Haulout question

[yachtsmanbill]

Hi Pat-- can you provide me with a link/details for Rivertown Marina? Prospective new owner wants to plan a trip from L.A. (lower Alabama) to Tampa then on to L.I. (Long Island) to his house. He sez he has made the Tampa/LI trip a bunch o' times but never Mobile/Tampa. Thanks,Randy's alter ego, yachtsmanbill. ws

 

[Freebird]

I knew your ego was altered! Mobile to Tampa aint no big thing. Just follow the shoreline to Appalachicola, turn right to Tarpon Springs, and follow the shoreline again to Tampa.

 

[thoward]

Yep, I just paid $600 for a survey haul. You should be able to look in your manual, I know mine gives the proper lifting tech.

 

[Genesis]

Yep - Mobile to Alabama depends on your mood - you can run in the Ditch to Appalachicola or you can go outside and duck in for fuel as required.

From Appalachicola to Tampa is a nice run, just look at the WX before you go. There's fuel in Appalachicola. You CAN hug the coast and go into Steinhatchee, but I wouldn't - cut it off and go direct at that point.

Beware the Destin Pass - if you're coming in here I have very SPECIFIC instructions for you that, if not followed, are likely to lead to you grounding your boat during the transit of the inlet! No, the channel markers are NOT to be trusted when you have a 5'+ draft.

If you have the legs you could run either Destin or even Mobile direct to Tampa, but you're not doing that on plane in these boats. Destin direct is possible at displacement speeds (~0.9nmpg) though, and is to be considered if you have the crew (3 qualified watch-standers) as it will be materially cheaper in fuel and get you there in just as many calendar days as doing it the other way but at higher speeds.

 

[thoward]

There is a spot after you pass the lighthouses in Mobile there is an area that gets shallow as well. We made the run over Labor Day weekend and after traveling close to 400 miles we had not found 1 weedline. Talk about bad fishing.....Bar jacks and a few hard tails were the only thing we could find.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Thanks there POOBAH !! I think this guy will be +1 and will need to make the run as short as is feasable. About 4 days maybe?? Hes got a lot of N.E. experience with his old 1958 57' Connie that he bought in FTL about 25 years ago. (its for sale now on Long Is. ) The HATT TRICK runs 12.2 @ 1650 -- GPH unknown. Thanks again--ws

 

[Genesis]

If he is +1 he CAN run direct at displacement speeds. I'm not sure I would do it without a third on board (2x 4 hour shifts per daily) but it can be done on 6-hour watches with two - its just a more grueling watch shift than I like, but for two days I'd deal with it.

Direct Destin to St. Pete/Clearwater is approximately 250nm. From Mobile its only another 50nm at most.

I'd run direct at 9kts, you should be able to approach 1nmpg at that speed. That's a less-than-two full day transit. Time it to arrive in the daytime and leave out whenever you need in order to make it work.

I've done this trip (to Destin) at planing speeds and its still two days, because you're out of your high-footing mind to run at night at high speeds and in addition you're going a LOT further staying in close enough to not run into fuel trouble. So your first day is to Appalachicola and your second the transit itself. I'll never do it that way again - its twice as expensive on the fuel and doesn't save you any time.

 

[Liquid Asset]

Yachtsmanbill,

Rivertown is wher he can Haul out, does he need a place to tie up? If so, he would need to go to Riviera Dunes (www.rdmarina.com) or one of the other 2 marinas in the river. Let me know if you need an y more help.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Thanks Pat--RT kinda makes me wanna stay there !! Yep POOBAH yer right about long watches. Last year we (2) ran a 5MPH tugboat from Duluth to Detroit.The trip took 5days and a couple of hours. 4 hour watches AND I was the engineer plus coxswain. GRUELING is not exactly the term that came to my mind. Although the 5 hour drive from Detroit to Chicago seemed like minutes, made me think of Einsteins space/time continuim.T=speed X distance.cu (?)
Thanks again guys---ws

 

[Nonchalant1]

Beware the Destin Pass - if you're coming in here I have very SPECIFIC instructions for you that, if not followed, are likely to lead to you grounding your boat during the transit of the inlet! No, the channel markers are NOT to be trusted when you have a 5'+ draft.

Karl,

We'll be going through there the end of November with our 53MY (4 1/2 ft. draft). I had planned on just following the channel markers. Any advice would be appreciated. Of course, it may change between now and the end of November.

Thanks,

Doug

 

[Genesis]

Contact me before you come. I will have updated info - it does change!

Right now as you come in the jettys there is a pair of red/green markers about 200' in from the mouth. You must go around the outside of the red marker (between it and the jetty rocks) or you will ground the boat if there's any sort of wave action in there, and I'm not talking about "right next to the red" either - halfway between the two is about right!

The water just off the rocks is 40' deep (I dive there occasionally). Inside the markers in the wrong places inside its closer to 5, and there are excursions shallower!

There's also a significant pucker zone as you're approaching the jetty with water depths under 10' - in the channel - and with no good "out" on that one.

Yell at me before you come and I'll run a scouting mission for 'ya if I haven't been out there recently. Besides, if you come in here I'll have to have a beer or dinner with 'ya.