Hello! All advice gratefully accepted.....

[Gatogordo]

I just bought a 1977 32 foot Mariner off of ebay. No survey, but talked to owner and he seemed like a stand up guy. Boat is currently located on Pickwick Lake, which a bit of internet research tells me is the upper end of the TennTom waterway. According to owner, boat is running and in good condition considering its age. I didn't come in on the last turnip truck and expect to have "issues" upon inspection. Hopefully they will be smaller rather than larger but the price leaves a lot of room for repairs/upgrades.

My first problem is I know almost nothing about larger boats. My experience is mostly in bass boat sizes. I need advice on books or sites to help with moving this boat.

I am planning on docking/using it somewhere in South Texas area roughly between Corpus Christi and Port Lavaca. This is a general area, I MUCH prefer a smaller city, such as Rockport or Port Lavaca or smaller to dock in. Any suggestions for marinas that are full service (does work on boats) or that are friendly to this size of boat?

I am "considering" taking this boat down the TennTom waterway, to the Gulf and across the ICC to S Texas. Besides the obvious of charts, can anyone recommend one or more "bibles" I should get? I can probably have the boat trailored to, say, Galveston cheaper, but this seems like a good, and relatively safe learning method, and, I want to explore any issues in freshwater before I get to salt.

Being this old, I would like to have this boat surveyed, fixed, prepped for salt water, etc before jumping off into the deep end, so to speak. Does anyone have any suggestions for anyone who can do this somewhere in the general area of Pickwick Lake or S on the TennTom? The seller seems very reasonable and I can take over his slip for at least a month or two.

This is just scratching the surface, but, in short, I need HELP and would really appreciate any advice or recommendations. I'm ignorant but, hopefully, a fast learner. If anyone prefers to do it in private, a PM (if they have these on this forum, that's how new I am) or an email to sixtlghorn@aol.com would be fine. Thanks to all.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Well Hell...

I was just at a one of the Pickwick marinas today... Had I known, I would have given your prospective purchase a quick looksee to possibly eliminate the "HOLY CRAP what was I thinking?" possibility...

For what it's worth (FWIW), most everybody around here is a pretty standup guy... So I bet you are accurate in your assumption... Congratulations on your knew boat!

Been told one of the better Tenn Tom guides is from one of our sponsors WaterWayGuides, awesome CF member and contributor... Skipper Bob's... Chicago to Mobile...

http://www.waterwayguide.com/shipsto...products_id=67

There's also one called the Nitty Gritty Tenn Tomm, but it's pretty old stuff... The Tenn-Tom Nitty-Gritty Cruise Guide - 6th Ed.

The next info comes from a broker who I highly respect, and has given me lots of good info... James Weir of Pickwick Yacht Brokers...

A local surveyor in Iuka Ricky Rogers 662-423-6788.

(me) There are local haulout places at Aquayacht harbor and Yellow Fork.

Further South ...Marina owner Bay Springs with lift is Chris Mills 662-282-2449

I'm posting the reply here so that others will have the info should they do a search, but I will also copy this info in an email directly to you!

Fair Winds!

[Teknav]

Congratulations on your new boat! Look up the marinas in Kemah and Seabrook (Houston/Galveston Bay) Texas. Seabrook is a bit upscale and about a mile or so from Kemah; nice facilities for boaters at reasonable prices. Good luck!

Mauritz

[Ocean Girl]

Check out Island Moorings Marina, port Aransas, Texas . Serendipity marina in Palacious, Texas.
For haul out we are about to use House Of Boats in Rockport, heard good things about them( full service, good owners).
Welcome aboard here at CF and hope your boat gives you many good times.

[Tingum]

Congratulations on your new boat and next adventure! It is a great trip down to Mobile, after that it gets a bit busy. Make sure you have a good VHF by the helm and don't be afraid to talk to the commercial traffic, we don't bite.

[Gatogordo]

Thanks for all the advice and welcomes. I will especially check out the marina in Rockport.

This all started when I didn't buy a camp at an auction in Seadrift, Texas a couple of weeks back. So I got to thinking......Well, I'll just buy an Airstream, park it down there, keep a fishing boat in the marina, and be good to go, literally, when a hurricane comes around. Then, by looking at fishing boats on various Texas Craig's Lists and ebay came on this, and other, Marinettes, which seem awfully cheap for what they are. Based on reading/research it is obvious they are not real Water boats">blue water boats, but this area is shallow or shallower and mostly inside so it seems like a good fit. Maybe......time will tell. LOL

[SecondBase]

Originally Posted by HappyMdRSailor

Well Hell...

I was just at a one of the Pickwick marinas today... Had I known, I would have given your prospective purchase a quick looksee to possibly eliminate the "HOLY CRAP what was I thinking?" possibility...

For what it's worth (FWIW), most everybody around here is a pretty standup guy... So I bet you are accurate in your assumption... Congratulations on your knew boat!

Been told one of the better Tenn Tom guides is from one of our sponsors WaterWayGuides, awesome CF member and contributor... Skipper Bob's... Chicago to Mobile...

http://www.waterwayguide.com/shipsto...products_id=67!

+1 on Skipper Bob's Lowers your risk each and every day of the journey.

Skipper Bob's $16.50

Snugly Anchored in Grog Island when the June 2012 Derecho came through the Chesapeake at hurricane force: Priceless

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Gatogordo.

Congratulations & good luck!

[boatman61]

Hi there FatCat.... Welcome to CF....

sorry... rules say no foreign languages.... eheheheheeee

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Hi there FatCat.... Welcome to CF....

sorry... rules say no foreign languages.... eheheheheeee

You're gettin' kinda punchy since your return back across the pond... Enjoyed the humor in your recent posts!

[Gatogordo]

What humor? LOL

How do you post the emoticons, smilies? I don't see them on this page?

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Gatogordo

How do you post the emoticons, smilies? I don't see them on this page?

You must be using an app rather than the CF website if you can't see the smilies. You can still use them on the app if you type the code in, rather than hitting on the symbol.

These are the codes for the most common ones. Just omit the gap after the first colon. I have had to put that in, otherwise you would just see the image, not the code. The first lot are self explanatory, the second I have labelled:

: devil:
: flowers:
: whistling:
: rolleyes:
: thumb:
: cool:
: banghead:
: popcorn:
: viking:
: confused:

: ) =Smile
: D =Grin
: ( =Sad face
; ) =Wink

[Gatogordo]

Thanks. I can't see any of the "normal" emoticon screens. I'm not using an app, but am on a relatively strange to me laptop after my main PC crashed a couple of weeks back. I hate laptops BTW, too used to mice.

I used to know the "codes" but forgot them after the choice screens became common.

[Rick R]

You have received excellent advice. I would add that you might look at Quimby.s Cruising Guide. There are also haul out facilities at Demopolis, and at the Dog River on Mobile Bay.

Also, many insurance companies won't let you go south of Demopolis before Nov 1st (hurricanes)

The Tenn-Tom is easy cruising, and an excellent place for a shakedown cruise.

[Gatogordo]

Thanks again to all. The kindness and generosity from some of the posters is much more than expected.

AFA insurance goes, this is a cheap boat, and I typically self insure on anything that is not government required. Including health insurance, at least until the latest iteration. I might look into liability since my umbrella liability policy might not cover an idiot driving a boat.

That said, I'm certainly not unaware of hurricane danger and will seriously take it into consideration. BTW to be clear, the last thing I want to do is to damage someone else's boat or property due to my stupidity, so I will either have liability insurance and/or will be financially responsible and, more importantly, will be extremely careful as I learn the ropes.