was to first "try" and see what "living in both places" would be like. I joined the Freedom Boat Club in Riviera Beach (just north of West Palm Beach). They had a "Yacht Club" membership that allowed unlimited use of their 40+ ft. boats. They have a couple of really nice motor yachts - a 46' Silverton Convertible with two state rooms, a 45' Carver with two state rooms, a 45' Merdian w/ 2 state rooms. They also have several boats smaller than 40 ft in their "boat club". I'm pretty sure they have a couple of Sundancers. Anyway - I used the club for 2 years as I went back and forth between Indiana and Riviera Beach. The club rules were that you could have "4 reservations" at a time, with a reservation being 1 day. You could string them together back to back, but the real catch was "no back to back week-ends", with a week-end meaning Friday, Saturday or Sunday. You could do overnight Thursday to Friday, or overnight Sunday to Monday, but not overnight Friday to Saturday. Since I was from out of town, and virtually ALL the boats were available Monday thru Thurs, I'd reserve Tuesday thru Friday. I'd then fly down and stay on the boat for four days. If I felt adventurous and wanted to stay longer, as soon as Monday was over, I'd book the NEXT Monday. I'd stay at a motel Saturday and Sunday, and get back on the boat Monday. I had a small storage locker down there ($20 per month) that let me store blankets, pillows, plates, silverware - basically a small 1 bedroom apartment worth of stuff, which I would move on and off between the locker and the boat.

Also - the club took care of all the maintenance. Your only obligations was the monthly dues, and fuel. Everything else, the club takes care of. IIRC - joining the club is kind of expensive - $5k up front, and $350 per month or something like that. But - I managed to find someone selling their "charter membership" on Craig's List which had an entirely different payment model (it USED to be REALLY expensive up front, but only $100 per month afterwards). I bought my membership for like $10k, and then only had to pay $100 per month. I could have done that indefinitely. Since I was using the boats more like a condo vs. an actual boat (many visits, I'd just stay at the marina), I in effect had a $10k condo w/ $100 per month association fees.

It was not ALL fun and sun. The boats sometimes had problems. The A/C may go on the fritz, for example. But, the club has their own on-site mechanics, so they would fix stuff on the spot.

If you have any type of flexibility in your work schedule were you could get away for a Monday thru Friday (for example, trade a Saturday and Sunday w/ people you work with for Monday and Tuesday), something like that may work for you - at least for a while.

Eventually, the "no more than 4 days", "no week-ends", and "Stay in U.S. Waters" (i.e. no Bahamas) got to me. I had the Florida bug bad, so I make the huge leap and purchased eSea Street. Now, I have my own 560DB which is our second home. I bounce back and fourth between Indianapolis and Florida. My wife and son actually LOVE it. I may be able to convince her to move sometime in the future, but for now, at least we both get what we want - me the sun and salt water, and her the friends and family around here (which frankly isn't a bad deal for me either).

BTW - I settled on Delray Beach as the place to dock eSea Street. Delray is a really great place. People are friendly - more "mid west" like than some of the surrounding areas where you find more people from the Northeast (no offense to you New Yorkers, but you know what I mean!). Great night life on Atlantic Blvd., and great beaches. You should at least add it to your list of cities to "check out"

Sorry for the long ramble, but the above was basically based on some advice someone gave me about moving down here a long time ago. They said vacationing in a place for a week is one thing - LIVING there is quite another. Ideally, you'd be able to spend some significant time in a place before you buy. For me, the best way to do that AS WELL AS get my boating fix in was the Boat Club. If you end up moving right away, you may at least want to consider an apartment for the first year, just to give you some flexibility to move in the 13th month in case you realize that 5 miles north or would be a lot nicer/better place for you for a variety of reasons.

Even if you move, if you keep yourself near Riviera Beach, the Freedom Boat Club may solve your boat issues also (at least, temporarily).

BTW - my next stay on eSea Street is going to be Feb 11 thru Feb 21. I'll be by myself that first Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. PM me if you want to stop by the marina. I can show you around Delray a little (though I'm still pretty new to the area my self). And and I don't know if the timing of your visit is coincidence or not, but you do realize that the Miami Boat Show is that week-end, right?
 
Joel,

Thank you for your detailed info. I appreciate all the feedback I'm getting. To briefly answer a few things, heather assures me she's as ready as me to make this move. She's normally a pretty blunt person and I believe she'd tell me if she was just going along with it. We will absolutely rent at first as we are well aware that we may want to relocate to another area once we spend time there. I've actually been in touch with a realtor and have a line on a really nice 4 bed 2 bath single family home with a 2 stall attached garage for rent in a gated community with a couple pools that is only 3 years old so it's built to the new hurricane standards, is 1 mile from the ocean and 5 miles from the marina were looking at, and it's available May 1, which is probably around the time we will be ready to go, so well be looking really close at that, along with a few others. Also, believe it or not it actually is a coincidence on the timing of the boat show, although I will certainly have to take advantage of that!! :) I will be sending you a PM regarding meeting up. Thanks again!!












Shaun

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pepper said:
Could you send a picture or explain how you extended the Bimini 2 feet? I also have a problem getting on an off the side due to the placement of the camper supports.
Click to expand...
What I did was take the rear bimini frame and cut it down some and install it about the same location as old rear arch frame, the result was the top was now 2 ft longer than the factory (rear sunshade), I did this as I had all new canvas made last yr. PM me if ya need anymore info and I can text you pics.
 
Just an update, so far things are going great. I've made contacts with a couple great funeral homes and made contact with a great realtor who has some exciting homes lined up for us. All have 3+ br and 2+ba with enclosed pools in gated communities. We're very excited about our trip down next month and hoping the move will closely follow!!


Shaun
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And we honestly wouldn't be this far along without the help and guidance from you all!!


Shaun
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Lucky's said:
Just an update, so far things are going great. I've made contacts with a couple great funeral homes and made contact with a great realtor who has some exciting homes lined up for us. All have 3+ br and 2+ba with enclosed pools in gated communities. We're very excited about our trip down next month and hoping the move will closely follow!!


Shaun
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Click to expand...

Sounds exciting Shaun! Good luck with the adventure.
 
I don't know Shaun.... Warm sun, green deep water, you sure your up to this? No more worries about shallow lakes, all those bikini clad dock hands.....this could be a major shock to your system....:grin:
 
dwna1a said:
I don't know Shaun.... Warm sun, green deep water, you sure your up to this? No more worries about shallow lakes, all those bikini clad dock hands.....this could be a major shock to your system....:grin:
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's a tough call!! Hell, the way things are going the only way ill be able to boat is to move! There's no water at my marina here!!


Shaun
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Lucky's, a couple things from a few different posts...

You made a comment about alot of crime in Lauderdale vs. West Palm Beach. I have lived in Broward County (Fort Lauderdale) since 1982 and in that time the only crime me or my family have been a victim of is having a bicycle stolen out of an open garage. Sure there are some areas in the County I certainly would avoid, but the majority of the area is as safe as any developed area in the country. With regard to your comparison to West Palm Beach, I believe you may be confusing West Palm Beach with Palm Beach because there are certainly areas around West Palm that I definately stay away from.

With regard to your question concerning about modifying your cooling system to closed cooling, since you have a 300 it is "small" enough for dry storage. Most dry storage places around here will flush your cooling system as part of their storage fee before the boat goes back on the rack after every use. Also, consider inside rack storage to keep the sun/weather off the boat and keep you from having to worry about every little Cat 1 or 2 Hurricane that comes this way.

Keep in mind that from May to September it will rain on the boat if outside just about every day in South Florida
 
Stay away from parts of PGA Blvd. Our kind is not welcome there. :grin:
 
GrandMaster said:
Lucky's, a couple things from a few different posts...

You made a comment about alot of crime in Lauderdale vs. West Palm Beach. I have lived in Broward County (Fort Lauderdale) since 1982 and in that time the only crime me or my family have been a victim of is having a bicycle stolen out of an open garage. Sure there are some areas in the County I certainly would avoid, but the majority of the area is as safe as any developed area in the country. With regard to your comparison to West Palm Beach, I believe you may be confusing West Palm Beach with Palm Beach because there are certainly areas around West Palm that I definately stay away from.

With regard to your question concerning about modifying your cooling system to closed cooling, since you have a 300 it is "small" enough for dry storage. Most dry storage places around here will flush your cooling system as part of their storage fee before the boat goes back on the rack after every use. Also, consider inside rack storage to keep the sun/weather off the boat and keep you from having to worry about every little Cat 1 or 2 Hurricane that comes this way.

Keep in mind that from May to September it will rain on the boat if outside just about every day in South Florida
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for your perspective. I LOVE Lauderdale, just don't think loving there is for me. Our search has us focusing on the Stuart, palm city, PSL area. As far as the boat goes, I'm the kinda person that likes to go sit on the boat after work and enjoy a fine whiskey or scotch. I've never had rack storage but I don't think I'd like it.


Shaun
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So far things still seem to be working out. I have 4 interviews set up with funeral homes and Heather has 3 with the few hospitals she's really interested in. We also ave been in contact with a local realtor that is going to have a hand full of houses lined up for us to see. If all goes well with jobs, we will put our notices in when we get back. I have movers lined up for the house stuff, hauler lined up for the boat and am ready to pull stakes, pending employment. Just thought I'd give a little update for any who are following.


Shaun
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Wow Shaun...you're really moving along! We wish you the best during your trip next month!


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