Florida Bound

[jim rosenthal]

Dan, if you are down there, Zimmerman Marine has a pretty much open door policy. If you want to see the boat, call me and I will tell them, you are welcome to poke around in there, no problem. I don't know when the serious work starts, they are in the process of checking her in, firming up the estimate, etc. I expect to be down there shortly to get my tools etc off the boat and do some winterizing.

 

[34Hatt]

Thanks Jim will do!! And if you need or want a set of eye's I can always send my brother over with a camera.
Sorry about Hijacking your thread Maynard hope all is well try to think of us .

 

[CARL GUZMAN]

I expect to be down there shortly to get my tools etc off the boat and do some winterizing.

Hay Jim Rosenthal are you gonna make it to the Columbus Day rondevzous ? If your comming down before that then shoot over to Naples and we'll go out for a cruies and you can meet : Sasha, Capt Mike, jcrlaw, all members of the forum and docked at Isle of Capri South of Naples we'll leave a light on for you and a beer in the fridge

 

[jim rosenthal]

I wish I could. Between keeping an eye on Blue Note at ZMI, and work, and a wedding I have to attend, I don't think I can. Thanks, though, for the invitation. I will take a raincheck if it is offered.

 

[CARL GUZMAN]

Sounds good Jim. In the future ( 3-5 years ) we would like to do the great loop trip , we have herd so much about how nice it is , so maybe someday we'll be up your way

 

[Freebird]

Sounds good Jim. In the future ( 3-5 years ) we would like to do the great loop trip , we have herd so much about how nice it is , so maybe someday we'll be up your way

Hey GoozBoy,

If you help me bring that 70 back from CA, I'll go with you on the circle trip and navigate the freshwater portions for you! I'll be especially useful for the AL/TN section!

 

[CARL GUZMAN]

Sounds good I maybe able to do it sooner but I would have to do it June and July because the kids are out of school and it would be one heck of a summer break. But I don't know if the trip can be done in 6 weeks any one out there know the time it takes

 

[ThirdHatt]

I don't know how long it takes, but I have read that you MUST be able to clear under 19' from the waterline. I have a half-tower on my boat and a fixed radar arch. With antenna's down, I am still a little over 22' so my boat CANNOT go on the Great Loop route. Carl, you had better check your height because your boat is bigger than mine and you may not fit under that fixed bridge either.

 

[CARL GUZMAN]

Wow it's going to be really close because to the top top small antena is 23ft but maybe if I unbolted the mast just for that bridge wich is a major pain but I really want to do the trip after reading so much about it. I maybe left with 18-19 ft to the arch. that big ball up there I need to take off any way it's an old seatell system that I can't get to work

 

[Freebird]

I don't know how long it takes, but I have read that you MUST be able to clear under 19' from the waterline.

I'm certainly no authority, but I haven't heard the 19' thing before. Where is that bridge? You won't be able to make that trip over summer break though.

Given all the stories I've heard about that trip, I can't imagine many semi-big boats making it under a 19' bridge. That's pretty dang low.

 

[ThirdHatt]

Here is a slice of what Doug said in an earlier post: "The bridge at mile 300 on the Cal-Sag channel in Chicago is the limiting factor and it 19.1 ft low steel at standard pool stage."

That is the fixed bridge to clear up there. You are going to be cutting it WAY close my friend!

 

[CARL GUZMAN]

Thanks for the info, I got plenty of time to plan and I'll have to measure the boat my self to get the exact hight to the arch. I maybe able to fill up with fuel and water and try diferent scinerios but I don't want to waist anyones time on a trip thats 2-3 years out but thank you very much for you time

 

[ThirdHatt]

No problem at all Carl! Just after I got my 58YF I wanted to do that trip as well but after learning of the bridge I now know that I can't fit. My half-tower and radar arch are aluminum, like on many sportfishing convertibles so it is bolted/welded in place with no hinges. I can't get lower than 22' unless I remove my radar array, then I'd still be over 20'. BUMMER!

 

[yachtsmanbill]

I now know for sure that no one listens to the hazel eyed step child-- That bridge is in Lemont Il. I can see it out of my kitchen window. Anyone interested should contact Dan Egan at Egan marine in Lemont-- he has a large towboat company directly east of that bridge and he used to have a contact to have it opened. Its a swing bridge. Tell him Franz from Zenith Tug in Duluth sent you. Its always good to drop a name when you need to-- ws

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Thats not nearly as much fun as we had last year towing the USCG ex tug SNOHOMISH through the Erie canal. We had to trim everything off the pilothouse with the gas ax, flood the boat, then tow/push it through the mud with a pair of 2000hp tugs. Pump her out and then do it all over again 2 miles later

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Carl,
It took us 20 days to get from Tampa to Lake Michigan via the ICW and Erie Canal and another 20 days to get from Lake Michigan back through the rivers to the Gulf. At that pace you don't have much time to take in the sights as we ran most days from sun-up to sun-down with only an extra day spent at a few locations. Also, you can't rely on the locks so you may get stuck if they are doing repairs.

 

[CARL GUZMAN]

Thanks Sky Well I'm a couple of years out I'll probubly lay low till I see someone intrested in doing the trip ( June July ) and I may tag along with them If bridges alow?

 

[Maynard Rupp]

We finally have an internet connection. We are at Dudley's Marina in Swansboro NC. This must be my lucky trip. Gas is now $2.43 and the weather has been very good. The boat is running great also. We stopped at Alligator river for fuel. Good stop. I also found a great place to overnight on the Chessapeke. Tangier Island is almost on the rhumb line from Annapolis to Norfolk. Most other stops are a long way off of the route. Tangier Island is a very interesting place. I sure am getting paranoid about rinsing the salt off every night. I think I am doing OK as the boat still shines. You sure can se a difference in the quality of stainless.All the Hatteras supplied stainless parts look like new while the aftermarket swim ladder is getting orange.

 

[34Hatt]

This must be my lucky trip. Gas is now $2.43

You are Lucky like they say Timing is everything!!! So now you have to figure out what to do with all of that extra Money you are saving .
Hope all stays good Enjoy!!

 

[Nonchalant1]

Sounds good I maybe able to do it sooner but I would have to do it June and July because the kids are out of school and it would be one heck of a summer break. But I don't know if the trip can be done in 6 weeks any one out there know the time it takes

Carl,

I'm leaving in 2 weeks to do the Great Circle Route trip. It's 5,600 NM and I can't imagine averaging 100 NM per day. You'd lose the whole idea of it from my standpoint. For me, it's not a forced march, it's cruising, and I've done both. We're following the fall south and spend a few days here and there so we don't get to salt water until after hurricane season is over. Then we'll spend December on Florida's West Coast, January in the Keys, February on Florida's East Coast, and then follow the spring north up the east coast.

How could I pass the Chesapeake Bay and not cruise it? How could I stay in NY City and not take in a play on Broadway? How could I pass right by Shiloh and not stop to see the battlefield? How could I moor at John Pennekamp coral reef and not stop to dive it? But that's just me. Of course, you're already in Florida, you'd love to spend a few weeks in the North Channel (top of Lake Huron) which may be the best cruising in the world outside of Greece.

It's also going to be $25K+ in fuel I'm thinking about hedging fuel prices by buying gasoline futures now that the prices have dropped.

I can e-mail you my 10 month cruise plan if you do MS Excel and want to see it. A number of people have done the Great Circle Route in segmants, doing a couple of months and then laying up their boat wherever they were until the next season or next time they were available.

Doug Shuman