Another "We're Official C-Brats" Thread

J

JMacLeod

New member
We just got back from a fantastic day with Geof and Kevin from Three Rivers Marine.
After admiring the beautiful custom canvas install (utilizing Dr. Bob's advice), we got a full and very detailed explanation of the boat and systems from stem to stern, and Kevin was an amazingly patient and knowledgeable teacher.

I took full advantage of this and had him guide the Admiral from launch, through navigating the rules of the road, to docking.
She handled it all like a champ.

Slow and steady on the controls, and no panicky over-correcting back at the dock.
She said she feels confident enough that she could help launch and trailer the boat now.
I don't think it could have gone better.

An hour later it was all signatures and handshakes.
She was officially ours!

new_boat.jpg


Soon to be christened the C-Shalom, (Sea of Peace).
Lettering mock-up:

new_boat_name_mockup1.jpg
 
Oh wow congratulations!!! I love it. We crawled all over this boat, and hopefully Geoff wiped off our drool we left in your cabin :lol:

We sat down with Geoff and crunched the numbers and just couldn't commit. But we wanted to sooo bad. I'm so happy you guys did, she is such a beauty :love
 
Congrats! That looks like a fantastic boat. I would love to crawl around one of these and see how they compare to the 22 and 23.

Looking forward to hearing about your experiences.
 
smckean (Tosca)":1qzlzjd2 said:
I'm curious.....is the support structure for the canvas aluminum or stainless?
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Forgive the delay.
We've been busier than the proverbial one-legged man with both new boater and new boat warranty issues.
I'm back online now to read everything I can find on chartplotter, windlass, battery and electrical troubleshooting, but I digress.

The frame is 7/8" aluminum.

When we met with JP, the canvas guy at the dealer, the rental boat next to ours was in for repair with a bent steel bimini frame.
JP used it as an example of why his design would be different in the placement of the support brackets and material.

Working with JP was one of the more enjoyable tasks so far.
He was familiar with pics of Thataway's canvas, and was happy to spend as much time discussing and incorporating all the C-Brat advice we wanted.
The wife and I were really impressed with the attention to detail and quality of the finished product.

When we got it home we gave it the WOT test in freestanding bimini configuration, with the front support canvases removed, and the frame passed with flying colors.
Right now we couldn't be happier with it, but will update if anything changes over the test of time.
 
We think you guys made the best decision in buying new with warranties and local dealer, rather than spending years of beautiful boating days ‘fixing up’ a fixer-upper rather than boating on it.
Yes, there is depreciation like a truck rather than appreciation like a fixed-upper, but you have a niche boat that will command a premium in 5 years should you decide this lifestyle is not for you. Premium 5 year old TomCat 255’s for sale are very rare (as you already found out).
VHF and other antennas are great lightning rods, fold them down when off the boat. At my marina, I am the only geezer who does this. Oh, well.
In my readings of the Brats postings since I became an addict in 2013 it seems to me that most give it up due to aging, health issues, and health issues related to aging (is that one issue, or three?). In any event, hopefully these will not be issues for you two (sorry, three) anytime soon. And we can all hope and pray to be more like Bob and Marie Austin than the average geezer like me.
We’ll be at Key West Stock Island Marina Village next month Nov 25-Dec 29, come on down and visit (this invite is for all), $33/night (for >28 days) plus $10/day for power and $10/d for trailer storage at Garrison Bight City Marina launch ramp (don’t try to launch a TC255 anywhere else in Key West). You have to boat around the whole island, don’t take Cow Channel as a shortcut. May be problematic for other than TC255 if Small Craft Advisories are flying. Make reservations on Dockwa and cancel in 48 hours for no cost.
https://www.stockislandmarina.com/
Boca Grande Key or Marquessas is reachable with a weather window in Nov/Dec/Jan, but I remain on record against Dry Tortegas then. We’ll take the seaplane again…go often, just not on your C-Dory then.
For your first cruise destination close by, we highly recommend the Moorings, Longboat Key. 5 star marina resort with private shuttle van, beach pools and properties, marina pool and hot tub that no one will be in, access to great gym, St Armands Circle restaurants where we bought a Scallop Dinner that had exactly 3 scallops for $40.00. Take the free shuttle to the Publix and they have the same scallops for $10, but if we were cheap we would not have a TC255, right?
You also must plan on the Hontoon Gathering, March 5-7, cruising the lower St John river at 6MPH in Old Style Florida though only 60 miles from the East Coast. The crew of Mighty Wench (a Rosborogh 26) found out first hand how long it takes two manatees to mate (four hours). They couldn’t move.
I must admit that at over 5 years of ownership of a 2010 TC255 that I am still flabbergasted at being the owner of the newest one posting, although several newer ones have posted til buying, then drifted off non-communicado. Oh, well. Don’t be them, John.
My best advice:
Never, ever yell at each other.
Laugh at docking errors, bumps and scrapes. Wait til 3 years to pay a pro to fix them, it will be cheap overall, like a truck.
For high-risk rocky or coral areas like the keys, sub a cheap SOLAS aluminum prop…$105 each and they won’t crack the SS propshaft on the Suzuki’s when they strike rock.
Call me anytime, best of luck and fair winds and gently following seas!
John
 
dotnmarty":d4uoqegl said:
Mozel tov C-Shalom
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hardee":d4uoqegl said:
Congratulations and ENJOY. What a beautiful boat. Love that name too.
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Thank you all for the well wishes, and I have to give the credit to the missus for the name.
If I can get the letters on straight enough I'll take credit for that.
:wink:
 
PaulNBriannaLynn":1wmtbf9p said:
Oh wow congratulations!!! I love it. We crawled all over this boat, and hopefully Geoff wiped off our drool we left in your cabin :lol:

We sat down with Geoff and crunched the numbers and just couldn't commit. But we wanted to sooo bad. I'm so happy you guys did, she is such a beauty :love
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We felt the same way the first time we stepped onboard.
Beautiful, but the sticker shock set us to searching the used boat market instead.

Unfortunately after seeing the 2018, we were spoiled for any other boat and just didn't know it yet.

If you find the numbers crunch a little better in the future, my advice would be to have more patience and willpower than yours truly.
In our case, the difference between how we would have ordered the boat versus the changes we now want to make would have saved several boat units.
Just having the factory substitute a composting head while it was being built would have been priceless compared to the project I now get to look forward to... :cry :smilep :teeth
 
gulfcoast john":2s78xqjz said:
VHF and other antennas are great lightning rods, fold them down when off the boat. At my marina, I am the only geezer who does this. Oh, well.
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Sound advice for the nation's lightning capitol, and very relevant considering the local used 255 we passed on had already been struck by lightning. :shock:

gulfcoast john":2s78xqjz said:
We’ll be at Key West Stock Island Marina Village next month...
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We'd both love to, but it's probably going to be a few months before the house and dock are ready for us to move down and really get some serious boating experience.
This time next month I'll probably still be alternating between practicing basic docking maneuvers and working on my fiberglass repair skills. :roll: See below.

gulfcoast john":2s78xqjz said:
My best advice:
Never, ever yell at each other.
Laugh at docking errors, bumps and scrapes.
Click to expand...
Oh, I definitely remember quite a bit of yelling... very panicked yelling... right before hearing that ugly crunch. :crook

Our first three days of calm weather and easy docking didn't prepare me for how the boat would react on day four when a crosswind picked-up and started blowing into the dock.
As I was getting pushed more out of alignment, it felt like the motors weren't responding the same anymore, "docking panic" ensued.
Luckily between the Admiral's yelling and fending off the dock, we escaped with little more than a small crack in the motor cover and the embarrassment/entertainment for our new neighbors.
:mrgreen:

I hadn't connected the dots at the time, but the chartplotter had died the day before, and then the windlass died on the following trip.
The feeling that the motors weren't responding right could have been the symptom of an overall voltage issue that also affected the fly-by-wire controls.
After spending some time on the phone with Garmin and Three Rivers today, I'm suspecting all of the gremlins are related to either a bad battery or a high resistance open/loose connection.
I won't know more until I can get back down to the boat in a day or two.

Hopefully it's a quick fix and we're back to enjoying the water soon. :teeth
 
JMacLeod said: "This time next month I'll probably still be alternating between practicing basic docking maneuvers and working on my fiberglass repair skills."

Maybe this isyour first twin powered boat. If so, take a note here. Do not (Repeat -- DO NOT use your steering wheel anytime youbare docking. :roll: :wink: Use the throttles in oposition, one forward, one reverse. Your TomCat has twin engines, learn to use them that way from the get go. Sooooo much easier and better control. And maybe you won't hear what I did early on from a very big voice coming from way up high above me, as I was struggling to get into a dock, beside a 3 story B-boat. ("Sonny, take your d_a_m_n hands off that wheel!") The voice came down to my dock and took me on a ride on my own boat. A half hour later I went back to the dock, still with that BIG voice aboard, and docked under his watchful eye, without using the steering wheel, all the way in from the marina opening. Hint here, get used to using idle speeds, and be patient. Practice until you don't have to think about it.

All the best,

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
That's just so exciting. Thanks for sharing your photos and text, and many years of happy boating to you and your wife.
:rainbow
 
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