CARVER
OWNERS CLUB
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CARVER
OWNERS CLUB
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March 2006
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Stories |
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| Fire on Board Since Patsy and I lost Cygnet to an electrical fire last November, we've discovered that several other boats had similar, but not catastrophic problems. Cygnet caught on fire at the shore power plug, between the fiberglass hull and the inner liner. It caught fire because the connection of the cable running inside the fiberglass came loose. The connections come loose from vibration, pounding over wakes, and because of normal heating and cooling. One knowledgeable person told me that the worst offenders were boats stored over the winter with a trickle battery charger connected. When the charger kicks in, the plugs heat. When it goes off, the plug cools and loosens happens. As you are getting your boat ready for the season, add a task to check the tightness of the internal electrical connections, whether you are doing the work or having a yard do it for you.
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| What Is It?? Update
A member who keeps his boat at Duffy's Creek Marina braved the cold weather to take this photo of the potholders as they would be used. Note that they attach to the fence or rail at the front of the stove.
I just have one additional question. Does anybody else have cook wear this nice on their boats? Thanks for the photo, Dave.
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| What Lives We Lead
The greatest thing about writing the newsletter is getting to look in on other people's lives and seeing how exciting they are. For example, I received this response to a SNO invitation. "I would seriously consider it except my wife and I are leaving on Saturday for 9 days along the Mayan Riviera south of Cancun. Ten day forecast is highs of 84 and lows at night of 70. Sorry, all inclusive resort comes first this time. Perhaps the next one." And this one from a member returning from Cabo San Luco, "We are back after an extra night in Dallas because of the [east coast blizzard]. Had great time and Joe caught a red snapper, which we had for supper, it was good. One of the other men caught a Mahi Mahi, which we also had for dinner the next day." Sandy, who just had her knee replaced, wrote, "We will be at Peppercorns with our drinking (if not dancing) shoes on." Sandy, I stopped drinking from shoes when Patsy accidentally slipped a corn pad into the champagne from her slipper.
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| Boat Hunting
Another quick opinion poll. Should boat brokers be licensed and should they be forced to follow the same laws that govern real estate sales? Laws like full disclosure of known problems. Let me know what you think. In Florida, boat brokerages must be licensed, as must the sales people. |
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| Fuel Costs
A couple of members sent in some very thoughtful responses to the cost of fuel question. First, about 50 hours of operation…mostly local cruising, only did about 10 hours running (25 gallons per hour at cruising speed of 18 mph) on 1 trip (darn weather never did synchronize with my vacation time!). Ran the gen a few hours. Fuel - $1351 – 438 gal - $3.08/gallon Dock for 7 months (included cable TV) - $2000 Insurance – included tender - $850 Bottom paint touchup, wax and buff entire boat - $1900 Fire system inspection/certification - $175 Storage inside cold for 5 months - $2000 Winterize - $768 – 2 engines, oil & filter, fresh water, 2 heads, 2 a/c, gen oil and filter There in always some project each year like prop rebalancing, caulking, canvas repair or replace, new batteries, bilge blowers, gen repair, fuel filters, minor repairs – which seem to run about $1500-2500 per year. Oh, and keeping your tender going, too. And the capital cost of a boat like this probably runs about $12,000 per year (Ok so let me fool myself on that part) in lost earnings on the money plus the depreciation (owning a boat is like owning a house in a declining neighborhood). So all together for this last 12 month cycle I spent $9470 plus the cap cost of the boat. So what about fuel? 6% of the total annual expense. I am pretty sure we spent more on food and beer (which we would have done regardless of where we were)! Let’s see, a guy a in my office spends $7000 on golf each year, plus the cap cost of belonging to a club. Second, [We] report their annual boating costs for everything runs approximately $40,000. Of this amount, in 2005, they spent $5,100 on gas (not diesel) to cruise approximately 110 hours from north to south on the Bay. only 13% of total annual expenditures for the "toy."Here's my point. An increase of 10% in fuel costs amounts to a
$135 increase (slightly over 1%) in the total cost of ownership for
member one and member two a $510 increase (about 1.3%). I hate the
higher prices for fuel, but how much difference does it really
make? |
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| Ozone Generators
I too had holding tank odor issues in my 2000 Carver 356. I purchased an ozone air purifier from a friend at the DYC 3 years ago, who has been selling these devices for better than 10 years, and has used them on his boat all along. He indicated that he has had no rubber deterioration issues above what one would expect over a long term ownership. Also, don't set a air purifier on high and leave it that way. What he told me, as a good rule of thumb was, adjust the unit so that when you first enter the cabin, you can just smell the ozone a little, and can no longer detect it after a few seconds. My friend Len ( DYC Past Commodore) has been using them on his boat (10 years), and I have been using it on my boat (3 years), with no issues, other than a fresh smelling cabin.
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| Recent
Events Reported
New York City - Feb. 18 - Robert Janger
On February 18,
2006 seven hardy Carver Club members braved the 16 (F) degrees to
attend the New York City, Saturday Night Out which was held at
Amelia's Bistro in Jersey City, NJ. The food was good, the
service was good and the company was excellent! Even though some
of us (that would be me) had difficulty finding the exit for Jersey
City (tunnel? ... I'm not going through any tunnel ... uh oh
...) we did manage to avoid Manhattan and find the restaurant.
Jean-Claude and Roz Harris attended as did Robert and Susan Janger
from Baltimore. We had a good time and good conversation.
Look for next year's NYC-SNO to be held at Tony DaCeneca's in
Newark, NJ. If you like Portuguese cuisine, you won't want to
miss this one. Our hosts, Diane and Joe Lipowski, two of the
nicest folks, were able to get us out safe and sound. As we
left Jersey City, via the NJ Turnpike, the NYC night skyline view was
breathtaking! See photos at http://www.carverownersclub.com/events/NYCSNO/nycsno.htm
Peppercorns - Feb 25 - Scott Gundaker
The SNO at Peppercorn's was wonderful. We ended
up up with just over 30 people. Everybody was raving over it. Gary
Willoughby even remarked it was the best one ever. I heard all kind of
compliments on the menu, the food, service, and everything in
general. It went so well. I would like to do one again. I would like
to schedule the same time for next year. Last Saturday in February at
4pm. I checked the calendar and that will be February 24 2007. I know
it is a bit early but....
Editor's Note: When we started the club, it was our hope that members would use the club to host events and, by having many people do a little work, it would not be overwhelming. These are two success stories, especially the planning for next year.
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| Upcoming
Events
A member mentioned to another member that she didn't go to any of the events because she 1) didn't know how she would do some things, like dock, by herself and 2) she might not have been to the place we are going and hated not knowing where we were going. I don't think she's alone. First, whenever we go somewhere in the boats, everybody helps out in getting the boats at anchor or tied up. We usually have dock hands who help, but we always have members who help. Second, we usually travel in a group. I call the group a convoy. It's several boats traveling together, watching out for each other such that, when we get lost, at least we are not alone. If you ever have a concern about attending an event for any reason, don't hesitate to call me and we'll work something out. Let me explain my terminology. A Saturday Night Out (SNO) is a gathering of Club Members and others (you do not have to be a club member to attend). We typically have drinks, followed by dinner. Each couple or group is responsible for their charges. You may cancel your reservation at any time without penalty. A Rendezvous is a sponsored event with a flat fee charged to cover the extended weekend. You must be a Club Member or approved guest to attend the Rendezvous. Fees are paid when the reservation is made and there is a restrictive cancellation policy. A cruise is a disorganized lurching from one destination to another, based on weather, mood, and supplies. It is either a lot of fun or a nightmare, depending on your level of discomfort with chaos. While we do not pay people to participate in our cruises, we probably should.
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| Featured Boat
This month's featured boat is Circus, a 55' 1989 Californian Cockpit Motor Yacht Here is the link to the featured sale boat: http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/pl_boat_detail.jsp?currency=USD&units=Feet&checked_boats=1448351&slim=quick& |
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