Daydream's Great Loop Blog!

Spike":14g3hnhl said:
Wow, 420 miles to go! What a neat trip! So, what is your total water miles covered so far? And how many hours on your Honda?
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Chuck, you gave me an idea, today's blog might cover some stats!

Water miles covered: 4,905
Engine hours: 772

Four services along the way, there of which I did and one done by Irish Boat Shop in Michigan.
 
Spike":qiro2gk0 said:
Wow, 420 miles to go! What a neat trip! So, what is your total water miles covered so far? And how many hours on your Honda?
Click to expand...

Chuck, you gave me an idea, today's blog might cover some stats!

Water miles covered: 4,905
Engine hours: 772

Four services along the way, three of which I did and one done by Irish Boat Shop in Michigan.
 
Pat I have enjoyed following along with your blog, and a question arises. If you had not had a dog with you, would a dinghy have been required? It seems like shore trips for Baxter was your main use. Outside of that, did you really need to have a dinghy on this trip?
 
BillE":38hbiwwr said:
Pat I have enjoyed following along with your blog, and a question arises. If you had not had a dog with you, would a dinghy have been required? It seems like shore trips for Baxter was your main use. Outside of that, did you really need to have a dinghy on this trip?
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Good question, but I think we would have wanted a dinghy even without at dog. For example, we went to shore a few places to sightsee, and a few other places to shop. Of course, if you stay in marinas, it is a different story, but we have always preferred anchoring out to staying in marinas!
 
Thank you for your blog as I have really enjoyed reading it and following along with you.

Question, what are your thoughts behind taking 11 hours to cross to Steinhatchee in a boat that can comfortably do it in 1/2 the time.
 
ken35216":2jl1uj1f said:
Thank you for your blog as I have really enjoyed reading it and following along with you.

Question, what are your thoughts behind taking 11 hours to cross to Steinhatchee in a boat that can comfortably do it in 1/2 the time.
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Glad you are enjoying the blog!

The answer to your question is that we cannot get Daydream on the plane! She is loaded so heavily that even with the throttle all the way down, the bow cannot break the bow wave to get up on the plane. We confirmed that on our way here when we needed to pass a tow - throttle all the way down got us up to 10 mph pushing a huge bow wave with a horrendous fuel burn rate. Now, Marc Grove has said he is going to see if he has a prop that can help us out, and I am thinking a lower pitched / smaller diameter prop, maybe with a Doelfin, could possibly do the job, and we are going to take Marc's advice. Otherwise, our crossing will be at our usual 7 smph, which will take the 11 hours.
 
Hopefully Marc can get a lower pitch prop on her and you can get 12-15 mph out of your boat .Pat maybe just up that speed to 15 mph get it done in 5-6 hours or so instead of 11 .Just in case of an Afternoon shower or wind coming up .Leaving at 6AM is good but arriving by noon is better.just MHO .The Gulf can get sloppy in the Afternoons watch the weather and pedal to the metal crossing big bend .
 
Another trick we used passages where we needed to enter a pass or harbor with the light high (to identify rocks and reefs) was to leave at early morning hours to arrive at destination when light was best. Example: We left Cedar Key at 3 AM to make it to Dog Island (Distance 110 miles=14 hours) in our trawler in the middle of the winter, when less daylight. We mapped out the exit from Cedar Key the afternoon before...so we had exact depths and bearings.

I also like to have a daylight buffer when going into a entrance such as Steinhatchee in case I am slowed down for some reason.
 
Wow, what engine do you have? Other friends with 25's are running 20 without a problem, and they are also fully loaded! In fact one of the guys has so much weight that when more than 2 of us sit in the back while sitting still, his scuppers start letting water in! He cruises at 21 to get his best mileage, if above hull speed.
 
Those last 2 post are good advice. Always better to have daylight, and good is better, when entering a new, strange, harbor, marina or channel route.

Another trick, even with good GPS, is to induce a known error. If you are crossing to a landing where you are entering a channel that might be hard to find, aim your crossing destination to the right, (starboard) by a mile or so, then when you have good visualization of the approaching coast, turn to parallel it and find your indentation or channel knowing it will be a turn to stbd, and being sure you will find it in front of you, not maybe "should have turned the other way". I know GPS makes that error hard to happen, but this is one I use crossing Juan de Fuca into Cattle Pass, because I cannot see the entrance from this side. I put my marker about a mile to the west, and half a mile off shore, on an incoming tide, to avoid some of the rip, and get a good visual on the lighthouse.

Curious what your bottom growth looks like, as it may have some affect on your planning ability too. Also (and you probably are already doing this, moving weight aft to get up on plane.

Dolefin? How about permatrim? And I think you have trim tabs already.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

JC_Lately_SleepyC_Flat_Blue_070.thumb.jpg
 
We have a BF150. Our trim tabs do not work at present. Today I bought a Doelfin / Permatrim work-alike from Marc, and he is going to try to get us a "work-boat" aluminum prop, much lower pitch, which in combination, I think will give us a fair chance of getting on plane crossing the Gulf.
 
Pat, my trim tabs quit working. I looked at the hydraulic piping and found out that I had a leak. "Stuff" I had put down where the bilge pump is, had cut through a hydraulic line. Can you check your hydraulic lines from the pump unit to the tab actuators?

I spliced the broken line with a union. Has worked for years. Also ask Marc to check the level of the fluid in the hydraulic pump. Those are simple systems: one pump feeding 2 actuators. Piping is all inside the boat.

Boris
 
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