Maryland Family is Getting The Most Out Of Their Regulator 34
Jim Belliveau is a prolific boater, explaining he uses his boats almost as often as some folks use their cars. He’s owned and operated a great variety of watercraft, including many center consoles and sailboats built by leading manufacturers. Throughout it all, his wife Judy and their three children have been by his side, enjoying the rides.
In terms of having new Regulators on display throughout our territories, leveraging factory demos may be a necessity for hull 1 debuts of each new model, but Bluewater has always invested in having a full stable of new boats (aka dealer floor plan) available to potential customers. Over the two and a half decades working with Regulator, it has always been a priority to have their new models well represented throughout each of Bluewater’s territories.
For a little while their ownership of the 31 and 34 overlapped and they considered keeping one of the Regulators up north, and the other in Florida. But Jim loved running the new 34 so much (and wanted to avoid the insurance premiums of keeping a boat in Florida through the hurricane season) that they’ve been shipping the 34 between their two homes each year.
For those who haven’t spent much time in Florida, the “toy haulers” start arriving around mid-October and begin packing out around Easter-time—give or take the timing of a few outlier cold fronts. So, just like many a snowbird’s luxury cars, twice a year the Belliveaus’ 34 is cleaned, shrink-wrapped and hauled via tractor-trailer up and down the interstate to accommodate the family’s seasonal lifestyle. This is a routine they’ve been enjoying since about 2020. Doing so means orchestrating haulout services at yards in both Florida and Maryland in collaboration with the transport company, but to them it’s well worth the effort to help spend as much time out on the water in the boat they love.
Covering A Lot of Ground
From their homebase in Annapolis, the Belliveaus take frequent trips to St. Michaels, Baltimore, Chestertown and other destinations. “Whether it’s out for a sunset cruise, or visiting family, I use my boats like my car.” That probably doesn’t mean running errands in the boat, but trips around the region to see their kids and even attend a Baltimore Ravens game has been part of the action.
While wintering in Naples, Florida, they enjoy visiting Marco, Goodland, Everglades City and the Ten Thousand Islands to the south, and Sanibel, Captiva and Fort Myers Beach are within easy reach to the north. Jim explains he has owned several other center console brands, and enjoys driving them as much as possible up and down the Mid-Atlantic ICW, even as far as Charleston, SC. While he hasn’t taken the new 34 from Naples to the Florida Keys yet, they plan to make that trip in the immediate future.
What does he like most about the 34? Besides being named Unregulated, Jim shares that the boat has earned another nickname—the Beast. “I have had it in some serious sh-t,” he explains. “The 31 was great, but the 34 is heavier, longer and wider. When the Bay is washboarding it gets so short and choppy, and she absolutely crushes it.” When you use a boat as much as the Belliveaus, you’re inevitably going to be faced with some challenging conditions, and the Regulator 34 provides the confidence to tackle just about anything Mother Nature can serve up.
Other features unique to his 34 are the additions of FLIR and Starlink systems. The FLIR infrared helps them get back and forth from the beaches and other destinations safely after dark. The Starlink connection provides the peace-of-mind of always being within hailing distance of his business and employees, no matter where their boating excursions take them.
These upgrades are in addition to many of the factory standard features offered by Regulator, including the Garmin Offshore Package and Yamaha Helm Master joystick controls, Yamaha digital boat control system and EX Autopilot—all aimed at making the boat as easy and fun to operate as possible.
Factory Tuned
Ordering both of his new Regulators through Bluewater over the last 5-6 years, Jim enjoyed visiting the Regulator Marine factory to check up on the construction of both boats. While doing so he got to know Customer Service Representative Ramsey Skinner and Joan Maxwell, Co-Founder of the company.
“Regulator has a great team, and Bluewater is a great support team during and after the sale.”
Expanding on his growing appreciation for Maxwell and the Regulator brand, he describes recently driving across Alligator Alley from Naples to the Miami International Boat Show to see the debut of the all-new Regulator 35. “They did such a great job marketing and teasing the new boat, I had to go see it. I got to crawl all over it and hope to sea trial one in Annapolis,” he reports. He came away impressed with all the new technology packed aboard, including the Lithium battery system and the newest innovations in gyro stabilizers and attitude systems.
He alluded that some of these features may have him thinking about another step up to a new Regulator in the coming years, but for now he’s happy to wait for them to build more hulls of the new model and work out any potential kinks.
