My New Roamer

Sounds Great. Maybe we can meet up at Euchee Marine or Sand Island.

Shelley

The finest Roamer "houseboat" afloat.
Nice acquisition old man.
Now enjoy the hell out of her.
Cheers!~
-Eric

We just put a downpayment on a 1965 57' Roamer!!

Steel hull 8v71's no fly bridge or aft encloser. Hull has recently been professionaly redone. No soft spots any where in wood, but still needs a little tlc. Along with updating electronics.

I have better pics on facebook, look up Troy McKinley in ND.

We hope to put her in the water in Deluth Mn. a year from this summer, and then head to the E. Coast and eventually down to the islands. Margeritas and skinny dipping!

Facebook??

Not to boohoo facebook, but thats for kids!! YOU ARE NOW A ROAMER OWNER so you are at the only place that matters LOL...Use that tinypic.com link and post lotsa pics here. Dont even waste your time with photobucket either! ws

http://tinypic.com/?t=postupload

Thanks for the link.

Under Chris Craft Roamer Discussion, I started a new thread with more pics.
I'm still pretty new to this and didnt mean to interupt this thread, sorry.
Thanks alot for the link, you might have to walk me through it, I'm still a little computer illiterate. feel free to call me at 612-275-4492.

Roamer maybe

Hey Guys,
I am the fellow in the hunt on a 73-74ft Derecktor project boat. Hedgehog and I have communicated on a thread I started but looks like this group may also have some sage advice and experience. The craft we are considering is one of the last big hull produced. She is either a 1973 73ft " Motor Yacht" or a 1977 "Flush Deck Motor Yacht". Regardless she is rare. My question is, during this period did CC use the term "Motor Yacht" and "Flush Deck Motor Yacht" interchangebly? I have researched her in Conrad's book and called the Museum and they are not sure. Issue is, the one I am looking at looks like the 1977 74ft "Flush Deck Motor Yacht" in his book but is being offered as a 1973. Unfortunately there are no photos of any of the four 73 hulls so we are in a holding pattern. Has anyone out there ever seen these craft? I hope to restore this one and maybe bring her down that way.
Matowakan

73 Roamer Flush deck

I have a 1973 60 ft Roamer Flush Deck.

New Roamer Owner

In the process of closing on my new purchase, a 1969 46" steel Roamer. Love the boat and VERY EXCITED about getting herf ready. Last project was a 1972 Grand Banks Alaskan, 49"with 2 Deutz eng. Bought her in 2000 and sold her 2005. Trying to get my arms around the CC 32volt electrical. It appears 4 hd batteries are hard to come by, any suggestions appreciated. I am impressed by the Web Site, certainly as good as the Grand Banks Forum.
Hope to learn from the old timers here. Good luck to all.

Hey JOE.B. welcome aboard... plenty of room to discuss 32 VDC stsyems here and also at: http://www.**********.com/forums/index.php

I have a 74 58 foot Hatteras with a 32 VDC system! ws

Now Bill, you know they don't go for that cross-forum linking thing here. fer shame, fer shame, fer shame. lol

I have two 32v banks on my Connie; my 1968 Roamer 46 was 12v from the factory. Do you have 8-71s, JOE.B?

8V batteries are out there--Deka makes them. You can also build a set with Rolls. I've been running Sam's Club 8v golf carts in my Connie since 2006--two banks that I parallel for engine starting. It's not absolutely necessary to parallel them, but given that they're GC batts (i.e. not specifically made for starting) I figure sharing the load is a good thing.

If memory serves, they were <$400 per bank. Keep the water topped up and they seem to last pretty well.

YUP... I ferget that Herr Goebbles has warned us about conspiring mit ze enemy ! What happens when you inbreed a Roamer and a Hatteras?
YACHTIAL IMPURITY.
I am not sure as I am trying to figure that out myself... Hmm... ws

Battery costs for 8v Dekas.

Howdy guys, I replaced both 4 battery banks of 8v Dekas on my 46' Riviera only a couple of months ago and they came to $250. each or $2180. with tax and delivery.
Remember... a Roamer is a hole in the water surrounded by Aluminum into which one pours much more money!!!
If you take a look at Lasalle, Ont, Canada on Google Earth at 42º14'18.77"N by 83º06'12.56"W you will see a 60' Roamer sitting at that juncture which they have been fixing for a while, unpainted but looks good.
That, by the way, is Westport Marina in Lasalle.

acellist!!!

I thought about going with Deka, but the local distributor (who also carries other brands) said that they're old technology and that the performance isn't much different than modern golf carts. He said that the old-style cases are pretty thick and make up a lot of the additional weight of the Deka batteries over GCs.

Do you have one of those 32v Outback inverter/chargers to protect your investment?

Howdy q240z,

Good to hear from you.
I had Deka batteries for the past four years and since they gave reliable service, I just replaced them with the same brand. The replacements start the 8V 71N's instantly on the first push. We finally discovered the cause of the wild RPM gyrations on lakes Huron and Michigan... the stem to the cutoff valve of the Port engine supply line had a minuscule crack (one 64th of an inch wide) running down one side. Every time we ran up and down on the constant chop of the Great Lakes, the stem would suck a little air until we arrived at the calm waters of the Chicago River when it settled down all the way to Pittsburgh.
We found that crack and replaced the washer last September.
Coming down your way on Tuesday next and would love to see, photograph your progress, and by the way, if you still have those boards... ?
One thing about the Dekas though, check the water often... they make a terribly loud bang when one of those 90 pound behemoths explodes!
I'll look up the Outback inverter/charger you mentioned.
Thanks!

New Roamer Owner

HEDGEHOG:

NEW TO ME: 1969 ROAMER 46"... Two battery banks 4...4d batteries. 32 vdc..
Want to keep the 32vdc, ( I THINK)???? BUT NEED TO ADD MODERN 12VDC ELECTRONICS. Any suggestions???

Your trip Chi to Pit, Route and time???

I made the trip from Lake St Clair to Tenn RIVER MILE 272 when I purchased my Grand Banks Alaskan in 2000.

My new purchase 46' Roamer is laying in CINCI. OH. Got to move her home some
time in OCT.

Graved on shore trying to get some work done there before moving her back the water.

acellist,

I'll bring the boards up from SoMD this weekend.

Battery acid does startlingly bad things to aluminum, as you know. I hope you were able to neutralize any that sprayed from the explosion quickly (or was the oil coating supplied by your Detroits able to act as a barrier coat???) lol

JOE.B,

There are 32vdc-12vdc converters that are time-tested and readily available. Since we can't link to other sites from here, do an internet search for "hatteras parts," select the first result, and if you dig around for a bit you should be able to find the converter.

As to inverter/chargers, you might want to check out Outback FX2532MT or VFX3232M. The 2532 is 2500 watts, the 3232 is 3200 watts, and the charging capacity of each is directly related to output capacity. Bottom line is, the bigger the output capacity, the faster it will charge your batts on the hook, which means less genny run time.

As to batts, you can spend $6k on two sets of Rolls that will last 15 years if you take care of them. You can spend $2k on two sets of Deka (the last set of mine lasted five years, but four of those years were with the PO). Or you can buy GCs for ?800 (I'm still using a five year old set that show no signs of tiring).

Trip from Chicago to Pittsburgh

JOE.B:

The trip from Lake St. Clair took 25 days with a side trip into Green Bay to Menominee then back into Lake Michigan through Sturgeon Bay Canal.
From Chicago to Pittsburgh took 16 days and we entered the Chicago River at Chicago and had about 1 1/2 feet of clearance under that closed RR bridge. After that we followed the Illinois River system to the Mississippi. We generally cruised at 1600 to 1700 RPM to maintain approximately 12.5 to 14 MPH SOG on the GPS in order to maintain optimal fuel consumption.
We picked up speed on the 222 mile run on the Mississippi from Grafton's Landing at the mouth of the Illinois River to the Mouth of the Ohio.
At times the Mississippi was moving us along at an extra 5 MPH.
Might slow you down on the way back. See if you can check the river flow when you journey up.
We averaged 4/5ths of a mile per gallon with the 8V 71N Detroits.
When we purchased our Roamer she already was equipped with a 12VDC system for the modern electronics, modern for 1990, that is to say, which we replaced with newer (2007) versions.

Good luck and welcome to the wonderful world of Roamer.,
acellist

Battery acid

q240z,

Knowing about aluminum and the horrors of acid threw my first mate and I into extreme high gear and we neutralized the entire area with baking soda, first in powder form and then washed it all down with a water and soda solution.
We spent the next two days scrubbing the bilge completely from stem to stern, it needed it anyway.

I'll give you a holler when I arrive in the area on Tuesday.

Looking forward!

New picture

Here's a composite shot of our Roamer at dock in Pittsburgh.
The photo looks due west at the left edge and due north on the right edge.