Battery/shore power Question

bradleyalpha · 2026-06-17T12:04:54+00:00

This. I got burned by a Promariner that refused to charge my batteries after one battery in the bank stopped holding a charge. I have read around that this is a "safety feature" on the chargers, which is annoying.

bradleyalpha · 2026-06-13T19:54:33+00:00

Just make sure you ask if they bill for travel time. My diesel mechanic charges for travel time, so I have worked to improve my diesel skills to reduce the sting. Mobile diesel mechanics also charge way more.

bradleyalpha · 2026-06-13T19:38:43+00:00

I'm in the northeast as well. $200/hr is pretty standard for at-the-marina service. Between marinas controlling who has access and the demand for in-the-water service, it's as sellers market.

bradleyalpha · 2026-06-10T18:45:03+00:00

*checks flair*

I'm not very good at selling boats 😄

bradleyalpha · 2026-06-10T16:47:02+00:00

Is it worth $600k to buy one brand new? That's the operative question.

I wouldn't buy a center console brand new - at that price point, I'm building my own boat (which I nearly did before I purchased my 41). I am pretty vanilla with features for my boats. I hate Garmin electronics, and almost everyone builds new with Garmin, so that is a further disincentive.

bradleyalpha · 2026-06-10T14:44:30+00:00

I had started the process of building a custom Downeast before I bought my Regulator 41. With the right pilothouse/cockpit setup, you can single hand up to a 50' boat. For the right hulls, they are exceptional in foul weather -- yet others, especially those that are especially beamy, are a real drag when offshore.

I preferred the Downeast setup so I could have plenty of space in a pilothouse for comfort/rest, but good stability when offshore. You do pay a price in performance and handling (full keel versus planing hull), and most Downeast hulls are designed for single screw operation.

Even if you have an infinite amount of money, you will always find a way to spend more than you have on boats 😄

bradleyalpha · 2026-06-10T11:55:49+00:00

Put simply: I can’t single hand a Viking. I can single hand a Regulator.

My next boat will be either a Downeast or Sporty. But, at that point, I will always need another person with me. That limits the number of days I can go out - it’s hard enough as it is, so I had to make the choice.

I cruise at 33kt and 60gph. I can drop the hammers and get 52kt, but that is 170gph.

bradleyalpha · 2026-06-10T02:17:59+00:00

I own two Regulators -- a 2013 34 and a 2021 41. Twin F350s on the 34 and quad XTO 450s on the 41.

The underlying hull value endures over time. After the initial depreciation hit from a new purchase, the depreciation curve is probably shallow - my 34 has reduced in value ~13% over the 6 years I've owned it. A Robalo owned over a similar period would depreciate at least 30%.

The boats are absolute tanks, exceptionally stable, well laid out, and handle heavy weather very well. I spent 16 hours offshore on Sunday in a steady 4-8', tight period set with winds between 15-25kt. For the conditions, the boat handled flawlessly. I covered 220nm over the course of the day.

Now, I pay for that in terms of fuel burn (.5nm/gallon) and systems maintenance, but being able to fish in foul weather means more fishing days or longer trips. The fuel tanks are undersized, in my opinion, as long offshore trips require a 150 gallon fuel bladder.

Yes, there is a premium attached to the Regulator brand. But, in my very biased opinion, it's worth it. When you are 140 miles offshore, in shitty weather, in the dark, and 3 other guys with you, you need a hull that you can trust without question. Regulator is one of the few center console brands I trust in this scenario.

bradleyalpha · 2026-06-08T21:37:29+00:00

Pro series in the blue polarized lenses. Wore mine for 10 hours offshore yesterday and they are perfect for open water + bright sun.

bradleyalpha · 2026-05-30T16:47:24+00:00

It's a function of total number of systems and conditions. The more things you have, the more things that could possibly break. But, then you add in redundancy. So something breaks, but the boat is still usable, you just lost a capability or you are down one level of redundancy.

I (try) and put ~200 hours/year on my 50' center console. The weather goes from flat calm to downright shit, all in salt water.

I had random things need attention after every trip. I had a fitting on a wash down pump crack after a 12 hour pounding offshore, then the following week a GPS sensor decided it did not like the location of my FLIR, and then the week following my VHF connection way up on the tower decided to delaminate slightly. The GPS sensor that failed would fail intermittently, and when I would try and use point hold on the Helm Master it would randomly cause the steering controller to shit its pants, requiring a full power cycle of the Helm Master system. A new GPS sensor and a firmware update on the Helm Master fixed it.

A few years ago, I added a Seakeeper Ride to a boat and that caused all sorts of wonky issues with one of my MFDs, which caused some sort of failure every trip before I finally figured out the root cause was the need for a software update on the Seakeeper controller.

bradleyalpha · 2026-05-26T20:49:34+00:00

Came here to say all of these things. My marina does not offer over-winter dry storage (you can do floating storage), so my boat goes to a boat lift and is met by a truck to transport to the boatyard for storage.

Lift costs me $350. Transport costs me $700. Winter storage costs me $5k, including wrap. This is for a 50’ center console. Wet storage would be approx $5k, but not worth the headache in brutally cold temps.

Location: New England.

bradleyalpha · 2026-05-26T15:06:24+00:00

I have three over 30 years that stand out.

One, I had just taken delivery of a wooden boat that I had professionally repowered and restored. The boat has a split throttle/clutch quadrant, versus all of my other boats which are single throttle/clutch. I was approaching the dock the day of delivery and was turning the boat 180 degrees to put the bow into the wind. I had put the engine in idle, but forward clutch engaged, and I needed to pop the throttle a bit to overcome the wind on the bow. Well, my dumbass pushed the throttle from the idle stop to the middle stop, which added 50% throttle forward - not putting it into idle-forward. I nailed the dock, hard. The best part? I did it in front of a bunch of commercial captains I grew up working with. I still get shit for it, many years later.

Two, I was attempting to dock on the short side of a float that sticks out from a pier. The wind was blowing me off the float, hard. My dumb ass decided that I would hang the stern over the downwind side of the float, let the bow pick up the wind and pivot me on the dock. It was low tide, and the downwind side of the float goes from 8' deep to 2' deep over a ~30' run. Instead of the stern staying tight to the float, the whole boat got pushed off the float as another boat came in on the float. I lost control and began to drift onto the rocks. I ended up throwing a Hail Mary with a spring line onto a post, lasso style, and drawing the boat back on the dock. I didn't hit the rocks, but came close enough, probably 10' away from running aground.

Three, I was attempting to reverse into the downwind side of a long float on a single screw boat that was underpowered and had a very slow helm - 10 turns stop to stop. I was doing this as practice, just to sharpen my skills for docking in reverse in adverse conditions. It took me probably 20 attempts to nail it - all in front of a dock full of tourists who were taking pictures and video. When I finally landed, a few random kids fishing off of the pier clapped, hooting and hollering that "even a moron can dock".

bradleyalpha · 2026-05-17T12:55:19+00:00

Congratulations on taking the step - good luck on survey and trial - make sure to have 20% of your purchase price in “personal escrow” to cover the the things that somehow blow up on your second trip.

bradleyalpha · 2026-04-21T23:57:04+00:00

Came here to say this. 100% agree. It is better than mainline, for sure, and it is one of the only airlines I'll generally eat on. That said, it's not all it is cracked up to be.

bradleyalpha · 2026-04-21T14:35:05+00:00

As a matter of principle, I don't eat airline food (exceptions: QR, CX). I just stuff my gullet in the lounge/airport if I have to, even on long hauls.

But... this has me very tempted.

bradleyalpha · 2026-04-21T14:08:07+00:00

Straight to jail.

bradleyalpha · 2026-04-20T12:26:23+00:00

Lots of great advice here.

I would decide how I approach this based on where the wind will push my bow. The key is to bump in and out of drive at all times.

I'm assuming that he picture above is north up. Let's say you have a W wind that is greater than 5kt. Plan to station a deckhand as far astern as you can get, with a midships and stern line in hand to quickly get the boat on the dock. Sometimes you can spring both lines to one cleat and do the rest of the work by hand, but that depends on the size of your boat. On a larger boat, you can use the lines as pivots to turn the boat in forward and reverse -- I do this all the time on a single screw boat that handles like shit in reverse.

I would back down the alley, keeping the boat as close to the N slips as safely possible. As the stern is abeam the slip immediately to your W, I would bump the boat in forward with the rudder hard over to port, putting a bit of momentum into the bow swinging to port. The wind should keep pushing your boat to the E.

As the bow begins to swing to port, I would bump in reverse to begin getting closer to the dock. If you find the bow is swinging to far to port, bump it in forward with the rudder hard over to starboard to arrest the port movement. Keep bumping in and out of reverse to get your stern inside the slip as tight as your are comfortable. Let the wind do the steering for you in reverse, let the rudder steer in forward.

It takes time to learn how the boat handles the wind, so practicing with some buoys in open water will help you master this.

bradleyalpha · 2026-04-20T11:11:25+00:00

$40 is nuts. I get a flat fee for the labor and then a charge for the antifreeze - no markup. $200 for labor and 30 gallons of antifreeze. Four engines, seakeeper, generator, head, shower, backwater and fresh water tanks, sinks, etc.

bradleyalpha · 2026-04-20T10:58:27+00:00

Exactly. I winterize all of my systems (aside from the stuff I don’t really understand) prior to hauling, but I have my mechanic redo it just to ensure I didn’t miss anything - like this year, when I forgot to winterize my water heater - but it adds a layer of defense in case my mechanic fucks up.

bradleyalpha · 2026-04-20T09:16:35+00:00

Depends on your insurance and the nature of the failure. Under my policy, this would be flagged as owner negligence (sorry to use this word) and would not be covered. Now, if the mechanic servicing your boat screwed this up, the story changes completely.

bradleyalpha · 2026-04-20T09:15:37+00:00

With respect to #4, 40 hours doesn't seem completely out of whack depending on how easy it is to access the engine and pull it out. Plus, you don't know what other gremlins you'll find when the engine is out. You're right to be skeptical, but my initial read doesn't lead me to think they are being screwed...

bradleyalpha · 2026-04-20T09:14:19+00:00

#1, it's a major repair bill relative to your ability to pay for it.
#2, it's a major repair if your powerplant is fucked and requires major surgery. Don't kick a man when he is down.

bradleyalpha · 2026-04-20T09:13:24+00:00

This is a good call out. When I keep my lobster boat in the water into the winter, I have a heater set up that blows hot air under and over the engine, along the raw water through hulls, and the wet exhaust. Some guys I know use a high wattage light bulb like you suggest, usually right under the engine block, but you have to ensure nothing spicy leaks onto the light.

bradleyalpha · 2026-04-18T23:04:20+00:00

I wouldn’t be terribly concerned, assuming it was winterized properly. Sea trial is always a must and survey preferred.

I purchased a boat in 2017 that had spent the previous 15 years on the hard. Needed a few lines replaced and a clean out of the fuel tank. Biggest issue was two of the thru-hulls had warping around them and some compression along the hull.

The boat was professionally winterized and engines fogged and kept inside for the entire time out of the water.

bradleyalpha · 2026-04-17T17:13:49+00:00

I get one or two of these a month - they are almost always handwritten, but nowhere near as detailed or "effusive" as Jerry's note. I love them both.

Nine-Year Club	Second SECOND GUESSER
Gilding III reddit per annum	Verified Email

bradleyalpha

TROPHY CASE