The new arrival is in the driveway (not Montana)

[bncinwv]

After 16 hours of driving Saturday (8 towing 3 1/2 tons with the D/A), two hours of on-water orientation, and a couple hours of admiring the beast, I am pleased to report that the new addition to the family has arrived in the hills of West Virginia. The new baby is a new 2007 Bayliner 245 cruiser which after arriving was quickly determined to be too large for us to leave in the driveway. Ironically, our first impression when seeing the boat was the same exact impression we had of the Montana (MAN, That thing is big!!) Not to even mention what the neighbors probably thought when it showed up overnight!! 24 feet long and about 12 feet high to the biminis is a little daunting sight next to our house. We have decided and secured a slip on the Kanawha River so that problem has went away. During the on-water testing, myself, DW and oldest DD (16) all three got to drive the boat. Dad is now the hero of oldest DD since she had no idea she would get to drive the boat, the smile was priceless!!! The boat has been named "Glory Bound" and rest assured the only music playing on the stereo will be Klove. We are eager for the new adventures in store for the summer weekends that we are not camping!!
For those who didn't see the previous pic here is a slideshow:
http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/
ff77/kfincham40/Bayliner%20245/?
action=view&current=39b66e3f.pbw
Bingo

[DHenry]

Sweet boat, have fun. Some of our greatest memories are when we had our boat on the water with the kids onboard. You are in for some great times.

[Yamaha_Mama]

Congratulations!!! Some of the best family fun can be found on the water!!! We are fairly new to RVing and having a great time. But, we still keep a trailer and the family boats at a nearby lake. Can't seem to give that up. Enjoy!!

[Icehouse]

Bingo, she's a beauty! Wow! Good job! I hope y'all have many, many years of fun and sun!
Tammy

[ggranch]

Wow!!!!!

[Annem]

Love the boat! Have a wonderful and safe time with it this summer!

[TLightning]

I trust you are on a first name basis with the boating people that correspond to CW. If not, check out these sites and order a catalog...BTW, the West Marine catalog is about five time the size of the CW catalog...over 1300 pages all in color:

www.westmarine.com Biggest and most expensive.
www.defender.com Smallest and cheapest.
www.boatersworld.com In the middle of the above.

[bncinwv]

Tom,
The cool thing was we got a bunch of free stuff from the dealer so at least we have all the safety equipment we need to pass a coast guard inspection. Still have to get a Honda 2000 generator so we can use the Air Conditioner when underway, but other than that I think we are set for the summer. I did sign up online for the Overtons catalogue just to keep abreast of what is out there. Both daughters are already talking about wakeboards so I am sure there will be other purchases though. All of that is minor compared to the daggone cost of gasoline. You will never hear me complain about the cost of pulling the Montana anywhere, 12-13 mpg in the truck sounds great compared to 2-3 mpg in the boat. Gulp!! Oh well, we only live once!!! Appreciate the compliments, thanks everyone.
Bingo

[waldo238]

You did not mention that you where having the bottom painted? If you are going to leave it in the water it is a must or it will blister and peal off the Gell Coat. It needs to have the Epoxy put on and then a paint that will shed while you drive and don't forget the drive as it also will peal off the paint. This is my baby H2O Therapy
http://s289.photobucket.com/albums/ll210/waldo238/

[waldo238]

On another note if you take the Coast Guard class you can get a discount on you're insurance, and also that is a fine looking boat!, I'm sure you will have a great time. How for is Summersville Lake from you? I took mine up there 3 years ago and actually camped in the boat at a campground and then boated during the day.

[Bill-N-Donna]

I hope we can camp together sometime, uh I mean boat together or something, hey maybe both! Anyway, that is nice, nice, and more nice!

Doesn’t the Kanawha River empty into the Ohio River?

We live in walking distance of the Ohio River...[Hint Hint]


Hey, that is a nice boat! Enjoy!!!

[dsprik]

Nice boat, Bingo! I wonder if someone could figure out how to put slideouts in something like that? Now, that would be cool!

We just love the water. It is one of the most relaxing and stress free places to spend time - just drifting in the middle of a lake with no one else around (weekdays only).

*On Edit~ In a boat...

[bncinwv]

Waldo,
Actually I am hoping to survive the first year without the anti-fouling paint. I will pull the boat monthly or as necessary to pullit to the house, pressure wash, and then wax. Summersville Lake is about a two hour pull from the house and is on the list. Actually we were looking at staying there a couple weeks this summer and slipping the boat there but may have reconsidered it since the boat is in the river now. And definitely like the therapy!!
Bill,
We will definitely get together for a day or two this summer (I got a hunch your grand-daughter will really enjoy it if you bring her along). We can firm up something at Gettysburg. The boat is slipped under the Nitro-St. Albans bridge at St. Albans. We are probably changing our Summersville plan for a couple of weeks and possibly staying at Foxfire at Milton (now KOA) instead so we can commute to the boat during the evening and weekends. Maybe that will be an opportunity to camp together on a weekend and spend some time fellowshipping on the boat. If not, I am hoping to spend a day or so at Yatesville on a weekend also.
Dave,
Sunday is the big day putting it in the river, might have to try that relaxation deal.
Anne,
We are looking at Topsail for Thanksgiving again and if I could figure out a way to do it would love to have the Montana and the boat in Destin together, but I don't think I can pull both!! Hope you all are going to be there this year also.
Bingo

[TLightning]

Bingo,

Overtons is good for skis, water boards, life jackets, etc. WM and Defender are good for the hard core boating supplies like good line, engine parts and hoses, fuel filters and parts, wire, fittings, trailer parts, chargers/inverters, ALL maintenance items, etc...in short virtually everything.

On edit...here's the largest boater's forum...it cover's every aspect of boating, both sail and power: http://my.boatus.com Click on "Boater To Boater" and "Message Boards."

[PowellsMonty]

Congrats on the boat! But watch the bottom, mine started to blister and had the bottom done and they went away. I was lucky I caught it just in time before they were permanent. A 5th & a boat! I hope you know what you have done, "Which way do I go?" We are lucky and blessed, our Monty is on a lake with our boat docked there and 1.5 hrs from home. Leave work early Fri. come home Sunday and have it all. We have a condo we rent out in SC on the beach and the only time we go there is to paint or maintenance. The only thing we don't have yet is the time to enjoy everything we have because we own our own business and 4 yrs to young to retire and to poor to do it now! He is watching over you.

[bncinwv]

Mike,
Did the gel-coat blister or did you have it painted?? Just curious as to what to keep an eye out for. Wonder if it helps any having a slip in the current of the river, has to be better than still water in inlets or lakes??? I envy your set-up, at least the boat is only about fifteen minutes from the house, myself and DW swore that the boat would never replace our times in the Montana.
Bingo
Bingo

[Hemlockusa]

Hey Bingo, fuel gets to high, just slap a sail on Old "Glory Bound" and point that bow to the horizon.
\safe travels

John

[bncinwv]

John,
Or we can become slippers and just sit on the boat at the dock??? Don't figure that is going to happen though. We have budgeted a fair amount for the boat to cover the summer in addition to our camping budget. Like I said we only live once and can't take it with us!! Instead of the sail, worse case involves a lot of anchoring during the day, then we can always fish!!
Bingo

[sailer]

Bingo ,, i see no reason to paint the bottom if it is fresh water but if in salt water you have to pt it each year and the pt is very expensev , my boat in wisconsin stays in the water for 2 months as the only thing it gets is a rust bottom and you have to clean that off in the water or if it drys its there for life or use rust out and all the wax is gone , but a good coat wax in fresh water is all you need john

[bncinwv]

Thanks John (sailer), I feel better that someone else thinks like I do. We will try it this summer and see how it goes.
Bingo