New 2019 R3 Owner

[BobRae99]

I feel like I let you all down /w the BBQ - CharBar sucked. Q39 or Joes are hundreds times better better.

I go back every other year or so to catch a basketball game. I would happily keep up international relations and meet up /w our Canadian members if it worked /w my schedule. Sounds like he will need to be there before next basketball season though.

I'm toying with going down when I know my boat will be in production (after the hull and topside are married). I'm a bit of a "How its Made" geek. I guess you fly into Wichita, KS and drive an hour?

Wichita or Kansas City or even Tulsa. The factory is in far Southeast KS. Flying into KC or Tulsa should be much cheaper than flying to Wichita.

It looks like the driving distance Kansas City to Neodesha is 2:29 and the diving distance from Wichita to Neodesha is 2:29. I was assuming the factory was in Neodesha . So, wouldn’t in make the most sense for me to fly into Wichita? I’ll check the airfare into the other centres, but from where I live, it’s not cheap flying anywhere in the US

[NautiGirl]

I'm toying with going down when I know my boat will be in production (after the hull and topside are married). I'm a bit of a "How its Made" geek. I guess you fly into Wichita, KS and drive an hour?

Wichita or Kansas City or even Tulsa. The factory is in far Southeast KS. Flying into KC or Tulsa should be much cheaper than flying to Wichita.

It looks like the driving distance Kansas City to Neodesha is 2:29 and the diving distance from Wichita to Neodesha is 2:29. I was assuming the factory was in Neodesha . So, wouldn’t in make the most sense for me to fly into Wichita?

If the driving time is exactly the same I would fly into KC. I would imagine the flights are cheaper, plus KC has delish BBQ and to be frank Wichita is a shithole.

If you just want to get to the factory asap I would fly into Tulsa, its only 1 hour 45min from the factory. As a bonus you can hang out /w YT. If you are lucky he will let you shoot some of the guns in his collection, enjoy the freedom of being able to shoot an AR. Just be sure to yell MERICA! while you do it.

[BobRae99]

Wichita or Kansas City or even Tulsa. The factory is in far Southeast KS. Flying into KC or Tulsa should be much cheaper than flying to Wichita.

It looks like the driving distance Kansas City to Neodesha is 2:29 and the diving distance from Wichita to Neodesha is 2:29. I was assuming the factory was in Neodesha . So, wouldn’t in make the most sense for me to fly into Wichita?

If the driving time is exactly the same I would fly into KC. I would imagine the flights are cheaper, plus KC has delish BBQ and to be frank Wichita is a shithole.

If you just want to get to the factory asap I would fly into Tulsa, its only 1 hour 45min from the factory. As a bonus you can hang out /w YT. If you are lucky he will let you shoot some of the guns in his collection, enjoy the freedom of being able to shoot an AR. Just be sure to yell MERICA! while you do it.

Guns? Remember, I’m from Canada.

The only people who carry guns up here are the police and criminals. The rest of us just duck. Actually there is very little gun violence in Canada and what violence there is seems to be between people who are known to each other. Not always, but most of the time.

[Jeeper]

The last time I carried a firearm in Canada, there was a Black Bear in British Columbia that experienced some violence for a second.

[cmattj]

Congratulations bobrae! Sorry I was late to your news but I’m glad to hear you went with “ Wowing yourself “. You must be very excited and I’m sure this thread will be showing some progress pics soon.

Knock yourself out on everything you want as it’s just pennies at this point, and have the Cobalt you get will make you smile.

Oh here’s a pic of the Char Bar that supposedly sucks now?? Geeze them locals are serious about the right BBQ !

[BobRae99]

Congratulations bobrae! Sorry I was late to your news but I’m glad to hear you went with “ Wowing yourself “. You must be very excited and I’m sure this thread will be showing some progress pics soon.

Knock yourself out on everything you want as it’s just pennies at this point, and have the Cobalt you get will make you smile.

Oh here’s a pic of the Char Bar that supposedly sucks now?? Geeze them locals are serious about the right BBQ !

Thanks. If I head down for a factory tour, I’ll check it out

[BobRae99]

Bob of your going to ditch the tower you better add a 430 or I will never forgive you.
Really like Jeff said I would never own another boat without a tower. I loce mine even if it doesn't fit through the garage opening
I'll take my ttops Trans Am any day of the week.

I was thinking of you when I was considering my tower indecision. I could go up to a 380, but I'd want to talk to the Cobalt people first. I don't understand the low end performance of the 380/430 vs the 350. The 380/430 both have higher top speeds than the 350, but the "time to plane" with the 380/430 is slower than the 350. Yet, many of the Surf boats (R3 and for sure R5) are equipped with the larger 380/430. Why?

It seems the 380/430 is geared for speed but with a slower time to place (by 3 seconds for the 430 vs the 300) why is that engine used for Surf boats? Isn't time to plane important in a Surf boat? And when Surfing, you are typically running under 20 mph.

I just don't understand the differences. Maybe if I could find a torque/HP chart for those engines ...

[BobRae99]

The last time I carried a firearm in Canada, there was a Black Bear in British Columbia that experienced some violence for a second.

Right. I was thinking about hand guns.

We have less of a gun culture up here. You can hunt, but any kind of semi automatic or automatic gun is not allowed. We also don't allow concealed weapons.

I know ... Communists!

[BobRae99]

Congrats Bob - we won't give you too much crap over the engine choice lol. I agree the 350 should be more than enough. My 3 cents -I haven't checked the exchange rate today but I assume that's close - that you didn't ask for.

If you are on the fence between the upgraded sound and the trim I would do the trim now and the sound later. Adding the extra sub and amp down the road is easy. Adding the trim isn't, and it really does dress up the boat.

Also make the trip to the factory - the tour is awesome by itself but seeing your boat on the line would be super cool. I'm sure they would roll out the red carpet for you as well since you just bought a new boat.

Congrats again.

-Jeff

Thanks Jeff. I'm pretty sure I'll add the trim. The sound system is good enough I think. I really think that its hard to get tight soon don a boat, given enclosure side and acoustics. Putting it another way, if I spend $7,000CAD on a sound system for my home, it would be worlds better than the same amount put into a boat.

The only other thing I'm thinking about - I know everyone may say I'm crazy - is the decision to go with a tower. I got a chance to sit in a new R3 Surf in the showroom with the same tower I'll be getting, but with the bimini portion retracted. It hadn't been put away properly so the aluminum bows were out of place, but I was struck by just how beefy the superstructure is when you look skyward through it. I started thinking about just doing the standard bimini (without tower).

How can I put this? In car speak; the standard bimini (retracted) makes you feel like your are driving in a convertible, while the bimini (retracted) with a tower, makes me think of driving a car with T Tops (1970's cars). You are outside, but there is structure above you, partially obscuring your view of the sky.

I'd be interested in opinions from those who have had both or who have a tower on their current boat.

Other than that, I don't think there will be any more configuration changes.

I agree I would skip the extra Sub, your right on /w boats being a crappy place to invest a ton of money into a sound system.

I would add a tower. We said we didnt want one, Katie even asked the dealer if we could remove it. Now that we have it I wouldnt own a boat w/o one. We will never tow anyone from it, but they are still awesome for several reasons:

They give you a place to mount speakers
They give you a ton of shade /w the bimini
And most important they are great to grab when docking the boat. I cant count the number of times I have seen people grab the bimini mount on Katie's aunts boat when getting in and out or docking. I cringe every time because one day someone is going to break the mount. Our tower on the other hand is perfect for pulling the boat into a slip or using to hop in and out of the boat when tied up. Get a tower.

Oh and the trim, get the nice trim package.

I curious about Katie not wanting a tower and wanting it removed? What didn't she like? I don't plan to hang speakers up there so I wouldn't need it for that and I can get shade from a standard bimini (I have one on my 210), although it doesn't look as good deployed as the bimini on the tower. Good point about using it to as a grab handle when docking.

I've spend some time looking at pictures of boats with towers. The Malibu, Axis and Centurion tow boats all have towers but they all have "kinks" on them and they don't reach (above) the driver's seat. Regal boats towers do reach the captain's chair.

I've looked at towers on older Cobalt boats (older 200's) with aluminum tubes reaching to attach forward of the windshield to the top deck. When I look at those designs compared to Cobalt's current design, they look out of place, plus they must have obstructed forward quarter views as well. On the other hand, the fold back bimini on non tower boats seems to look kind of classic.

I think I have to go back to the dealer this week and spend some time sitting in the R3 Surf again. the dealer also has another R3 with regular bimini as well. I'll put that up and see how it looks deployed.

I know I may sound a bit obsessive compulsive, but this boat MSRPs in Canada for $155,000 plus $3,500 for freight plus trailer, so I just want to get it right

[Big Block Power]

Bobrae. It's all about torgue on a surf. Pushing all of that water at 10mph. Again I wouldn't get hung up on time to plane numbers. Those are the same person driving the boat same specs and so on. You will not be driving it like they do. Yes the 350 is fine. Butttttt
You will get the money back in the end for the 380 or 430. Right don't get hung up on top end either. Full tank of gas and full load of people is where you will like it. Also 6.2 vs 5.3 is the huge diff.
Anyways keep the tower and Enjoy the boat.

[Traveller14]

Bob Rae I assume you didn’t find a way around the 10% duty. I have an R5 on order to Ontario and asked them to delay bringing across the border as long as possible just in case it’s reversed. I’ve now given up hope but ordered it in October knowing I’d do it duty or not because I’m not getting any younger. I’m taking delivery early June as soon as I open the cottage for the summer, duty or not.

On the tower issue, that’s one of my justifications for a new boat. The Bimini on my Regal rattled a lot whenever going at a good clip. The Cobalt Bimini is looks noticeably stronger but still, I like the look of the tower... and I pull a few wakeboarders.

Looking forward to summer

[BobRae99]

Bob Rae I assume you didn’t find a way around the 10% duty. I have an R5 on order to Ontario and asked them to delay bringing across the border as long as possible just in case it’s reversed. I’ve now given up hope but ordered it in October knowing I’d do it duty or not because I’m not getting any younger. I’m taking delivery early June as soon as I open the cottage for the summer, duty or not.

On the tower issue, that’s one of my justifications for a new boat. The Bimini on my Regal rattled a lot whenever going at a good clip. The Cobalt Bimini is looks noticeably stronger but still, I like the look of the tower... and I pull a few wakeboarders.

Looking forward to summer

I have a Cobalt bimini on my 210. It was installed by the dealer after the boat landed at the dealer (and after I purchased it). It is rock solid and looks pretty good up (and down).

I have to go back to the dealer this week and sit in an R3 Surf outside with the bimini properly stored. I want to get a better feel of what the experience on the water will be. The dealer also has an R3 (non-Surf) with a Cobalt bimini. After I've spent a bit of time in both of them, I'll have a better idea if the superstructure sitting right above my head is going to bother me.

I have a bit of time to sort this out as the dealer just put the order in Friday and we have an estimated ETA (last week of June) but no production date.

[Traveller14]

Well as I said the Cobalt Bimini looks a lot stronger which I basically took as an obvious indicator of overall quality and higher specs. Hopefully that carries through on everything else.

[NautiGirl]

Too much to quote - I will just start a new post.

CharBar wasnt that good - these are burnt ends.

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As far as the tower - and I don't want to speak for Katie - may cause a household fight - but I don't think we liked the look of the tower. We said "we dont wakeboard why do we want one of those". Turns out we love it for the reasons I listed above. Get the tower. Oh add in resale as another reason to get one, people love towers.

And go shoot guns while you are in KS. I get you dont have a great selection in Canada, but film yourself shooting some AR and you can show it to all your friends when you get home. AR's are neat, even Katie likes shooting them.

AR with a nice quad rail, 30 rounds of 5.56 and a pool table in a man cave. Just screams freedom.

[Ytmsn]

'MERICA!!

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