Question from a reader

Norbert writes

We are considering the Bayliner among 2 others for doing the loop.
No one has mentioned how they liked their boat.

Thats a shame, we really like the Quo Vadimus.

1. What did you feel are your boats attributes?
When we bought the boat we had some “Requirements” that we both had
– Galley had to have a real stove and oven
– Galley had to have a real refrigerator, not one of those dorm things
– Shower needed to be big enough for an adult to turn around in
– Heads needed to accommodate a full sized adult
– Easy on and off
– Fly-bridge and inside driving position with inside access to the fly-bridge.
– Dual engines
– Places to sleep 6
– Instrumentation (Auto-helm, Radar, GPS Chart Plotter, etc.) Of these the Auto-helm has been the most useful. The radar has only been used on the overnight crossing and thee foggy mornings that we could have not gone out in.

The 45′ Bayliner is the upper end of something that I can single hand sail.

2. What do you feel are your boat’s short comings?
– For the loop, 45′ is the upper end of easy to lock and dock. The 4588 high profile catches the wind. With doing a new dock almost every night, it can be a challenge.
– Because it’s an older boat there are some age defects, The initial purchase had us replacing things that were 20 years old. But the boat was well maintained mechanically so that really hasn’t been a problem. We have a pilot house leak I’ve been fooling with for 4 months. One of the things we bought that has paid for itself in happy times is an island bed matress with real innerspring and foam topper.
– The island bed isn’t walk around, getting into and putting clean sheets on is a challenge.

3. How do feel about the costs to operate this boat?

The overall cost has been below what I expected. I had budgeted 1 gallon of fuel for every nautical mile, I’m getting about 1.5 MPG. That and a lower cost of fuel has cut $6,000 off my fuel estimate. With a 40′ boat I would have saved almost $2,000 in dock fees, about 3% of our overall budget.

4. Knowing what you know now, would you have purchased a different boat?
If we had unlimited cash resources, maybe. But at the time (2011) this was the right boat for the right price. I really haven’t done a boat search in the last few months to see what is out there that would fill our requirements list.

Thank you for you candor.

No problem, thanks for the questions!

One thought on “Question from a reader

  1. Cungrats Foster. I have just purchased a 1990 4588 and Sheri and I will be starting the loop from east of Toronto on Aug 1st. Got LOTS of stuff to do in the next 8 weeks.
    We’ve been following you for some time now and will be returning to your info on a regular basis once under way. I’ve done the TS, Georgian Bay, North Chanel and some boating around Fla. but everything else will be new to me. Can’t say I don’t have a little note in the gut but looking fwd to fulfilling my40 year old dream.
    Best to you,
    Hugh

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