new 3700sy owner - tips and cautions from current owners needed

[buj]

hello all... i just purchased a 3700sy which is 5 years old and has 30 hrs on the engines... it was owned by an elderly couple who used it pretty much as a floating condo and hosted cocktail hour... i on the other hand, will use it to see the sights in the sf bay delta...which has over 1,000 miles of waterways...

this is the first boat i've owned... so...i've purchased lots of boating books from amazon and will take the coast guard power boating courses... i also will hire a powerboat instructor...

i know zip about is boat maintenance... if you can, i'd like your knowhow/opinions

how often should the motors be run and for how long while docked for extended time?

same question for the generator and a/c

i've heard conflicting stories about fresh water storage... my dealer said NOT to drink the water...some say keep the water topped off...some say dont...

same question for sewage...should it be pumped a lot...of just let it fill up...say to 1/2 way then pump

the dealer said to buy as much fuel as needed for the trip...he said it doesn't make sense to haul around the weight of 300 gallons... sounds logical to me... anyway...does gas go stale if stored too long???

the tv doesn't work since the digital age arrived... is there a fix for this? dealer said to dump the original tv and have flat panel installed... i don't expect to use the tv much...

this boat doesn't have an inverter...dealer said that would be the most useful addition...

thanks in advance for your advice... buj

[seapuppy]

Welcome to the zoo...your gonna love the boat ..big..roomy....but can be a handful if you don't know what to expect or haven't driven a larger boat before...so..jumping from a single screw to twins is kinda like jumping straight into the fire...with that said...twins..if deployed properly...is easier to drive than a single screw at times but can be a handful...
first off ..your doing the right thing by reading and taking a course..as well getting an experienced capt. to help out with your learning curve...but nothing..and I mean nothing will replace experience...one thing to get done right away is to have it inspected by a US coastie or aux. inspection team for safety.
Since the boat was used as a condo..chances are the raw water impellers need to be changed out...that would be a first thing to do...changing all the oils would be next......a tv can easily be gotten for a couple hundred bucks which would include the dvd player....might be all that is needed...but you can get an antenna installed for a few hundred bucks...
the water tank can be treated with clorine or bromine and would be perfectly ok to drink...however most of us experienced boaters will use that water for washing dishes and a shower and then bring bottled water...in the winter be sure to drain the entire tank and water systems down and then maybe pour a few gals of rv anti freeze into the tank and pump thru till you get it to come out of each spigot...I sometimes will fill the entire water tank up..(40gals) and use it as we wander from marina to marina.
waste is a nasty thing to carry around..it can start to smell worse than what it started out with in the beginning if not pumped out...the best method I've used is to pump it out...fill it up with fresh water ..maybe 10 - 15 gals of water....pump that out....and then do it again....pump that out....you want to start out with an empty tank..thus I pump out after every weekend we use the boat....then add some of that RV waste tank treatment called odorloss....you can get it in wally world or kmart for dirt nuthin...
fuel...I would rather haul around a full bag of gas knowing if I got to out of sorts in range..I have enough to get to safety...knowing the bay area ..we used to live out there...there are tons of places to get fuel..however...that would be your call....the main rule is 1/3rd out...1/3rd to motor around ...1/3 for safety.....if your getting down to 1/4 of a tank...in bad weather...you'd be surprised how fast you can get to empty in nasty water and high winds......so..imho...error on the side of caution...
an inverter is a good tool to have if your out on the hook and have a huge batt. bank to rely on..some boaters will install golf cart batts which are 6vdc and will pwr the boat for quite awhile when wired up in parallel ..but they are expensive to replace.......there are trade offs in boating....with big batt's there are larger plates..heavier and more to haul around....
one major word of advice....never approach the dock faster than your willing to crash into it....

SP

[buj]

thanks for the tips seapuppy... i plan to follow all of your advice... i bought a ton of books, hired an instructor and will take the next coast guard courses...

[ed & inge]

Originally Posted by buj

thanks for the tips seapuppy... i plan to follow all of your advice...

dont do that.......just read another topic of puppy about 2 holes in the bootom......wouhaaaaaaa......(sorry pup all your other advices are ok... but this one..... i whiped the tears out of my eyes)

[seapuppy]

ouch....dang ed...right for the heart!!!!...that's ok...I'm human...I make mistakes....and every now and then I make a doozy or two....


SP

[ed & inge]

Originally Posted by seapuppy

ouch....dang ed...right for the heart!!!!...that's ok...I'm human...I make mistakes....and every now and then I make a doozy or two....


SP

i aint gonna tell you what i do wrong sometimes........talking about stupid.........ppppfffffttttttt

but lets go back to the topic buj started