Freebird's Trip South, For Real

[Freebird]

Dang, I did a cut and paste and I think this might just work. Oops, just hit the send button and got fussed at. Reckon I'll have to make more than one post to make it fit, sorry! I'm very busy at work today (really!) and I'll try to go back and insert pictures a little later. Remember I asked/warned about the length. Better grab a Coke and some chips and go to the bathroom before you start this one!

The ‘Bird’s in Flight, Again!

Randy Register aka “Freebird”


It’s a gorgeous day in Charleston, SC. Charleston is a beautiful city which I had not visited since I was still part of a family of six some 34 years ago. Man, it’s scary how time gets away. I am at Ripley Light Marina off Highway 17 which is just off Highway 61 before is crosses the Ashley River. Just so you know, I listed that detailed description to help me remember where I left my car! I arrived the day before after picking up the owner in NC. We drove down and came aboard the 90’s vintage Hatteras 70CPMY “Soulmate” and unloaded our belongings after arriving around 5PM on Thursday. I had reflected prior to boarding the boat as to the irony in the name of that boat having learned it through prior conversations with the owner. The good Lord moving in mysterious ways again? As always, I reckon I’ll find out soon enough!

Shortly we were greeted by the Captain, a fellow named John from New Bern, NC where the owner keeps the boat. Our anxious group headed out to find dinner and then went to the grocery store to stock up for the upcoming journey. I got my usual 4-5 hour nap, and awakened at about 7AM. I’m running around helping John get ready to head out. A white egret shows up, and eats out of John’s hand! I asked who his friend was, and John said he was “Edgar the egret”. Looks like we had two birds on board that morning as “Edgar” rode with us until we cleared the marina, then he flew away.

The big Hatt was eased off the dock and then piloted into the city marina across the channel as we prepared to take on fuel. After beginning the fueling process, John handed me a “diaper” to catch any overflow from the vent which normally occurs after the tank has reached its capacity. However, this was a high speed pump, and there was a small drip line of fuel where maybe half a teaspoon of fuel had dripped down the hull before I got the pad in place. Then, out of nowhere, this 20 something year old Coastie shows up with his teenage trainee. He then informs us we are in violation of federal law, and he could fine us $32,000 for the sheen on the water! It was all I could do to keep from asking what could have been a very bad question, “Will you take a check?” I thought better of my big mouth, and John was very cordial. I on the other hand was less than amused and felt it was my duty to make this idiot look like a fool! After all, it’s my job.

I told him our Hatt had a bladder control problem, and I wasn’t quite quick enough to put the diaper in place as to avoid the boat pissing on itself. In short, we were going above and beyond, and the smartass could clearly see it. When the Coastie “instructor” left with his understudy, the marina guys giggled and we finished fueling. In retrospect, I suppose I should have kept my mouth shut altogether, but at least I did not get us into any trouble. Oh well, maybe one day I’ll quit letting irritating people irritate me!

We pulled away from the fuel dock at 8:20 for my much anticipated and desperately needed trip to the south. Once we were clear, John pushed the throttles forward, but it was obvious the Detroit Diesel 12V71TI’s did not share our enthusiasm for the journey. They would only turn 1,500 rpm and there was a considerable amount of black smoke. That was obviously not going to work, so we headed back to the fuel dock.

John contacted a diver to clean what he suspected were fouled props. The boat had not been moved in about three months. We were tied back at the marina at 8:40 and the diver arrived at 9:45. Upon inspection the diver told us that in addition to dirty props, we had several smoked and missing zincs, and the bow thruster was missing one of its two props. The diver finished less than an hour after arriving, and the bill came to a little over $500 for his dive and the zincs. The prop would have to wait. One proved to be more than adequate for tight docking maneuvers. With all due respect to John, I had to question myself as to why these issues had not been addressed given the trip ahead and the fact the boat had been sitting idle for some three months. Looks like a short sea trial would have been in order prior to the date of departure. Oh well, ship happens!

Once again we headed out at 11:15 only to find matters had not improved. We could still only get 1,500 rpm, so John went down into the engine room to open up the other filters. Again I’m thinking, uh, why did we not try that before? Like GuzBoy’s (aka my good friend Carl Guzman) 67, this thing has Dahl filters, two per engine. These are plumbed to be used one at a time so there is always a spare on line. Once John addressed the filter issue, we pulled 1,900 rpm on the starboard and 2,150 on the port. We were still blowing black smoke, and the starboard rpm still varied by about 150 for the next several minutes. By 12:15 the smoke had been replaced with steam, both engines were running better, and we were making 17 knots at 1,950 outside on a brisk sunny winter’s day.

By 1:30 things smoothed out on the starboard, and my chain of sleepless nights was getting the best of me. I laid down on one of the two wrap-around leather sofas in the salon and went to sleep. I dreamed I was in my old lakeside mobile home again as a teenager, but this time it was near the pit area of a NASCAR race. There was a new tire guy who couldn’t figure out which way to spin the lug nuts with his air wrench, and he kept going back and forth, back and forth. Then at 3:30 Scott Bickwid aka “boatsb”, another good friend, called to check on us and woke me up. Turns out the noise I had been hearing was the sound of the pump on the autopilot which was mounted behind the helm in the pilothouse for some unknown reason. That damn thing drove me crazy the whole time I drove the boat!

Scott and his friend and Harbortown Marina neighbor Steve H. (sorry Steve, where the hell did that last name of yours come from anyway?) aka “67hat34c” were additional Hatt forum members who I met along with Bob Norris aka “Wild Bill” for the first time just before last Christmas. I even met Bob’s girlfriend “de jour” forum mem-bress “Princess Pambo”, the infamous forum troublemaker who got herself zapped by requesting I place her on my forum “buddy list”. Man, Bob and Pam were made for each other! Good thing, ‘cause nobody else could put up with them!

These guys had invited me to participate in a Christmas Boat Parade around the Cocoa Beach area. Steve was one of the first members of the forum to display sincere concern over my family problems I had mentioned on the forum. I had always appreciated his efforts in that area, and he too checked on our progress as we were headed south. I was glad to have finally met Steve in person along with all the aforementioned Hatteras lunatic friends! These and others I had met in person through the Hatteras owners forum really made the trip on the 70 that much more special. I think John and the owner were pretty impressed as I seemed to have contacts up and down the coast of Florida! It’s good to have friends, that will become even more evident later on.

We ran outside pretty much the length of Georgia, and then we opted to go inside at Savannah. What had started out as relatively calm seas were now big sloppy rollers which were giving the stabilizers a work out as they were hitting us squarely on our port beam. John made the statement “thank God for stabilizers”, so I did!

It would seem I lost my sea legs when I took that little nap. The owner was none too fond of the situation as he was very uncomfortable. We came into the Savannah River at about 4:30. There were lots of big ships coming out of that inlet and several were apparently waiting to get in. We passed a shrimpin’ boat which gave me the opportunity to use my “why don’t you love me Jen-nee?” line from my favorite movie!

Shortly after entering the river, we passed a USCG station to port at about 7 knots. There was a good sized cutter, maybe 100 ft, and a smaller 50 or so footer on their dock. A couple of minutes after passing, we were hailed via VHF by the Coasties. It sounded to be another “fresh” little Nazi who asked “are you aware you just waked out a U S Coast Guard facility?”. John responded in his normal professional manor that he regretted any problem we had caused when we made that 7 knot pass. That was pretty much the end of the conversation. We just looked at each other and laughed after I exited the pilothouse to observe the carnage we had left in our massive wake!

We arrived at Bahia Bleu marina at 6PM. A well meaning blow boater in a “catamoron” docked behind us attempted to handle a line. He didn‘t have a clue how to cleat us off and thought he could hold 100k plus lbs. by making a half wrap around a cleat while holding the line. We appreciated the effort though, and I jumped ship to get us secured.

While we were getting ready to get off the boat and head for a restaurant, we heard a call to Sea Tow from someone who identified himself only as “21 Sea Ray“. Apparently the guy in the Sea Ray either didn‘t have the volume turned up or he had receiving problems with his VHF because everyone could hear him, but he obviously couldn‘t hear them. Both Sea Tow and the CG responded to his requests for assistance, but he just kept repeating that he was scared because it was getting dark! He never did say what was wrong, and he never gave his position other than just a very vague description of reference points which darkness was erasing. As much as we were being entertained, we decided it was time to eat at a nearby restaurant.

When we headed back to the boat, we were unable to locate the big screen television on which the internet code for the marina‘s wireless service was supposedly left for us. I told the guys I would see if the guy on the cat was still around and maybe he would have it. I approached the cat, a 44 PDQ, and knocked on the salon window.

The guy poked his head out and I introduced myself and asked about the code. He invited me onboard and I must confess, I was very impressed by his “bote“. It had a 22 foot beam, a large salon took up the middle, and there was a large master stateroom to starboard along with a nice head with walk-in shower stall. To port was a nice galley, another head as I recall, and two more berths. This was my first time to board a cruising cat, and the layout was really cool.

Turns out the owner, Richard, had bought the boat at a show and he was on his maiden voyage south as a live aboard. I just love maiden voyages south, it seems to be the northern leg that always causes me problems! The boat was made in Canada which worked out pretty well as Richard was made in Canada too! The cat had twin Yanmars and would cruise at about 8 knots as I recall while netting 6mpg! That boat was way cool, so was Richard. As always, I enjoy meeting new friends.

I invited him onboard the Hatt, and introduced him to the owner and the captain. The owner would later joke about my having made yet another new friend in my travels. Richard was like a kid in a candy store. His eyes doubled in diameter when he entered the salon and galley area. We went back to his boat and hung out for a couple of hours. We exchanged information and I am sure we will meet up again. I noticed a picture of a dog while having a drink in the salon. Turns out he named his “cat” after his dog! “Blue” was his buddy who he lost in a divorce a while back. Looks like we found even more common ground between a blow boater and a motor yacht guy.

Richard got a phone call from who I assumed was the “girlfriend” he mentioned who had helped bring the boat down. He blew her off and said he would call her back, so I took my leave and said my goodbyes. I remembered our waitress had made mention of the fact they would have a band later that night, so I went back to see what I could hear.

When I got to the restaurant I got a call from another good friend Chris Powell aka “Boss Lady”. Chris and I think and talk so much alike it’s almost scary. Poor guy! We met in person for the first time at FLIBS last year along with his wife aka “My Next Mistress” Joy! Hell, we even look alike, me and Chris that is! He’s just shorter than me and not quite as good lookin’. I even made reference to the fact that he looks a little like Dale Earnhardt… after he hit the wall! Many times I would be typing a response to something on the Hatt forum only to see Chris had beaten me to the punch using some of the same exact wording I had been working on. I guess he just types faster than I do, but I can talk faster than him! We talked of the day’s events and he offered his expert advice on things we had encountered so far on the trip.

The band, which supposedly played southern rock, turned out to be a real “twangy” country band, so I headed back to the Hatt at 11:30 and went to bed. I was actually sleeping pretty well when good friend and almost yacht broker Pat Bustle aka Liquid “Asswipe” (Asset) called me at 12:40AM because he was at some bar where a band was playing “Free Bird”. He said “dude, listen to this!” I could hear the anthem, but he couldn’t hear me because I was speaking softly as to avoid waking up my buddies! I did appreciate the thought though! Pat and his younger brother Mike are the illegitimate sons I never had! I had kidded around with Pat earlier as to the fact I was old enough to be his father, and that I had spent some time in the Bradenton area some nine months prior to his birth date. I told him I knew he wasn’t mine though, because I never dated any short bald-headed ugly women in his area!

I have to stop now, I'm out of room. To be continued...

 

[Freebird]

We headed out of the marina at 8:15 the next morning and entered the Wilmington River which would lead us back outside. We were cruising right along at 17 knots when John and I noticed a funky burning electrical smell! He went forward to find seawater pouring from behind an electrical outlet in the forward head. He ran back to the electrical panel to kill the circuit, but the breaker had already done its job. We had no idea where the water was coming from, but it was a mess!

It was real wet and lumpy now, and the owner was getting very queasy. I was still trying to catch up on lost sleep, so I piled up on the sofa and took a nap. I had been down about an hour when John yelled at me to wake up! There was a huge whale off our starboard beam who was on the surface giving us a show! I tried to get pictures, but I only got one before he submerged. John said he thought it was a Right Whale at first, but this thing had a white belly and rectangular fins. That left him to believe we may have sighted an Orca. He hailed the CG as to the location of the sighting. A while later we monitored a faint report of a downed aircraft. We never did hear anything about that in later days.

After growing tired of the sloppy seas, we entered Jekyll Island at 1:10. We were running a low speed when the port engine oil pressure alarm sounded. A minute or two later, while John was in the ER checking things, we lost the engine. I had become very proficient at running a single engine Hatt so I took the wheel.

Unfortunately, that scenario repeated itself as we lost the starboard some 10 minutes later. At that point we knew we had a common fuel problem, so John began to troubleshoot our situation while I dropped anchor. The owner was visibly irritated over the situation, and he came forward to where I was handling the anchoring chores. I busted out laughing when he made the statement “it’s a damn good thing we’re not on a f**king airplane!”

John emerged from the ER with some embarrassing news. Seems he inadvertently switched to an empty tank and ran us out of fuel. To ad insult to injury, our filters were clogged after sucking the bottom of that tank dry, and we had no spares! He messed around in the ER for a while and got us back running on one engine again. We limped in to Fernandina Beach at 5PM. A local captain was able to round up a couple of filters for us and we had an uneventful night at the marina. The owner and I walked into the quaint little town and had a nice meal. I would return later with John where I had a nice dessert! I’m a very popular guy you know, and I had to give those guys equal time!

We departed Fernandina Beach at 8AM and headed back outside. There had been a very salty looking trawler/tug whatever docked behind us. The hull appeared almost round, it had loads of character and was very well kept. I had talked with the owner/Captain and his crew while we were at the dock. Had we not been pressed for time I would have requested permission to board. I’ll bet that thing was something to see inside. It was also headed south and we came up behind it as it had left shortly before we left the dock. I yelled to the skipper that if he drew more than six feet, we would follow him to the inlet taking us outside! We passed it to starboard shortly as the big Hatt just could not go that slowly!

It was very uncomfortable outside, so we decided we would go back inside at Jacksonville. A little while later, I spotted yet another whale off our port side, but he didn’t stay up for long. Later that afternoon I would monitor a CG notice as to the location of that particular whale.

We entered the Saint Johns River at Jacksonville where we would stay inside for the remainder of our journey. I thought of another member, Charlie Freeman aka “jaxfishgyd“. I tried to reach him by phone, but he must have been hiding as I had given notice I would be in the area around that time. I hailed his boat “No Dial Tone”, but I got a busy signal! I’ve never met Charlie in person although we exchange e-mails and talk on the phone sometimes. I’ll chase him down someday! He is one of a handful of forum members who appears to be crazier than I am! Next time Bubba, next time!

Upon entering the harbor I could see Mayport Naval Station with several ships including an aircraft carrier. John informed me it was the Kennedy. He said that ship used to relieve him while he was aboard the Saratoga in the Med. Seems the Kennedy is in a bad state of disrepair and will soon be replaced by a new nuclear carrier. Apparently there were several demotions and reprimands issued concerning the lack of attention that carrier had received. This information was gathered by John who had placed a call to an old Navy buddy who was still actively involved in keeping up with such information as that.

John was a very interesting guy. He retired from the Navy after 20 years and even worked for Hatteras for a while in New Bern where he still lives. I told him about the autographed Dale Earnhardt Hatteras T shirt I purchased a couple of months back. Dale’s boat “Sunday Money”, according to John, was to have been delivered two weeks after his fatal crash at Daytona. He said the boat “disappeared”. Man, I sure would love to have that boat to match my Dale Earnhardt personally autographed Hatteras T shirt brought to my attention by Ed Gaito aka “egaito“ on my birthday thread on the forum! Ole’ Ed and I met up last October at the CDR along with some other forum members. He and I don’t always see eye, but it seemed we once again found common ground when I visited him and “Angela” aboard their 58MY “Sanctuary”. I ended up being only one of two members who would show up that night for a party Angela and Ed went to a great deal of difficulty over just for me! I showed up about 5 hours before member Doug Shuman and his wife, and I never left. Yet another thing I never thought would happen, I slept with Angela… 50 feet away in the slave’s quarters while Ed took a guest stateroom. My Hatt shirt was on eBay and I bought it along with a big “3“ flag. Reckon we’ll see Dale’s Hatteras on eBay someday? My 50th birthday is this October 12 if any of my rich friends need gift ideas!

Yep, you're gonna have to turn another page.

 

[Freebird]

We continued our way south into St. Augustine, another city I had not visited. Very pretty sights with a large cross in the harbor and lots of interesting architecture. We encountered an “unhappy” boater in a very small funky looking runabout of some sort. As always, we throttled down to idle whenever we came across such vessels. Upon approaching us, the guy stood up in the boat and held out his arms as to signify the code for “what the hell?“. He was shouting at us although we could not hear what he was saying. John stepped outside the pilothouse and returned the gesture. I suppose it takes all kinds. I told him if it were my boat I would turn around and really give me something to waive his arms about! I have to think of “garyd” anytime I think about big boats and small boats in the ICW!

Upon arrival at Daytona, we stayed at Caribbean Jack Marina. It was a nice marina with a nice restaurant. Upon entering the restaurant, a couple came in behind us and informed the hostess they saw someone apparently trying to break into a car using a “slim jim”. The guy half of that couple stood beside the hostess stand while his lady and the hostess went to investigate. I just had to tease the guy about that! After all, it’s my job to point out stupidity in people as to improve their self esteem! We had a so-so meal and watched the final quarter of the NFL playoffs, then we went to the boat.

We departed Daytona at 6:30 and continued south. After an hour or so we were just north of Titusville in view of the NASA station to our port. There was a narrow canal with several small boats and people fishing on shore. Shortly after exiting that canal into a large bay at 10:20, our starboard began to stutter, and we lost it. A couple of minutes later, we lost the port. Once again I manned the windless and anchored us in a fairly narrow section of channel. Needless to say, the owner was not amused to be once again dead in the water. It was obvious we had a fuel problem, but what now? After quite some time John realized yet another brain fart. He had used the filter priming pump after replacing the filters. This pump as well as the momentary switched pumps operate off the bow tank. He found he had forgotten to switch the on/off switch in the ER, and as a result the bow tank had been emptied, again, and our filters were clogged, again. We had no way to refill the filters other than the good old fashioned way. Luckily we had a small container of diesel onboard for such an occasion. There was only one spare filter at this point, so John used it on the port engine. As a precautionary measure, we contacted Boat Tow US to escort us in to Titusville Marina. There we were able to get fuel and John played musical filters to get both engines running again.

We departed Titusville at 1:30, hoping there would be no further drama. Unfortunately, we must have appeared to look suspicious to a CG RIB headed towards us. He hit his lights and pulled along side. A young Coastie asked if we had been boarded lately, we told him no. John advised him we would be staying the night in Melbourne and asked if we could be boarded there. The Coastie informed us he needed to board us now, so we obliged. He and one other officer boarded us, and they asked to see the driver‘s license of the owner and the Captain. Apparently they weren‘t interested in me despite my menacing appearance and foreign accent!

The owner went below to retrieve documentation papers, and I sat at the table with the Coasties as John continued to move the boat south after receiving permission to do so. The RIB with three other officers and a dog followed. It was almost comical as the young officer began filling out his paperwork. Fist he asked the manufacturer of the boat. When I replied, he asked me how to spell Hatteras. I replied H-A-T-T-E-R-U-S. Then he asked if our Hatteras was a houseboat. I said no, it‘s a motor yacht. His paperwork had no such classification, so I told him that “cruiser“ would be the best choice.

The owner came back up with a letter dated in 2005 where he had applied for documentation and paid sales tax on the boat. Apparently that was good enough. These guys went forward through the pilothouse and into my VIP (Vertically Impaired Prankster) stateroom, then they came back up. They never asked about PFD‘s or other required safety equipment, and they never went below into the owner‘s stateroom or the engine room. It became fairly apparent they were just interested in looking at the big Hatt. I just had to ask if there was any particular reason why they stopped us, and they said they were stopping everyone for routine inspections. I suppose the sailboats behind us were of no interest. There are certainly larger yachts to be inspected, but we just happened to be the biggest one they had seen that day. They departed, and we resumed course and speed.

I was at the helm and was still trying to figure out the ins and outs of the autopilot. It was very similar to ones I had used before, but I could not get it to steer by using the rotary knob for such things as that. I had asked John earlier if he knew how to make the rotary knob work, but he said he did not. I had the boat running at about 18 knots, and decided to switch “Otto”, the crazed NASCAR guy, back on.

It became very apparent that something had been programmed into the damn thing, and we took a fairly sharp turn to starboard! I immediately switched it off and regained control. John ran into the pilothouse and asked what the hell I was doing. I replied “Crazy Ivan, I thought I saw a periscope!“. It took him a few minutes to laugh about it, and later he would tell me he would never be able to use an autopilot again without thinking of me and that “Crazy Ivan”! I in turn, told him I would never be able to switch tanks on a boat again without thinking of him! He did feel bad about the earlier fuel events and kept kicking himself saying “I know better than that!”. I told him not to feel bad, the greatest yachtsman I ever knew ran out of fuel once, alright alright, twice!

As we approached Merritt Island, I thought of the many aforementioned friends I have made in that area. Scott aka boatsb, Steve aka 67hat34c, and the infamous charter boat Captain Bob aka Wild Bill who keeps his boat docked near the cruise ships in Port Canaveral. I did call my new friend Milt whose sailboat I had ridden back before Christmas who keeps his boat near Scott and Steve. Milt was surprised to here from me, and he was further surprised at my suggestion he drop a case of cold ones and some chips from the 520 bridge as we passed underneath! Milt way well have tried that, but he was away from his boat and the area at the time. Like they say, God watches over idiots and boaters! I happen to get double attention as I am a boating idiot myself!

We arrived at Melbourne at 5:00 and spent a very uneventful night there. Bob Norris aka Wild Bill graciously delivered a case of fuel filters to us, and we all rode with him to go to dinner at an all-you-can-keep-down buffet. It was actually pretty good, but I had to tease Bob about recommending a cheap restaurant for a meal on the house for his good deed. We all went back onboard and sat a spell, and I later walked Bob back out to his car. I thanked him again for his assistance and returned to the boat.

We departed Melbourne at 7:40 and came in to the Fort Pierce commercial fuel dock at 11:45. I thought of yet another forum member who I have only talked with on the phone and exchanged e-mails to date, but I will make an effort to look him up in person before too long. Todd Howard aka “thoward” aka “Dr. Feelgood” keeps his boat in Fort Pierce while living in Orlando. He has offered me info to consider moving my 58 there to his marina. He better meet me in person before he takes me on as a neighbor!

I pulled us into the dock as I suppose I had convinced John that I know how to handle a large boat when I took us in and out of Melbourne. We took on just enough fuel to get us to Fort Myers because we knew we needed every available inch of water we could get crossing Lake Okeechobee. We knew it was going to be close, very close. I must admit John got a little excited when I pulled away from that gas dock. That 70 has a lot of boat aft of the pilothouse, and he just knew I was going to stripe the stern! Not a chance Bubba! He did take over at that point as the owner’s insurance technically requires that only a licensed Captain operate the boat. Oops, I reckon I wasn’t supposed to tell anybody that! This may cause problems later on in the story, but we’ll see. Me, driving a 70 Hatteras? Nope, not me State Farm!

We arrived at American Custom Yachts just outside of Stuart where we would spend the night. This is a boat yard vs. a marina, but they gave us overnight dockage for $1.25 per foot. It was pretty funny that we ended up docking beside the same 77C I had boarded at FLIBS a few months earlier. It was named “Safari” with a hailing port of Wrightsville Beach, NC. I spoke with who I assume was a mate on the boat, and he verified it was in fact hull #1 and was the boat at the Lauderdale show. Once again I was looking at proof of how small a world this really is. I saw the same boat and the same mate in Miami at the boat show a few weeks ago.

Upon entering the yard site, we all noticed an absolutely beautiful Palmer Johnson MY with its freshly painted shimmering blue hull and gleaming white superstructure. Turns out it had an LOA of 101 feet and was for sale at $3.4M. Too bad they would not take my West Marine credit card. I would have gotten one hell of a stack of $15 coupons on that purchase. Besides, it would have been rude to have bought that thing while I was sea trialing the 70! The owner discussed pricing to repaint the 70, something I do not think it needs at this point, and he was told roughly $1,100-1,400 per foot. We’ll see what happens as the owner said he would be in contact to work out details.

John and I called a cab and ventured into town and ate at Carrabba’s. Man that was good stuff, I love those places! We ended up with a cab driver from Brooklyn who kept us both laughing and in fear of our lives during the cab ride. Nah, he was a pretty good guy who just happened to drive and talk funny! The owner had grown tired of waiting on the cab, so he went back to the boat for some gourmet canned stuff.

We departed American at 7:00 AM as we knew our crossing of Okeechobee into Fort Myers would be an all day event. We passed several boats, but the most interesting was a large double decker Skipper Liner “Armstead” with a hailing port of Lake Charles, LA. We hailed them to see what kind of water depth they had encountered on their crossing. The Captain informed us he only draws 4.5 feet, but he had depth to accommodate our draft of 6 feet. He told us they were en route to WPB and would be crossing over to the islands. Hope they had good weather, that boat appeared to be very top heavy and had a fairly low freeboard.

We eventually made it through the last lock on the Saint Lucie and found ourselves exiting into what appeared to be an inlet leading us to the ocean. That is one big lake! Upon exiting the channel which gave us 00 readings on depth below the keel, we found sufficient depth to plane the boat at about 18 knots. Unfortunately, as we approached the western side of the lake, our depth became an issue.

We ran for approximately 3 miles with yet another 00 display on the depth finder. It was uneventful as we pushed the keel through a soft bottom. There was however one sharp “bump” as we probably found a rock in all that mud. We entered the channel on the west side where we took a hard right into the canal at the Clewiston Lock. Once we cleared the no wake zone, I put the boat back up on plane as the water depth was anywhere from 7 to 12 feet under the keel.

A large sportfish was headed towards us at speed, and we both throttled back to preserve our respective teeth in that narrow channel. Shortly after that, while showing 9.5 feet under the keel, I felt and heard the dreaded sound of clobbering something immovable with the starboard prop! It was not a “one and done” type of hit. It seemed to last forever!

I immediately pulled back the throttles, but the damage was done. John stated he thought the sportfish may have picked something up off the bottom, and we clobbered it. I went into the engine room to observe the stuffing boxes for signs of leaks, then I went into the cockpit lazarette to look for spare props and to observe that area. I did not find any spares, but I did hear a knocking noise on the starboard side which changed in frequency with engine rpm. I had hoped our problem would prove to be nothing more than having something wrapped around the shaft.

Yep, here I go, turn the page!

 

[Freebird]

This oughta do it!

I had spoken with another fellow from another boater forum by the name of Fast Fred. He lived in the area and had invited me and the crew to stop by his waterfront home on the Caloosahatchie on our way across. I called him to see if he knew of any marinas or a diver who could inspect the prop on the big Hatt. He informed me we would have to go into Fort Myers to be able to find someone who could handle that job. A subsequent inspection in Fort Myers would reveal the big Hatt was now sporting a customized variable pitch prop.

Funny, I would later attempt to publicly thank ole’ Fast Fred whom I believed I had run across on the www.passagemaker.com message board. I posted a thank you, but I got no reply other than one from a guy who listed himself as FF. That site had been revamped since I last visited it, and some of the members modified their names. Surely to God this was not the same guy as he turned out to be a real horse’s ass on that forum. Maybe he was insulted that we did not take him up on his offer for a cold one due to our time constraints. Who knows? Unfortunately I do tend to bring out the worst in some people from time to time as forums go despite my efforts at good humored conversation. Oh well, I tried!

I wouldn’t know it until some weeks later, but we were within bottle throwing distance of Steve Fort aka “waymaker” whom I would meet along with his lovely wife. He would be making a trip east through the OWW a few days later. Once again, it was nice to meet someone from the forum. He had offered to take me to the airport when I was to leave Fort Myers. I look forward to meeting with Steve again.

We arrived at the Fort Myers city marina at approximately 6PM on Wednesday, two days behind our original ETA. But we all know there is special emphasis on the “E” in ETA when you’re on a boat. My part of the journey had come to an end, and I was grateful for the experience. That trip taught me a lot of things. It taught me, as often is the case, that no matter how hard things are in life, others have worse problems. I had told John about my impending divorce and how difficult it was for me to be away from my son. I would later learn that John too had been through a divorce many years ago, and that he had lost a an 11 year old child to illness. I quit talking about my trivial problems after he told me that.

He did not offer any details on that subject, and I damn sure didn’t ask. Some things you just don’t ask people to talk about. I did come to one conclusion as a result of that trip, I want to do it again. John informed me he would be delivering a 45C, as I recall, from New Bern, NC to Houston, TX in a few weeks or so. If all goes well, I will join him on that trip as well.

This trip has lead me to another conclusion, I plan to get my Captain’s license some time in March as I plan to pursue my real passion. I may get into boat deliveries, charters, or just being the Captain of someone else’s boat for a change. I have plenty of verifiable experience to get a 50 ton, maybe more. How cool would it be to get paid for something you would do for free? Not only that, when something breaks on the boat, somebody else has to pay the bill to fix it! Sounds good to me!

I spent the night aboard the 70, hopefully not for the last time, then I arranged for a rental car Thursday morning. I packed all my belongings off the big Hatt and said my goodbyes. I then headed south to visit with my good friend Carl Guzman. We had lunch and chatted a while at his office. I then headed toward the familiar little marina on Isle of Capri and boarded the “GuzCruzer”. It felt good to be on a “small” Hatteras again! Hey, being homeless is not as bad as some folks make it out to be!

I’m sitting on the aft deck typing on my laptop in anticipation of the day’s events. I will then board a plane Monday for the return trip to Charleston, SC to retrieve my car and drive back to TN. I will resume my position as a lowly safe salesman with a questionable family and career destination. I won’t have too long to ponder all that stuff as I will once again return to Florida and my beloved “Freebird”. While she is still suffering a broken wing, I will have a nice place to sleep while awaiting the arrival of the “GuzCruzer” where once again I planned to head into the great blue horizon to participate in the Gasparilla Invasion in Tampa on Saturday.

I met some more new friends on Saturday, and my streak of almost unbelievable coincidences continues. I met Norm Mayor from the Hatt forum and his wife Sue. He had apparently noticed the thread Scott posted and called me while I was aboard the Hatt to see if we could get together for a… uh, what do you call them… beers? Turns out they were from Cincinnati which is where my 58 came from. They knew my boat when it was up there! Who could forget a 58TC named “Lady Linda’s Adult Toy”?

The fact that “Lady Linda’s” was in much smaller print didn’t help much. I laughed when I first saw that name and questioned why the PO hadn’t just named it the “S. S. Dildo”! Removal of that name was a top priority when I bought her. She is still sitting in Palmetto all dressed up and no way to go! I have yet to find anyone who will show up to apply “Freebird” to the stern. Maybe that is an omen of some sort given my situation at home. I’ve laughingly referred to it as “PluckedBird” on some stealth stuff I have been playing with inside the Hatt forum’s basement! Life sure is funny ain’t it?

If that were not enough coincidence for the day, Sue’s dad used to live in Rockwood, TN which is where my lake house was! Just when I though it couldn’t get any stranger, they pointed out a 58TC, like mine, which was parked across from them. They said a couple from TN came down with it about three weeks ago.

We saw them headed toward their boat, and I suggested we go over and meet them. Turns out they, Dan and Sharon, had just left a marina in Lenoir City, TN where I had kept several different boats over the years. Hell, we were there at the same time and he remembered my boats! I’m not sure we ever met in person as they were house boaters on a different dock, but we knew many of the same people. His wife lived in the same condominium complex where Michelle and I used to live in Knoxville and she too knew many of the same people I did! The adventure continues!

I enjoyed an afternoon of interesting conversation with my new friends, and when Norm sounded the drinking horn (a big train air horn on his 44TC) I met more members of his marina. We later went to a local waterfront restaurant where we had dinner and were entertained by a one man band. As is expected, I requested “Free Bird”! He laughed and said he thought this would be the first night in years that someone had not requested that song! As requested, he said he would play a shortened version of “the anthem” which basically consisted of half the first verse. No tip for that guy!

We enjoyed each other’s company and returned to the marina where I would spend in the night in the guest stateroom of Dan and Sharon’s 58TC. That made me feel right a home even though I have never slept in the guest stateroom on my 58TC. It’s always interesting to board another boat of the same vintage as yours to see how they compare. Theirs was older and more original than mine as the upper aft deck area was still open, and the original bulkhead behind the pilothouse was still there. Mine has been removed and the entire upper deck is hard enclosed and air conditioned. Their outside area where my inside area is was nice and airy, but everything is a tradeoff in areas like that. The cabinetry in the master stateroom was very different than on my 58, not better, just different. Their 58 was a 1971, mine is a 1974, and I assume there were probably subtle changes in the interior from year to year.

As was the case when I had been at the city dock in Fort Myers, there was a 41DC the same vintage as mine at their marina as well. I would have loved to board either or both of those boats to make comparisons yet again. Neither of these boats even came close to the condition my 41 is in, but mine is nowhere near stock with the custom hard enclosure and other custom features. It would have been very interesting to see any interior variations on our respective boats just as it had been interesting to note differences on the 58’s.

The next morning, I went with Norm and Sue to a very nice brunch buffet at the same waterfront restaurant we had visited the night before. The food and the conversation were great! Later we took Norm and Sue’s RIB to a launching ramp adjacent to the marina where I had arrived in the 70. Norm and I took the dinghy back to his marina, and Sue took their Jeep and trailer back. We sat around until about 3:30 when I told them I needed to return to Naples and the GuzCruzer as to prepare to fly out the next morning.

Upon arriving onboard Carl’s boat, I called John, the Captain of the 70 to invite him to dinner. I picked him up at the city marina in Naples and we found a nice Chinese restaurant. Upon finishing our meal, we returned to the 70 for a bit. We laughed about things like “crazy Ivans” and empty bow tanks! He told me he had enjoyed my company, and I repeated the same sentiment. The owner and his new guests were away from the boat at that time, so no further goodbyes were shared. John said he would keep me posted as to the trip from New Bern to Houston within the next few weeks, and we said our goodbyes.

I returned to the GuzCruzer for the night, but I heard the sound of football coming from a small houseboat which belongs to yet another friend I made on Carl’s dock. He and his significant other invited me onboard and we cheered Payton Manning and the Colts on to victory! What a game that was! After the game, I settled for the night in familiar surroundings.

Now I am sitting at the airport in Fort Myers praying I won’t be bumped on my flight that will lead me back to Charleston and my final road trip back to the “real” world. I’m flying standby, and this is where my story will end unless I get bumped and get to have more fun in the sun today!

Needless to say, this will be a long day for me as my flight will arrive in Charleston at 5:30 followed by another hour of hailing cabs, riding to the marina, and loading my car for a 7 hour trip back to my little 41DC in Tennessee. As is the case with my time in such situations, I’ll have plenty to think about on the trip “home“. Too bad I didn’t have time to meet up with “ADOPO”, another member I’ve had conversations with on the forum who I had to pass by in SC on my way home. My life has taken so many unplanned drastic turns in the past two years that it almost overloads my circuits! For better or worse, my life has definitely changed, and more changes are on the way. I am doing my very best to keep my eyes on the horizon, and I am seriously considering the removal of every rear view mirror attached to the vehicles I drive. Look out life, here I come again!

Until next time, I will try to follow my own advice that I offered to members of the Hatteras forum a while back. “Live each day like it’s your last, because it very well may be”. I sure do wish I did not have the family problems to deal with, but I think I have found my true calling. I think I have finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up. I’m gonna be a Captain of some kind of boat, maybe even a shrimpin’ boat Captain.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

NICE STORY, BUT WHERES THE PICTURES?? I was thinking of you today bubba, and guess what came in the mail with YOUR name on it... ws

 

[Freebird]

I told you I would post pictures later. Pay attention next time!

BTW I love the heads! Are those his and hers, or mine and urine?

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Bill,
Are those Raritan Atlantes? I just installed 3 of those last year. Pretty straightforward, but I did have to install a couple of vented loops in the discharge. I should have ordered them with that installed in the unit itself, but I wasn't aware that they made them that way.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

YUP Sky, Atlantes A5 plus the integral seawater pump. I'll draw out of the freshwater tank and not have to use the FW pump to flush. Cant wait to take her out for a spin!
I bought it factory reconditioned with new motors and switches etc for $550. Its last years model, but 'old AMUS doesnt know the difference. You cant tell it from new and sure beats the old. Are you satisfied with yours? Its so weird becoming an afficienado on stuff like this.
Raritan guy ( aka the "head doctor" ) sez its Randy Proof. Hes from Kentucky so they are probably related HA HA. ws

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I don't want to hijack Randy's thread, so I'll just give you a short answer. If you want more details, send me a PM.

We like the Atlantes and that price is much better than the $1000 each that I paid. I bought the one with the freshwater valve that is external and the touch pad control. It is pretty quiet and I haven't had a plug up yet, KOW.

 

[Freebird]

Bill,
Are those Raritan Atlantes? I don't want to hijack Randy's thread.

LOL That's all I have to say about that!

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Great story, Randy. Those whale sightings must have been great. I just can't believe that a captain would continue the voyage on several occasions without spare filters aboard. Even as just a passenger, that would make me a little concerned.

I'd love to see the pictures. Hurry up with that will ya.

 

[CARL GUZMAN]

At first sight of your record breaking long thred I said to my self I'm not going to read all this BIRD crap But then I settled in with some leftovers and gave it a try and to my suprise it was good , and I'm not just saying that because I'm a jesture
Hey don't go spending any money on signs for your boat I got a 4ft sign making machine for the dumpster buisness get with Leon we'll hook you up
that offer goes out to all forum members...

 

[Freebird]

Thanks Sky.

Yep, even given my little adventure, I had to wonder why we had no spare fuel filters onboard.

We did try to purchase some AFTER we had the problems, but those Dahl filters are tough to find. Kudos once again to Wild Bill aka Bob Norris!

One other thing you guys may find interesting regarding the leak I mentioned where water was pouring out of an electrical outlet in the forward head.

Turns out there was a gap between the deck and the hull despite the way Hatteras bonds these together. There had been an ealier altercation with a piling when the owner had the boat up north, and it apparently caused that damage.

We had originally thought water was coming in through the head vent, but later found the real source of the problem. I have a picture of John applying 200mph (200gph?) duct tape to cover the vent, but as mentioned, it did no good.

I'll try to post pics tomorrow. I took over 400 shots, but obviously I cannot list them all, so I will go back and "try" to plug in pictures which will correspond with the storyline.

My laptop is in my office, so I'll have to wait.

Sorry to make ya'll suffer, especially those who may not know how to read!

 

[Freebird]

Hey don't go spending any money on signs for your boat I got a 4ft sign making machine for the dumpster buisness...

get with Leon we'll hook you up

Now wait a minute BubbaMigo, you want to put signs suitable for a dumpster on my 58 that I'm trying to dump? What are you trying to tell me?

As for Leon hooking me up, that worries me just a bit. Last time I heard the phrase "We'll hook you up." was just before they zapped me with ECT!

 

[SKYCHENEY]

If you want to post most or all of the pictures, just upload them to a photobucket folder, label them each, and give us the link to the folder. That way anyone who wants to see them can go there and they don't have to wait for them to load into the thread.

 

[Boss Lady]

Randy, Miss Joy took issue with the "next Mistress" moniker, but she did say to send copies of your financial statements and she would consider it. LOL

 

[Freebird]

LOL at Miss Joy! You are soooo lucky that girl is blind!

Thanks for the advice on pics Sky!

 

[(Nobody You Know)]

It became very apparent that something had been programmed into the damn thing, and we took a fairly sharp turn to starboard!

Reggie,

sounds all too familiar. I learned the hard way not to fool with the Autopilot in a narrow channel. (Nobody You Know) took a hard left. Exactly 1 hour, 30 minutes and $400 later (after insc.) TowBoatUS had us free. And with a nasty vibration

Great story! You gonna take another cruise this spring?

 

[Freebird]

Reggie,

sounds all too familiar. I learned the hard way not to fool with the Autopilot in a narrow channel. (Nobody You Know) took a hard left. Exactly 1 hour, 30 minutes and $400 later (after insc.) TowBoatUS had us free. And with a nasty vibration

Great story! You gonna take another cruise this spring?

Capt. BillyBob,

FYI the channel I was in was at least 20 feet wide!

Am I going to take another cruise this spring? What's wrong with next week?

BTW that was one goofy autopilot. Something was definitely wrong with it as I had tried it several times earlier outside with no fanfare. It just flat did not work.

As for the sudden course change THE MINUTE I turned it on, I don't have a clue. It was not interfaced with anything, I just like to do a point and shoot when I'm doing long straights in the ICW (Imminent Collision Warzone).

 

[Boss Lady]

LOL at Miss Joy! You are soooo lucky that girl is blind!

Thanks for the advice on pics Sky!

I married very well, I don't know if she did as good. LOL