·
Our
season went off without a hitch – there were zero cancellations due to any
reason, and Gateway I was ready for 100% of departures. The Aspen proved to be reliable and the right
boat for our program, expertise backed by the people who make them.
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Gateway
I looks terrific, absolutely still like new.
I attribute this not only to Gateway taking excellent care of it, but
primarily it’s a testimony to our experienced and caring owners who show their
pride of ownership every time the boat comes back without a mark on it. And I can tell you that there are newer boats
that are not so clean by comparison, again thank you to all who have helped
keep it nice and who took the risk to pioneer with a new program & company!
- New Aspen C100 – Larry Graf has engineered a 32’ Aspen (34’ LOA) that will be quite a stretch over the shorter C90. All 4 feet of added length come to the aft cockpit (cabin and beam is the same as C90), this extra length does three good things to the boat besides adding outdoor space:
1.
It
decreases the weight per square foot, making the boat float higher in the
water. This means less drag, less fuel
burn, more speed. Also, because it sits
higher it will ride smoother and can handle even rougher water than the C90!
2.
It
increases the water line length, and that means more speed.
3.
It’ll
come with the 220 hp Volvo D3 motor under the aft cockpit (more speed and
quieter cabin), all of which add up to a top speed approximately 6.5 mph faster
than the C90’s 21 mph.
And
Gateway is ordering ours fully loaded.
Everything Gateway I has plus autopilot remote, aft cockpit controls, extended
aft brow, 4 quick change fishing/crabbing/cooking stations, electric
downriggers, electric pot puller, fish cleaning station, aft cockpit carpet
protection, an aft cockpit seat/cooler, live well, extra storage, trolling drag
plate, and even an extra Novacool fridge and sink in the aft cockpit!
This
is going to be quite the boat. Of course
it’s more expensive, but Gateway owners will be able to either upgrade permanently
to ensure schedule availability, or they’ll be able to upgrade daily for a small
fee using any available Open Time on the C100 ($80 per day to upgrade to C100
for C90 owners. Program is designed so
that once a second C90 comes, C90 owners can use like model boats for no cost).
This
boat will be great for the Gateway program as it is both a great cruiser and a
great fishing boat, thus opening up a blended market.
- Refrigerator Reminder – Please make sure to leave on both DC Sub Panel Switches along with the refrigerator switch. Really the only time to leave these off is for power conservation, but be aware that the freezer will then defrost sending water into the bottom of the fridge and eventually out onto the wood floor.
- DVD Won’t Come Out – Took me at least 30 minutes to figure this out the first time! Now it’s happened to several others… you go to eject your disc and it simply won’t, and there’s no eject button on the TV itself. Here’s what’s happening – the TV has gone to some other source than DVD, and thus the eject button becomes disabled (engineer was “design challenged”). The fix is to select “SOURCE” on the remote, then “DVD,” and then hit the little red eject arrow, and it will then eject.
- Oars Done Right – The Zodiac oars can fall out of the oar lock while the boat is tipped up on its davit if they are not installed properly for transport. Haven’t lost one yet, but would like to keep that record going! Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here’s what it looks like done the incorrect way, aluminum oar sections in black rubber holder, oars extended well beyond the end of the dinghy:
As
the black rubber ages it becomes looser.
It is designed to fit around the black plastic portion of the oar which
is thicker. In the correct position the
oars hang only slightly beyond the length of the dinghy, thus lowering the risk
of having it catch water while the boat’s in motion.
Here’s what it looks
like installed properly:
- Winterizing the Boat – As freezing temperatures near, Gateway will place the boat in a “semi-winterized” state. It will still be quite useable and capable of cold weather travel, but it will have the water system secured and treated with RV anti-freeze to protect the water lines and equipment. We also place a space heater and dehumidifier on the boat to keep it warm and free of moisture. If a severe cold spell comes then we even drain the toilet valves and take other precautions as well.
Operating
the boat in the winter months is fun and the heater ensures you will stay
toasty warm. Obviously you’ll have to
pay closer attention to the weather and we’ll help with that so that your
boating experiences are only good ones.
Next time you take the boat out, ask me to review the heater controls as
well as to get some radar operating tips!
- Be sure to check the weather and tides before departure! Gateway Yachts » Fishing and Weather Reports
