New owner of a 2015 Prestige 550 Fly

[homeport]

I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. I take delivery of a new 2015 550 Fly in the Spring. As you might imagine, to say that I'm excited would be an understatement. Any other 550 Fly owners out there...? 

[scottf]

I've had a 550 Fly on Lake Powell, Utah, USA since June 2015.  So I probably don't have much in common with your usage.  

The boat has performed well and dealer support's been good.  

I've had to make a few mods to the boat for lake usage - increased blackwater capacity to 150 gallons, added a toy tank (gasoline for the sport boat and jetski), added a jetski onto the swim platform, and a few small things.  

Substituting the 550 Fly for a houseboat has been interesting.  (In case anyone else is considering one for a lake.)  It may be a little too big - hard to anchor and the wake disturbs other boats.  But in many ways it's preferable to a houseboat.  Easier to get out and back, easier to get into the slip in windy conditions.  On the houseboat I could handle a party of about fifteen, but on the 550 eight is about the max.  

Anyone else use a Prestige on a lake? 

[homeport]

Scottf, 

That's very interesting. The 550 is a big boat for a moderate size lake. 

I have two questions for you.

1. Have you used a chain snubber (bridle or single line) when anchoring? I ask because the bow cleats are right next to the bow roller and feeding a single line down the bow roller from one of the cleats seems like it would produce an unfavorable angle that puts undue pressure on the bow roller and would likely cause a lot of chafe. Alternatively, if you didn't feed the line down the bow roller and just fed it through one of the chocks, it would then push against the front of the bow roller when the boat swings to the opposite side, again, putting pressure on the roller unit and causing chafe. If you use a bridle coming from both bow cleats it seems like it would produce a strange angle if fed down the bow roller. And, if set under the bow roller, it would be difficult to attach a chain hook and virtually impossible to tie a rolling hitch because the tip of the bow roller, where the chain hangs from, is so far off the bow. 

Does this make any sense to you? I don't take delivery of the boat until the Spring so I haven't been able to test any of this. 

2. May I ask what it cost to upgrade the holding tank? The boat only has a 32 gallon holding tank which is tiny for a boat of this size. (I guess the French don't poop.) My previous boat was 45 feet and it had a 40 gallon holding tank. You went from 32 gallons to 150 gallons. That's a huge difference. I'm surprised there is room for it. 

Thanks in advance! 

[scottf]

Homeport, 

1.  Regarding the anchor line - I haven't experienced any chaffing, but can see what you mean about undue stress on roller.  However, I use the setup as it came from Prestige and hope for the best. 

2.  Regarding additional blackwater storage - If you are considering this you might want to have your dealer contact Ric Coleman, Service Manager at Bayport Yachts.  He can explain how they got the extra capacity.  They charged me $9700.  I couldn't use the boat with only the stock 35 gallon storage.  I'm guessing they don't allow you to dump sewage into Chesapeake Bay? 

[homeport]

Very interesting. I've put in a call to my dealer to see what they have to say. $9700 isn't cheap but it may be worth it. Frankly, the 32 gallon holding tank was a real head scratcher for me. At first I thought it must be a typo in the brochure. 

[parcel88]

Hello HomePort and Scottf.

I wanted to introduce myself as well.  I recently purchased a 2015 Prestige 500 in Southern California. Are you still active owners.  If so is there an active user community for questions.  Its Crickets around here.

I have some questions and looking for other users who might have similar problems.

Charlie