Looking for 1989 EC 340 owners in Daytona Beach area

[Razzle Dazzle]

I have recently purchased a 1989 340 Express Cruiser which is in very good mechanical condition after spending a bit of dosh on her. I am moving her down to Halifax River Marina from Massachusetts in the next few weeks as a permanent home. I never have operated a twin engine before so hoping to find someone to give me a bit of tuition when I finally get her in the wet. I have read all the blogs on the PreClinton (40 pages) 80's Cruisers and was gratified to see so many fine folks willing to share their happy and horror stories in restoring these roomy classic beauties. My only helmsmanship experience was with my late Father's full displacement diesel powered sports fishing boat in Rhode Island In the 1970s and zipping around with small outboard crafts in the Bristol Channel in England during the past year and I can hardly wait to do some serious exploring along the Inland Waterways of Florida this winter. I attempted to move my boat down last year but Matthew changed my plans. A year later and I am ready to try again. One of my plexiglass sliders has a small chunk out of it so I hope I can replace that and I have to purchase new electronics, GSP packages, etc so I am really "at sea" not knowing what I need to operate her safely? I have taken Royal Yachting Association courses, recently, to refresh my power boat handling skills at faster speeds but the school did not have a twin engine to practice on. Any thoughts?

 

[NorCal Boater]

I have a lot of thoughts for you. I posted in the Pre-Clinton thread many times and posted pictures of our '89 340da.

Are you looking for someone to make the trip with you, give you some lessons in handling twins, advice on an electronics package? I'm not quite sure what you are looking for. Are you having the boat shipped to Florida and looking for handling lessons when you get there.

If the latter is the case and I was a bit closer I would be happy to assist as I owned my 340 for about 5 years before moving to a 52' boat. but since I am not close enough I would suggest looking at the US Power Squadron when you get to Florida or maybe hire a captain for a few hours. Most insurance companies will require that anyway if they are not comfortable with your experience.

We have a lot of members in Florida and I am betting someone will jump in with a better solution than mine.

Shawn