Dammit. I bought a boat.

My fiend and I went to the Vancouver International Boat Show today. We were only going to look at kayaks. Really. I thought he might buy one, but I was only going to look. Just look. Well, I didn’t get another kayak. But…

There was this display, y’see? It was a Mercury 430 HD. Brand new. Red. The dealer just got it in after a three-month wait. CDN$5,200, including a Mercury 25 hp outboard. I circled around like a shark. We wandered off and had a look at the Zodiacs. I’ve wanted a Zodiac ever since I was a kid. We’re talking 30 years, here. Turns out the Zodiacs were about 2-1/2 times the cost of the Mercury. We looked at the Merc again, then went to lunch.

We went back to the boat show, and I sniffed around some more. I didn’t want the motor. Actually; I did want the motor, but I didn’t want to spend the money right now. Besides, it’s a two-stroke. Two-stroke engines have lots of power for their weight, but they pollute more than a four-stroke. I didn’t find out if I’d have to use pre-mix; but if I did, it would be a hassle. The boat-show price of the 430 HD was CDN$1,000 less than the regular price. I couldn’t pass it up. The boat, oars, floor kit, repair kit and pump cost about US$2,000. The Boat Centre deflated the boat and we bundled it up into its two bags and loaded it into my fiend’s white serial-killer van.

I got my GST back at the border, but I’ll need to go back to get my receipts stamped so that I can recover the PST.

So I finally have my “Zodiac”. I don’t have a motor for it yet, so it’s pretty useless. I’ll look for a used motor locally, even if it’s a two-stroke. Maybe I can find a four-stroke for a fair price.

I’ve been thinking about getting back into diving. I have my PADI and NAUI cards around here somewhere. It will give me a chance to use my Nikonos underwater. And then there’s that u/w video housing I picked up, and the housing I want to make for my Bolex. At the very least, it’ll come in quite handy for crabbing and fishing. It’s big enough that I’ll feel fairly comfortable making long trips across the Strait of Georgia. Okay, so 14 feet isn’t that big; but it’s big enough for local trips.

You really are the impulse buyer, aren’t you? Didn’t you just buy a boat? it’s great to have a hobby, but…!!

Actually, though, I want a boat too. Not that I could afford one, even with every last penny in the bank, but I can see the attraction to it! You really should get back into diving - just because! Enjoy!

Yeah, I picked up a little 12-foot sprit-rigged sailboat from a neighbour. It was dirt-cheap.

I learned to dive, and learned to fly at the same time. Flying was a lot easier. To dive, I had to get up at 0-dark-thirty and head to the coast. (I lived in the desert at the time.) I had my choice: I could beach dive, or I could go to Oxnard to catch a boat to the islands. Beach diving was a pain because the surf was a bit rough. You had to fight your way through it, and then all you got to see was sand and sand dollars and sea urchins. The only beach dive I really liked was down in La Jolla. Not much to see (sand and shrimp), but it was cool (literally!) going down to 110 feet. The Channel Islands were great – once you got there. Lots of rock formtions and sea creatures to see, but it was a two-hour boat trip after a two-hour drive. So I eventually gave it up because it was too much like work, and flying wasn’t.

Now I’m up here in Northern Washington. Lots of rocks and lots of sea stars. Plus fish and dungeness crabs. And the best part is that it’s virtually in my front yard! No two-hour boat trips! With my zodiac (small “Z”) I can put in at Birch Bay and dive just about anywhere. I’ll need a drysuit though; it’s cold up here.

I need to figure out how to carry two kayaks. My friend’s is 12 feet, and mine is 12-1/2 feet. I suppose we could tow them, but I wouldn’t want them to flip. I could lash them to the side, but I wonder how they’d handle that? It would be nice to invert them over the tubes, but I need somewhere to sit. (I was planning to put the seat forward and just sit on the tube aft.) Oh, well; it will work itself out later.

Yeah, I need a keeper. Gotta find me a girlfriend or wife who will tell me “No” from time to time.

Just as a public service thing, “no”. :smiley:

How are you finding the Pacific northwest, boat collecting aside?

…and I thought my impulse buying computer games was bad.

That’s bad ass. I’d take it to the lake at night and play Navy SEALS.

I’ve never played seals. Seals are a precussion instrument, right? :smiley:

You should see the Canadian Coast Guard’s Zodiac Hurricane 24-foot (7.24m) Fast Rescue Craft! :drool:

Hey, while you were at the Boat Show, didja see a guy with a couple tarantullas, a chinchilla and a boa?

That’d be my boss. :rolleyes: He was there yesterday.

Okay. That was a pain.

My “zodiac” has plywood floors with aluminum tongue-and-groove joiners, plus aluminum side channels for rigidity. The floors were not as easy to put in as I had imagined! It took quite a while to get them to fit. My friend came out to help, and I wouldn’t have been able to put the panels in without his help. But first, there was another adventure.

I need a trailer. I found one at a dealer in town for a good price ($110 less than a competitor, and only $100 – 25% – over cost). But it required a 2" ball on my hitch. Since I have another trailer, and I sometimes rent U-Hauls, I don’t want to remove my 1-7/8" ball from my hitch. I was directed to a nearby marine supply store, but they did not have hitches; just the ball. Turns out, the guy at the store is a neighbour. He loaned me the 2" hitch and ball off of his SUV. I thought I had a 2" ball on a hitch, but I didn’t find it.

So anyway, the floors. After getting the panels in and trying to put the side rails on, we gave up. There was just no freakin’ way it was going together. The manual was no help. “1. Put an oar under the hull. 2. Put the channel on. 3. Repeat on other side.” Duh. The best I could do would be to put the boat on the trailer and take it to the boatyard for professional help. In the meantime, I went to NAPA to get a hitch and ball so that I could return the loaner.

The guy from the marine store came by after dark. I got out my Coleman lantern, and between the three of us we managed to pound, pry, and generally manhandle the channels into place. The little locking nozzle on the pump broke. One of us had to hold the nozzle into the hole whilst the other pumped. My friend and I traded duties and only got the boat half full. We were bushed from the previous work, and it’s a big boat to fill with air. I think I’ll look for an electric pump tomorrow. But we did get enough air in it so that the floor fits. I’ll have to monkey with the inflatable keel though, to get the inflation port centred under the hole in the deck.

I asked about an engine. A short-shaft Mercury 25hp four-stroke costs US$2,650 (boat show price). I’m looking for a used motor. The Echo and the Little Nickle have a few motors, but they’re either too small (9hp) or too big (30-40hp). My boat is rated for max. 25hp.

zoogirl: No, I didn’t see him.

So you’re in BC? My friend wants to move there. He’s writing a script for his next film, which he wants to film on Vancouver Island. Once he gets some development funds, he’ll apply for a visa so he can move up for a year or two to work with the First Nations people to ensure accuracy. He wouldn’t mind finding matrimony with a Canadian girl. (Come to think of it, neither would I. Canadian women are amazingly attractive. But I have to stay here so I can vote agains Monkey Boy in the next election.)

What is that guy in the front doing? Blowing up his rubber floaty? :wink:

Yup, I’m a genuine Surrey Girl. But don’t let that scare ya! :wink:

Canadian girls are indeed gorgous and good luck to your friend :slight_smile: .

This is a great place to film. not only is the place beautiful but all the infrastructer for making a movie is in place. We have post production, studios and all the rest of it. If he needs a critter or too, tell him to give us a call! Cinemazoo at your service, specalizing in animals for movie and TV work.

He’ll probably find that the First Nations upcoast have experiance in this kind of thing, maybe more than the Island. [end hijack]

Geez, we’re practically neighbours! I’m about four miles from the border. Why should I be scared by a “Surrey Girl”?

Assuming you’ve got a 2" receiver and you don’t need any drop or rise, there are multi-balled hitches available. You just plug it into the receiver with the desired ball facing up. When I was getting a receiver installed recently, I was wandering around the shop and saw one that had three diffrent sized balls and a pintle hook, but that’s a bit extreme. You may find it cheaper to just get another ball and hitch. IIRC, I paid around $25 for the combo.

Surrey’s got a bit of a reputation as the trailer trash capital of the Lower Mainland. Like most stereotypes, it’s not entirely fair, so unless zoogirl lives in Whalley (a neighbourhood in Surrey) I wouldn’t worry too much. :wink:

Having grown up on the water (canals actually) in clam digger country, 2 quotes came to mind the second I read your thread title:

and

gotpasswords: I got another hitch and ball. About $35 from NAPA.

JohnBckWLD: I’ve heard those. Fortunately, it’s an inexpensive boat.

Well, I got it pumped up. Turns out the broken nozzle was the wrong one anyway. But first, I went to West Marine and bought an electric pump. It wasn’t working, and I found out why: The boat takes 3.5 psi max., and the pump can only put out 0.6 psi. I took it back and got a refund. After I returned home I tried another nozzle and it worked. I pumped the tubes up to 2.5 psi with the hand-pump and it’s nice and taut.

The boat weighs 217 pounds, so I hooked the metal loop on the bow to the winch and pulled the bow onto the trailer. Then I went to the transom and lifted the back on. The trailer’s really designed for a rigid-hull boat, but that’s all there is in town. I moved the bow roller back under the inflatable keel, and used the side loops near the bow to tie it down with a ratchet strap. I used a ratchet strap across the stern to hold the back down. I don’t have a cover yet, so I put a blue tarp over it. I’ll need to get some bungees to hold it until I can get a proper cover.

I looked at a Honda 4-stroke engine today. At $800 under list, it was still $3,600. Och! I canna stand the rape o’ me purse! I was told a 4-stroke Merc would be about $2,650. I’m still hoping to find a used 25 hp engine so I can save some bucks. I want to be environmentally friendly and use a quiet, clean 4-stroke; but I’m sure a 2-stroke would be cheaper.

Um, actually, 104 and Old Yale…

And I walk through “GroundZero” every day on my way to and from work. :eek:

Hey, getting back to the subject, what do you think of the little inflatables? I’ve got a Sevlar Trail Boat, which is only about 5" but it’s a lot of fun, an inflatable kayak and a Sevlar two man canoe. The kayak and Trailboat both need repair just now, unfortunately, but the canoe will be happily riding the Inlet this summer! We go out to Barnet Marine Park and the guy’s fish while I take out the crab trap and generally laze about on the water.

I thought about getting a two-person Sevylor inflatable kayak/canoe when my friend and I went to Europe in 1982. Neither one of us wanted to carry the additional 9 kilos, though.

I looked at a Feathercraft inflatable kayak at the Vancouver International Boat Show on Wednesday. It looked good, and at 15 feet it probably moved okay. I need to try one out.

As for “zodiacs”, I’ve wanted one since I was a kid. I haven’t tried mine out yet, since I need to have it registered and get a motor. Inflatables are wide and stable. You can pile people on one side without capsizing. I want to get back into diving, and I think the stability will be good for that. I also wanted a stable camera platform. (Obviously, the camera will be handheld.) Then there’s the floor space. Lots of room for a crab trap! (At least, there will be if there’s a season this year.) The boat weighs 217 pounds (about 99 kg), so it needs less power than a heavier boat. The hull design should make it skim across the water like a flat rock. I’ve taken the kayak as far as Point Whitehorn locally, and from Bamfield to the Dear Island Group on the west side of Vancouver Island. In such protected waters, the inflatable should be ideal.

It sounds as if you like yakkin’. We should get together sometime. If you come down this way, there’s me, my friend, and a neighbour who paddle aroud Birch Bay. I’m trying to get a friend interested, but he and his wife just bought a house and don’t want to spend the money right now.

Then why in the world did you buy a boat?!*

*Just about everybody I know had/has a boat, I know what a money sink they are.