Cruising Florida Keys

Wanderer · Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 3:17 pm Post subject: Cruising Florida Keys

Wanderer is now in her winter berth about a mile from our condo in the Florida Keys. My daughters and a grandson take her out for a photo op.

Hitch up your C-Dory and come down for a cruise.

The waters sparkle and the breeze keeps the no-seeums out of some beautiful anchorages this time of the year. We plan to go for a few two and three day get-organized trips in the next few weeks. After that, we hope to cruise over to Cape Sable and meander our way up the west coast a ways. We have great expectations for re-visits to many of the places too shallow for our sloop Vamoose, when we sailed over the deeper waters a few years ago.

Another place we very much enjoyed visiting in Vamoose was the Dry Tortugas, some 70 miles west of Key West. On that trip, we motored out in a flat calm and sailed home in 25-30 knot winds. Down here through January you might have to wait over a week for the winds to go under 20 knots. The winds diminish and the bugs thrive in the mangroves from late March on. Maybe that would be a good time to visit again.

Is it prudent to take a CD 22 on a 20 mile stretch of open ocean, in 25 knot winds?

If any of you are passing through or plan to cruise any of the Keys, please let us know.

Our email: gberotti@earthlink.net

Captains Cat · Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 5:56 pm Post subject:

George, glad you got down there with the new boat! I'd not hesitate to take it out in the open ocean, once you get comfortable with the handling. Many of the left coasters go offshore to catch their big fishies and don't seem to have any problem with it.

I've been in the bay and. although it's not the open ocean, 8+ ft waves are darn near the same thing and except for pounding, which will occur if you are impatient and try to go too fast, I never feared for my safety. You do need to be aware of the motion and remember the "one hand for the boat" theory to avoid mishaps. The one time we forgot resulted in a badly broken ankle and a dash into the York River for a trip to the hospital. It was my fault though, not that of the boat!

Looks like a great spot there, my nephew is a Chief on a USCG 125 footer out of Key West and I'm contemplating dragging Captain's Choice down on a trailer sometime in the next few years. I've been there many times, used to have the responsibility for the PHM (hydrofoils) squadron at Truman Annex and did many shock tests offshore.

Have fun this winter and keep us up to date on your exploits. How did the trailering do on the way down?

Charlie

Wanderer · Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 11:52 am Post subject:

Charlie,

Good to hear from you.

I commented on our trip down on this post:

http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=1196&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

My daughter Susan and I drove to Key West yesterday and took the “Fast Cat” for the day trip to the Dry Tortugas. She is a structural engineer and works for a company which sent two engineers out to the Tortugas several years ago to study and recommend solutions for the damage occurring as Ft. Jefferson continues to settle. Her professional curiosity plus the pictures and tales her mother and I tell of the place ( http://www.georgeberotti.com/Sailing/Sailing.htm )
got the better of her. Dad got to spend a beautiful day on the water with his daughter.

On the way over and back the wind was 15-20 kts out of the NE. This gave us some shelter from the waves until we crossed the open area south of Rebecca Shoals. I tried to imagine what it would be like to have been making the trip in Wanderer. The seas were 3-5 ft, choppy and breaking. I imagine she would have been going 5-7 kts and wallowing – probably not a lot of fun.

Since fuel is not available, and the round trip is about 150 nm plus say 25 more for exploring. If my Honda 90 gets 3 MPG, I’d need 60 gallons of usable fuel. I would need to carry at least four 5 gal. jerry-jugs of fuel. And that doesn’t provide any reserve. I don’t yet know what my fuel curves will look like. Four jerry-jugs at 4 MPG would give me a comfortable margin.

If anyone reading this has made trips with legs longer than 40 gallons, how did you prepare?

By the time we have completed a trip up the SW Coast of Florida, we’ll be better equipped to decide if the trip to the Dry Tortugas is worth the risk and effort.

Wanderer · Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:55 am Post subject:

starcrafttom · Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:32 pm Post subject:

lots of people have carried extra fuel in 6 gallon cans between the fuel tanks. It should not be a problem if you are traveling the extra distance. we live in the seattle area so i can not help with info in florida. in a few years when the kid is out of the house and we have more vacation time susan and i want to travel the inter coastal water way. I lived at camp lejuena for 5 years but never had a boat at that time. I did a lot of fishing but all from shore. I am thinking of having the boat shipped to florida. That way I am not wasting my vacation trailering the boat . i will just fly in and out from each end.

Captains Cat · Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 2:25 pm Post subject:

George, I carried two standard outboard 6 gal tanks on my ICW cruise last fall. They had standard OB female plugs on them and I would use them first and then switch to the built in tanks. You could just as easily carry 4 instead of two, just depends on the extra weight you can tolerate. They rode fine aft in the cockpit, just made sure they wouldn't slide around.

Charlie

Ron on Meander · Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:55 pm Post subject: extra fuel

George,
I don't know if you or anyone else has seen these roll up fuel tanks before, but they look kinda slick to me. I don't know if there are any North American dealers yet and I haven't found out any prices but they look interesting never the less. [url] http://www.turtlepac.com

Cheers
Ron

Casey · Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:38 pm Post subject: Stretching Limited Fuel

Hi George,

Greetings from up in MD! Happily, I can report that "winter" hasn't hit yet (I may end up eating THOSE words!)

Like you, we found that cruising mileage on-plane with the Suzuki 90 is about 3mpg for planning purposes. (Real world figure is more like 3.2 or 3.3, but I use 3 for planning.)

On some of our longer passages I slowed the CD22 to displacement mode which, vastly increased the mileage to an honest 6mpg. When we did this, I'd hit the water about 0500 with a pot of coffee on the stove and Sandy in the sack. Motoring along very slow can be quite relaxing, and it certainly enhanced range. We did a total of about six hours in displacement mode and completed the 110 mile passage (Petersburg to Juneau) with lots of fuel to spare. CD22 hull speed is about 6.5smph, and for me (as I recall) that was around 2000rpm. Sure it was slow but I kicked-on the autopilot and just kicked-back for about four hours.

Later!
Casey
C-Dory Naknek

Levity · Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 8:12 pm Post subject:

Hello George,
Good to read your posts and see you're doing well in Fla.. The photo of wanderer looks great. Happy cruising.
Mike 'Levity"

Wanderer · Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 5:47 pm Post subject:

Thanks to each of you for the input.

starcrafttom

Before I bought a trailer, I looked into shipping Wanderer to the Florida Keys- about 1300 miles from Annapolis MD. The cost was $2600 – one way. If the cost is proportional, you could likely buy a boat here, use it and sell it and be ahead of shipping from WA to FL and back I think the cruising will be good here.

Charlie

I think you idea of storing gas in outboard gas containers is superior to putting it into jerry jugs. They would take up more floor space but would be much easier to use.

Ron

I took a look at the web site you suggested. I have considered flexible tanks on previous boats but have never used them. I think I may use Casey’s idea. Go slower. Get better mileage.

Casey

I am accustomed to going slow. If that is all it takes to double my range, extra fuel is not needed. I kept thinking to call you again before we left; but, I got busy and then it was time to go. You need to find someone who needs your expertise down this way and pay us a visit. How are your plans for next summer coming along?

Mike

We’ll have to try harder to get together next Spring when we return. I never did get out for a cruise on the bay. Penny and I were out for one overnight. Then, I took day trips to reach 20 hours on the engine, pulled the boat and went to work on installing electronics, canvas, and a charging system.

Casey · Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 6:41 pm Post subject: Keys boating, etc.

Hi George,

I appreciate the idea of finding someone who wants my abilities down there -- but honestly, after this army stuff is done, I'm going to give that retirement thing another Serious try! Not quite counting days yet, but March 31 is coming!

We're still planning to spend the summer exploring some of the canals in eastern Ontario. We don't have a particular route yet but we are certainly looking forward to burning some boat gas!

Currently looking seriously at buying a new truck (F350) (wow, that's a breath-taking experience!) and probably put a camper on it ('ala Bill and El). We just want to go Play!!

Best to both!
Casey
C-Dory Naknek

PS: Got "burned" recently on the purchase of a Garmin 2006C on eBay. Currently going through the refund process with PayPal and Mastercard. Bummer - Not fun.

Wanderer · Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 4:47 pm Post subject:

Casey,

Did you sell your motorhome?

If you had a small motorhome, like my 26 foot Born Free, would you still want a F350 under a truck camper?

Regards,