*Words of Wisdom From The Elder

A funny-but-serious guide to not getting banned from the water

1. Respect the Floating Kingdom

The Captain is not a boss. He is THE boss. The King of the Helm. If he says “don’t touch that line,” don’t play Curious George. This ain’t a democracy—it’s a dictatorship with flares and a bilge pump.

2. Ask Before You Untie… Anything

Don’t assume the ropey-thingy needs untying. It probably doesn’t. That line may be holding the boat from crashing into 10 other boats, a manatee, or a million-dollar dock. Always ask. Think of the Captain like a toddler’s nap—don’t mess with it without a warning.

3. You Cannot Stop a Boat with Your Hands

Repeat after me: “I am not Aquaman.” That 3-ton floating beast is not something your knuckles can stop. Keep hands and limbs clear of docks, pilings, and your urge to be a hero. You’ll lose. Every time.

4. Chip In, or Walk the Plank

Gas ain’t cheap. Neither are bait, ice, dock tips, or those $20 lures that fish ignore anyway. Don’t offer—insist. Offshore? $200ish. Nearshore? $75–$100. Inshore cruise? $50. Your wallet should feel like it went swimming.

5. Feed the People

Bring food. Good food. Sandwiches that make grown men weep. Or deli sandwiches so good you get invited back just for the pastrami. If you’re known for Lunchables, bring chips instead.

6. Don’t Just Stand There

If the fish ain’t biting, grab a hose, a rag, or start learning to rig. Fishing isn’t a spectator sport, it’s a team effort with occasional naps. Captains love when you ask to learn. Bonus points if you actually help.

7. Pack Light—This Ain’t a Cruise Ship

Storage on a boat is like closet space in a New York apartment: nonexistent. Leave the rolling suitcase, mega tackle box, and 17 pairs of Crocs at home. Minimal is magical.

8. Storage is Sacred

If the Captain says there’s no room for your third bag of “just in case” stuff, don’t argue. He’s not being mean. He’s trying not to sink.

9. Don’t Trash the Boat (or the Head)

Clean up after yourself like you’re on your first date at their place and you really want a second one. Spilled drinks? Clean it. Used the head (toilet)? Don’t leave evidence. Saltwater + sunshine = epoxy for filth.

10. Soles That Don’t Mark = Friends That Get Invited Back

If your shoes leave black streaks, congratulations, you’ve committed the #1 cardinal sin. Only wear non-marking shoes. Or prepare to be shamed, publicly.

11. Learn to Fillet or Help Ice the Catch

If you can’t fillet a fish, cool—grab a bag and start icing them down like a pro. If you can fillet? You’re now everyone’s best friend. (Don’t mess it up.)

12. Be Useful. Or Be the Photographer.

Not everyone needs to gaff or run lines. If all jobs are taken, pick up a camera. Take killer pics. Be the hero who caught every moment… even if you caught zero fish.

13. No One Leaves Until the Boat is Clean

You don’t leave until the boat looks better than when you got on. Think: sparkling floors, wiped rails, and a chamois rubdown worthy of a yacht commercial. Bonus if you wash the Captain’s hat.

14. Use Manners, Always

Yes, you’re fishing. No, you’re not allowed to turn into a salty pirate. Say please. Say thank you. Don’t be a jerk. You’re more likely to be invited back if you act like you weren’t raised by sea wolves.

15. Leave Your Ideas at the Dock

Unless the Captain asks, he doesn’t want your input on how you used to do it in Boca. This is his boat, not a Reddit forum.

16. No License = No Fishing

Don’t ruin the trip because you forgot your fishing license. It’s like trying to get into a concert with a fake wristband. Just don’t.

17. Fishing Gear Costs More Than Your Car Payment

You broke a rod? That’s a \$500 “oops.” Lures? \$20 a pop. Line replacement? It’s a thing. If the Captain supplies gear, chip in for the cause. It’s not optional.

18. Tip the Marina Crew Like They’re Handling Your Luggage (Because They Are)

Someone grabbed your ice, tied your lines, or helped dock the boat? Toss them a few bucks. It’s good karma and keeps you from being “that guy.”

19. Never Bring Glass on a Boat. Ever. Never. Seriously.

Want to ruin a trip real fast? Bring a glass bottle and wait for it to break on deck. Bring cans. Or boxed wine. Or Capri Sun. Anything but glass. Never. Ever. Ever.

20. The Captain Picks the Playlist—Not You

This isn’t your floating Spotify party. The only DJ on board is the person at the helm. If you want to control the tunes, you should’ve bought your own boat. Until then, vibe with the Captain’s music—even if it’s 80s yacht rock or aggressive Jimmy Buffett deep cuts. 🎶

Want to get invited back? Live this list. Be the guest every Captain dreams of. And remember: saltwater may clean your soul, but it won’t save your reputation if you break Rule #10.

NOTE: Boat is Sold

Updates:

• Oct 24th – added new video at the bottom of full walk around of hull and motors
• Nov 1st – boat is under contract, sale is pending
• Nov 4th – boat sold

COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE

This is my personal boat and I am the second owner. You will not find a cleaner, better rigged 2013 boat that has all the comfort and convenience as this Cape Horn 31XS. The Cape Horn 31xs is built on the tournament proven hull, but designed to add comfort and convenience for you and the people you enjoy the most. One of the driest rides out there in its size.

The boat is fully loaded from top to bottom with a lot of electronics and safety gear, much of it new within the last year. The boat has not been tournament fished nor used commercially as a charter.  The boat has primarily been used for boating to the islands, cruising the bay, cruising to get a bite to eat on the water. Occassionally when the weather is perfect and I’m not traveling we’ll head out to some rigs or reefs to fish.

Here is a shot of us anchored at Horn Island, one of the many barrier islands off of the Mississippi gulf coast.

Motors

The boat is powered by twin Yamaha 300 outboards. These are bullet proof motors known to last over 10,000 hours. These motors have 920 hours on them with the majority of those hours at idle (we do a lot of idling while at the islands or fishing around reefs or rigs). If you aren’t that familiar with boat hours it is roughly equivalent to about 33k miles on a car, which as you know is not a lot. The motors have been flushed after every use and have been professionally maintained by Seven C’s Marine in Biloxi, MS. They are also in warranty until Feb 2018!

Fuel Burn / Cruise / Speed

This 2013 Cape Horn 31XS holds 290 gallons (two 145 gallon tanks) of fuel. An interesting piece of info is after 2013 this model only holds 273 gallons because Cape Horn had to rework the fuel tanks because of new regulations. So if you are looking at current specs they do not match this year/model.

With 290 gallons of fuel the boat has a tremendous range of around 500 miles. This gives you plenty of reach for long cruises or offshore fishing.

Top speed on the boat (that i’ve seen) is 58.6mph. Typical cruise is 40-42mph burning 1.8mpg of fuel. You can dial the boat in to get 2.0mpg if you want to slow cruise around 30. Here are some numbers that I’ve documented (I have photos to back this up):

• 32.2mph at 1.9mpg
• 44.7mph at 1.6mpg
• 50.8mpg at 1.2mpg

Care

The boat has been dry stored all of its life (previous owner kept it dry stored as well) and is super clean and well taken care of. The boat is not bottom painted nor been left to sit weeks in the water. The boat gets a full wash down after taken out of the water from top to bottom. In June of 2016 the boat was fully detailed and will be delivered fully detailed and ready for the next owner.

The boat is dry racked at the marina and is not exposed to the elements. As you see in this video it is also stored with all the hatches left open to cut down on mildew building up in the storage compartments. A trick I learned many years ago. This short video will also allow you to see the full lines of the boat.

Trailer

It comes with a Magic Tilt tandem trailer, 7500lb tandem axles. Since I’ve had the boat I’ve only trailered it a few times. In September of 2015 I had the whole trailer serviced including lights and the hubs. It is ready for a cross country journey or to the nearest boat ramp.

I created a short walk through video of the trailer. I apologize in advanced that I didn’t pull it out of its current location, but it just goes to show how little it is used. About the only time it is moved is to mow around it, which I haven’t done since the early Spring. The trailer measures 40ft long and 8ft 10inches wide. IT IS HUGE!

31XS – EXTRA STORAGE and SEATING

With the same great ride as the legendary 31T, the 31XS has truly redefined offshore comfort. The XS adds more storage and seating while preserving the unsinkable characteristics of the Cape Horn line. Large compartments were added to the XS model front gun whales for all your gear. Removeable front cushions which snap in place allow easy access to the bow of the boat. When fishing they are easily removed. The seat in front of console also doubles as a cooler and there is seating on the 60 gallon live well on the leaning post and also a transom seat.

While cruising you can easily sit 10 people on the boat. When you want to fish, remove the cushions and you have a fantastic fishing platform to cast that also provides super easy access to the bow when anchoring or sight casting on calm days.

Features

• ADVANCED HULL DESIGN
• UNSINKABLE
• LENGTH 31′ 8″
• BEAM 9′ 1″
• DRAFT 22″
• DEADRISE 23 DEGREES
• WEIGHT 5300lbs
• MAX H.P. 700
• FUEL CAPACITY 290 GALLONS
• MAXIMUM LOAD 4000LBS
• 10 YEAR HULL WARRANTY
• LIFETIME TRANSOM WARRANTY
• ALUM TRAILER WITH DISC BRAKES (ALL AXLES), ALUM MAG WHEELS WITH RADIAL TIRES
• HARD TOP WITH ELECTRONICS BOX
• FORWARD SEATING
• REAR TRANSOM SEATING
• (2) SPREADER LIGHTS
• LEANING POST WITH BACKREST
• ELECTRIC TRIM TABS WITH INDICATORS
• S.S. SWIM LADDER
• 1000 GPH BILGE PUMP
• 1250 GPH AUTO BILGE PUMP
• COAMING BOLSTERS
• TILT WHEEL HYD. STEERING
• VACU FLUSH TOILET WITH HOLDING TANK
  • a $2500 addon
• FLUSH MOUNT HARDWARE
• RAW WATER WASHDOWN
• FRESHWATER SYSTEM (20 GALLONS)
• 7’ (700 QUARTS) INSULATED FISH BOX,
• 85 QT. INSULATED DRINK COOLER
• WALK-IN CONSOLE
• LIVEWELL SYSTEM (60/26 GALLONS)
• FLUSH MOUNT ELECTRONICS AREA (13 X 40)
• ROD HOLDERS (26)
  • (2) deep drop added June 2016
• 9 STAINLESS CUP HOLDERS
  • (4) added to rear gunnels June 2016

Electronics and Accessories

• Auto Pilot
  • Garmin GHP 20 Autopilot (New Oct 2016!)
• Radar
  • Garmin 24HD Radar
• Sonar
  • Garmin GSD24
  • Airmar 1k transducer
• Stereo
  • Clarion Radio (supports iphone, has iphone jack)
  • Fusion BT100 bluetooth
• Amps (1600 watts total)
  • 1000 watt JL Audio AMP
  • 600 watt JL Audio AMP
• Speakers
  • (4) 10″ JL Audio subs (2 new Sept 2015, 2 new April 2016)
  • (6) JL Audio speakers
• (2) Head Units
  • 7212 Garmin
  • 5212 Garmin
• Satellite weather
  • Yes with Garmin XM52 (new June 2016)
• Tackle storage
  • Yes, in leaning post on port side
  • Holds 4 plano boxes and has one large pull out drawer
• Helm Cushion (to help knees and back while underway)
  • Yes, Foot cush
• Underwater LED lighting
  • Yes, can also vary color (blue or green) (see pictures)
• Trim tabs
  • Lenco trim tabs
• Batteries and switches
  • (4) batteries total
  • (3) perko switches
  • One battery per motor, (2) for the house
  • Also has isolator, can run either motor to keep house batteries charged
• Outriggers
  • Yes, Revolution outriggers
• EPIRB
  • Yes, ACR (new Sept 2015)
• Anchor and rode included

Additional Pictures

There are other pictures available for viewing online. You can get some higher resolutions by visiting that link.

Walk Through Video

Sometimes it is hard to get a feel for things in pictures so I created a full length walk through video of the boat. In this video I walk you through all the many features of the boat and point out any flaws. Hang in there, I got a little long winded but it should give you a complete feel for the care I’ve put into the boat and how it is rigged.

Outside Hull / Motor Walk Through Video

I was at the marina and had the boat on the maintenance rack a few days ago cleaning some of my gear out of the boat and doing a wash down. Took a full walk around video of the outside hull and motors. I apologize for the wind, it was blowing 30 knots at times. Anyway, enjoy the video!

Why am I selling the boat?

I get this question a lot so I thought I’d post it here. Good question, and fair. The short answer is I’m moving up to a larger boat. This boat will fish 5 comfortably and you can stretch it to 6 depending on the size of those going. I have to leave family and or friends on the dock many trips, just can’t fit everyone so I’m going to move up to a bigger boat. I don’t know what I’ll be looking at for the next purchase but I’m looking forward to shopping and doing some research. If it honestly wasn’t for that I’d be keeping this boat. It is a dry ride, great economy, is fast when you need it, has tons of range, built like a tank and unsinkable, is loaded to the gills with bells and whistles and is comfortable for both fishing and cruising. I really love the boat. My favorite boat of all time and if my circumstances change in the future I wouldn’t hesitate to own another one.

Price: $124,999 – Call or text 601.467.9744

Before we get into the guidelines below there is a code of conduct shared among boaters. While we don’t have time to get into all of the details just know that the Captain (the one that owns the boat or the one that is driving the boat) is the person in charge. They are legally liable for all passengers on the boat. It is important to understand there is an order to things on a boat and it starts with the Captain and goes down from there. What the Captain says goes and that’s all there is to it. Always remember that! Ok, onto the list: