Amazing the stuff you'll find after a couple seasons that you really dont need.

As for the Regal - nice boat. I like the sunpad with the cup holders. LOA appears to be 29'2 according to MFG website. I agree that it is overpriced. For that kind of money, you could find a darn nice Rinker 310 or 340 that likely includes a genset.

to add to what GFC was saying about shorepower in a slip, aside from the convenience of not having to empty the fridge, there's a really good reason to have your batteries charged. your bilge pump (or pumps) run off the batteries and having shore power will charge your batteries which will nmake sure any water in the boat (either from rain or a problem) is pumped overboard. boats that are kept on moorings will often have solar chargers for this reason and that's something you may want to look into if you take the slip without electricity. btw, in addition to keeping the batteries charged, it's important that the bilge be clear of foreign objects. i had a previous boat that was prone to take on water in the bilge over time. i went a few weeks without visiting the boat and was really lucky i went when i did. a plastic zip tie had come loose and lodged itself in the bilge pump until the pump fried. without the pump working, the bilge was slowly filling up with water and that's never a good thing.

That's a nice craft. I kind of like the idea of the galley in the cockpit... Add a BBQ and a blender and you're set.

I have a Kohler CAT genset in my boat. CAT is a type of genset. No or way little CO in the exhaust. Run them for days and the "no smell" type of fumes are not there to kill you. The CO ditectors simply do not go off.

The aft one (CO detector) does sound when the main engine is running, because it has CO in its exhaust--if I do not take the proper steps.

Great info Seabuddy. I didn't know those existed. From the Kohler web site, they are gasoline powered but low Co emmision.

Maybe they should be called "loco" generators?

OK maybe that was silly, but they sound pretty darned good.

Thanks everyone for your replies and advice.

I spoke with the person that sets policy for the DNR (as far as size limits on boats that are slipped at the DNR marina). I was told that the max length is a boat is 26 foot as registered. The DNR does not count the swim platforms against the length of the boat, so a boat that registers as 26 footer that happens to have a 3 foot platform would be OK. I have a feeling this size limit (26 feet) will really cut into the models of boats we can look at in order to stay within "legal" limits. I understand the benefits of moving to a different marina to get shorepower, but can't get past weighing the cost difference for yearly fees at a private marine vs. the state marina. I am also leary of giving up my lease on the slip as the state docks are near impossible to get (we got lucky and won a lottery for our spot).

the other "dnr" i'm familiar with stands for "do not resuscitate", what does yours stand for?

department of natural resources

i've been in macy's a number of times and never saw that department. wonder what floor it's on.

My experience with DNR reps at Monroe is they range from incompetent to clueless. You're giving them a lot of credit to tell you ahead of time exactly what size boat they will approve.

BTW - a completely different, and much more comfortable option would be to keep the 19 foot bowrider, buy a cheap condo at the pointe with a garage, sleep easy and launch the boat when you want to go out on the lake. It'd probably be cheaper in the long run also.













http://www.eaglepointe.com/

Take a look at the Pointe listings here - they range from expensive, to dirt cheap.

http://www.connection-realestate.com/listings.html#

You should look at the cost of fuel to run the generators and the wear and tear over the cost of getting the other slip that comes with the shore power. Also not having to empty the frig. If the cost isn't that big of a difference, I think that I would give up that DNR slip and move. Just MHO.

Plus you would not be limited to the size of boat that you could get.

Will you be the only boat at the marina to be slept on? If you run your genny all night, and you have other neighbors, you are going to make them very upset having to hear that all night.

Now there's some good "outside the box" thinking on this issue!

Good point WD. As you know , we slipped at a "no power" marina for 6 years, and if anyone had a genny there, they would likely have been shot.

Some marinas have a "curfew" on generators too.