(Soon to be) TC New Owner

B

boodalu

New member
I have purchased a new '07 TC (twin Honda 150's) from StateaMind in St. Louis. Boat will be rigged by end of Aug. I plan on keeping the boat in the Mississippi River (Quincy Marina) and plan on doing some River Cruising in my retirement.

I traded in my old boat and I will need to get a new lift for my slip although I have read about bottom painting and would like some advice if that is a viable alternative.

I have spec'ed a Lowrance 37hd plotter / sonar unit (comments?) and the Honda digital guages. I thought I read about connecting the Honda's "info system" to the plotter. Can this be done? If so, would I just need to have the "wire" and not the actual guages? Of course we will also get a radio.

The boat comes with a "camper canvas" and I am adding a windlass and spotlight. I have yet to decide about radar and was told adding it later would be anymore expensive than doing it with the initial rigging.

The site has been very, very helpful. But it cost me big bucks as I have been convinced the TC will be the right boat for me ;-)

Thanks.

PS: Buddha Lulu are the names of my two dogs. We will probably name the boat the BOODALU. I am Michael and my wife is Kathy. I'm retired and she is teaching for one more year. We are looking forward to some good experiences on the boat.
 
Welcome to the club, if nothing else you will find us entertaining at times!
Based on that other thread currently running, I would check my key ring if I were you! You may be part of that "Easter Egg Hunt".
Mike
 
Mike and Kathy... I love the BuddaLulu name thing.

I think you'll be very happy with the TomCat - a very versatile, safe, and comfortable craft to my experience.

As for the Honda Guages vs. wiring into the gps unit, I'd advise to go ahead and get the Honda Guage set. For one thing, that gps screen gets pretty crowded and busy with all the info you need at times. The little information bar seems to be limited in my Raymarine to 5-7 info items at a time, depending upon the space each requires. By the time you get Speed over Ground, Position, Heading, Depth, and Log, the screen is pretty small. Also, sometimes fuses go, or the gps head goes out and then you're totally in the dark. With the Honda guages, you have the fuel levels, fuel flow, total gallons per trip, miles per gallon, trip log, rpm, etc..

I guess you'd use a spotlight more in the Mississippi, but be aware that the roof mounted units cause a blinding glare on all that foredeck and high railing. I opted for a couple of hand held units that we run out of the side window when needed. Some C-Brats have made mounts that hold the spotlight on the foredeck railing and that ought to be the best place if you want a permanent mounting.

Did you get a radar arch?

You'll enjoy the camper canvas since it makes it easy to leave the cabin door open in a downpour and also extends the season.

Congratulations on your new boat. I am anxious to see what new ideas you end up incorporating in it!

John

ps, Also, I've found radar useful in locating large barges and oil rigs at nite!
 
Welcome to the Tom Cat community, and to the larger C-Brat world!

Regarding your electronics, just make sure whatever you get is NMEA 2000 compatible and then you will be able to interface it with whatever you may buy in the future.

You might also put Permatrims on your to-consider list (search the forums for discussions.)

Warren
 
Welcome aboard, and congratulations.

The LCX 37 C is not a hard drive model. The LCX 38 C HD is the hard drive model. We have the LCX 26 C HD, which is slightly smaller and last years model. We like it. The chart potter is the Nauticpath and we have some of the SE charts on Navonics chips, as well as the Topo maps built in on the hard drive. The Lowrance is NMEA 2000 compatable, but I recommend the Honda guages, and their fuel management or you can use the Lowrance management system. You really want as much screen for charts and DS as you can--we put the numbers on a second chart plotter.

The sounder is excellent and we have bottom lock at full speed. Have the rigger put a 3/4" thick Starboard block, properly bedded at the bottom of the transom to screw the transducer into.

We also run two VHF radios--one on 16 and the second on Channel 13 for the tugs and tows (on the Gulf Coast ICW). You can add a second later if you wish. We do not have the radar arch--and don't see the need for it. The radar can be mounted on a pedistal on the cabin top if you want it later.

I would put the spotlight on the bow railing--probably to the port side. On the cabin top, you will have some glare on the foredeck and loose the night vision. Radar can be installed at any time. The "it will cost more"--means that he will not make as much profit, if you do it your self. There is nothing which has to be done different for the radar, and it is easy to install. We put another complete 6 switch pannel in. We also put in extra #8 wires from the batteries to the console.

BE SURE that everything is working on the boat--have the dealer show you each fuse, and switch, and what and how it works.

You might want to look at the "Thataway" camper canvas. It is not factory, but we feel it is better--the top has 4 bows, which allow it to stand independantly, and allows air flow under the top in hot weather. We also used "Sunbrella plus"--which is fully waterproof. I have the "factory" camper canvas on the C D 25--and the custom canvas is better by far.
 
Let us add our congratulations to your new purchase! We are new TC owners ourselves - still in the process of having the boat outfitted and are very happy with our boat.

We have the Lowrance LCX-113C - the GPS hasn't been installed yet - we have a few glitches we need to work out, but the fisher finder/sonar screen is great. Out boat also came with the Honda digital gauges (which we like) and I agree with others that even though you could run this through your Lowrance - its good to have back up. We have decided to wait on adding the radar. At least with our model (I assume with yours as well), we can run a Lowrance radar through our monitor and we understand it's not difficult to add later - but haven't yet decided is if it's better to have a separate system for redundancy/back-up.

Like Dr. Bob - we have a custom camper-back - probably one of our best additional purchases (photos in our album).

You'll find this is a great site - lots of helpful information.

Again welcome
 
Shared a great evening and cruise with Mike on BOODALU and crew of Fran & Terry! Can not wait to get my boat up to his waters and cruise a bit too. We may just have to put us together a waters cruise between the two water cities!! Looks to be about 470 river miles heading SE on the MS, passing the KS river(210 mi), the OH (195), the TN (47) & to the Cumberland (14) ....466. Then...another 191 to Nashville...

Mike, let me/us know you made it home OK with your pull home. One fine boat and I appreciate your visit and look forward to our next gathering.

Byrdman
 
Welcome to the C-Brats as an owner...

I am certain you'll enjoy the versatility of the TomCat - from leisurely cruising at hull speed with an autopilot, thru planing cruises at mid speeds, and then pedal to the medal for those upstream drives avoiding hazards and storms. Lots of room, lots of ways to customize.

Congrats!

John
 
As mentioned above I was on Lake Barkley for three days and met Patrick the last day. He gave this newbie some good pointers about trim, trailer loading and other matters.

My buddies liked my boat but it is obvious I need to add cup holders! The frequently changing water depths outside the channel made me glad I had a GPS with built in charts on its hard drive.

I am still figuring out the boat and what I want on it. I have been searching this site's history on down riggers (going to Destin, FL in Jan); trolling motors and rear helm stations.

I spent the last few months learning how to boat and how to boat on the Mississippi river. While I am not good I am definitely less worse

Finally, the marina was super and the lodge (and buffet) was as good as advertised by Patrick.
 
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