BREWDUDE,

I work part time at Sutter's Canandaigua Marina. (I work full time as a Mechanical Engineer.) Now I'm dying to know why it's so weird.

trytokeepup,

Although I'd love o be able to offer you advice on the sales end of things, I work in service and try to stay away from the whole sales thing. (It just doesn't interest me as much as working on them.) The only time honored way I know of getting a better deal is to make sure your trade in is in "ready to sell" shape. If a dealer thinks they have to spend tons of money on your old boat to get it ready to sell, they'll always hedge their bet - on your trade in value.

 

trytokeepup,

I almost forgot to address BREWDUDE’s concern on colored gelcoat fading. Although I would agree that colored gelcoat does fade, I would not limit it to any particular boat manufacturer. There are relatively few manufacturers of gelcoat , so almost every boat manufacturer uses the same stuff. That said, virtually any boat with colored gelcoat left out in the sun and / or not properly cared for will fade. I have a 1992 Progression 22 that was built using the same gelcoat (Cooks) as Crownline – and the boat is in absolutely pristine condition – including the Sky Blue graphics. How does a 14 year old boat still look like new when I’ve seen 3 year old boats faded / oxidized into oblivion? It always stays fully covered (all the way to the trailer) and always has multiple coats of Zaino on it. My recommendation ? Stick to as much white gelcoat as possible and avoid dark colors (unless they’re painted on) like the plague.

 

2stroked...A real good friend of mine is from that area, moved to south jersey and them moved back up there and is now the Sales Manager at Mcmillan Marine. I just figured how weird would that be if you worked there and new him. Hell I guess Rochester isnt all that big so you might know him anyway.

trytokeep up.... I have to agree with 2stroked on the fading issue as well. I shoud have said, in my experience. Ive seen a lot of crownlines faded more than anyother boat. But he is correct, theres only few different types of gel coat out there so any colored hull will fade without the proper care and maintenance..Just wanted to clear that up. As far as getting a better price, If you can wait, buy it at a boat show. The manufacturers give dealers a bigger discount for boat show sales, therefore they can pass it down to you. If you cant wait, just walk a few times and see what they bring to the table. Also, if your trying to get it down to bring the payment down, well then keep on dealing with them on the price. If your just looking for a good deal, tell them you want a free slip in the marina for a year, or free winterization and storage for this winter. Anything they can give you that doesnt cost them is a lot easier to get than anything that will cost them. Also, look at other boats, even though you dont want them. Get a price on another boat that the same size, then tell them your looking at aother boats and show them the deals. If therw better, they may try to give you a better deal. Just a few options for ya. Hope it helps.

BREW

 

BREWDUDE,

You're not going to believe this, but guess who sold Mark McMillan the marina he now runs (and your friend works at)? Yup, that would be us. We bought the marina he used to work for out of bankruptcy, moved in, then sold him one of our old places. Everybody's happy.

 

HMM..pretty cool. Well if you ever see Dave in sales over ther tell him Tom from South Jersey said HI!!!

BREW

 

Hey Brew I got a question for you,My last boat and my present boat both have had this problem.Both are Alpha one drives and the trim switch stopped working in the up position,I have to use the trailer switch to trim up.Down works fine,do i need a new control? do I need to take it apart and check for contact? any thoughts?

 

Tuna, check the relays on the trim pump itself. Switch them. If it goes up but not down, then you need a new relay. Other than that, the switch in the control box may have corroded contacts or might just be bad. I would bet on the relays though.

BREW

 

I'm not BREWDUDE, but I have the same problem and after browsing around boat forums and talking to other owners it's very very commom. Seems to me it's especially a common problem with Mercruiser. Most common culprit that everyone points to and ussally fixes it is the trim limiter sending switch located on the Starboard side of the out drive. But I would say to check all of the connections on the pump and make sure one of the limiter wires didn't come unpluged first. Then maybe suspect the limiter switch. If trailer trim works then it's not in your switch, everything is making contact in the actual console switch.

Mine however was the limiter switch and also the fact that all of the wiring for it had been riped out by the PO for some reason. So I have to buy new wire connectors, fuse holders, etc and build my own harness for it and run from Limiter switch to console switch and the pump. I had BREWDUDE send me the schematics for it and hopefully I can get it wired up probably either July 5th or 6th when I get back from my business trip.


HEY BREW JUMPED IN HERE WHILE I WAS TYPING!
LISTEN TO HIM FIRST!

 

I do have a question though too...
I went out Sunday and was playing on the lake with some friends. Tubing, knee boarding, skiing etc. Well so far I had always put my wallet, ciggs, lighter, and cell phone in a little cubby right above my shifter and not had any problems. Well I had this girl out on the tube and was giving her a wild ride, whiping her around etc. When I looked down everything was gone out of this cubby. SO I stop and we dig around and find everything except my cell phone. It is MIA assuming permenatly now. When I got home I tore the interior apart, dog house, seats, everything came out of the boat. Looked under the engine thinking maybe it slid to the stern and then into the engine valley but no phone anywhere. We were calling it from the house phone, had my carrier try to locate it by GPS and it wouldnt respond. So somehow it apperently jumped out of the boat and into the lake. Maybe... unless I am mistaken and had lost it before I got in the boat and somebody found it and had shut it off becasue we kept calling it.

Anyway my question is there a holder that I can get to mount on the dash That is solid, waterproof would be nice, but will hold the phone no matter how rough I get, or the water gets? I can squezz my wallet and ciggs in the glove box and I am going to replace the cigar lighters so wont need to carry my lighter, but dont have anyplace secure to put the phone if I needed to get to it fast or if it rang i could hear it and if I happened to decide it was somebody I needed or wanted to talk to while I am out. Like sunday My wife wasnt able to go with us and she was getting worried that something had happened because we were out much later than we had thought we would be and I wasnt answering my phone because it was gone. Any ideas on what I can get?

Edited to add:
I haven't looked any where yet, I was just wondering what everyone else has or does.

 

How good are the volvo engines crownline are putting in? Its the 5.7 rated at 280 hp but the guy said they dyno at about 300. It seems to make alot more noise in the crownline than the merc in the sea ray. Both were with out captains.

Hey brewdude...how much is it to get captains call added to your boat if its already wired? One place said 1,900 and the other 2,500...?

 

the Volvo is a great engine. We sell bare minimum, 100 Rinkers a year and I would say 95% of them go out with Volvo engines in them. The new ocean series composite drives have been pretty good as well. I have only had one that had some gear issue. Whch in my opinion wasnt really an issue, but Volvo replaced it with a new one since it only had about 20 hrs on it. If it has the old style DP or XDP drive on it, well those damn things are pretty much bullit proof. I guess what i'm trying to say is that Volvo puts out a good product. As far as noise goes, that all depends on the type of boat, what kind of insulation is used for the engine hatch, is the motor below deck or is it halfway with a motor cover on it?? Is there a swim platform thats keeping the noise down on one and not the other. Just way to many variables.

As for the captains choice exhaust, I would say that the $2000 range is reasonable. Theres a lot more to it than just the wiring. You need new exhaust elbows, which are basically a "Y" now, the solenoids that activate the system, plus the hull has to be cut so the exhaust can be run thru it and sealed up so water doesnt get in between the layers of glass and core material, plus all the labor. If I was doing it, I would estimate (without seeing the layout of the boat and room in the engine compartment) about 8 hours labor. I could do it in a day and at $100 pr/hr thats $800 right there, plus parts and if they have to subcontract a fiberglass guy, Im guessing he would be around $300, depending on how much work he does. Oh, just so you know, I just had to get a new solenoid for a guys captains choice and it cost over $200. I say its a decent deal. Theres a good chip for you to bargain with. Tell them you want it installed, if they say no way, tell them you'll pay for the parts if they pay for the install. Like I said before, labor = no money out of there pocket, and they may be willing to do that. Let me know what you get. You could always come to Jersey and I could give you a good deal on a Rinker..

PSS...If the lake is not to far from home, you could always get a VHF for the boat and one for home. Then you could just leave the cell at home. If not, well I just keep mine in my pocket, or under the helm (dash) of my little boat, theres a piece of mesh with a bungee cord on it. Its secured tight on the back and both sides. The front opens up when you pull on the bungee strap. It holds 2 pair of sneakers, some suntan lotion, a handheld VHF wallets and cell phones. Maybe you can rig something up like that on your boat.

BREW

 

Could you post some pics of that compartment?

 

How did I know you were gonna ask that

I can, but it will be a week or so. Im so far behind with the boat this year, I dont even have it uncovered yet. As soon as I do I will get some pics and show you. I wish I could explain it better, its really a simple idea and works well.
BREW

 

I don't know how you knew... :shrugs shoulders:

No porblem, I may or may not see them imediatly. I'm heading out of town on business Sunday for a week and my internet time will be limited if any. But I'll look for them as soon as I get back for sure.

Now stop working and get that boat out before it goes bad on you!

 

Hey maybe this weekend i will find out what we are going to do on the boat situation and let you guys know back. Its not that we need a different boat but mom just wants a bigger boat to take the waves better and hold more people. But does 35,000 and a boat justify that?