The new boat...

[phenom_1819]

The new Shamu has arrived.   I got it home tonight and took one quick picture in the snow before tucking it away.  If you're wondering why the tower looks weird, my cover for the bimini/cargo-top is on order, right now it's just a skeleton.   When I measured the boat, I didn't take board racks into account.  The damn thing doesn't fit with the board-racks on... Had to pull out the allen wrench and am looking into Plan B.

[cyclone]

WOW. Spent about an hour yesterday in the back of one of those yesterday at the Atlanta boat show. They are absolutely the best riders boat for the money on the market, I looked at them all. I spent 30 of that talking to Rick Tinker, he is the nicest guy around. I did ask if you could get the playpen front storage with the step rear, he said "yeah, sure, why not?" They can and will build a custom boat and would have given it to me for the boat show price. Gulp.

I gotta go with my SX for the foreseeable future, but I'm going to make friends with an (east coast!)new Supra owner this year;) Boy are those things nice.

They were right up there quality wise, though the Malibus and Nautiques looked good too. I feel that Supra does more rider friendly stuff,  functionality first. I'd rather pay for more of that than more bling. MC's upholstery was ghastly looking, baggy and saggy. Their prices are unbelievable. Hundred grand for an Xstar. MSRP on an x80 was $151,395.

Oh, and the Supra tower is solid as a rock with speakers on it. Without the ugly extra braces on like on the MC tower, that don't really help.

That boat looks amazing Cal, got your dry suit? I've got one;) I'll bring some gas money. Canadian ok?

[cyclone]

Post a pic of the back seat and the drivers seat when you get a chance!

[masonlk]

Sweet lookin' boat Cal. I really like the lay out of the seating. Someone got a damn nice Epic in return. I'm happy for ya but I have to admit my feelings ran the gamut from tragic to ecstatic during the last couple of weeks.

I'm with Pete on the dry suit. How's the heater in that thing? Probably have to dip into the kids college funds for gas money though.

See you out on the water somewhere this summer.

[phenom_1819]

Here's a few more.  I got a very rare photo opp today to document my week as a two-boat owner.  New owner takes delivery this Thursday, I will be sure he becomes active here at epicmarine.com! 

I have drysuits and have the de-winterize scheduled for early March.  The heater works really well, no shower on this boat, unfortunately.  I've found showers to be a PITA anyway, they never work right...  Actually fuel consumption "supposedly" isn't that bad -- approx. 6 gallons per hour.  But as good as that is, it's double what an Epic burns. 

The engine is Indmar's new 340hp 5.7L V8 with a catalytic converter, which means very low emissions and like 1/10 the amount of carbon monoxide out the back.  It's good for the fishes... and my friends. 

I agree with you Pete, Supra really has figured out how to make a more comfortable boat than the others.  I just can't believe how big this boat is, feels comparable to an MC X45 or Bu LSV in size, but it's only 22' long.  It's amazing how Supra made their 22' feel just as big as their 24' boat -- the only difference is slightly shallower seats, a shorter sunpad, and shorter nose.  The result is a very BIG feeling boat... I can't wait to get behind it.

[cyclone]

There's just so much attention to detail and thought put into those boats. The swivel seat is super nice, and there's a super nice stainless cupholder to the drivers left that you can't see in the pic. And the little drawer in the base of the drivers seat. Little stuff but its nice. The step is amazing, the cooler is accessible without having to make somebody move off a cushion. A useful cooler!

[phenom_1819]

The compartments are well thought out and big.  There are a bunch of really good ideas on this boat that I haven't seen on others like the locking tray below the drivers seat and snap-out gear bags that attach to the inside of the compartments, for cell phones, wallets and such.  There are actually two coolers -- one under the back seat for sandwiches, snacks, etc and a deep one under the top step -- which is actually much bigger than you would think.  Under the bottom step is an inflator for towables (I haven't decided what I'll do with this yet...since I'm opposed to towables).    Under the dash, they have integrated a hard-wired flashlight that will reach around most of the boat, with a holster so you always know where it is.  Somebody finally built a boat with stereo junkies in mind -- they installed fiberglass panels to the inside of the hull for mounting amplifiers to, so that they are up behind the passenger side seat-backs and out of the way. 

Space is very limited under the helm, which I was surprised about.  They mounted the heater right where a sub would need to go, and there is some really big metal brace under the helm and I can't figure out what it is for... but it certainly is intrusive on stereo space.  I need to explore under there some more...

[cyclone]

12W7

[phenom_1819]

"12W7"

Do you mean 12W6?  I have a 10W7, but the W7's need a lot more room than the W6's.  I was going to try and put the 10w7 in there... but I was going to get really creative with cardboard templates and then figure out how much room is in there.  It will definitely have to be a very, very creative box... and fiberglass would probably be the better way to go but I've never worked with fiberglass before.

[phenom_1819]

Oh, and with a new boat comes a new screen name.  I feel I outgrew my village status a long time ago. 

[lesman01]

Awesome Cal! And just think, you'll get to light up a whole new community of boat owners...http://www.supraboats.com/bbs/

[cyclone]

I like my 12w6 but you need a 12w7 somewhere in that rig:) You should not attempt fiberglass work in your new boat, imho. I'd bet that a good shop could make an enclosure that would tuck up in there somewhere. A 10 doesn't take up that much space and the cab can be a bit small and still work fine. It might make your dash rattle apart, though. That is not just an off-the-shelf 10:)

[phenom_1819]

Next summer, I think I've done more than enough damage this year already.    Check these babies out that JL just debuted:
http://mobile.jlaudio.com/jlaudio_pages.php?page_id=213

If I want to get crazy, my idea is to build a plexi box underneath the long bench seat on the passenger side with two thin-line subs, so you lift the cushion all you see is two big magnets staring back at you...