Boat Rentals

mimico_polak said:
This is prevalent in a lot of industries nowadays. Our equipment used to be all hydraulics, with a handful of small pressure sensors and flow meters.

Any mechanic could fix the machine.

Now...unless you're an electrican engineer / PLC technician good luck w/ that. The data loggers have about 3-5k sensors and each one spits out raw data that needs someone to plot / make sense of it. Otherwise it's just jibberish.

Used to have more mechanics on the machine...now they're primarily electricians.
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I was at the top of a 200 foot state of the art crane in a work platform. If you asked the operator to move you over six inches, that is what you got. Smooth and precise. The typical bucket truck could give you whiplash.

Millions of dollars buys progress.
 
nobbie48 said:
I was at the top of a 200 foot state of the art crane in a work platform. If you asked the operator to move you over six inches, that is what you got. Smooth and precise. The typical bucket truck could give you whiplash.

Millions of dollars buys progress.
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The problem is all those sensors go crazy every now and again so the favourite button for the operators is the ‘reset’ or ‘clear fault’ that I’ve seen hit non stop.

Almost like playing Street Fighter but your opponent is the PLC…

And a 100$ sensor can shut down a project.
 
Goodbye landmark. The ship at Jordan Harbour is no longer for rent. The replica of La Grande Hermine is being scrapped. The coast guard has labeled it dangerous, possibly because people sneak on board.

www.cliftonhill.com

That Abandoned Ship into Niagara: "La Grande Hermine"

Traveling on the QEW from Toronto to Niagara Falls is one of Niagara's most prominent landmarks; that abandoned ship -- La Grande Hermine.
www.cliftonhill.com www.cliftonhill.com

Also unavailable for charter is the barge stuck on the rocks above Niagara Falls. We were there a week ago and most of it has gone. Only a small almost unidentifiable slab of rusted metal remains to be swept away. History isn't forever.
 
mimico_polak said:
The problem is all those sensors go crazy every now and again so the favourite button for the operators is the ‘reset’ or ‘clear fault’ that I’ve seen hit non stop.

Almost like playing Street Fighter but your opponent is the PLC…

And a 100$ sensor can shut down a project.
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The fun conversation is when they call in the guy with the laptop and tell him to put sensors on bypass so they don't need to hit the button so often. No time to fix it now, just bypass and production. Guy with the computer is in a tough spot.
 
GreyGhost said:
The fun conversation is when they call in the guy with the laptop and tell him to put sensors on bypass so they don't need to hit the button so often. No time to fix it now, just bypass and production. Guy with the computer is in a tough spot.
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'Sign here please' is easy enough.

The PLC / Electricians can bridge the non-core functions easy enough. It's the core (temp / pressure / speed / torque) that no one will touch as if things go bad there...let's just say it's a bad day for everyone involved.
 
nobbie48 said:
I was at the top of a 200 foot state of the art crane in a work platform. If you asked the operator to move you over six inches, that is what you got. Smooth and precise. The typical bucket truck could give you whiplash.

Millions of dollars buys progress.
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OR... A buddy was 30 feet up a wall in a Genie when it ran out of fuel. Somehow the descend controls wouldn't work so he phoned the attendant to refuel the thing. A half an hour later five gallons of diesel was in the tank. The sticker beside the fuel fill said "GASOLINE ONLY". Two hours later a mechanic had the system purged and buddy could come down.

When a fifteen million dollar machine goes up against an idiot the idiot usually wins.
 
nobbie48 said:
Goodbye landmark. The ship at Jordan Harbour is no longer for rent. The replica of La Grande Hermine is being scrapped. The coast guard has labeled it dangerous, possibly because people sneak on board.

www.cliftonhill.com

That Abandoned Ship into Niagara: "La Grande Hermine"

Traveling on the QEW from Toronto to Niagara Falls is one of Niagara's most prominent landmarks; that abandoned ship -- La Grande Hermine.
www.cliftonhill.com www.cliftonhill.com

Also unavailable for charter is the barge stuck on the rocks above Niagara Falls. We were there a week ago and most of it has gone. Only a small almost unidentifiable slab of rusted metal remains to be swept away. History isn't forever.
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I saw that on the news the other day.

Too bad it's gone. It was was nice to see that thing in the water each time I passed by.
 
Seems any boat over 10-15 million is always for sale. In that league it doesn't take long for the guy with the 20 mil yacht to be able to afford a 40mil yacht, own that for a year or two and their bank account has grown enough to buy a 50 mil and so on and so on. Rich get richer right? Michael Lee Chin spent 5 or more years building his 300mil yacht, owned it for 6 months to a year and was told was sold to the owner of GFL now.
 
Went and saw the Midland prospect boat today. Broker was a nice guy and worked with us through some challenges after the fact, long story.

It's small compared to what they're used to. Had a list of snags by the time I was done, nothing was a show stopper, but it needs a few guages sent away for repair, the throttle/shifter cables need to be lubed, one stern drive needs a new position sensor, the DC charger was DOA (and the house batteries almost dead when we arrived which made testing things like the trim tabs and drive lifts challenging) and a few other things. Again, none of them are show stoppers, but I think that once my sister actually gets aboard (she couldn't come today due to a family thing) she'll realize that moving down in size isn't ideal after becoming accustomed to bigger.

The biggest issue I saw from the perspective of maintenance and upkeep is this.

1730149566548.png


That's an insanely small engine bay. I could barely get down in there to stand much less in barely any position to do much except check the dipsticks, and I had to put one foot on the aluminum crossmember between the engines to even do that. If I had to actually work on anything I'd be laying on my stomach on deck instead of actually in the bay as there's no way you could stand in there and actually work, even if you wanted to step in the bilge water. The hot water tank is under there on the portside right at the transom and if it ever failed It would be physically impossible to replace without pulling an engine for that matter. The batteries are tucked away forward of the port engine and you need to be a contortionist to get in there to hook and unhook, etc. Whowever at Four Winns thought making such a tiny engine bay cover was a good idea had never worked on a boat before I think...
 
PrivatePilot said:
…. Meanwhile, everyone continues to complain about the cost and availability of housing and the provincial government and municipalities are all like “we’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas!”...
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Not out of ideas, out of courage.

We could solve several problems at the same time. Ask able bodied people to work and earn a pay check.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Went and saw the Midland prospect boat today. Broker was a nice guy and worked with us through some challenges after the fact, long story.

It's small compared to what they're used to. Had a list of snags by the time I was done, nothing was a show stopper, but it needs a few guages sent away for repair, the throttle/shifter cables need to be lubed, one stern drive needs a new position sensor, the DC charger was DOA (and the house batteries almost dead when we arrived which made testing things like the trim tabs and drive lifts challenging) and a few other things. Again, none of them are show stoppers, but I think that once my sister actually gets aboard (she couldn't come today due to a family thing) she'll realize that moving down in size isn't ideal after becoming accustomed to bigger.

The biggest issue I saw from the perspective of maintenance and upkeep is this.

View attachment 70683


That's an insanely small engine bay. I could barely get down in there to stand much less in barely any position to do much except check the dipsticks, and I had to put one foot on the aluminum crossmember between the engines to even do that. If I had to actually work on anything I'd be laying on my stomach on deck instead of actually in the bay as there's no way you could stand in there and actually work, even if you wanted to step in the bilge water. The hot water tank is under there on the portside right at the transom and if it ever failed It would be physically impossible to replace without pulling an engine for that matter. The batteries are tucked away forward of the port engine and you need to be a contortionist to get in there to hook and unhook, etc. Whowever at Four Winns thought making such a tiny engine bay cover was a good idea had never worked on a boat before I think...
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I don't know how long the average boat owner keeps a brand new boat. A factory salesman I spoke to honestly pointed out that they don't worry to much about the third or forth owner.

Other than winterizing, a new boat won't need much work for five years, other than winterizing. Oil gets pumped out through the dipstick. By that time the original owner is either bored or broke and moves on.

A fellow boater had a similar power arrangement and the marina refused to winterize the boat the second time because their mechanic ended up on WSIB after doing it the first time.

IMO the builders try, all too often, to make a yacht out of a boat. A 26 footer sleeping six people? I told people my 17' cuddy cabin sailboat slept five, two in the v berth, two in the quarter berths and one strapped to the mast.
 
I’m more practical over style in small yachts.

Ever think of a classic like a Marinette Express?

Bulletproof aluminum hull, 30”draft with dual inboards. Super easy engine bay access, room for genie and full access to crusaders and velvets. 12’ beam. If you don’t like the interior, spend $20k on a full refit to whatever turns your crank.

You have a boat that will do Scugog or the Great Lakes. You can do the loop in one of these.
 
Inboards is a non starter for Scugog. Too many water variability and shallows issues. Can’t really belly up to the sandbars on the Trent anywhere either as well for that matter.

The one large inboard boat at the marina where they are hit something somewhere through the summer and has a bent prop *and* shaft now apparently, so case in point - boat hadn’t left the slip since except to come out, and that’s an expensive repair.
 
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Bent prop and shaft isn’t awful if you can take it apart . Citywide propeller can fix anything under 30” for usually a grand or so and a new shaft is $500-800 on average . New cutlass/skeg bearing ( might as well) is $70 bucks and packing gland crap is $50. It’s a 2k whack if you can do it . Call in “the guy” , it’s a 3-4K problem.
For those folks looking at stern drive units , whack a rock and bend the prop, don’t call the insurance company right away . About 50 hours later all the gears and bearings that got treated to a shock load and will pack it in and now’s it a you problem.


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crankcall said:
Bent prop and shaft isn’t awful if you can take it apart . Citywide propeller can fix anything under 30” for usually a grand or so and a new shaft is $500-800 on average . New cutlass/skeg bearing ( might as well) is $70 bucks and packing gland crap is $50. It’s a 2k whack if you can do it . Call in “the guy” , it’s a 3-4K problem.
For those folks looking at stern drive units , whack a rock and bend the prop, don’t call the insurance company right away . About 50 hours later all the gears and bearings that got treated to a shock load and will pack it in and now’s it a you problem.


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
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Or just raise the stern drives when in anything shallow or suspect and never hit anything to begin with. And still be able to belly up onto a sandbar.

And the shock couplers in stern drive propellers sacrifice themselves to save everything else.

Plusses and minuses to both but advantage stern drive in many cases.
 
nobbie48 said:
Goodbye landmark. The ship at Jordan Harbour is no longer for rent. The replica of La Grande Hermine is being scrapped. The coast guard has labeled it dangerous, possibly because people sneak on board.

www.cliftonhill.com

That Abandoned Ship into Niagara: "La Grande Hermine"

Traveling on the QEW from Toronto to Niagara Falls is one of Niagara's most prominent landmarks; that abandoned ship -- La Grande Hermine.
www.cliftonhill.com www.cliftonhill.com

Also unavailable for charter is the barge stuck on the rocks above Niagara Falls. We were there a week ago and most of it has gone. Only a small almost unidentifiable slab of rusted metal remains to be swept away. History isn't forever.
Click to expand...
Too bad. Ever time I passed that I thought "cool abandonness. should pull over and see if we can get in"
As "urban explorers" the Squeeze and I love sneaking into old abandonned houses and buildings. It's a chance to view history before it's gone.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Or just raise the stern drives when in anything shallow or suspect and never hit anything to begin with. And still be able to belly up onto a sandbar.

And the shock couplers in stern drive propellers sacrifice themselves to save everything else.

Plusses and minuses to both but advantage stern drive in many cases.
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Marinettes are unique, 2’ draft on an 32’ inboards. Plate Aluminum is lighter, and tougher hull plating than glass. A 32’ glass boat will be 28”+ draft with drives up.
 
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