solanderi
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2005
- Messages
- 377
- Hatteras Model
- 45' CONVERTIBLE-Series II (1984 - 1992)
The short version of this tale is that we decided to fish the Drambuie Key West Marlin Tourney about a year ago. In addition to getting the boat topped off with lots of upgrades to make the 150 nm run from Miami Beach to Key West like Sirius satellite weather added to the Nav Net, tackle, EZ2CY enclosure, etc, etc...we even pre-fished the tournament the week before on a local Key West charter boat.
We decided to break the trip into two parts so as not to run the boat too hard pre tournament, so we picked a destination about half way down and would enjoy the run to the Keys at hull speed.
We made reservations at Bud and Mary's Marina (Mile Marker 79) answering the usual questions about boat length, draft etc. On the pre-fish scouting trip the week before we even eyeballed the charter fleet of 40 plus footers that fish out of there as well as the channel itself from a local restaurant. The Channel is clearly marked and the Day markers are visible for 2 miles. So far so good.
So we leave Miami Beach on Sunday am and the boat runs like a champ and we make it to the shadow of Alligator Light without a hitch. At the headpin for the Bud and Mary's channel our Navionics software is reporting 5 foot draft...we draw 4 and 6 inches. In the Keys, thats the Marianas trench. We note that it is low tide and just to play it safe....because we have done so much pre-planning and don't want anything to go wrong...we try to raise the dock master on vhf 16....for 15 minutes nothing on 2 radios. Pretty soon a 35 foot dive boat loaded to the gills with divers and equipment zooms by. The Navionics package did not show any water depths inside the channel so we did what comes natural and continued down the channel at idle speed.
The channel is extremely narrow with coral rock on the North side. The water was difficult to see into from sun and wind effect. So I just tried to stay centered on the Day markers. The next sound we heard was the port prop dinging off rock....hard enough to shut the port main down.....not pretty. I restarted the port main and continued down the channel and tied up to the dock.
One of our party got off the boat and returned with the dock master. He said he did not respond to our vhf calls because he was busy in another part of the marina. He also said it was a shame that we hit one of the props. In the same breath, he asked if we were a 42 Hatteras because he might have some props for us. Nice guy......how thoughtful.
Every single person we talked to at the marina, said the channel was tricky and required the pilot to zig zag around "the rock". The "rock" juts out from a green day marker about 15 feet into the channel and requires evasive action or you will hit it. (Information I could have used PRIOR to making a run down this channel). FYI The dock master will be happy to draw a little map for you if you need it, just don't forget to ask for it BEFORE you run the channel.
We know an excellent diver in Miami and he came down to help us change out the props. It turns out that he had been jack hammering at a job in Miami and had all the equipment in his truck to clear the obstruction. According to the diver, when he offered to clear the rock, he was told nobody wanted him to mess with their rock. Isn't that nice. When I asked one of the prinicipals of the marina about the rock, he said that the EPA prevents them from clearing the rock from the channel. Hmmm.
So that begs the question, is it the Coast Guard, the Army Corp of Engineers or what that should clear this obstruction. How many others have to shine their props at Bud and Mary's before the problem is fixed ?
We ended up with the 4th place dolphin and had a great time. Of note, we did not stop off at Bud and Mary's for the return trip (like we had previously planned) and did the whole thing at 19 knots without missing a beat. God bless Hatteras.
We decided to break the trip into two parts so as not to run the boat too hard pre tournament, so we picked a destination about half way down and would enjoy the run to the Keys at hull speed.
We made reservations at Bud and Mary's Marina (Mile Marker 79) answering the usual questions about boat length, draft etc. On the pre-fish scouting trip the week before we even eyeballed the charter fleet of 40 plus footers that fish out of there as well as the channel itself from a local restaurant. The Channel is clearly marked and the Day markers are visible for 2 miles. So far so good.
So we leave Miami Beach on Sunday am and the boat runs like a champ and we make it to the shadow of Alligator Light without a hitch. At the headpin for the Bud and Mary's channel our Navionics software is reporting 5 foot draft...we draw 4 and 6 inches. In the Keys, thats the Marianas trench. We note that it is low tide and just to play it safe....because we have done so much pre-planning and don't want anything to go wrong...we try to raise the dock master on vhf 16....for 15 minutes nothing on 2 radios. Pretty soon a 35 foot dive boat loaded to the gills with divers and equipment zooms by. The Navionics package did not show any water depths inside the channel so we did what comes natural and continued down the channel at idle speed.
The channel is extremely narrow with coral rock on the North side. The water was difficult to see into from sun and wind effect. So I just tried to stay centered on the Day markers. The next sound we heard was the port prop dinging off rock....hard enough to shut the port main down.....not pretty. I restarted the port main and continued down the channel and tied up to the dock.
One of our party got off the boat and returned with the dock master. He said he did not respond to our vhf calls because he was busy in another part of the marina. He also said it was a shame that we hit one of the props. In the same breath, he asked if we were a 42 Hatteras because he might have some props for us. Nice guy......how thoughtful.
Every single person we talked to at the marina, said the channel was tricky and required the pilot to zig zag around "the rock". The "rock" juts out from a green day marker about 15 feet into the channel and requires evasive action or you will hit it. (Information I could have used PRIOR to making a run down this channel). FYI The dock master will be happy to draw a little map for you if you need it, just don't forget to ask for it BEFORE you run the channel.
We know an excellent diver in Miami and he came down to help us change out the props. It turns out that he had been jack hammering at a job in Miami and had all the equipment in his truck to clear the obstruction. According to the diver, when he offered to clear the rock, he was told nobody wanted him to mess with their rock. Isn't that nice. When I asked one of the prinicipals of the marina about the rock, he said that the EPA prevents them from clearing the rock from the channel. Hmmm.
So that begs the question, is it the Coast Guard, the Army Corp of Engineers or what that should clear this obstruction. How many others have to shine their props at Bud and Mary's before the problem is fixed ?
We ended up with the 4th place dolphin and had a great time. Of note, we did not stop off at Bud and Mary's for the return trip (like we had previously planned) and did the whole thing at 19 knots without missing a beat. God bless Hatteras.
