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My Monterey
JimE

2005 322 owner - new to forum

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Hello!  My name is Jim and I'm new to this forum.  I live with my wife in Tampa, Florida.  We keep our boat on the Anclote River in Tarpon Springs, Florida.  That river goes straight to the Gulf of Mexico.  

I bought my 2005 black Monterey 322 brand new.  It's a funny story how I got it.  At the time, me and my wife + 2 growing kids had a 24' cruiser from another brand.  We took the boat on cruises out up to a week up and down the west coast of Florida.  We were clearly outgrowing that boat.  I had seen the 322 and thought it was awesome but I never thought I'd be able to afford it.

In 2007 we went to the Tampa boat show and went straight to the Monterey boats to see the 322's.  It broke my heart when the salesman said they don't make them anymore.  The replacement boat was larger and MORE expensive.  It just wasn't to be.

The next day the salesman called me and said that the very last brand new 322 on Planet Earth had been sitting in a showroom for 2 years in OshKosh, Wisconsin.  I've never been there!  Anyway, the guy gave me a ridiculously low price for it and even took my 24' in a trade-in.  SOLD!  We called the boat MoJo after our kids MOrgan and JOrdan.

We still have the boat and really enjoy our days out on the water and the trips to Longboat Key and South Seas Resort at Captiva Island.  The 322 is roomy, quick out of the hole, smooth and pretty good to look at.

About 5 years ago the engines started getting old.  I replaced them with crate engines salvaging the good parts from the previous.  It was still being a little cranky so I implemented a new strategy for caring for it.  You see, after 10 years of salt water boating you've replaced about every part at least once...some parts multiple times.  Being an IT person I actually went through every single maintenance and repair receipt and loaded that into a database.  I found that the part failures were quite predictable.  So, I'd calculate the average age of the part, subtract 6 months and have my mechanic proactively replace that part...even if it was running well.  My mechanic thought I was crazy but I've not had a mechanical failure on the water in nearly 5 years doing it that way.

I track EVERYTHING...regular maintenance, batteries, water pumps, pulleys, belts, AC components, the sump pump, alternators, caps/rotors, electrical switches, rams, seals...you name it, I track it...103 individual parts in all.  Again, my mechanic thinks I'm crazy but he admits he's never seen a boat run so reliably in salt water.

Anyway, I am at a crossroads.  I'm thinking of going a little bigger, something that can bring a jetski along with it...maybe an outboard because I hear they run more predictably.  I'd love to hear from everyone else.  Thanks!

MoJo.JPG

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