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Town Creek Marina in Beautiful Beaufort, NC

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Town Creek Marina, Beaufort, NC

Located in Beaufort, NC, Town Creek Marina is a full service marina offering a variety of services and amenities including everything from docking and maintenance to supplies and storage. Whether you’re sailing to Atlantic Beach or to Cape Lookout National Seashore, Town Creek Marina in Beaufort is the perfecting starting point for your next boating adventure.

Offering 88 slips for dockage, monthly wet slip rates vary from USD $300 for a 30’ x 10’ slip to $650 for a 55’ slip with an additional 20% cost for outside face. Town Creek Marina offers a 15% discount for prepaying a two month dockage rental and a discount of 25% for a four month rental. Dry stack boat storage rates are $125 per foot with a minimum charge of $250. Transient rates are $2.00 per foot per day for a regular slip ($9.00 per foot weekly) and $2.40 per foot daily for an inside or outside face dock ($10.80 per foot weekly); Boat US members receive a 25% discount off of these rates.

Town Creek Marina offers a variety of convenience items for purchase at their Ship’s Store including snacks and beverages, fishing bait and tackle, plus they provide complimentary wireless internet access. Also provided are laundry facilities, well-kept restrooms and showers, plus pump out facilities; electricity is provided at each slip along with complimentary water. Offering daily specials, FishTales waterfront restaurant is open for both lunch and dinner (closed during the winter season) and is available for events and catering. The Tiki Bar offers a laid back atmosphere along with live music and beautiful sunset views.

Town Creek Marina offers drystack and wet slip customers a fuel discount of .20¢ per gallon off for diesel or gas plus a 15% discount on non-food items at the Ship’s Store; while Boat US members receive a .10¢ discount on diesel and gas plus a 10% discount on non-food items. Town Creek Marina also offers a dockage customer referral program for current slip holders who refer a new dockage customer to the marina; both the new customer and the referring customer will receive a 10% discount of up to six months in duration.

Along with offering a selection of used boats for sale, Town Creek Marina is also a dealer for new vessels including Glacier Bay and World Cat boats. Charter services are available including both ½ and full day packages for excursions like sport fishing (including bluefin tuna), inshore, seasonal, overnight, and a boating excursion designed especially for children. Town Creek Marina can also arrange for sunset cruises with a choice of three dining options with rates starting from $150. Fish cleaning stations are provided along with complimentary ice to keep the day’s catch fresh.

The service department at Town Creek Marina features a 50-ton travel lift with fully qualified mechanics trained to provide repairs and maintenance in a variety of areas including mechanical and electrical along with external gelcoat, paint, and fiberglass. The Town Creek Marina service department also provides courtesy cars upon request.

Flickr.com Photo Credit: 305 Cape Lookout by Andrew.Orlowski

Sources:
Town Creek Marina
Visit North Carolina

Tags: amenities, bait, bar, bluefin, boat, boats, cape lookout, complimentary, discount, dockage, docking, fishing, for sale, free, fuel, internet, laundry, maintenance, marina, music, nc, north carolina, pump out, repairs, restaurant, restrooms, services, shower, slip, slips, storage, store, supplies, tackle, town creek, vessel, waterfront, wireless
Posted in Featured Marinas | No Comments »

2010 Suzuki DF60 Outboard Engine-Discover the New Generation of Suzuki Outboard

Monday, December 21st, 2009

Discover the New Generation Suzuki DF60 Outboard Engine

The 2010 Suzuki DF60 four-stroke outboard engine was unveiled at the Premier Shipping & Packing (PSP) Southampton Boat Show in September 2009. The new generation outboard motor will be produced for sale in early 2010. Featuring an updated lightweight and compact style (claimed to be “the lightest and most efficient in its class”), the Suzuki DF60 outboard is a 3-cylinder dual overhead cam engine.

The new Suzuki DF60 replaces the current 4-cylinder single overhead cam model that was introduced in 1998; this older model featured a 1298cc engine weighing in at 395 pounds. In comparison, the new DF60 engine is 941cc with a weight of only 229 pounds, making the new Suzuki DF60 42% lighter than its older version. The new DF60 is also lighter than the Honda BF60 and the Evinrude E-Tec 60, making it the lightest outboard engine in the 60 HP category.

A newly designed oil pump and one less cylinder helps the new Suzuki DF60 to create less internal drag. This, along with Suzuki’s Lean Burn Control System (which allows the engine to operate on a thinner mixture of fuel), makes the new DF60 model capable of traveling further with the same amount of fuel resulting in significant cost savings. During slow speed trolling, the new Suzuki DF60 outboard engine uses a reported 40% less fuel; during mid-range cruising, 45% less; and at high-speed cruising, 20% less fuel consumption.

The innovative Suzuki DF60 also features: a maintenance free self-adjusting timing chain – the first engine to do so in the 60 HP outboard motor class; multi-point electronic fuel injection; an Easy Start System which allows the engine to start with a quick key turn; a newly designed tilt limiting system that helps to reduce potential engine damage when tilting the motor; a new larger capacity 12V 19 amp alternator as compared to a 25 amp alternator on the original DF60; with an operating range of 5,300 – 6,300 RPM.

As Head of the Suzuki Motor Corporation’s European Marketing Group, Masahiro Yamamoto stated that Suzuki “is confident that the performance of this new outboard motor will impress boaters and that its success will keep us (Suzuki) on track to become the number one four-stroke brand in Europe.”

The new Suzuki DF60 meets the 2010 Exhaust Emission Standards as outlined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as well as the European Parliament & Council’s EURO Emission Standards. The Suzuki DF60 outboard engine received a three-star California Air Resource Board (CARB) rating from the California Environmental Protection Agency.

According to the 2009 Marine Engine Competitive Study produced by J.D. Powers and Associates, Suzuki ranked third in customer satisfaction in the outboard EFI four-stroke engine manufacturer category receiving 895 out of a possible 1,000 points. The retail price of the new Suzuki DF60 outboard motor is approximately USD $8,472; visit the Suzuki Marine website to locate a dealer near you.

Sources:
Suzuki Marine UK
Suzuki Marine
Suzuki Marine Canada
Boats.com

Tags: 2010 Outboards, alternator, boat, boaters, carb, consumption, dealer, DF60, electronic fu, electronic fuel injection, emission, engine, four-stroke, fuel, honda bf60, maintenance, motor, outboard, suzuki, suzuki DF60, tilt limiting, timing chain
Posted in Product Reviews | No Comments »

Best Bilge Pump for Small Boat

Friday, December 18th, 2009

The best bilge pump for small boats is rarely of significant interest until the day it’s needed. In reality, after hull integrity, the bilge pumping system is the most important equipment on the boat for long term safe boating. The best bilge pump for small boats takes on a great importance when one considers the possiblity of pump failure, or inadequate reverse flow capacity. A small boat will fill and sink faster than a larger boat, of course.

Sunk at the dock

The bilge pumping system consists of submersible bilge pumps, float switches to turn the pumps on and off when the water in the bilge reaches certain levels, discharge hose and outlet, an electrical circuit and a source of electrical power. The bilge pump system should be on a separate circuit that is not shut off with a master electrical shut off.

The recommended minimum number of bilge pumps for small boats up to 26 ft. in length is 2. Boats under 20 ft. need a total pumping capacity of 2,500 gallons per hour. Longer boats need to be able to pump up to 3,500 gph. For boats greater than 26 feet in length, porportionally more pumps and capacity is necessary.

The top producers of bilge pumps for recreational boats are Attwood Marine Products, Rule Industries, Lovett Marine, Johnson Pump, and Whale Water Systems.

Finding the best bilge pump for a small boat:

Powerboat-reports.com has a comparison report of 20 electric bilge pumps. Although it is not dated the report appears to be 7 or 8 years old. In the report the Attwood pumps performed best but were not recommended because they did not have tinned wire leads. No model of Johnson pump was included in the test. Below is this report’s favorites:

For a small pump, choose the manual version of Whale Supersub.

For a medium-sized pump, choose the Rule-Mate – it offers the most water removal for the lowest amps.

Is reliablity most important? Choose the very quiet Lovett 1200. It’s a big one, so check to ensure it will fit your bilge space.

Finding the current model of these pumps would be a good place to start looking for a quality bilge pump.

The important thing to remember with a bilge pump system is to ensure it stays in good working order. The pumps and float switches should be checked regularly. Top quality batteries that hold a charge are essential to proper bilge pump function.

A final note: Outboard and stern drive boats are especially susceptible to being sunk by a small amount of water in the aft of the boat. Owners of these types of boats should strongly consider installing a back-up bilge pump with a slightly higher float switch in the aft area of the boat. Float switches have a notorious reputation and a little backup on a boat that can be quite easily pulled under by a little extra water is low cost insurance.

Sources: Powerboat-reports.com, yachtsurvey.com

Tags: maintenance, pump
Posted in Boating Information | No Comments »

Boston Harbor Marina, Boston, MA

Monday, August 31st, 2009

By Connie Motz, Marinefuel.com Travel Expert
August 2009

Located between Logan Airport and historic downtown Boston, the Boston Harbor Marina offers 180 deep water slips that can accommodate vessels of almost any size.

This full service marina provides 24-hour security, dock attendants with both first aid and fire training, on-call pump out, and a generous 120’ fuel dock featuring ValvTect Marine Fuels.

From the Boston Harbor Marina, you can enjoy the views of the Boston city skyline or better yet, hop onboard the on-site water taxi and enjoy all the city has to offer. Explore museums, art galleries, shopping, and restaurants like Neptune Oyster, to your heart’s content. If you decide to stay in downtown Boston, consider the nearby Boston Harbor Hotel or the Boston Marriott Long Wharf.

The Boston Harbor Marina on-site maintenance facilities include a 50-ton travel lift, boat towing, boat repair by Active Marine Services, along with services to get your boat hull cleaned & waxed or their newest feature, bottom painting.

Eric’s Bait & Tackle shop is located within the Boston Harbor Marina, as is Drop-a-Line Charters and Reel Pursuit Charters for that deep sea fishing experience. Boston Boat Works is also on hand featuring examples of their new construction vessels.

Additional features of the Boston Harbor Marina include free parking, wireless internet, fitness center, restrooms, laundry facilities, picnic area, and boaters lounge. There’s also an on-site restaurant, Scups in the Harbor, well known for its delicious and abundant Sunday brunch.

The Boston Harbor Marina offers a .10 cent per gallon discount to members of Seatow and Boat U.S. and complimentary Logan airport shuttle. The Boston Harbor Marina advises that Boston Harbor tide charts are available from the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association.

Guest dockage reservations for the Boston Harbor Marina can be made by email or telephone.

Tags: boston, boston harbor marina, bottom painting, dock attendants, maintenance, marina, Marine Fuel, MarineFuel.com, massachusetts, pump out, ship, vessels, water taxi
Posted in Featured Marinas | No Comments »

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