Fort Myers To Chicago On A 55C

[Brian Degulis]

Cedar key is a good stop on a cruise when you can plan it. On a delivery maybe not. You've got to watch the tide and there's not much in the way of supplies or services and the city dock is vulnerable to wind and current. I wouldn't plan on it for a delivery Clearwater as you know is good Tarpon Springs is OK also. Crystal river's not bad either.


Brian

[Sparky1]

Yeah, I've been into those areas, but it still doesn't give us that much more run time than we'd get going to Clearwater. Surely we'll know if we have issues with a run from Fort Myers to Clearwater. I guess we'll just figure on making that our first stop, assuming we need fuel. If not, we'll just shoot across from there.

[Vincentc]

Tarpon Springs is a nice place to spend the night and an easy run to the panhandle. It would give you some run time before crossing the Gulf. We ran from Tarpon to Carabelle at 8.5 kts. Running faster than that would give you the option of going on to PC, but if you had a problem could stop at Carabelle.

Deep water entry and a number of interesting restaurants at Tarpon Springs. The only problem we had, the channel markers are not lighted and we had a close call leaving before daylight.

Sound like a great trip.
Regards,
Vincent
Lilly Marie 43DC

[yachtsmanbill]

We left NOLA for Mobile in Augst '06 and found out that Coffeville had just closed 3 days prior until December. Thats what held us up down there.
Mustve been the B.O.C of E (BO corps of engineers)... oh wait, he wasnt even elected then. Hmm... I'll just blame it on him anyway! ws

[dastahl]

I crewed on a 53C a few years back. Left Panama City at 5am got to Fort Meyers Muni 9pm burned 1100 gallons of diesel. 12-71s at 2100 RPMs 20 knots, a long day.

Skooch
42 LRC
Worton Creek MD

[Boatsb]

Hey Bird FYI


http://www.publix.com/food/catalog/Deli/Home.do


Just my $.02 but I would run to Clearwater or Tarpon springs. Expect to stay the night and get everything checked over again before the long run. maiden Voyages can be a bit tough on the vessel and the crew. Taking an extra night for making sure seems a small price to pay. The run from Ft Myers to Clearwater is bound to have something show up. Even if it is a small thing that may not be noticeable without taking an hour to "preflight" again the next morning

[captbuddy]

Been to Cedar Key coming back from Tarpon Springs a few years ago. Coming into the south channel the cruise books will tell you to study the charts before entering. I thought I was pretty good at reading a chart or picking out markers. Found out why the cruise book told me to study the chart. You get to a point in the channel and can see the county dock just as the picture shows in the cruise book. You are also looking at other red markers which appear to line up with the red markers you are passing. You might not believe this but I had a Dolphin come out of the water in front of me going from startboard side to port. About that time I looked down at the depth finder and saw I was running out of water. A quick glance to port and I saw another red marker sitting about 220 degrees from the boat. Hard turn to port just did keep me in channel. So make sure you study the chart before entering if you come in the south channel. Nice little town. Restaraunts in walking distance.
captbuddy

[Sparky1]

We left NOLA for Mobile in Augst '06 and found out that Coffeville had just closed 3 days prior until December. Thats what held us up down there.
Mustve been the B.O.C of E (BO corps of engineers)... oh wait, he wasnt even elected then. Hmm... I'll just blame it on him anyway! ws

So that's why you stayed in Mobile for so long?

I didn't remember that. No doubt you have to check with the corps before planning any big river trips as they do shut down locks on occasion. I would hesitate to describe it as "luck", but had my starboard not gone south when it did, there's a pretty good chance I would have been SOL in terms of getting the 58 back to Tennessee as a barge knocked the door off Wilson lock in Alabama.

Luckily they had an auxilliary lock, but it was closed to everything except commercial traffic for months. Who knows where I would have had to take the ole' Birdboat to find a marina, let alone what it would have cost. When they finally did open the auxilliary to pleasure boats, you basically had to camp out below the dam and wait for a call. If you didn't make it in time, you lost your spot.

[yachtsmanbill]

I just know you GOTTA read this on a daily basis... dont forget to keep an eye on ANNA.. thats the first named storm of this year. Mother nature let us keep our guard down so keep an eye open! ws

http://www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/NIC2/default.cfm

[Sparky1]

I don't see Anna as an issue, but we'll see. As for the link, looks like our tax dollars have been well spent to update that site. Only question is, why doesn't it show the Tennessee or Tenn-Tom?

No doubt I'll be doing my homework to make sure there are no surprises. I need to get all the lock numbers in my cell as well to keep track of commercial traffic that can mess up our day. No need in busting our way up to sit for three hours while a barge locks through.