Hellbent
05-30-2012, 04:06 PM
I picked up a Chris-Cat in Tampa a few weeks ago. I had been working on the boat every day/night getting it ‘just’ right. I took the day off Friday to try to finish everything up before putting it in the water Friday night but on Friday afternoon I came inside to grab a sandwich and my 7 year old daughter came up to me and said "Dad, I think you like working on the boat more than spending time with me." Doh! Women...even at the age of 7 they know exactly how to get their way. So I decided a few things I wanted to have done could wait and had some much needed family time Friday night ;)
I put the registration stickers on Saturday morning in the rain while we waited for the front to roll through then headed up to Muskegon to put the boat into the water. I sold my last boat almost 15 years ago and had never run a twin screw so I was a little nervous when they lowered me into the water and I backed out of the lift dock. Lol After a couple minutes of fumbling around and some sailboat guy running to the end of his dock to tell me I was going too fast, I realized that this thing was really a bear to get through the marina. It wasn’t until I went to back into the slip that I realized the starboard tranny wasn’t engaging. Hmmm….thought I checked that fluid?
The service manager gave me a ride up to the shop and we grabbed some tranny fluid and a funnel. I got that squared away just as my girlfriend and daughter were arriving with the cooler supplies. As they were getting on the boat I heard a small splash and looked up to see my girlfriend looking at me with what could only be described as that look your dog gives you when you get home to find out it crapped on the carpet. “Those were the car keys.” she said. So we got that out of the way. Lol
After getting everything stowed away we headed out for a little blast around Muskegon Lake. On the way out of the marina a guy came down to the end of his dock with his fingers in his ears. I’m going to bring some ear plugs for him next time out. As we were approaching the end of the no-wake we briefly discussed how water was dripping down onto our feet. Surely, it just must have accumulated somewhere during the storm that morning. I made a couple of laps around the lake and we decided to head out the channel to Lake Michigan. As I was approaching the channel I saw the Coast Guard boat with about a dozen people on it sitting right in the middle of the channel. I was the only other boat in sight. So you know what happened next… After a full inspection everyone became aware of my expired flares and it was recommended I don’t enter Lake Michigan or they’d have to give me a ticket.
On the way back through the channel into Muskegon Lake we again discussed how odd it was that our feet were getting wet. And now one of my water psi gauges was fluttering. Interesting. Better check that out. I went down below and pulled back the panel to find a completely soaked gauge panel. Apparently the water psi line got cut during stereo installation. I couldn’t believe nothing fried…it was soaking wet under there. Of course it got cut at a point where it would just barely no longer reach the gauge. So I had a little line sticking out of one of my engine compartment vents that shot a thin stream of water for the rest of the weekend ;) It was cool.
We took a couple friends for a ride and made a few more laps. Muskegon Lake was pretty flat so I took it up to about 4k rpm which showed about 80mph on the gps. It was surprisingly quiet on board but apparently everyone on shore knew exactly where we were at all times…lol. It was getting to be dinner time so we headed back to the slip since I really wasn’t emotionally prepared to have a bunch of spectators watching me maneuver up to a dock at one of the local restaurants. We drove up to Docker’s instead. The food there was so good that we ended up eating there again on Sunday…but again I chose to take the car rather than risk the embarrassment of pushing one of the sticks the wrong way and punching one of my sponsons through the side of the 52 foot yacht that was slipped in front of the restaurant all weekend ;)
We ended up getting a room at the Shoreline Inn on Sunday night. Great hotel…the room was huge and overlooked the lake from the 9th floor. I didn’t get a slip there but if I end up needing to stay there again I probably would. We heard the restaurant there is really good but didn’t get a chance to try it out on this trip.
I had hoped to be able to beach somewhere but it appeared the water level was a little low for that right now. We made a little raft on the south side of the channel wall inside the wave barrier on Monday for a couple hours then someone reminded me I had to work the next day so we had to head for home. We got back to the marina and they pulled me out with the lift truck this time just to make sure it wasn’t going to be a problem on future visits. I got tons of compliments on the boat all weekend which must mean my detail work over the previous weeks paid off. I brought it back home for now just to finish up a couple things but I’ll be leaving it out there soon.
This is where I plug Great Lakes Marina. I couldn’t believe the service I got there. Everyone was going out of their way all weekend to make sure everything was going all right and to see if there was anything we needed. Yes, in interest of full disclosure I’m good friends with the General Manager there, but everyone else didn’t know that. They really made us feel welcome and comfortable. Every member of the staff there that we dealt with was extremely friendly and attentive. We made some great new friends and can’t wait to be back.
I had previously spent most of my time around Grand Haven/Spring Lake, only leaving there for short trips up to Muskegon to eat or down to Port Sheldon to anchor for the night. I’m not sure why anyone wouldn’t rather spend their time in Muskegon….maybe they just haven’t tried it yet? It’s got everything. There is NO way I could bring my boat down to Grand Haven without getting an exhaust ticket every time I started it….NO WAY. I passed the sheriff in Muskegon about a half dozen times all weekend and got a smile and wave rather than flashing lights and a pointing finger. And all the no-wake zones of Grand Haven and Spring Lake….no thanks. I have a lot of friends that boat down there but I guess they’ll just have to come up and visit me ;)
Okay Paul…there’s my novel….lol.
I put the registration stickers on Saturday morning in the rain while we waited for the front to roll through then headed up to Muskegon to put the boat into the water. I sold my last boat almost 15 years ago and had never run a twin screw so I was a little nervous when they lowered me into the water and I backed out of the lift dock. Lol After a couple minutes of fumbling around and some sailboat guy running to the end of his dock to tell me I was going too fast, I realized that this thing was really a bear to get through the marina. It wasn’t until I went to back into the slip that I realized the starboard tranny wasn’t engaging. Hmmm….thought I checked that fluid?
The service manager gave me a ride up to the shop and we grabbed some tranny fluid and a funnel. I got that squared away just as my girlfriend and daughter were arriving with the cooler supplies. As they were getting on the boat I heard a small splash and looked up to see my girlfriend looking at me with what could only be described as that look your dog gives you when you get home to find out it crapped on the carpet. “Those were the car keys.” she said. So we got that out of the way. Lol
After getting everything stowed away we headed out for a little blast around Muskegon Lake. On the way out of the marina a guy came down to the end of his dock with his fingers in his ears. I’m going to bring some ear plugs for him next time out. As we were approaching the end of the no-wake we briefly discussed how water was dripping down onto our feet. Surely, it just must have accumulated somewhere during the storm that morning. I made a couple of laps around the lake and we decided to head out the channel to Lake Michigan. As I was approaching the channel I saw the Coast Guard boat with about a dozen people on it sitting right in the middle of the channel. I was the only other boat in sight. So you know what happened next… After a full inspection everyone became aware of my expired flares and it was recommended I don’t enter Lake Michigan or they’d have to give me a ticket.
On the way back through the channel into Muskegon Lake we again discussed how odd it was that our feet were getting wet. And now one of my water psi gauges was fluttering. Interesting. Better check that out. I went down below and pulled back the panel to find a completely soaked gauge panel. Apparently the water psi line got cut during stereo installation. I couldn’t believe nothing fried…it was soaking wet under there. Of course it got cut at a point where it would just barely no longer reach the gauge. So I had a little line sticking out of one of my engine compartment vents that shot a thin stream of water for the rest of the weekend ;) It was cool.
We took a couple friends for a ride and made a few more laps. Muskegon Lake was pretty flat so I took it up to about 4k rpm which showed about 80mph on the gps. It was surprisingly quiet on board but apparently everyone on shore knew exactly where we were at all times…lol. It was getting to be dinner time so we headed back to the slip since I really wasn’t emotionally prepared to have a bunch of spectators watching me maneuver up to a dock at one of the local restaurants. We drove up to Docker’s instead. The food there was so good that we ended up eating there again on Sunday…but again I chose to take the car rather than risk the embarrassment of pushing one of the sticks the wrong way and punching one of my sponsons through the side of the 52 foot yacht that was slipped in front of the restaurant all weekend ;)
We ended up getting a room at the Shoreline Inn on Sunday night. Great hotel…the room was huge and overlooked the lake from the 9th floor. I didn’t get a slip there but if I end up needing to stay there again I probably would. We heard the restaurant there is really good but didn’t get a chance to try it out on this trip.
I had hoped to be able to beach somewhere but it appeared the water level was a little low for that right now. We made a little raft on the south side of the channel wall inside the wave barrier on Monday for a couple hours then someone reminded me I had to work the next day so we had to head for home. We got back to the marina and they pulled me out with the lift truck this time just to make sure it wasn’t going to be a problem on future visits. I got tons of compliments on the boat all weekend which must mean my detail work over the previous weeks paid off. I brought it back home for now just to finish up a couple things but I’ll be leaving it out there soon.
This is where I plug Great Lakes Marina. I couldn’t believe the service I got there. Everyone was going out of their way all weekend to make sure everything was going all right and to see if there was anything we needed. Yes, in interest of full disclosure I’m good friends with the General Manager there, but everyone else didn’t know that. They really made us feel welcome and comfortable. Every member of the staff there that we dealt with was extremely friendly and attentive. We made some great new friends and can’t wait to be back.
I had previously spent most of my time around Grand Haven/Spring Lake, only leaving there for short trips up to Muskegon to eat or down to Port Sheldon to anchor for the night. I’m not sure why anyone wouldn’t rather spend their time in Muskegon….maybe they just haven’t tried it yet? It’s got everything. There is NO way I could bring my boat down to Grand Haven without getting an exhaust ticket every time I started it….NO WAY. I passed the sheriff in Muskegon about a half dozen times all weekend and got a smile and wave rather than flashing lights and a pointing finger. And all the no-wake zones of Grand Haven and Spring Lake….no thanks. I have a lot of friends that boat down there but I guess they’ll just have to come up and visit me ;)
Okay Paul…there’s my novel….lol.