Monday, January 31, 2011

Stuck at Lil Wayne's House

This title may seem good but it's really just the opposite. Yesterday around 4pm a group of us head out for what was the X-star's maiden voyage. Jenny (my gf!!), Nate+Melissa, Phil+Nicole, and me. Champaign sparked off the trip along with a brief, if not well interrupted, speech. Not my finest moment but there was just too much on my mind, from striking floating debris to checking the depth meter. After 20mins though (and plenty of dranks), the Bay became a vast space in which to play.

We went fast, we went slow. Busted out the chips, spilled a fair share of beer/wine all over the boat. Reality struck when we reached the Haulover Sandbar and almost ran aground. After we got a better grip of the situation we anchored up and hung out for a bit. Well into the party, conversations sprung up on the fact that Lil Wayne lived just south of us. The mission was decided, find Lil Wayne's house.

The sun was just setting but on the way Phil jumped at the idea of wakeboarding the now-calm waters. A short run in the frigid water but I admire the will to try. We came around Normandy Isle on the south side and headed toward La Gorge, where Wayne's abode supposedly stood. At idle speed, the darkness filled the sky but the well lit house stood out like a star. You could even see people watching TV throughout the house (floor-to-ceiling windows everywhere). With Nate and Phil screaming the famous line "...got 10 bafrooms so I can shit all day..." (Steady Mobbin - Lil Wayne) while dancing on the back platform, it was the peak of the day.

Things changed real quick, though. As we swung around in front of Wayne's house, I put it reverse and the boat wouldn't react. The engine was rev'ing but that prop wasn't engaging. What was most concerning was a subtle ringing sound I never heard before. The transmission failed somehow and I could see from the motor the prop shaft was not moving (meaning we didn't just loose the prop!). I switched into emergency mode, as we drifted without much to paddle with. I called Nereydo, a veteran of these issues, for advice. Sea-tow would cost $300 and we were close enough to the house to conceivably paddle back. He offered to meet us with his kayak and figure it out. While he drove up, we paddled towards the house using the wakeboard and an engine panel. We reached the King Cole building once Nereydo arriving with the kayak paddles. At that point we went a lot faster with 4 people paddling and Jenny driving the boat. We reached what was the only unknown in the plan, the height of the 71st+Bay Dr. bridge. The boat's tower was 2ft too high.

Rowing all the way around Normandy Isle was not an option, so bringing down the tower was the only way. Nate phoned into Henry a master-handy man of sorts who surprisingly had the proper tool to get the tower down. As we waited, Nicole's bladder was bursting so Phil decided they should exit the vessel by way of climbing onto the bridge. Bad idea. In what was perhaps a drunken stuper, he lost grip of the bridge pipe and splash. Yes folks, full clothed and now soaking wet (sorry about the phone). It was all in good fun, but it was scary to see.

We rowed to a nearby dock and properly moved Phil+Nicole off and Henry on. In what was the best gesture of good grace I've seen in a long time, Henry successfully solved one problem after another until the tower came down. We then were finally able to paddle back home.

Now will be the task of assessing the transmission problem and managing the challenge of paying for a fix for it... the saga continues... :(

Friday, January 28, 2011

Postmortem: Once upon an X-star...

I didn't get a post out in 2010 because I was extremely preoccupied with realizing a dream. I'm glad to say the ordeal is finally complete. In true Mastercard fashion, this is how it breaks down:

Casa Bahia Slip Assignment---------- $30,000
2005 Mastercraft Xstar (182hrs)----- $35,900
Boat Delivery from Virginia to Florida- $333
Modifying Boat for Saltwater Use---- $7,484.59
Miscellaneous Maintenance/Repair--- $2,496.99
10k lb Boat Lift----------------------- $3,499.00
USACE/FDEP/DERM/CMB Permits- $2,099.16
Boat Lift Installation----------------- $4,617.18
PTO to Manage Project-------------- $2,880
Miami Beach H2O Skiing Anytime--- Priceless

The dream came to be after moving to Florida in 1999. Friends I made from work invited me to a water ski park in Deerfield, FL. I started out knee boarding which was ok, but once I put on a wakeboard I was hooked. It was a 30min drive from my house and $25/visit, but I would go 3X/wk. About a year later I met another coworker, Mark Boerger, who had his own boat and lived nearby. Skiiing behind a boat was more fun - although equally time consuming and costly - so I started riding regularly with him. Then I moved to South Beach and Boerger had a couple kids, so getting out on the water became all-the-more challenging. My addiction to wakeboarding persisted. I mean it's Xtreme fun, physically challenging, and get's me outside. Can't beat that.

BTW, I was wondering...
Have you owned a Smartphone previous to what you're using now?If so, what did you do with it?

Anyway, in the summer of 2008 while searching for an apartment for my mom, I came across Casa Bahia. A small condo in a kick back area of Miami Beach with great potential. Best asset: an unclaimed 30ft dock slip. I jumped on it and got us a good deal (back then) at $195k, 165k for the apartment and $30k for the slip. Since I didn't have a boat, I figured I would just rent it out. Soon found out this was not an option per the condo rules, so that wasn't cool. I got around it somewhat by getting on my buddy Nereydo's boat registration and having him use the slip. No real kickbacks though so I had to my own vessel soon.

At the end of 2009 the recession was in full swing and even rich people were struggling for cash. I found someone on Craigslist selling a 2005 Xstar for $45k. With all the research I had done, I knew it was the best deal I was gonna find. It was still way above my cash pot so after over a month of negotiating, I got it down to $35,900. It helped to have discovered that the seller's town of Franklin, VA was loosing it's major employer (thanks Alex E./Google!!). Franklin wasn't close to any major airport, so to save money I scored a road trip with my BFF, Rod Gomez, and his family from their home in Charlotte, NC (good times!!). With some total clutch planning I also found a guy on uShip.com that would agreed to meet in Franklin and take the boat down to Miami for $300! He'd never been to Miami Beach so it was a way for him to pay for his gas. :)

Everything was gravy up until this point. While the boat was still in route I heard from my dentist that owning a boat was no joke. I had some to-dos in mind already - retrofitting the boat for salt water use, getting a boat lift, and some maintenance items - but she highlighted the permitting process required for any installations on water. I fifured it couldn't be so difficult and that last-resort I could just get a drop-in SunLift. Oh was I wrong.

Permit Saga
...to be continued...

Installation
...to be continued...

Deployment Day
...to be continued...

Key Take-Aways
...to be continued...