St Pete Fl to Demopolis Al with the Bird on a 52C with Cats

[Eddieclemons]

Well, so much to tell with so little time, but y'all deserve a quick update. I will post pictures on Hatteras FB group and keep the conversation here. First, I want to thank you all because all the years of reading various posts here was invaluable in so many ways on the trip. From Duck Bills to Generator Impellers it was a blast and as time moves on the mechanicals, raging river, and negatives fade, and remaining are just the great memories. Thanks to Captain Randy for keeping us heading North, safe, educated, and damage free. We will definitely be finishing this trip together Lord willing.

Day 1 Thursday, Shake down cruise from Marine Max St. Pete to Clearwater Beach Marina. Changed genset impeller during the run and had some rope pulled from a fouled prop upon arrival.

Day 2 Friday, Crossing from Clear Water Beach to Carrabelle Fl with a feather hitchhiker that cuddled with the Captain. Fuel and C-Quarters and Docked at The Moorings. Dinner at Fathoms.

Day 3 Saturday, Carrabelle to the Wharf at Orange Beach Fl on the inside. Rode through a brief storm without incident. Apalachicola River Wildlife area was my favorite cruising on this trip! I believe we ate at the Yo Ho Rum and Tacos Restaurant.

Day 4 Sunday, a easy day from Orange Beach to Dog River Mobile Al. We ate at the Circa 1847 Mobile Yacht Club which was wonderful. We stayed at Dog River Marina and is a great mix of food, people, and facilities with good resources on site and available on a Sunday.

Day 5 Monday, Dog River to Bobby's. River was raging and full of trash. We got bored and decided to finish this leg at Night and on one engine. The Bird got it done! We tied up to stump at a place called Bobby's with the raging river going over the dam spill way off our stern it seems. Maybe it was just a nightmare I had, but that's what I remember. Peanut butter and Jelly for supper with the generator running. I might remember more later today when I leave my counseling session.

Day 6 Tuesday, Bobby's in Silas Al. to King Fisher Marina in Demopolis Al on one. Some periods of smiles and good times as we finished the last of bread for sandwiches for lunch. A great supper at the Red Barn in Demopolis Al.

So much more to tell and discuss, but I got to find a STB engine turbo for a Cat 3406e.

 

[Freeebird]

Dang, son, we've got to work on your storytelling.

I'll share a few more details and some photos a bit later, but it was a good trip that could have been better and most certainly could have been worse. Examples, at least one tornado touched down about 15 miles ahead of us in Panama City while we were in the relative safety of the ditch. Nothing like having the Coasties come on the radio with an emergency weather statement which was, "50 knot winds, baseball size hail, tornadoes and waterspouts." In other words, Hatteras weather. We stayed on plane and ran straight at it until visibility dropped to virtually nothing, then we started chugging while standing ahead of the helm where it was relatively dry. Fortunately it was short and sweet, even though one lighting strike in particular came WAY too close for comfort.

Less than 48 hours after we passed through, Coffeeville Lock closed due to damage and will remain closed for an estimated 4-6 days. Talk about a BAD place to be stranded with one engine and no food. We're talking a whole lot of nothing between there and Mobile. All in all, I'm feeling pretty lucky and am looking forward to a less eventful part two.

Oh yeah, did I mention the water level at Demopolis actually had the entire dam underwater a few days before we passed through? The spillway falls were totally underwater when we went through.

 

[Eddieclemons]

I said quick update, no stories shared yet.

 

[Robby]

Enjoyed meeting u Eddie. When do y'all expect. To be back to the boat??course we are waiting for the lock to open and I'm gonna pad that a few days to let the barge traffic clear up some. 5 boats here at turner waiting to go north.

 

[Freeebird]

Okay, here are a few videos of the storm and of the bird that ended up on the Bird.

https://youtu.be/gup5sIdOGI0

https://youtu.be/qZPyHBOn4b4

https://youtu.be/qjPTQ2ruoV0

https://youtu.be/IQ2KawUoWf8

 

[Freeebird]

Here’s what I shared on my Facebook page about the bird.

Okay, here’s the story about the bird pic I posted earlier. Signal here is lousy, so I’m not sure video will post.

We were cruising in the Gulf about 50 miles southeast of Carrabelle when this unusual bird started following the boat. It became very obvious he was looking for a ride and was at least 30 miles offshore. He didn’t look like a sea bird.

After a few failed attempts, I switched off the radar to see if that would allow him to land on the bridge. When that didn’t work, I told Eddie to drop us down to hull speed. That too failed, so we throttled back up.

Several more attempts were made, but he finally stuck a landing that left his rear end hanging over the edge. He rode there for about an hour and took off again. Some little bird picked a fight with him, but he circled around and came back.

This time, he stuck a landing on the railing at the back of the bridge. I eased over to that side of the boat to take his picture (again), and before I knew it, he was in my face! I thought I was recording it, but unfortunately not. Would have gone viral on YouTube for sure!

After fluttering around in my face, he landed on my knee. I talked to him as he just sat there looking at me. He almost immediately went to sleep, so I just sat there for a while. That started getting old, so he hopped up to the ledge ahead of me and stayed until we reached Carrabelle. He didn’t fly off until we were docking for fuel, or I would have recorded his departure into his new home.

 

[Freeebird]

Missed these two earlier of the bird.

https://youtu.be/DLYAUKn8K6g

Here’s where the bird landed on The Bird.

https://youtu.be/kviiXsy1zEU

 

[jim rosenthal]

Glad you are home. Randy is good with single engine boats. He used to be a sailboater, did he tell you that?

Try Avenger (Derek) for a turbo?

 

[motoryacht lover]

One of you all looks much younger than I was expecting. Looks like a fun trip excepting the breakdown and the storms.

 

[Freeebird]

One of you all looks much younger than I was expecting.

Thanks. I get that a lot.

 

[Freeebird]

Man, did that run ever bring back memories. I'm sure all you long timers remember me bringing my 58TC from Palmetto, FL to Chattanooga, TN on just the port engine. I had the company of a couple of HOF'ers from Palmetto to Pensacola, then I was solo the rest of the way up.

That was back in 2007, and I think it's safe to safe I hold the record for most number of miles traveled on a Hatteras with one engine as I've done it several times since. Not a thousand miles worth as was the case with my first trip, but definitely over 500 on a single run since then with Dave and Trina on Benna... you know, the thing.

A little video of the single engine run on the Tenn-Tom. I swore I would never again run the Tenn-Tom at night after my inaugural trip on the 58, but we really didn't have much of an option for anchoring with the water being that high. Luckily Eddie's boat has a really good spotlight that's high up on the hardtop and doesn't destroy your night vision. Dodging all that crap was a lot of fun with one engine, but we both had turns at the wheel with that. "Baptism by fire", is the term Eddie used, if I remember correctly. He definitely saw it all on this trip.

https://youtu.be/cLmYy7t1h48

 

[RonNP]

The Bird's bird looks like a Northern Potoo
He would be a long way from home.
Good job on giving him a ride!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_potoo

 

[Jims43DC]

That was back in 2007, and I think it's safe to safe I hold the record for most number of miles traveled on a Hatteras with one engine as I've done it several times since. Not a thousand miles worth as was the case with my first trip, but definitely over 500 on a single run since then

What is the standard operations for running on a single screw if you have to shut down one engine .. do you lock the gears , let them rotate from drag .. just curious and would like to have that knowledge in my toolbox (43dc 671ti twin disk) Thanks in advance for any info

 

[Freeebird]

Oh yeah, SOMEBODY keeps telling HOF’ers to have a bottle of Goose onboard for me. Bob Bradley had one, and Eddie broke one out after we reached Demopolis and called it good. I really and truly am not much of a drinker at all, but I appreciated the thought. Yes, it went back into the freezer. I mean we didn’t have any cranberry juice or anything.

Eddie took a money shot of me with the bottle, so he’s welcome to share. I actually thought he sent it to me, but he didn’t.

 

[Freeebird]

What is the standard operations for running on a single screw if you have to shut down one engine .. do you lock the gears , let them rotate from drag .. just curious and would like to have that knowledge in my toolbox (43dc 671ti twin disk) Thanks in advance for any info

Yep, we locked the shaft, even though it too is a Twin Disk. Definitely a must on an Allison, but when it doubt, lock it out. Doesn't matter if you leave it in gear or not. I would suggest carrying a wrench the same size of the bolts around the tail shaft. That will let it lock up against a stringer, but I wouldn't run over about 1,200.

Dave and I broke a Crescent wrench on his 60MY even at that, but my primary concern is loosening the bolt.

 

[Freeebird]

The Bird's bird looks like a Northern Potoo
He would be a long way from home.
Good job on giving him a ride!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_potoo

It was a Chuck Will's Widow. Posted a pic when it happened, and someone identified it.

 

[Freeebird]

Eddie sent me this a while ago, so here you go. I actually still have the bottle of Goose that Scotty B (he’ll like that one) gave me to celebrate my Gulf crossing on the one winged Bird boat. We’ll see what happens with this one on round two.

 

[Bob Bradley]

Wait a minute! Are you saying that I could have gotten away with feeding you pb&j sammiches?

I demand a refund!

 

[Freeebird]

Here’s one of Captain Eddie at the helm.

 

[Freeebird]

Wait a minute! Are you saying that I could have gotten away with feeding you pb&j sammiches?

I demand a refund!

Hey, I left you a bottle of Goose!

We only had sandwiches for lunch (except on that run up to Bobby’s) and hit restaurants for dinner. I’m cheap, but it takes more than a PBJ to keep me up and running.