Hello, & enjoying our new OTT

[Paul and Santina]

Picked up our OTT (named TT after my wife’s nickname) in March (hull # 1056) and enjoyed several Tennessee State Parks before heading away from the nest to Williamsburg VA where, sadly, TT sits idly ‘til our travels to PA & NY State Parks this summer. Really love TT’s solid build & clean lines (the Ollie that is), and the folks at Oliver were/are extremely helpful, responsive and professional…think we made the right choice for our mode of retirement traveling. I’m also quite impressed with the useful information provided by contributors to this forum. Lots of talent & experience out there. Looking forward to giving back when I can.

We sailed the Chesapeake Bay for many years so traveling light & messing about with shore power, etc, is familiar but, as novice land yachters, hitching and backing will take quite some time to master. So far, no real hitches in the hitching, except I feel that I’m fighting the air suspension on my new (and new to me) Ram 1500 when I raise the tongue with the front jack to attach the Andersen wt distribution whale tail to the hitch. Maybe I should place the truck in “jack” mode” while lifting to attach the whale tail? Any advice from seasoned veteran OTT travelers would be greatly appreciated. 

Only other challenge is the noticeable hum when on shore power. No hum when disconnected, and the inverter fan isn’t the culprit…the fan noise actually provides some relief because it drowns out the annoying hum. According to folks at the Oliver Service Dept, it’s either the transfer relay or surge protector. They’re waiting for me to inspect more closely to ID the noisy bugger. Hoping it’s not a “normal” hum and an easy fix.

Looking forward to exploring this lovely country in TT, and reading more comments on the forum.

Paul & Santina

[SeaDawg]

Welcome, and hope you have a great camping season. We are sailors as well. There's a lot of carryover, but obviously,  other things are different in a land yacht.

When you visit NY, I  hope you will find space at Letchworth s p  for a few days. It's a beautiful park, and worth several days. (My husband hails from western NY.)

[topgun2]

I learned to sail on Chesapeake Bay - many fond memories.  Crab cakes at a little dive in that big town of Suicide, MD after a day on the water🙂.

Enjoy your new baby and welcome to the Family!

The next time you are backing up your Ollie and thinking that it is a bit of a problem - recall those days trying to dock with a raging wind and terrible current.  Land yachting is easier. 

Bill

[Mike and Carol]

Congratulations and welcome to the Oliver family.  Hope you can narrow down where the hum is coming from.  Let us know if there are things the forum can help with.  Mike

[Nancy K.]

When you go to NY, don't miss Watkins Glen.  We stayed in the local town park campground.  Hiked the Glen early in the morning to avoid crowds.  

 

[Paul and Santina]

Thanks all for the warm welcome. Not surprised to learn that other sailors found a home with Oliver Yachts…I mean, Oliver TTs 😊. We’ve secured spots at Letchworth & Watkins Glen…can’t wait, we’ve never been and hear nothing but good things about western NY state. We’ll be sure to get on the trails early. Topgun, I’m so with you about trying to get into a slip in high winds and strong currents. I recall a time when we got into a slip at Point Lookout marina (when it was a nice place to visit) seconds before a 60 knot storm front downburst hit us broadside. Don’t think we’ll need to worry about that, except maybe out west…but the Andersen hitch oughta keep us on track.

[RichM]

Paul and Santina - we pick up our Ollie II in early January.  We live on the West Coast but have a place in Williamsburg.  That'll be our base station for exploring the East.

[Paul and Santina]

RichM - great idea to have a home base on both coasts! We’ve yet to head west, but hope to next summer & fall. Give us a shout if you’d like info about the Williamsburg area and nice State Parks locally when you’re heading east.