From landlubber to old salt &

from a 29’ express cruiser to a 41’cockpit motor yacht. 

Although we are getting older it would be a far stretch to say we are old salts or blue water cruisers.  In the overall picture we are your basic recreational boaters.  Neither one us grew up around boats.  I was raised on a farm outside of Chicago and later I worked in my family’s restaurant. I did some boating with my cousins on the Kankakee River in Kankakee, IL and took some canoe trips with my friend Bill Weber.  Cherie grew up in upstate New York near Utica.  Her uncles had a cabin on 4^th Lake in Old Forge, NY.  That was the extent of our boating experiences. 

For the past 15 years we have lived in Lancaster, PA, and on our way to the mall in August 1993, we passed by Conestoga Marine, looking at the boats they had in front of their building.  Cherie said, “Let’s stop and see what the boats look like up close.”   The biggest one they had in stock was a 29’ Sea Ray Express Cruiser with twin I/O’s.  We talked with one of the owners, Tony, and he showed us around the boat.  This was the biggest boat either one of us had ever been on.  That night we talked about it some and the kids were very excited about the possibility of us getting a boat.  We figured what the hell, why not. I could learn to drive it, how hard could it be?  After several talks with Tony we came to a price that I felt we could live with and the deal was consummated soon thereafter.  

Needless to say, the adventure had just begun!  As the boat was being prepped Tony went over the systems and went over some navigation instructions with me. Tony also helped us get a slip at Owens’s Marina in Perryville, MD. Once the boat got in the water it looked even bigger, and when driving it, the wind and tide kept moving it around on me.  How was I supposed to dock the darn thing with all the movement?  When you stop your car it stops moving, not the boat.  After several lessons from Tony, the task got much easier.  Having twin out-drives was also a help.  That first year I was as nervous as a flounder on a hot rock every time I took the boat out, and not so much getting out but getting BACK IN!  

We purchased the boat in late August of 1993.  It was not until mid September that I was able to take a safe boating class from the local Coast Guard Auxillary in Lancaster, PA.  This was a great help.  Later in the year Cherie, my son, Tony, and I took the safe boating and seamanship courses with the Lancaster Power Squadron.  This was also a great help in several ways.  One, we met other people who had similar interests and similar experiences out on the water.  Two, it helped us realize that it takes TIME on THE WATER to really learn how to operate your boat.  Three, it gave us a base to build on.  

For the first several years we were very happy with the size and cruising range of our boat.  We both learned a lot about boating and had many good experiences and some not so good.  We had taken trips from the Chesapeake Bay to Atlantic City, NJ and Ocean City, MD and many destinations on the Chesapeake Bay.  The boat was very sea worthy and provided ample room for a weekend cruise.  During our cruising time we learned to work as a team for docking and getting through rough weather.  Even dropping and raising anchor became a fun process.  We worked out hand signals for maneuvering the boat and anchoring procedures.  This worked out better than hollering back and forth. 

As we gained experience and had many great adventures on the water we began to think of longer cruises and a bigger boat.  When the kids would came to visit it would get a little crowded in the cabin, so bigger sleeping quarters were desired.  Plus, we wanted to spend more time on the boat, so more living space was needed.   

Thus the search began.  This was not as speedy a process as the first boat. It took us three years to finally find the boat and deal we were looking for.  After all, we were content with what we had, it ran great, and I was comfortable with operating it in a variety of sea conditions.  We began our search by talking to other boat owners and found out what they liked and did not like about their boats and the dealers they worked with.  We did the boat show tours, Baltimore, Annapolis, Atlantic City and the New York show.  We read the various boating publications and looked at all the ads.  Then we began visiting several boat dealerships in the area, and with their help began to develop a criteria worksheet that helped us pinpoint our needs and wishes for the new boat.  I also visited several boat builders and had a tour of the shipyard.  It is amazing all the little details that go into building a boat, not to mention the various ways of doing the same thing.  For example one-builder places extra rubber around the air conditioning hoses so the holding straps won’t cut through the vent hose.  Another builder will use a much wider strap around the vent hose for the same reason.  Some of the items listed below were given more attention than others, but we did not have a scientific process for ranking the items.  Hey, this should be FUN not a second job!  The one thing that kept us from getting a 50ft to 70ft yacht was the cost factor.  I guess that is one of the primary factors, as with most things in life, darn! 

Our goal was to get the most boat and value for the money.  One that would last us may years and meet most of our criteria or at least be very close to our worksheet.   Our next task was to develop a comparison worksheet.

Please feel free to use and modify it to meet your needs.   Most of the information is available on the basic fact sheets the brokers have.  Other info can be found on the boat builders’ website or from magazine articles.   It also helps if you can talk with someone who owns a sister ship.   The sales people at the broker’s is also a source of information.  All the people we dealt with were very professional and I had a reasonable amount of faith in them.  We decided we wanted to go with a new boat rather than a pre-owned.  This limited our choices a little as the cost factor kicked in.  

We finally decided on a 4087 Cockpit Motor Yacht by Bayliner from the Yacht Center of Baltimore.  The boat is equipped with a generator, twin 330 Cummins diesels, lower helm station three windshield wipers with window washer, Raymarine raider and chart-plotter and a lot more.  The boat met most of our criteria and the price was within our desired payment plan. 

Everyone told me that the bigger boat would be easier to handle, but I was very skeptical.  However, for the most part they were right.  The wind and current do not move it around as fast.  Plus the twin diesels really have power to spare.  The first time I drove the boat I was amazed at the quick response time the boat had.  I was also in shock as to how big the darn thing was.  Both Chuck & Tim at the Yacht Center were a great help in showing me the systems and some maneuvering techniques. Tim helped me with the basic maneuvering techniques and getting us back into our slip the first time.  Actually, he did it and I watched.  The next time I took the boat out was with two of my sons, Tony and Dom.  We went to an area of the marina that was not too crowded and we practiced backing into slips for the next hour.  Each of the boys had a fending poll and a bumper to help keep the boat off the end of the dock and the pylons.  I am still learning and experimenting with all the features of the boat and will for some time to come.    To me that is a lot of fun.  Cherie is having fun with getting things in order in the cabin areas and enjoying the extra space.  She is also helping me learn how to dock the beast.  She has become very proficient in assisting in the docking process and does not get hyper when I have to start over and over. 

When we took delivery of the boat we had a christening ceremony at the Yacht Center. Again, all the staff was very helpful.  We played Whitney Houston’s Star Spangled Banner, then Cherie broke a bottle of champagne ^note: (sparking wine) over the bow and our local Priest from Little Italy, father Mike blessed the boat.  The only part of the blessing that was a little disturbing was “and should they go down at sea.”  Our friend, Sal, filmed the event, and we drew quite a crowd as the proceedings were underway.   I always wanted to do a christening of the boat. I tried to be as accurate as possible, but I had to draw the line at sacrificing a virgin over the bow.   We named the boat Mon Cherie.  Our daughter-in-law, Patty, came up with the name.  In French, Mon Cherie means “my darling” and it is how Cherie spells her name.  Oh, how romantic, plus naming a boat after a woman is supposed to be good luck.  The next thing I am thinking of is getting a figurehead of a bare-breasted woman on the bow.  That is supposed to help calm the savage sea, at least that’s what I have heard. I thought of getting the woodcarver to carve Cherie’s face on the figure.  However, my sons said that would be a little overkill and would be a little embarrassing for them.  I can’t tell you what Cherie thought of the idea, OUCH! 

We hope to see you on the water.  If you see the Mon Cherie please stop by and say hello.