Noob checking in with the 'big boat' folks!

Hello good people of big boats. Well, I up and did it. I bought a 530 Carver Voyager. I know, I know, it's barely a yacht, maybe just a boat, doesn't hardly qualify, but the other boat forums are all about 26' center consoles. Yuch. So, I've been a boater since I was about 14, and moved up progressively from 14 Hobie cats all the way to a 37 Sea Ray twin D.

Last Nov my wife double dog dared me to buy a bigger boat. ('Cmon, I dare ya, buy it! go for it, buy it, if you have the balls, pull the trigger!). I retired in April and have a decent income for life so with balls bigger than brains I found my hill to die on.

I looked for the 45, 53, 56ft boats for almost a year, and finally wound up in the great white north of MN in Feb to choose my floating disaster. I haven't even bought it yet, and I'm still wondering what the hell I'm doing. I also still have the 37 Sea Ray, and it won't leave the stable until this summer, assuming prices will remain strong.

Looking forward to complaining - er, commenting on the joy of owning a fairly big boat(to me anyway) and smashing into things while sipping a pina colada or two. Wondering about a new name for my chosen steed. Maybe 'Painintheass"(greek of course), or 'Busted Flush' or maybe 'Wifes Fault'.

Opinions?

Ok, but I'll be sleeping in the crew bunk...

Ooohhh, that's good, sir.

Thank you Ralph.

I have been looking at the Carver 53/56 for maybe two years. Spent a lot of late nights online learning about them and all the options. I went to FL and looked at a pile of boats in the same genre, and those Azimuts were real purty, but the build quality, and the condition of the FL boats left me a bit aghast. All of the 53/56 hulls came with diesels, but I was going for the Big Engine. I have no problem with the Cummins 5.9 inline, but they don't plane out real fast when heavy. My boat has the 8.3L 610HP Volvo engines. It was the biggest engine offered in the line, and took me a while to find one. The other option was either the davit on the fly, or the hyd swimstep in back.

I literally did drive 1000 miles up to Stillwater MN to look at this boat. We haggled a bit and I finally just wrote the check. It's going in the water mid-Apr and I hope to have it down to the Republic of Texas late next month. I saw a lot of care when I checked it out, and had all the features I wanted. The wife knows nothing about boats except how many fridges on board, and if the AC will keep it at a steady 69F. She seems happy with the machine, but time will tell. No - she will not be washing it. That's why there are immigrants in this country.

OK Ralph, good to know about the sea water pumps. I'll keep that in mind. I'll hunt around on Tony's site, and make note when I need to repair or upgrade.

Believe it or not, I'm going down I-25 with two big ass trailers two pilot cars, and - me. I looked at the job involved in taking down the MS to the Ohio, over to the TennTom and then to the GOM. But - it's a better trip on trailer, and I got a smokin' good deal from a guy with a ton of Voyager experience. I'll start a new thread with a lot of pics when we get time to move. I've driven some big trucks before, including M59 and M113 army tracked APC, but these trailers are YUGE as someone with a red hat once quipped.

BTW, we got bluebonnets and lantanas with some primrose along all the highways after a good few rains. Welcome to Texas y'all!

Update, I have the 8.3 Volvo Penta engines, so that pump won't work on my engines.

Yeah, I got cornfused. It's the TAMD-P engine. Well before the D8, etc.

Guys, it's going by trailer, already decided and paid for. If I were going to do the half-loop I would have chosen that first. Here's some honesty. I do not have the piloting skills to take this boat down constricted waterways. In fact, I don't have the skills yet to take it anywhere but in open, calm water.

Although I have a LOT of time in lake boats, and in-shore on under-30' craft, I need a bunch of hours in a vessel this size and weight before I should try the inland route. Yes, I could and would hire a qual captain and take training along the way. But I decided for about the same cost, considering fuel, dockage, insurance rider, captain, and any repair needed, I wanted it in one piece down here.

Add to this, although I'm retired, I have some active investments in the south that kinda prohibit me from being away for 3-4 weeks at a time. I run a lot of rentals, and they keep me busy, although I'm doing more off-loading of responsibility all the time, I still need to be around to keep things on an even keel - so to speak.

Naming ideas:

Radioactive - "Pleasure vessel Radioactive, six miles south bouy 12, comm check."
Atomic Pile - "Pleasure vessel Atomic Pile, six miles south bouy 12, comm check."
Neutron(Proton) - "Pleasure vessel Neutron, six miles south bouy 12, comm check."
Isotope....
Half Life....
Beta Particle....
Alpha Particle....