PDQ OWNERS FORUM

OK, we can't take the silence any longer and need a PDQ fix. Who's going on the upcoming flotilla and attending PDQU? We are Hull #68 Mishigas and we hail from Laytonsville, Maryland. The Chesapeake Bay is our cruising grounds and we are excited and proud to be participating in this awesome event. My wife and I are getting our provisions together for our delivery trek to Whitby later in March and then counting down the days till May 16th when we take delivery of Mishigas and bring her down to Maryland. Oh, Let me introduce myself and my wife, I am Sandy and the lovely Heidi is my bride of 22 years. We have two teenagers at home and our boating experience has been primarily on center console outboard vessels. This will be a luxurious upgrade to our boating experience to say the least. I was at the plant about a month ago and I saw lot's of other 34's on the floor in various stages of production. Mishigas should be complete any day now. So don't be bashful, pipe up and tell us a bit about yourself.
Untill we meet in Whitby, Take care..Sandy & Heidi MISHIGAS

Hello Heidi and Sandy

Guess I should say Hello Again! As I mentioned in our off-line email, we too are planning to be at PDQ-U and are looking forward to meeting you as well as all of the others who will be there! Since ThomKat (Hull #75 - a mid-June splash) will be too late to join the south-bound flotilla, our plan is to take 6 or 7 months and return to FL via the Great Loop route (the Trent-Severn, etc., Lake MI and the Western Rivers). As for our background, we both retired in 1999 after almost 20 years in Annapolis, sold our house, jumped on the boat and haven't looked back! We now have a small place in Vero Beach, FL primarily to store our furniture and as a place to "refuel and recharge" between cruises. We sold Allington Castle, our monohull trawler, in December, and are looking forward to a more stable cruising life on ThomKat (pun purely intentional)!

Anice & Tom Walker
Vero Beach

Anice & Tom, It will be nice to meet up in Whitby. 6-7 months of cruising.....Boy that retirement thing sounds gooood... Still paying my dues but will get there. Your trip sounds wonderful. Which monohull are you coming from? I agree, stability is a primary reason for us choosing a cat. Stay well, Sandy MISHIGAS

Sandy and I have spoken, but for benefit of others I will respond. I have Hull 63, ELIXIR, and will be attending PDQU and doing flotilla south. Coming from 40+ years of sailing and my last boat was a Bristol 47, which my late wife and I had planned to use in retirement for long range cruising. Interest now is making boating a bit easier and cutting travel times about the Chesapeake,..& perhaps future cruising down the ICW and the triangle loop when I do finally retire from legal practice. Am 59, have kids with gd.kids. Live in Va. Beach, but have kept boats up around the Rappahanock River in past years for the better cruising grounds there. I will be doing an article for "Power Cruising" on the trip and one of the areas of interest is the boating backgrounds of folks going to the PC34, reasons for the transition, and how you manage with your new boats on the trip south. So will look forward to meeting all of you come May!
Jim Stalnaker (jstalnaker@cox.net)

Sandy,
In response to your question, Allington Castle (our monohull trawler) was a Lord Nelson 37 "Victory Tug", a single screw tugboat style built on a lobsterboat hull. It was a good solid boat with good legs and acceptable off-shore characteristics. The single screw plus no bow-thruster and lots of windage forward were definite considerations for any dockings etc. (a very real factor in our decision to go with the MV34!)

We had sailboats before Allington Castle and probably would still have one if Anice hadn't hurt her back. The physical aspects of sailing became a real challenge for her. Not wanting to give up cruising, our only option was to try a trawler. Much to my chagrin (as a dyed-in-the-wool wind-bagger) I really liked the trawler. Sure goes to windward better! (Lots more reasons too)

Jim, make sure you look us up at PDQ-U! And believe me, you are going to like power - and your MV34!!!

Tom

Good to hear from those that responded to this thread however I heard that this years flotillas will include 12 PDQ's. 8 going south and 4 doing a Montreal sidetrip and then heading south. Where is everyone? I think that many are not aware of this PDQ board as of yet. Hey PDQ...get the word out to the owners that this board exists...PDQ has named the flotilla the "Cheating Death Tour". I like the name but it got the wife a bit nervous . Sandy MISHIGAS

Beth and I will be participating in the PDQ U and Flotilla. We are from Austin, Texas and our hailing port is Rockport, Texas. Although I have been around boats most of my life, this is our first experience with a boat like this - we can't wait. We chose the MV/34 after a trip to the Miami boat show in 2004. We had no intention of buying a boat, but I had some general parameters I was looking for if we ever did buy - the MV 34 was a great fit.

We have been for married 29 years and have two children - Ben is a mechanical engineer with my company in Houston and Katy is in Law School in San Antonio. We have a beloved Chesapeake Bay Retreiver, Gussie, who has been trying to talk us into coming with us on the trip.

Look forward to meeting and getting to know all of you.

Welcome Bob & Beth. What are your plans for getting your cat down to Texas? That should be an excellent journey. This boat is a big change for us as well coming from smaller center console boats. We'll see ya in Whitby in May...
Sandy Kramer MISHIGAS

Today I spoke with Rob at PDQ and he informed me that many of the new boats are now in the water. He also said that "THEY FLOAT". That's good news for us soon be owners of these fine vessels. It's getting close now...Next month is May......Get those final details ready guys & gals.
Sandy Kramer MISHIGAS