Heading out on a hot date...

The arrival...

Time to take that vail off...

Careful there buddy...:eek:

The new beau...:cool:

Do I have time for a quick ride before high-tailing it back to get ready for my brother's wedding...In my backyard?!....;)

Not the most ideal way to receive/ride for the first time (wedding that is) but I called over 3 of my brothers who smartly shot over for the "quickie-ride"....:p Since the weather is suckin' real bad since yesterday and expected thru late Thursday night, the official touchy-feely, "really" take it out for spin day may not happen until Friday/Saturday. BUT who knows if the sun should peak thru....:cool:

I guess what I'm trying to say is, IT'S HERE!!!!

Saturday morning around 9:30am. As I mentioned before I was hosting a wedding in the backyard and of course things were crazy at the house with visiting relatives etc. etc. Beleive you me, it was killin' me all day until I was a few beer steins into the keg...:D

Did I peg the sticks you ask? Welllllllllll maybe just for a second. Without really knowing the trim and with four 200 pounders onboard it tattle-tailed at 81.5 and let me tell ya, it got there quick. A couple of HRPA bubba's happened to arrive at the marina and verified this by sneaking onboard and finding the tattle-tail prior to being put on the rack...:eek: They were good Joe's though, because they also scrubbed the road grit off the hull and flushed it after I scrambled to get back home with my cell ringing off the hook.

The new standard upgrade bolsters and the new dash arrangement is far more impressive than I imagined. Far more leg room than before. I can't wait to get back to it and really go over it well...More info and more pics later as I get them...

Thanks to the "Sunsation Posse" and especially David Hare and Mark at Shoreline Marina for putting out a herculean effort to get it to me by this past weekend....

Rick, glad to see your other wife has arrived. If I get the rest of the seats in by Sat., I am going to try to make the spring dust off. Sorry I won't be able to keep up the you, unless you take it easy on her. Ya right. WOT!!!

No, that was after we decided to put her on a rack so we could clean her up for you. You didn't want to put your new girl away with salt in the motors now did you? ;)

I know Macklin and the bunch Rick. I bet that puppy has another 2 hours on it; and the sticks are BENT!!! :D :D :D :D

Congrats!! Its a REALLY sweet boat!

And get your friend Dave up here to come buy my boat! :D

great looking boat!

Brian we've been buggin' him to get on with the purchase, but he's been so swamped with work lately he can't breathe...(certified marine mech).

Macklin thanks to you and Bill for the help. I was really stretching it Saturday to get even that little quickie in. You two (and Digger) have seen more of it than I have....:(

What marina was that at? Nice boat...

Any boat that arrives being pulled by a F350 duallie is impressive...

All chitt'in aside, congrates!! I look forward to seeing it soon. With those speeds, I'll have to throw the "little pulleys" on to keep up!

CB - It's Marina Shores Marina in Virginia Beach, VA

Cig knowing the crowd up in your neck of the woods (RPBA) you're gonna have to do that anyway...:D

Hell I'm dying to see that new paint job and other goodies you've installed over the winter. It's gonna look sweeeet!....;)

So Rick,

How does the 32 feel and / or compare to the 288 now that you've got a little bit of seat time?

-B

Bayley the seat time is simply TOO little-bitty to give an answer other than the sip I took Saturday morning has me longing for more. I may possibly get over to the marina this afternoon and get my gear loaded up, temp registration onboard, and my lettering for the stern in place. Tomorrow the temps begin spiking here and the sky's are clear thru next Tues/Wed, so I'll be able to give more of an opinion by Monday. I can say without question that the new dash/fairing design is awesome and there is definitely more leg room than before as a result of the upgrades. Also those standard upgrade bolsters are super nice as well. More later fella's, hopefully with more pics to share....;)

Rick,

You're keeping everyone hanging here, or is it the little lady had you doing chores all weekend.....whats the scoop?:cool:

More likley: Recovering! ;) :D

Would you believe most folks forgot their camera's and the only picture I got from anyone was this crappy one. We're in a sad state of affairs here in Hampton Roads...:(

Anyway awesome weekend and I just love the boat. Runs like a rocket, BTW that's what the newest edition of HotBoat says too. Top end is a pretty consistent 80+ irregardless of fuel load, but THE most impressive element has got to be hands down, the acceleration either from the hole or at cruise. I got the boat with about 2 hours on the meters and I put it away with around 9 on Sunday evening, so I'm not waisting anytime getting to know it well. Ask any of the HRPA boyz, when I took it out on a long run with them on Saturday I wasted no time in trying to find the operating envelope of the boat. 1-2 chop going, 2-4 returning across the bay. A couple of huge tug boat wakes (I just love those) and a little stick peggin' to boot. Definitely likes the chop more than the glassy stuff though.
Anyway, I'll try and have more pics after next weekend...

There was one other short MV clip taken from a digital, but I can't get it to load...

BTW, BillR I'm diggin' that avatar....;)

Make that two of us.;) :D

So Rick, you headed up this way any time soon? I still haven't splashed yet. What a weekend...had the family in and the prop isn't back yet so hopefully I will get some seat time this weekend, if the weather holds.

Yep, I have to agree, considering all the boats we had show up at our annual HRPA Spring Dust Off. But I think everyone was so psyched to be boating that cameras were simply overlooked. :rolleyes:

We won't forget this weekend. :D

I "did" have the camera Sunday; but a certain new boat owner was awol. :D

Here is a pic from the cove. Sorry it is not very good. You took off and no one could catch you, I think the sticks may already be bent a little forward.

Nay-nay little rabbit. I was doin' what I told everyone I was doin' on Sunday. Takin' a trip with the wife across the big puddle. Besides, pics where you were at would've only been group shots on the beach....:(

BTW, send me some of those beach pics...

Larry I definitely want to make the trip up that way and may do so soon. I'm looking at a "scheduled" run up to the pits for a HRPA/RPBA beach BBQ Saturday May 15th as a way to really get the season going. I may venture up before then with a boat or two just for kicks and to say hey to the northern fella's. Some (down here) carry so much gas they're slow and heavy causing very low mpg compelling them to avoid long runs like this very often....:D

EGAD,,, not even two weeks old and it has been BEACHED !!!... :crazy:

Ha! Chris232 trust me it was a gentle beach up. Besides me no-fraid-of-no-beach. It's one of the great pleasures of boating....:D

Tommy buddy it just jumps up so quick you don't have to peg sticks to get a comfortable lead. I still can't get over how fast this thing accelerates. You'll have to forgive me since it was my first "real" day of putting it thru it's paces, so it was easy to lose focus of my surroundings. I promise in the future I'll be a little more conservative as I continue to get used to it...;)

Uhhh. . . . . .:eek: :confused:

No pics huh? I thought with all the bubba's pushed up that day it would've made for a few great first beach up round of photo's....Oh well, next time we'll all have our camera's out...:)

:D :D :D

Macklin you know how to do it right buddy.....;)

Sounds like a dig on those heavyweight boats... like Donzi's. BTW, doesn't a 26 Donzi weigh as much as your new 32? :)

I like Donzi's BTW. If you're referring to the 26's it's hard to understand how they can be near 7k when it's most recently listed at 6k, which is up from the original 5.2k? What gives? Maybe mine is actually 8k?....:eek: But then that would make me just your run of the mill gas guzzlin' boat needing large tanks with a very low mpg ratio. Not to mention, sloooower....;)

You guys are brutal!:D

Hey Lar, sorry I missed ya last Friday. I decided once my work was done to just mosey on back south. What are you gonna try now that your other prop didn't work?

Here's a picture this past Saturday at downtown Portsmouth across from Waterside at Tidewater Yacht. We slipped in there towards the end of the day to choke down a couple of Margarita's prior to calling it a day. I'm a little over 13 hours total on the meters as of end of day yesterday. That's basically over 11 hours my time since arrival. Some of it though is no-wake zone as we have a couple of doozies around here. Sorry no runnin' shots as of yet. I know a few have been taken, it's just taking some time to get my sticky fingers on them...:mad: