Crossing Florida: Clewiston to Fort Pierce

Phil, Carol and I departed Roland Martin's Marina at 7:01 AM.  The sky was clear and the wind was out of the southwest at 15kts.  Our location at Clewiston placed us, literally, at the start of a Route 1 lake crossing.  The southwest wind promised a following sea and a dry ride.

Roland Martin's Marina

Guided Discovery at the start of Route1

Our first "obstacle" was the Clewiston Lock, which while open due to current lake level is a bit narrow.  A fisherman in a small bass boat was trolling the channel as we entered the lock.  No big deal but a bit inconsiderate on his part.

The lock serves an important role especially in high water.  Without the lock the town of 7,000 inhabitants would be flooded.  Such was the case in August of 2013 when lake levels reached 15.78 feet during the rainy season.  Likewise a drop of 3 feet would render the marina unusable for many of the larger boats.

The 22 NM lake crossing from Clewiston took just under three hours putting us at the Myaka Lock at 9;45 AM.  The lock was open and we locked through in 19 minutes.

Two yachts entering Port Myaka Lock as we head east down the St Lucie Canal

During the crossing we were overtaken by a 70 foot Hatteras named Social Director, which incidentally is Kodi's "official" title on our boat card.  The captain courteously gave us a slow pass. Later as we approached the Port Myaka Lock we saw the remains of a shipwreck that is off the Route 1 by 300 yards.  The wreck shows up on the Garmin chartplotter.

Social Director

Shipwreck off Route 1

We had now traversed four of the five locks on the Okeechobee Waterway and all of our locking experiences had been quick and easy.  The prompted me to talk about the many locks Diana and I have negotiated, which after clearing Port Myaka totaled 113.  My point to Phil and Carol was that the locks on the Okeechobee were easy owing to small lifts (1 ft to 14 ft), low turbulence, hanging lines, friendly lockmasters who throw the lines to you and no commercial traffic.  I then said one more easy lock at Port St. Lucie and we are finished with the locks.  Carol comments that I may have jinxed myself by talking about the locking experience my optimism for the final lock.

Speaking of wrecks

Carol's "jinx comment proved correct.  Sure enough as we approached the St. Lucie Lock at 12:40 PM we observed a tug with one barge awaiting lockage.  We called in to the lock master who informed us that the Summer Star had priority and that the wait would be 45 minutes.  Ugh!

Tug Summer Star with one barge at the St. Lucie lock

An hour and 8 minutes later we approached the lock.  Oh well, Murphy's Law, "everything takes longer than you think."  I turn the boat around and headed west for about a mile and then drifted back toward the lock, which we FINALLY entered at 1:48 PM.  This lock dropped us 14 feet into the St. Lucie Canal.  Again, quick, easy and done in 19 minutes.  Is there really such a thing as a jinx?

Finally we get to ride

The next two hours were relaxing as we cruised the St. Lucie Canal River arriving in Stuart at the Roosevelt Bridge at 3:05 PM.  Remember Carol and the "jinx."  Well, as we approached the Roosevelt Bridge was caught up with Summer Star, which almost go stuck at the railroad bridge.  It seems that Summer Star was perfectly positioned to block our passage.  Fortunately he made it but it was dicey there for a few seconds.

Another potential wreck at RR bridhe in Stuart

At 4:03 PM we intersected with the Atlantic ICW (R240) at the St. Lucie Inlet and proceeded north in the wide well marked waterway.  As we headed north the wind picked up gusting up to 40 knots from the west.  No problem on open water but the wind could prove to be a problem docking later on (which it was not).

Carol reading

Phil relaxed at the helm

At 6:25 PM we entered the well marked channel to Harbortown Marina and five minutes later were tied up at their fuel dock.

Entering Harbortown Marina - That's a 65 Outer Reef, Quimby, at the end of the dock

Statistics:

• Distance Today: 78.0 Nautical miles
• Fuel Used: 76.2 gallons of diesel
• Time Enroute: 11 hours and 36 minutes
• Total Distance: 218.7 nautical miles
• Total Engine Fuel Used: 210.5 gallons
• Total Generator Fuel Used: 32.4 gallons
• Fuel Added: 246.545 gallons
• Fuel Price: $3.13 per gallon
• Fuel Cost: $771.69

The first activity was taking on fuel. Since we had topped off at Marina Jack prior to this cruise, I now had had an opportunity to check the accuracy of the Cat engine monitors which had been reprogrammed to correct for fuel consumption discrepancy that showed us using considerably less fuel than what was consumed in actuality.

Explanatory Note: During the trip south in November, I noted that the amount of fuel added at Morehead City and Stuart were substantially higher than the amount of fuel consumed.  The Cat engine monitors said we used 486 gallons.  Based on that we needed to add 514 gallons.  We actually added 635 gallons representing a 121 gallon or 25% discrepancy.   The data from this run was particular useful as we ran at 1,400 RPM on flat water for the entire 597 nautical mile cruise and used only 5 hours of generator time. Caterpillar reprogrammed the ECU's using my data in combination with their standard fuel curve.

The preliminary results look good but are not conclusive due to the short distance (218 NM).  Adding 32.4 gallons of generator fuel consumed based on 1.2 GPH for the 12KW and 1.7 GPH for the 16 KW for the hours appropriate to each generator, our total fuel consumed for the trip was 242.9 gallons.  That's a difference of 3.6 gallons or 1.5%.  That's the positive side.  The reason for the uncertainty is the discrepancy on each tank, which was +12% of the port side and -5% on starboard.

Explanatory Note: The port engine and 12 KW generator run off the port 500 gallon tank.  The starboard engine and the 16 KW generator run off the starboard tank.

Written by Les.

Concord Marine Electronics: A Totally Negative Experience

We are monumentally disappointed with Concord Marine Electronics of Fort Lauderdale.

When you spend over $100,000 with a vendor, which is what we spent for the electronics, entertainment and security system, you have, in my opinion, a reasonable expectation that the vendor will do good work, stand behind their work and be responsive before during and after the sale. Concord Marine failed on almost every count and that is the reason for this article.  My hope is to prevent other boaters from having the kind of experience we had.

As a point of reference, we are totally satisfied, in fact, stated more precisely, delighted with Outer Reef.

So how did things go wrong with Concord.  Let me count the ways:

1. Bad advice on the Autopilot System
2. Bad advice on the GOST Security System
3. Inadequate calibration of the autopilot
4. Inadequate autopilot set-up
5. Leaving us with a live alarm system (and no training)
6. Inadequate training on the GOST security system
7. Inadequate training of the electronics package
8. Incomplete GOST set-up
9. Wrong GOST siren
10. Inadequate training on the entertainment system
11. Poor treatment of the vendor who corrected the recent autopilot failure
12. Failure to provide serial numbers
13. The Final Straw - Lousy Warranty / Customer Service
14. No serial number information and manuals dumped in a container
15. AIS not set-up to transmit and inappropriate response to set-up request

1. BAD ADVICE ON THE AUTOPILOT

In January of 2012, while in the process of determining the specifications for our marine electronics a question arose as to the adequacy of the Garmin autopilot proposed by Concord.  The issue raised by Mike Schlichtig at Outer Reef was a concern about the Garmin autopilot pump's pressure and ability to interface with the Hynautic power steering. Concord then proposed a Furuno NAV Pilot 700.

I met with Mike Robilio, President of Concord Marine Electronics along with Mike S from Outer Reef to discuss the swap.  During that meeting I asked if I would be giving anything up.  "No" he replied.  Well he was dead wrong.  If you have a Garmin autopilot networked with a Garmin Chartplotter you can take advantage of Garmin's route guidance functionality.  In short, you put in a destination and the guidance mode plots your course to it taking into account the boat's displacement and air draft.  Then, with the push of a button, the Garmin autopilot will take you there.  This greatly simplifies navigation as it eliminates the need for routes or a series of go to waypoints.

We sacrificed the capability.  It turns out that the "sentence" sent by the Garmin Chartplotter to the Garmin Autopilot is proprietary.  The Furuno cannot interpret the "sentence" and therefore cannot operate in the route guidance mode.

Mike Robilio when confronted with his misrepresentation attempted to mislead me essentially lying that Furuno would soon have a fix (absolutely not true).  When I pinned him down with regard to the representations he made in January he walked away. Fortunately, we were at the Miami Boat Show and Jeff Druek, the President of Outer Reef was available.  I told Jeff the story and he arbitrated the dispute on the spot.  Mike Robilio had no integrity or ability to negotiate a favorable outcome.

2. BAD ADVICE ON THE GOST SECURITY SYSTEM

I specified a very sophisticated GOST security system, which in addition to securing the "house" provides alarms in we lose power, lose HVAC, start taking on water or the boat gets stolen.  Probably overkill but I wanted peace of mind especially if we were away from the boat.  The GOST system is controlled by cell phone.

One question I asked Luis,who was handling our order, was do I need a special phone or phone service. No replied Luis.  This question was posed to Luis in December prior to the arrival of the boat from Taiwan. Based on Luis' advice and given that we were not happy with AT&T we switched from AT&T to Verizon. This proved to be MONUMENTALLY bad advice.

Turns out you need an AT&T phone to communicate with the GOST Phantom controller.  AT&T's network standard is GSM.  Verizon's is CDMA.  The GOST controller is GSM.  So what?  It's a big deal.  The GOST GSM controller barely recognizes the Verision CDMA tones, which results in not being able to easily control and therefore use the security system's features.

Luis was not the only member of the team that was misinfornmed.  Chris instructed us to get a Verizon SIM card, which once obtained did not even fit the slot in the GOST control head.

As a consequence of this I have difficulty using a $10,000 system that ought to be a snap.  In order to solve the problem I need to switch back to AT&T at a cost of about $1,000 to break the contract. Given it was Concord's lack of knowledge that caused my frustration and financial loss it would have been good business on their part to cover my cost of switching.  Guess if they offered.

3. INADEQUATE AUTOPILOT CALIBRATION

The first sign of relationship trouble happened on the sea trial on the day we took ownership of the 63. During the sea trial the technician, Chris, who was responsible for the commissioning of our boat's Concord supplied systems and whose last name I do not know (nor did I ever have his phone number) accompanied Captain Randy and I so that he could calibrate the Furuno's flux gate compass. That calibration did not go smoothly.

My tolerance for heading error alignment between the GPS heading and the flux gate's heading and the technician's were somewhat different.  I wanted no more that two degrees.  Chris would have settled for 6 or more.  He started to give me a song and dance about tolerance when I stated that the calibration was not to my satisfaction and we got into a heated argument.  Captain Randy interceded and told Chris that I was correct.

I also had a concern with regard to response, I wanted the autopilot to track directly to a waypoint, turn onto the course and then hold course within 50 feet of the course center line.  The autopilot was not responding even close.  Turns out there are two settings, "precision" and "economy."  The unit was set to economy.

Bottom line: After numerous attempts to swing the compass and change other parameters (which later proved to be incorrect), the unit performed very close to my expectations.

4. INADEQUATE AUTOPILOT SET-UP

The depth of Concord's technician's, Chris' incompetence was not fully revealed until this month.

Background: The autopilot worked perfectly during our cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Hingham Massachusetts.  Then while returning from a casual day cruise to Boston I attempted to engage the autopilot and got a big surprise. The autopilot turned the boat hard to port instead of tracking the programmed route. I again attempted to follow the route with the exact same result, she swung hard to port. Remembering Einstein's principle that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, I placed the autopilot in the "auto" mode.  My expectation is that the boat would hold the current course. Again she swung hard to port.

I contact Furuno and then Concord.  The advice was the same.  Get a local Furuno technician to assess the situation in person.  I contacted Outer Reef and they connected me with Dan Hodgkins of Commercial Marine Electronics. Dan arrived on Friday July 11.  His first step was to check the settings using the installation manual.  Many were incorrect.  Chris's had been careless in the set-up.

5. LEAVING US WITH A LIVE ALARM SYSTEM

We took delivery of the boat on February 10, the same day that Chris sea trialed the Furuno Autopilot. There was no question that he was aware that we were taking possession.

We had not discussed the operation of the security system prior to that time nor did we have any discussion that day.   Unbeknownst to us, Chris left us with a live security system.  Murphy's law.  Late in the evening we managed to trigger an alarm and had no idea as how to silence it. An emergency call to Mike Schlictig, solved the problem.  Chris had not provided me with his phone number and Concord had not provided me with an emergency contact.  Without Mike (Outer Reef) we would have had to abandon the boat and find a hotel for the night.  Meanwhile, the siren would have disturbed the nearby boats and homes at Marina Bay Marina.

6. INADEQUATE TRAINING ON THE GOST SECURITY SYSTEM

GOST makes a great system and it also provides great customer support.  That said, it was up to Concord to train us to properly operate the system and again Concord's Chris did a poor job.  The training process was further made EXTREMELY difficult by the fact that our Verizon CDMA phones BARELY communicated with the GOST Paradox control module.  Learning how to communicate with the controller is directly related to the cell phone.  Hence, we wasted hours trying to communicate and as a consequence we learned very little.

Chris was always in a hurry.  His approach was "read the manual."

7. INADEQUATE TRAINING ON THE ELECTRONICS PACKAGE

Again, Chris was in the hurry and proposed that we read the manuals.  That's was not my expectation and there are a lot of manuals (Chartplotter, AIS, Satellite Weather, Sonar, Autopilot, GMI 10, Furuno RD33) I demanded that, at a minimum, he show me how to set up a route on the Garmin chartplotter, which he grudgingly did.

My training on the autopilot was minimal and limited only to NAV, AUTO and STANDBY functions.  Use of the TURN and DODGE functions were not discussed.  Nothing was discussed as it related to the MENU function and settings I may need to change (like the Precision and Economy settings).

Fortunately, the Garmin 7215 multifunction touch screen has a VERY user friendly interface.  No thanks to Chris and Concord I ultimately mastered the entire system (and rarely had to even look at the manual).

8. INCOMPLETE GOST SET-UP

Each security zone in the GOST security system is identified with a number along with a text and audible description (e.g., 01 Flybridge Hatch).  Chris failed to add the text descriptions next to the numbers.  Hence, I did not have a clue as to which number matched which sensor.  No one for Concord quality checked his work on this or any other item.

9. WRONG GOST SIREN

Concord provided a siren that should have been mounted inside.  They did not advise me of this fact. Then they asked me where to mount it.  They suggested it be mounted in the engine room.  That did not make sense to me as that location would muffle the sound.  I proposed it be mounted on the hardtop and they said OK.  Well, not OK.  The unit rusted.  Outer Reef working with GOST and replaced the unit with one suited to an outdoor location.

10. INADEQUATE TRAINING ON THE ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM

Again we have "go read the manuals" Chris at the helm.

We bought one very complete entertainment package including KVH satellite, Bose System, Direct TV, Blueray DVD/CD, Sirius Satellite Radio, Apple TV in the salon and Direct TV. Bose and Blueray in the Master Stateroom.

Fortunately, I asked a lot of questions and took good notes.  Still, I do not know how to record and playback a program, use the Sirius satellite radio or take advantage of the Apple TV.

11. POOR TREATMENT OF THE VENDOR WHO CORRECTED THE AUTOPILOT FAILURE

Dan Hodgkins from Commercial Marine Electronics corrected the problem with the autopilot and corrected numerous incorrect autopilot settings.  When he submitted the bill to Concord they refused payment.

This bill has two components, a warranty item (i.e., the sudden and unexpected turn problem and "precision mode," and correction of the set-up parameters.  Concord claimed that they were working with Furuno to correct the problem with the "precision mode."

Quote From Mike Robilio's email refusing payment to Commercial: "Concord is already working directly with Furuno to resolve the autopilot issues on “precision mode” on several outer reef yachts.  A phone call to concord regarding this issue would have informed everyone that there is no fix from Furuno at this time, and the autopilot should be run in a different mode (think it’s “normal” mode?)"

Note the parenthetical (think it's the "normal" mode).  It is in fact the "economy mode," This is further evidence that Concord does not know its products or is too lazy to write an accurate description.  Further, it appears they are refusing to pay Commercial for the correction of the improper set-up.  Finally, they failed to inform me of the problem with the "precision mode," which is the parameter that Chris had set during the sea trial.

12. FAILURE TO PROVIDE SERIAL NUMBERS OR TO ASSIST WITH PRODUCT REGISTRATION

This came to light in late September when the Garmin GMR 406 HD radar went to failure.  When I called Garmin Tech Support the technician asked for the unit's serial number.  Concord had not provided these.  Our system has numerous components and compiling the serial numbers would have been easy during their "commissioning" of the system.  They provided no assistance with product registration.  Note: In October I requested they provide serial numbers for all components.  Turns out the serial numbers were listed on their invoices.  To bad they did not tell me.

13. THE FINAL STRAW - LOUSY WARRANTY / CUSTOMER SERVICE

Seven months after delivery the Triplitte power supply fan began making a loud “bearing” (grinding) noise  Concord provided a new power supply and suggested I could install it myself.  Chris (the tech who commissioned the electronics) attempted to talk me through the process.  It very quickly became apparent that this was WAY BEYOND my pay grade. The main power supply cord was bundled and barely accessible and of all people Chris should have known that.  I paid Concord over a $100,000 for the electronics, entertainment and security packages.  You would think they would pay for the labor to install the unit.  Not so!  Note: They finally did under pressure from Outer Reef.

14. MANUALS DUMPED INTO A BOX

Maybe Outer Reef spoiled me.  They gave me an Ipad with Wheelhouse Technologies software that provided complete information including model numbers, serial numbers, required spare parts and manuals for every system on the boat.  The hard copy manuals where in plastic storage boxes with tabbed indexes.  Concord dumped their manuals in a box.

15. INAPPROPRIATE RESPONSE TO AIS SET-UP REQUEST

The Garmin AIS 600 is a transponder that identifies vessels that have AIS technology.  The system both transmits and receives allowing us to see vessels that might pose a threat and for them to see us. The transmit function requires set-up by the installer and the availability of a MMSI number issued by BoatUS acting on behalf of the USCG.  Issuance of a MMSI number requires the vessel applying to have an Official Number issued by the USCG or a state registered number.  We had neither when we took delivery in February 2014.  Concord did make a point of reminding us to call them when we became documented.  Bottom line: Our system does not transmit and I learned this when I asked a vessel with AIS if they saw us on their screen. Concord in response for set-up assistance emailed a manual and told us to do it ourselves.  Not withstanding the first sentence of the set-up instruction, which says that programming must be done by a authorized marine dealer, the process involves using system set-up software on a CD ROM and a computer with 10 MB of free space.  The computer then needs to be hooked into the Garmin 7215.  This is way beyond my pay grade and there is also a risk of screwing things up.  Again LOUSY customer service.

In summary, Concord has:

1. No integrity
2. Limited knowledge of the products it sells
3. Poorly trained technicians
4. Lousy customer service

Written by Les.

Crossing Florida: Fort Myers to Clewiston

The 70.5 nautical mile run from Fort Myers to Clewiston on Saturday was easy and fun thanks to great weather and competent crew.  This route took us east on the Caloosahatchee River to the Franklin Lock, the start of the Okeechobee Waterway.  Our goal of Clewiston today facilitated making the 215 NM run from Sarasota to Fort Pierce in three 70 NM / ten hour days. It also positioned us crossing Lake Okeechobee without having to go through the Moore Haven Lock on the west end of the lake.  Very manageable.

We departed as planned at 7:00 AM to a lovely sunrise, which always bodes well for the coming day.

At 10:00 AM we arrived at the Franklin Lock.  The trip odometer read 92 NM since leaving Sarasota. This lock has a 2 foot lift.  The entire process of entering the lock, securing to the wall, waiting for the lift and departing took a very fast 14 minutes.

Departing the Franklin Lock.  Off we go!

Now we were in the Okeechobee Waterway Canal with its wide channel and "deep" water.  Below are some photos to give you a sense of the scenery.

Explanatory Note: There is no deep water in Florida (OK I know absolutes are no no).  So having 5 feet of water under the boat is very comforting.  Remember the boat draws 5 feet of water so adding our draft to the registered depth under the boat translates into 10 feet.  I used to think 20 feet on Lake Michigan was shallow.  My how things change.

The Ortona Lock took 16 minutes.  The lock was open when we arrived and the lift was only 9 feet. We were clear of the lock at 1:33 PM.

Captain Carol in command

The last lock for today was Moore Haven with a 6 foot lift. This lock took 25 minutes, which was the result of having to wait for five small boats to secure to the wall.  No complaint,  From my point of view we were still flying.

Moore Haven Lock before the other 5 boats arrived

We arrived at the Moore Haven lock at 3:15 PM just as a moderate rain shower ended.  The shower dropped the temperature from 90 degree to 75, which felt good for the few minutes before it raced back to 90.

Shower visible to the right side of the starboard screen

Ten miles further down the canal we arrived at Clewiston and turned hard right to traverse the Clewiston Lock which was open on both ends.  This lock is not used when the lake level is high, which at 13.68 feet at the moment.

Welcome to Clewiston's Roland Martin's Marina.  Roland's marina was unique.  You clearly need the right attitude and prior planning to enjoy the place.  This is an old small marina but it is perfectly located for the Lake crossing.  It also has floating docks and a helpful dock hand.  Add to that fuel, a general store and a tiki bar with entertainment.  Not my cup of tea but the placed was packed.

Roland Martin was quite an entrepreneur. In addition to the marina there is a RV park, a motel and condo for long term rental.  Talking to several folks of the dock I learned that Roland's is the premier bass fishing location in the US and that it hosts mega big tournaments

Approaching the lock floating dock (400 ft) 

Guided Discovery at Roland Martin's Marina

Phil, Carol and I dined on the boat in high style thanks to prepared foods obtained at Morton's in Sarasota, a gourmet market with the best prepared foods we've ever found.  We had a three course dinner served in the salon that included:

• A salad of herb greens with avocado, tomato, walnuts, pine nuts and raisins with balsamic vinaigrette.
• Chicken Pompador with potatoes
• Chocalate peanut butter bars
• Chardonnay (Frogs Leap 2012)

Phil and Carol ready for dinner

Dockmaster and general store

Fuel and tiki bar

The folks at Roland's also had a sense of humor about the weather.  Check out the sign below.  I do not think I will replace our Sirius Satellite Weather subscription.

Statistics

• Distance Today: 70.5 Nautical miles
• Fuel Used: 66.52 gallons of diesel
• Time Enroute: 10 hours and 35 minutes
• Total Distance: 140.6 nautical miles

Written by Les.

Crossing Florida: Sarasota to Fort Myers

The goal today (April 24) was a 7:00 AM departure.  Diana picked up Phil and Carol at their home on Long Boat Key and had them on the boat at 6:50 AM. Darrel and Sue, our cruising friends that we met in November 2010 on the Great Loop, arrived earlier and were on hand to see us off.  They helped with the lines and took the photos below.  Darrel also helped me fix the strangest problem.

Strange problem. I have a Glendenning wired remote that enables me to control the boat from just about anywhere on the main and upper deck.  The remote plugs into one of three ports.  It consists of a control panel and 30 feet of cable with a plug.  The plug has a protective cover over the contacts, which I rarely use. This morning the protective cover refused to come-off and that resulted in a seven minute delay in departing.  Not that I am all that concerned with departing on time, but I did not expect such a trivial thing as a cover to gum up the works.  Ultimately we used vice grips and a pliers to remove the cover. The cover will NEVER be used again.

Explanatory Note: Before moving the 63 I go through several checklists to verify that the boat's system are operating properly.  The cover for the remote is not on the checklist.

Thus the journey began at seven minutes past seven.  Darrel captured the departure.

We're moving as Carol brings in the stern line

Clearing the slip.  That's me on the boat deck controlling the boat with the remote 

Leaving our winter home

This promised to be an easy run.  The winds in the AM were light out of the northwest and the forecast called for partly sunny skies with a slight chance (10%) of showers.  Making things even easier are the tracks that the Garmin laid down from our voyage last November.  Essentially, the boat drops bread crumbs and all I have to do is follow them to traverse the same safe waters as last time.

This was a good thing because the first challenge is Sarasota Big Pass which we hit at 7:29 AM. Sarasota Big Pass is not properly named.  "Big" implies easy with deep water, which is not the case. Active Captain identifies this as a pass requiring "local knowledge," which means, in this case, it is not easy due to hard to see very small private buoys, and shallow water due to an extensive sandbar of the northwest side of the channel.  The tracks made the passage easy as we crossed over the same waters as we did in November.  Note: I also visited the pass twice with the tender to verify that nothing had changed.

We cleared Big Pass at 7:43 AM and spent the next four hours heading southeast along the Gulf coast within two miles of shore.  The winds were out of the northwest at 8 knots and the seas were around one foot.  Water temperature was 82 degrees and the air temperature rose to 87.  Unfortunately our SE course cancelled out the breeze so that it was a bit warm of the flybridge.  Oh well.

We reached Red Fish Pass at the north end of Captiva Island at 1:15 PM and here again benefited from the tracks laid down last fall.  The photo below is of South Seas Resort on Captiva, which had initially been our first day destination.  Change of plan.  Phil and Carol arranged dockage at the Saint Charles Yacht Club in Fort Myers and this yielded two benefits; free first night dockage under the Florida Council of Yacht Clubs reciprocity rules and an additional 15 NM of distance traveled.  More about St Charles later.

South Seas Resort

At 1:24 PM we joined the Gulf ICW and preceded toward Fort Myers in a very well marked channel. Being Friday there was lots of boat traffic especially as we approached the famous miserable mile. It's nice to have stabilizers when boats go tearing past.

Unusual sight.  A water sports shop along the miserable mile

We arrived at the the entrance to St Charles Yacht Club at 3:12 PM and turned right into a long and perfectly marked channel to the club.  The dockmaster had informed me that the channel's depth was 6 feet at mean low water and that the bottom was soft mud.  We draw five feet so that's a little tight. However, we arrived at high tide which added two feet of additional clearance.

Mike, the dockmaster was also very accommodating.  He put us on a T-dock and helped us secure the boat.

The St Charles Yacht Club is located in a very protected cove with expensive homes.  The home astern of Guided Discovery was UNBELIEVABLY large with 13,326 square feet and 400 feet of water front.  Zillow showed a value of $1.6 million (which seemed extremely low).

Large home behind Guided Discovery

My friends Jerry and Cathy Swerdlick arrived for cocktails at 5:20 PM.   We were joined by Phil and Carol and their friends by Daniel and Angel.  We sat and chatted until 7;00 PM when we all adjourned for dinner.

Jerry and Cathy at the St.Charles Yacht Club.

Jerry, Cathy and I ate at the St. Charles Yacht Club where we each enjoyed a lovely delicious dinner in a quiet and charming setting.  We had a jolly good time.

Jerry is my oldest friend dating back to 1968 when I was working as the manager of the Liberty Loan Company office in Westerly, RI.  I spent a year their before being promoted to manage the Providence office.  Jerry, at the time, owned a women's clothing shop downtown and Jerry's Summerwear and Souvenirs on Misquamicut Beach.  We had a great time chasing women (I was 25 and single with a Corvette).  Today he is the owner of EVAS. a firm that provides computer aids for the visually impaired and handicapped (www.evas.com).

I have connected with Jerry and Cathy every time I've passed Captiva, which now is three times.  The first was in 2011 on the Great Loop, then last November and yesterday.  I suspect we will make this a bi-annual tradition.

Life is good thanks to Phil and Carol being on board.  Both have captain's license's and considerable experience. I could not have better crew.

All and all a very easy and fun day.  Tomorrow we begin the Caloosahatchee River and the Okeechobee Waterway with its five locks.

Statistics

• Distance Today: 69.9 Nautical miles
• Fuel Used: 68.0 gallons of diesel
• Time Enroute: 8 hours and 28 minutes

Written by Les.

Cruising Plans - Spring 2015

I suspect many of you will find this difficult to believe, as do I, but my days are so filled that it is difficult to find time to blog.  In the near future I plan to write three articles, one summarizing our winter in Sarasota, one about the recent Sarasota Boat Show and one about Southeastern Guide Dogs. But for now I need to talk about the big move north.

The move north has three parts.  We will cross the state of Florida between Friday, April 24 and Sunday, April 26.  This phase involves cruising from Sarasota to Fort Myers and then crossing the State via the Okeechobee Waterway.  Our destination is Fort Pierce where we hope to be before sunset on Sunday evening.

My friend Phil Fuoco and his wife Carol will be acting as my crew on this 215 nautical mile journey. Both have their captain's license.  Phil accompanied me along with my friend Dick Singer on the 9 day cruise from Hingham to Sarasota last November.  Phil and Dick were also on the three day non-stop Norfolk to Hingham run last May.  Diana and Kodi are driving across and will catch up with the "ship" on Sunday evening.

Below is the tentative itinerary:

• Sarasota to Captiva (South Seas): 54.1 NM.  Estimated time: 7 hours and 35 minutes.
• Captive to Moore Haven: 73.5 NM.  Estimated time: 10:22 minutes
• Moore Haven to Stuart: 61.1 NM.  Estimated time 9:32 minutes
• Stuart to Fort Pierce: 26.3 NM.  Estimated time 3 hours and 10 minutes.

Note: Given that we now have 13+ hours of daylight we may do the leg from Moore Haven to Fort Pierce in one shot if we do not have delays at the three locks along the route.

IMPORTANT: As of 11:00 PM on Friday evening (i.e., this writing) we have modified the plan and traveled an additional 15 NM beyond Captiva to Fort Myers.  Stay tuned for tomorrows article, Crossing Florida: Sarasota to Fort Myers.

Part two involves a 10 day stay at Harbor Town Marina in Fort Pierce for warranty work, maintenance and waxing.  Harbor town is located just north of the Fort Pierce inlet and will be a perfect departure point for the the final leg to Hingham.

Part three will be a 1,205 NM non-stop six day and five night straight shot up the east coast. Accompanying me on the leg will be my two Chicago friends, Dick Hoffman and David Jones. Diana and Kodi will drive the car up the coast.  We met Dick in 2007 when we moved to I-dock in Belmont Harbor.  Dick owns a 48 Sundancer named Sea Sharp.  David was on board at the start of the Great loop Adventure and accompanied me to Peoria Illinois along with my friend Sophocles.

This promises to be an easy run as I have all the routes pre-programmed into our Garmin chartplotter. All I need is a little cooperation from the weather.  We plan to depart Fort Pierce on Tuesday, May 5 and arrive in Hingham on Monday, May 10, just in time for Spring.

The routes programmed into the Garmin from Fort Pierce to Hingham are as as follows:

• 563 NM Fort Pierce to Morehead City (named Morehead to Stuart)
• 202 NM Morehead to VA Beach (named VA Beach to Morehead)
• 131 NM VA Beach to Cape May (named Cape May to Cape Henry)
• 271 NM Cape May to Cape Cod Canal (named CCC to Cape May)
•   41 NM Cape Cod Canal to Hull Gut (named CCC to Hull Gut)

Cruising at 1400 RPM should give us an average speed of 8.4 knots at 9.1 gallons per hour.  That yields a range of 1,074 nautical miles with a 10% reserve.  The reserve does not include generator time.  Assuming 100% generator use for 150 hours, we will burn around 200 additional gallons. Hence a fuel stop will be needed.  I suspect we will fuel up in either Cape May ($2.99/gal) or Atlantic City ($3.49/gal) as both are convenient to our route.

Written by Les

Living on a 63 Outer Reef

We now have 14 months of experience living aboard the 63.  Readers will recall that we took possession on February 10, 2014.  We have been living on her since that date, which as of this writing constitute a total of 427 days.  This is almost the same as the 444 days we spent aboard the 48 Sundancer when we did the Great Loop (October 3, 2010 to October 10, 2011 - Chicago to Branford CT; July 1, 2012 to September 6, 2012 - Branford to Chicago).

Guided Discovery at Marina Jack

Guided Discovery at Marina Jack

While the time frames are similar, the experience is totally different on so may levels.  The Great Loop was a 6,150 mile counter clockwise circumnavigation of the eastern half of the US.  The last 14 months on the 63 involved just two major trips; a 1,165 NM up the east coast from Palm Beach to Hingham MA in April and early May of last year (actually 35 days)  and a 1,446 NM trip from Hingham to Sarasota last November, which was accomplished in 9 days.

The Great Loop was a series of 50 to 100 mile cruises involving stops at 135 marinas over the 444 day period.  The last 14 months involves extensive stays at two marinas; Hingham Shipyard Marina in Mass for the summer and Marina Jack in Sarasota FL for the winter.  Yes we stopped overnight at a few marinas (13) on the trip north and three on the trip south (Stuart, Moorhaven and South Seas) but these were quick stops.  We would have characterized ourselves as cruisers during the Great Loop, especially since we had a condo in Chicago.  Now, since selling the condo, we are definitely "liveaboards."

Another key difference between cruising and living aboard is the availability of a vehicle.  Ours follows us to our "home" marinas courtesy of Diana and Kodi who team up to move the Taurus.

In summary, we are spending our winters in Sarasota where it is warm and our summers in New England where it is cool.

Now to living on a boat and in particular the 63 Outer Reef.   Diana would often complain that living of the 48 Sundancer was like camping, which is not an unreasonable characterization given that it had a "camper canvas."  While the camper canvas does not make it a camper, the 48 was never designed for living aboard.  Storage was at a premium (and we used all of it on the trip), the galley was not designed for cooking, the V-berth was not a master stateroom, the outdoor spaces had limited usage when docked, the camper canvas was a pain in the neck (as the eisenglas windows needed to be stored in the V-berth during the day), there was effectively no guest stateroom (as it was used for storage and had little headroom) and we lived in a cave, which is the nature of an express cruiser. She was a great weekender or vacation boat.  She was also quite adequate for the loop.

The 63 Outer Reef is a home on water that has the capability of moving to where we want to be (except it cannot do the Great Loop because of its height).

The key to the boat's livability is the open layout.  We chose this over a traditional layout where the pilot house is a separate room.  No matter where you are on the main deck you have a feeling of space and openness (despite it being an area of only 400 square feet).

Now to the details.  Let's start with the galley.  The 63 has a complete kitchen with GE Monogram appliances, the same ones a person can purchase for their home.  This includes a side by side refrigerator, stove top, oven, microwave, 18" dishwasher, trash compactor, disposal and a 26 bottle wine cooler.  The only "small" appliance is the dishwasher which is three quarters the size of a regular 24" model.

Galley facing aft

Storage is plentiful.  We have two pantries with pullout shelves, the larger one is lighted.  We use the lower drawer of the large pantry as an appliance garage.  Drawer storage is also plentiful with 8 drawers and a ninth large drawer for pots and pans.  Cabinets above the aft facing counter tops hold a dishes, glasses and serving pieces.

Pots and pans drawer

Pantry

Appliance garage

Additionally, Outer Reef did a great job with the layout.  The dishwasher is convenient to the sink for loading and to the cabinets for unloading.  There is considerable counter space and all of the drawers are easily accessible.  Finally, we specified two extra 2 plug 110 volt outlets in the galley (for a total of 6 outlets).

Glassware cabinet (6 white wine, 12 red wine, nine 12 oz tumblers and 6 coffee mugs)

Flat ware (all plastic) service for 10 and outdoor service for 4

Trash is efficiently handled with a trash compactor.  Additionally we specified a trash container on the aft deck which we use for recycle.

We had a spectacular kitchen in our Chicago condo but it was no where near as efficient as the one on the 63.  While there was considerably more storage it was all spread out.  Note: Most of the stuff comfortably fit in our galley.  We ultimately donated lots of extra stuff when we sold the Chicago condo.

Everything was spread out

Stove and refrigerator

The salon has proven to be quite useful and comfortable.  We have had a dinner party for 6 and easily seat 8 people on the settee and barrel chairs.  The 46"Samsung HDTV located aft of the settee is perfect located for viewing from the salon and while we are working in the galley.  It hides in a cabinet when not in use.

46" Samsung HDTV deployed.  Next to the TV is entertainment center cabinet

Additionally, there is a storage cabinet just before the stairs (i.e., under the sculpture).  We use that to hold our complete set of paper charts and cruising guides for the east coast.  There is also storage under the port settee, most of which is not used.  The salon has two 2 plug 110 volt outlets in the space and another six in the entertainment cabinet.

The aft deck is my favorite place.  It's dimensions are 10 feet deep by 15 wide long.  The settee seats three to four and we have three teak deck chairs.  Comfortable seating for six to seven with a lovely varnished teak table in the middle.  I love sitting on the aft deck and reading a book or playing with my iPad.  We specified a refrigerator, sink and storage along with the trash container.  We also specified teak for this area, a decision that added warmth and charm.  Turns out the aft deck is often the coolest place in Sarasota as the the prevailing winds (westerlies) provide a lovely breeze.

Aft deck with settee, deck chairs and teak floor

Looking forward to port at the cabinetry holding the refrigerator, garbage, sink and storage

Last summer in Hingham the aft deck was only usable in the morning and early afternoon due to our stern facing due west.  Late afternoon and evening was problematic as the hot sun zeroed in on us. This was also a problem in the January and February in Sarasota where we also face due west.  I solved the problem with a custom made sun cover,  The 90 UV Textaline PVC screen clips to the aft deck ceiling and straps down to the stainless steel swim platform rails.  On and off in less than 10 minutes it will shield us from the sun and cut down its heat without compromising the breeze.

New sun cover

The pilot house has proved to be amazingly comfortable, useful and bright.  It serves perfectly as my office (and the place where I write my blog articles).  We specified additional 110 volt outlets making it possible to have a computer, printer, air card, portable VHF charger, iPad charger and camera charger all plugged in at the same time with two open plugs to spare. The pilot house also serves as the control center for the home part of the boat.

AC controls are located over the control station as is the tank tender (for gauging fuel and water on board), holding tank capacity lights and alarm system.  There is plenty of room on the control station for the computer and printer freeing up the table for dining (comfortable for four with the Stidd helm chair re-positioned).  Located by the flybridge stairwell is a file drawer and located under the table are two storage drawer, one houses "office stuff" while the other holds the myriad of cables and connectors needed to survive in the modern world.  Located under the settee is still more storage where we keep the hard copy of the boat's manuals.  Still more storage is located under the control station where the "black boxes" that feed the electronics are held. All can be accessed easily.  There is even a storage compartment under the first stair leading to the flybridge.

Storage under control station and black boxes

Access to black boxes and wiring under control station

Speaking of storage.  Under the aft deck is the lazarette, which in our world is the equivalent of a basement.  Here we store our bikes (on a SUV rack custom mounted to the floor), extra fenders, lines, spare parts, tools, miscellaneous gear (compressor, shop vac, blower, etc.) and extra cold weather jackets. We specified additional cabinetry including a hanging locker, locker with shelves and a locker with open storage.  I'll let the photos tell the story.

Looking forward to port

Looking forward to starboard

Storage cabinet

Hanging locker

Exiting the lazarette through the aft deck door places you on the swim platform.  Our swim platform serves as the boat's primary boarding point.  We also have two additional boarding points (doors) on either side of the aft deck and on either side of the pilothouse.  A Marquip boarding ladder mounts at each boarding door.  We specified teak decking on the swim platform and had the platform lengthened by one foot.  Both of these decisions proved correct.  The extra foot makes boarding very easy and the teak decking looks good.  Another standard feature found here are three 2" stainless steel safety rails, which both look good and add a significant safety element both at the dock and underway.  The door on the transom is water tight.  On either side of the swim platform are boarding doors providing access to the aft deck.

Swim platform (photo from the Miami Boat Show Feb 2014) 

Now to the upper deck features.

The boat deck is amazing.  Below is a photo of my friend Mark Fidanza with his children John Marco and Helena next to the tender.  This photo does not fully show the amount of room.  The tender is launched to port with a 1,000 pound davit (crane)

Mark, John Marco and Helena

Dakota, Nathaniel and I launching Kodi's (a 13 ft RIB with a 60 HP)

When the tender is on its cradle there is plenty of room for washing it, loading it or doing maintenance.  The tender is an AB DLX 13 with a 60 HP Yamaha.  It has way exceeded my expectations.  It holds 5 people, cruises at 30 (or 28 with a FULL load) and has a top speed of 36 MPH.  My favorite play toy.

The boat deck houses the three burner full size gas grill and four storage compartments.  It also has a fresh water faucet and two 110 volt power outlets.

AB DLX13 with 60 HP Yamaha 4 stroke

Moving forward is the flybridge.  Great fun when the weather is right (which is never the case when we are moving north and south in May and November),  This space has seating for 5 to 6 along with its own refrigerator, sink and storage.  The control station duplicates everything in the pilothouse except the night vision.  This turns out to be the least used space.  It is only used for local cruising in Hingham and Sarasota when we have guests.

Now to the accommodations.

The curved stairwell to the accommodations is located to starboard in the pilothouse.  Stair are teak with Bolon insets.  They are easy to negotiate.  At the bottom of the stairwell is a cabinet housing the Bosch washer and dryer and across from it is the linen closet and soap draw.  We had a washer/dryer combination unit on the 48 Sundancer that was essentially useless.  It could do at best 2 towels and took forever.  We also had a spectacular laundry room with over sized appliances at our Chicago town home.  However, it was located on the ground floor and had limited counter space.  Outer Reef located the washer and dryer next to the master stateroom thus allowing the master bed to act as work surface for folding clothes. Hard to believe but the Outer Reef's laundry system is the best we've ever had.

Linen closet and soap drawer

A turn aft (left) from the stairwell takes you into the master stateroom.  Here we have a king size bed with a custom mattress.  We also have abundant storage.  There are large two hanging lockers (one with double clothes rods), a locker with four shelves, a cabinet with three shelves on top of three drawers, four large drawers under the bed, open storage under bed and finally another locker on the forward bulkhead.  Accessed through the forward hanging locker is a finished lighted space under the stairwell which we refer to as the cavernous area.  Here we store our suitcases and expensive dress pillows in large plastic containers.

Master stateroom looking to port

The master stateroom has a complete entertainment system including 20" Samsung HDTV, satellite receives, Bose audio system and DVD player.  Adjacent to the bed are built-in night stands with three drawers each.  Located on the nightstand counters are a total of six 110 volt outlets.  Here again we specified two extra plugs.  Each side of the bed has a complete set of lighting controls.

The master head is located to starboard through a pocket door.  The head has a Kholer sink with a modern single lever faucet and a large marble counter top. A single 2 plug 110 volt outlet is located next to the electric head controls.  An additional 2 plug 110 volt outlet is located inside the cabinet for recharging appliances.

Adjacent to the sink is the stall shower,  This is a full size 4' by 4' shower with a seat.  It also has a etched glass shower door and a rice paper covered port hole providing great light.  Under the sink is storage and under the counter is one drawer.  We had four large drawers and two under counter storage areas in our Chicago town home master bath. All of our stuff comfortably fit into the boat's head, which seems to be statement about our inefficient use of storage when we living on the hard. The head has its own HVAC outlets.

The shower goes all the way to the hull

Master bath at our Chicago townhome

Turn right (or forward) as you come down the stairs and you enter the guest quarters.  This consists of the VIP (V-berth) stateroom, a guest head and guest stateroom with two bunks.  The head is accessed from the hall of from the VIP making in partially en-suite.

VIP stateroom

The VIP stateroom has full size two hanging lockers, two large drawers at the foot of the queen size bed, two storage lockers on the bulkhead, two storage area under the bottom steps leading to the bed and voluminous long term storage area under the bed which is accessed from a hinged mattress. There are book shelves on either side of the bed, which now house our books and, of course two 110 volt 2 plug outlets on either side of the bed.  Each side also has its own lighting controls.

Guest head and stall shower

Guest stateroom with two bunks

Kodi and the 63.

Kodi is the quintessential boat dog, totally comfortable anywhere on the boat.  She hangs out during the day on the salon and pilot house settees.  At night she initially sleeps on our bed and then late in the evening retires to her own bed.  She loves sitting on the aft deck settee and watching the action on the dock.  Most mornings we hear a soft bark which beckons us to let her onto the upper deck where she goes to boat deck to sun herself.  Occasionally she will make her way via the side deck to the Portuguese bridge and sun herself on the bow.

From time to time we play a game called go find your squirrel.  The game starts out with her in a sit stay in the galley while I hide her stuffed squirrel somewhere on the boat.  Then she is given the command "go find your squirrel" and off she goes.  Hiding places even include the engine room and lazarette. Kodi finds the squirrel 98% of the time and some searches last as long as 6 to 7 minutes.

A word about maintenance.

Living on a boat is very different than living in a home on the hard.  A long range cruiser like the 63 has a considerable equipment related to both the operation of the boat as a boat and as a home.  All of this requires maintenance.

Explanatory Note: Prior to taking delivery I was concerned about having a complete list of the boat's equipment including model and serial numbers.  I also expressed concern about maintenance and specified in the contract three full days of training.

Outer Reef to the rescue.  Not only did their delivery captain and warranty manager, Randy Ives, take me through the operation and maintenance of every system, Outer Reef provided me with a maintenance software application called Wheelhouse Technology.  This software provides not only the model and serial numbers but also the manuals, spare parts needed and spare parts on hand for every system.  The software uses time and hours to alert me to maintenance tasks on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual basis.  While there is a lot to be done at least the process is well organized.  They also provided a iPad Air that houses the Wheelhouse Technology software and the boat's owner's manual and manuals for every system.  I also have hard copy manuals organized in tabbed plastic file boxes.

For a complete list of equipment go to the 63 Outer Reef tab at the top of the page.

Maintenance is work.  Fortunately, the 63 is just big enough and well designed to allow easy access to almost every system.  The only difficult to reach items are the outboard zincs on the main engines. There are three tough ones on the starboard heat exchanger and three on the port engine's after cooler and one on the raw water pump.  Changing out the impeller on the port engine is also a challenge but doable.

Now to marinas and our living arrangements.

Marina Jack has also proved to be prize.  We discovered this marina in December 2010 while visiting Sarasota on the Great Loop adventure and stayed for 19 days.  It was the best of the 135 marinas we visited and it was perfectly located in relation to downtown Sarasota.

Initially we were assigned a 60 foot slip that did not allow us to launch the tender as it was a stern-in port side tie.  We could have gone bow in with a starboard tie but that would have eliminated use of the swim platform for boarding and killed our great view.  But that still would not have solved the problem as the adjacent boat, a 60 foot Viking, was too wide making it impossible to launch the tender.  Marina Jack to the rescue.  First, they helped us off load the tender at the slip and then gave us a hydraulic platform to store the tender for the month of November.  Then they assigned us slip D-11 which permitted a stern in starboard tie with a great view and room to launch the tender as the boat next to us, Ronda Voo, is a 53 Carver Voyager.  We also got great neighbors in Hank and Ronda.

When I informed the dockmaster that we would definitely be back next year and that we would like the same slip he said great but that he could not guarantee slip D-11 or for that matter dockage (as Marina Jack is a first come first served municipal marina).  No problem.  We took the slip on an annual basis, which, while a bit more expensive, guaranteed us our perfect situation.

Our situation in Hingham also improved.  We now have the T on I-dock.  This is a very big deal.  A little history.  Hingham Shipyard Marina, as you may recall, extended a 45 slip with a 20 foot extension to make room for us.  We loved the location but it came with one significant drawback related to the 10 to 12 foot Boston Harbor tides.  When the tide was ebbing (i.e., going out) the current effectively made the fairway narrower by dragging the boat toward the boats to our port side. The problem was exacerbated when there was wind from the west.  This made for a bit of a white knuckle maneuver requiring us to steer toward the boats to starboard and the use of power, which is not desirable with a 95,000 pound 63 foot boat.  Yes, we made it every time but it was not fun.  The T-dock TOTALLY eliminates the problem as there is no fairway and we can come abreast of the dock and use the thrusters to gently dock.

In summary, the 63 Outer Reef LRMY (Long Range Motor Yacht) is both a long range coastal cruiser and a comfortable home on the water.  The boat excels in both roles.  Meanwhile, Outer Reef stands behind their product and provides outstanding support.  They are a pleasure to deal with.

Written by Les.
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