New to Us Anxieties

dvx216

dvx216

Well-Known Member
GOLD Sponsor
Feb 1, 2012
2,696
Catawaba Island/Orrville,Oh.
Boat Info
340 Sundancer 2001
Engines
8.1s 370 v drv.
Our loved six year relationship with 2000 310Da. which I knew forwards and backwards ended late last summer. The 2001 340 came and we only had two weeks of useful boating weather before she went to heated storage. Over the winter we spent a lot of time trying to get to know her as much as one can on the off season. When we moved up to the 310 from a 1988 230 Weekender there was so many things different I didn't have time to worry about the boat itself. We bought the 310Da over the winter and started the season with it. We had a 3 hour shake down cruise with it bring it home from the Maumee River to Catawba Is. in really shitty weather. I mean how much do you really know about a boat without having at least a full season under your belt. So here's to this coming Boat season we got our fingers crossed.
 
I do not think I will ever not be anxious when at the helm of my boat, especially at cruising speeds. I think this is mostly a good thing, keeps me alert. I am starting the 2nd year with my 380DA and I feel much more comfortable with the boat in general than I did this time last year. Part of that came from spending months chasing down an engine overheating issue where I now feel like I know the engines better as well as how the boat performs. Now, I don't think my engines running hot new anxiety will ever go away, I am always looking at the temp gauge now (more than I used to, which was often).

I also had a 7 hour cruise home with her from MD to VA, plus we did a few trips with her in MD before bringing her home to VA. That helped.
 
I think you are smart to have a little anxiety, Lake Erie can get crappy in a hurry. But if you have a back up plan and the right safety gear, your not “too” far from help, but you could be on your own till help arrives.

When I bought mine, I was going to take her a from Tampa to Key West, but I also had some anxiety about that trip, and decided against doing it. In hind sight, I wish I had done it.
 
I always have anxiety when that boats backing down the ramp temp gauge impeller it's always a worry something but I try to keep on top of preventative maintenance the best I can and I hope you all do and I thank all of you over the last year
 
mrsrobinson said:
I do not think I will ever not be anxious when at the helm of my boat, especially at cruising speeds. I think this is mostly a good thing, keeps me alert. I am starting the 2nd year with my 380DA and I feel much more comfortable with the boat in general than I did this time last year. Part of that came from spending months chasing down an engine overheating issue where I now feel like I know the engines better as well as how the boat performs. Now, I don't think my engines running hot new anxiety will ever go away, I am always looking at the temp gauge now (more than I used to, which was often).
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Same here, after a summer with Bravoitis I still cant get comfortable at cruising speed. Always listening for the sound of something breaking, and constantly scanning the gauges.
Im really hoping this is the summer I can truly relax and enjoy it.
 
I am relaxed at the helm. That doesn't mean I let my guard down, quite the opposite. I am constantly scanning, ahead, behind, left then right then the gauges. By now it is second nature, l don't even really have to think about it. There are a lot of...uneducated boaters (to be nice) on my lake. Like a lot of you, I never assume the other guys knows the rules or cares.
 
It’s funny to hear all of this. Every year it seems the most stressful day of the year is the day I launch in the spring. Even though I try to do all of the maintenance and test everything on land, I always worry on that first ride.

During the year I find myself saying to myself, “what the heck is that noise? Was it always there?”:(

I too have a new to me boat but did get a whole summer to use it and used this winter to perform overdue maintenance.

Hoping for a great year for all!
 
boatrboy said:
It’s funny to hear all of this. Every year it seems the most stressful day of the year is the day I launch in the spring. Even though I try to do all of the maintenance and test everything on land, I always worry on that first ride.

During the year I find myself saying to myself, “what the heck is that noise? Was it always there?”:(
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I’m do that too. I’ll probably do that bore this year because I overhauled the aftercooler.

This will be the start of the 3rd season with my boat. I still feel like I’m getting know her, even though I’ve done a bunch of work/maintenance and possibly know her better than most other owners.
 
boatrboy said:
It’s funny to hear all of this. Every year it seems the most stressful day of the year is the day I launch in the spring. Even though I try to do all of the maintenance and test everything on land, I always worry on that first ride.

During the year I find myself saying to myself, “what the heck is that noise? Was it always there?”:(

I too have a new to me boat but did get a whole summer to use it and used this winter to perform overdue maintenance.

Hoping for a great year for all!
Click to expand...
Now that part I still do even after 14 years with the boat. I don't usually stress about it, but I am conscious of any noise I think might be new.
 
Launch day 2021. The place i was at had a schedule like army paratroopers going out the door, next up, go, get out of the way. I drop in water still in sling, turn key … nothing. Not even a click. Had just checked the batts, all good. Now I am starting to freak cause the manager is giving me the stink eye.
Fortunately, there was a surveyor doing a boat, came over, found a wire had come off ignition switch under dash. No clue how that happened over winter. Boat gremlins.
 
My anxieties are around logs/debris in the water, unknown shallow water, hitting something I can't see - other than that I love and thoroughly enjoy being at the helm.
 
Pirate Lady said:
Launch day 2021. The place i was at had a schedule like army paratroopers going out the door, next up, go, get out of the way. I drop in water still in sling, turn key … nothing. Not even a click. Had just checked the batts, all good. Now I am starting to freak cause the manager is giving me the stink eye.
Fortunately, there was a surveyor doing a boat, came over, found a wire had come off ignition switch under dash. No clue how that happened over winter. Boat gremlins.
Click to expand...
Had something similar happen in our first boat. I was pulling my boys on a tube, hit a wake and the boat went dead. Engine stopped, no readings on the gauges, stereo dead. Got a tow to our marina. Changed a bunch of fuses and still nothing. Finally started digging behind the helm and found the hot ignition wire detached from the ignition switch and a broken zip tie. I guess the guy at the factory ran out of screws and used a zip tie. The boat was never the same. Chased electrical problems for the rest of the year culminating with an ECM failure. Traded the boat the following April. Would have traded it anyway, we needed a bigger boat. But I will always have a soft spot for that 240 Sun Deck, great design.
 
My first splash is a half hour part cruise rpm 3300 and take a little ride down bass river at 1500 no wake and make sure everything is looking good
 
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