Freebird's Trip South, For Real

[Jaxfishgyd]

No I didn't have my phone turned off when you came thru Jacksonville ( but will keep that in mind the next time you pass thru !) I was moving a 49' Grand Banks from St Augustine to Hilton Head for the owner.

FYI on you getting your captains license...

I love doing the deliveries but do not see myself ever being a full time boat capt for one person. Most owners I have dealt with know little to nothing about boating but feel they must command you on what to do.

They love to put their people down in front of others..... I am not one who can or will put up with that...

Plus its YOUR captain's license that is on the line if anything goes wrong.....

 

[Freebird]

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

LOL Yes you do!

I promise I'll quit after this, but I got to thinkin' bout Miss Joy takin' offense at me thinkin' she might just be my "next" Mistress. You reckon she'd be okay if I was thinkin' of making her my first?

 

[CARL GUZMAN]

On lots of older auto pilots ( that are not digital )you have to turn it on and wait for the compass thats moving all around to come to a stop before locking on a fixed possition or you may go the wrong way , also with mine I had to recalibrate it, I finnally found it under a drawer in the guest stateroom and a screw had vibrated loose and if was way off , also remember not to put any thing magnetic in that room or chest of drawers

 

[Freebird]

No I didn't have my phone turned off when you came thru Jacksonville ( but will keep that in mind the next time you pass thru !) I was moving a 49' Grand Banks from St Augustine to Hilton Head for the owner.

FYI on you getting your captains license...

I love doing the deliveries but do not see myself ever being a full time boat capt for one person. Most owners I have dealt with know little to nothing about boating but feel they must command you on what to do.

They love to put their people down in front of others..... I am not one who can or will put up with that...

Plus its YOUR captain's license that is on the line if anything goes wrong.....

Yeah, yeah, you little people who work for a living are all the same! GET BACK TO WORK YOU INCOMPETENT @#$%^&*!

You ever heard of a little thing called Call Forwarding there PoleMonkey? Was that you I passed in the ICW at 18 knots who gestured to me I was number one?

I've told you that would have been a better name for your boat anyhow.

Your point about working for "Biff-like" snobs who would view me as THEIR lowly employee is well taken and one I have definitely thought about before. John and I talked about that very same thing. As I would do myself (unless I really did do it for a primary source of income), he would spend some time at least on the phone with a prospective client before agreeing to spend any length of time at all trapped on a boat with them. Sometimes he would Captain a boat on a one and done, just as I would if I found someone I just couldn't tolerate even for a week at a time, especially if their boat was nothing to write home about.

He says most megayacht type owners want a full-time liveaboard Captain and he viewed me as a perfect candidate for such a position. Maybe, as long as they didn't mind a little passenger from time to time and were from the South!

Rich people are among the unhappiest bunch of folks you would ever want to run away from! There are exceptions of course, like the owner of that 70 who struck me as being pretty comfortable having worked his ass off to get there like most of us have who would be happy with an upper middle class label. I think that is the key, having started from scratch and knowing what it feels like to be at both ends of the social and economic ladder. Been there, done that.

Heck I can pretty much get along with anybody, you guys have taught me that!

 

[Freebird]

On lots of older auto pilots ( that are not digital )you have to turn it on and wait for the compass thats moving all around to come to a stop before locking on a fixed possition or you may go the wrong way , also with mine I had to recalibrate it, I finnally found it under a drawer in the guest stateroom and a screw had vibrated loose and if was way off , also remember not to put any thing magnetic in that room or chest of drawers

Who do you think was driving the boat while you were down there checking your drawers?

This AP was just like yours, just newer I guess, and it was not only digital, it had some smaller course info displays and was obviously programmable to a greater extent than your's or others I've used with a rotary control.

It would work in every way except being able to make course changes with the knob. Like I said, I don't know what the heck happened that one time as I had been using that thing for a couple of days at that point.

Oh yeah ellektroniks "expert", did you ever find those lost waypoints?

 

[MarioG]

Good read Randy! thats a great trip. LMAO with the "crazy Ivan" answer.

Mario

 

[Freebird]

Just went on the boater ed site (who's Ed? egaito? )

I looked for the post you made that got all those replies, but couldn't find it. I did however find the one saying welcome, and I gave you the requested response.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Randy,
There's got to be another story here. I know I probably shouldn't ask this question but..........tell us how you originally met up with these folks and how they invited you along on this trip? Did they know of your reputation beforehand?

 

[Imthebeachgirl]

Randy, good reading...sounded like a well needed break for you and a great "learning" adventure. Looking forward to the pics...

 

[hwginc]

Great story can't wait for the pictures

 

[Freebird]

Randy,
There's got to be another story here. I know I probably shouldn't ask this question but..........tell us how you originally met up with these folks and how they invited you along on this trip? Did they know of your reputation beforehand?

I'm not going to say anything I feel would be an invasion of privacy for the owner of the 70.

What I can tell you is that we met as a result of this forum. I had made public statements to the effect I was looking at 70's, but none as new as that one I took the trip on.

I made the initial contact when I learned the boat was for sale with the possiblity of trades although no price was listed for the 70. Yes, I was hoping for a fire sale.

The owner contacted me, we chatted, and he ultimately invited me over for a face to face visit. I made it very clear to him that I was not in a position to purchase his boat at this point in time, but he made it clear to me that inviting me to join him on that trip had nothing to do with him viewing me as a buyer.

As for my reputation, why else do you think he invited me to take the trip?

 

[Freebird]

Randy, good reading...sounded like a well needed break for you and a great "learning" adventure. Looking forward to the pics...

Hi Laurie,

LOL, all my boat trips turn into learning adventures, for me and for everyone else apparently!

The pictures are coming, the pictures are coming!

 

[ThirdHatt]

I'm thinkin' it's WAY past time for you to throw a case of Racor filters in the trunk of your Caddy and take them along on ANYONE'S boat you ride on!

 

[yachtsmanbill]

FWIW Those are 2020 Racors (30 micron) Donaldson #3791 (30m) and WIX # 33210 (30m) and 33791 (10m). I run the 30s as a primary and 5 or 10 on the secondary. CHEAP INSURANCE ! ws

 

[Freebird]

I'm thinkin' it's WAY past time for you to throw a case of Racor filters in the trunk of your Caddy and take them along on ANYONE'S boat you ride on!

Pay attention tech boy!

That 70 has Dahl filters. NAPA carries a generic equivalent, but all the NAPA stores we checked with along the way were out of them.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

THERES THE PROBLEM !! NAPA and DAHL (Baldwin) are on the same page. Those stupid NAPA stores spend all their money on NASCAR paraphernalia instead of stocking the shelves with lawnmower spark plugs.
" Got any XXX filters?"
"NAW, but we got a special on Ricky Bobby can coolers". Great. The numbers on them cars are the drivers I.Q.s Even old #66 was the sharpest knife in THAT drawer.
The VERY LAST TIME I went to napa for 8 - 5 gallon pails of yup, you guessed it, 40W Rotella, I got home 20 miles later and discovered JIMBOB gave me 15W40. That little foray cost me 80 miles in total. Ended up buying the oil at the filter specialists that sold me the Donaldson filters I needed plus one for the Dahl antique junk thats on my generator.
ANOTHER FWI... I left NOLA with ALL NEW FILTERS and ran to Mobile, 160 miles, and CHANGED THEM ALL AGAIN even though they didnt need it. Ran 400 miles to AQUA and will CHANGE THEM AGAIN before we leave for here. I also RELIGIOUSLY (hallelujah brothuh) treat the fuel !
My boat did come with a HATTERAS can cooler tho... Still want it Byron? ws

 

[Freebird]

"Got any XXX filters?"

"NAW, but we got a special on Ricky Bobby can coolers". Great. The numbers on them cars are the drivers I.Q.s Even old #66 was the sharpest knife in THAT drawer.

The VERY LAST TIME I went to napa for 8 - 5 gallon pails, you guessed it, I NEEDED THEM FOR HEADS ON THE SUB.

LOL, I reckon this means the 3 on the side of my black Cadillac beats the 2 on your "Rusty" sub!

Get your "head" out of your box and I'll "head" to Mississississipppiii to go for a sub ride next time you "head" out.

 

[eclipsarkanna]

BubbaBird:

You must have about 14 beaks pecking away at the same time or you have a team of little chicks typing away - you are a one bird band on all these strings. How do you do it!! I can't keep up reading your posts let alone responding. By the way. Your story was enjoyable reading - as all your posts are. I gave up on Passagemaker site so guess I won't know the shot you fired over my bow.

Bill

 

[Freebird]

Bill, I'm a computer nerd but a typing fiend! Some courses I took in HS I can still remember!

In addition, I think much faster than I can talk or type. A deadly combination. The time it takes me to respond to or start a thread is usually just a few minutes. Some things take longer, like this book I wrote on the trip! Maybe an hour after tying notes together I put into my laptop during the cruise.

I had a neurologist administer a test after being told I may have possibly suffered a stroke a few years ago (everything came back negative, then years later came the supposed refractory depression thing followed by ECT???? )

The test involved being instructed to pick one of many moving lights which would appear on a screen while I was attached to a computer with all sorts of wires glued to my head. I was to pick one light and follow it until it disappeared and then pick another and repeat the process until I was told to stop. These lights would move in various directions around the screen.

Upon being told to stop, the doctor came in, sat down, and asked me what I thought was a very strange question, "Randy, do you hunt?". I said... uh... yeah. He then went on to tell me he had never tested anyone with my ability to follow those lights with such accuracy. I hope I haven't shared that story before, if so, humor me, my memory ain't what it used to be.

BTW Bill, how long did it take you to reach senior status upon exiting the closet?

 

[34Hatt]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ThirdHatt
I'm thinkin' it's WAY past time for you to throw a case of Racor filters in the trunk of your Caddy and take them along on ANYONE'S boat you ride on!

Pay attention tech boy!

That 70 has Dahl filters. NAPA carries a generic equivalent, but all the NAPA stores we checked with along the way were out of them.

You could just listen too what I been trying to tell you so that you don't need cases of filters for every trip you go on. but then again that would be the easier way