A quick update for those that are interested. I purchased our boat in Mobile, AL. in December and planned to bring her to Ft. Walton FL. in January, stopping in Pensacola on the way since I work in Ft. Walton and have to commute to and from the boat for work.
Mobile to Pensacola: Trip was a little less than ideal and we ended up coming into Pensacola under tow. Lesson learned, fuel the boat myself next time and don't believe the delivery Captain when he says "all full".
A good learning moment and no harm done. Beutiful day on the water and would have loved to sail if only there was wind.
Pensacola to Ft Walton: I spent the week in Pensacola at the marina on Naval Air Station Pensacola. WOW! What a spectacular facility. I would stay there permanently if they allowed boaters to spend more than four consecutive nights aboard. But they do not, and seem serious about enforcing that rule. So I stayed the week on the transient dock, fueld up, 24 gallons in a 27 gallon tank ( see above:dance took the opportunity to change primary and secondary fuel filters, bought a used dinghy, and temporarily rigged up a Raymarine A50 chart plotter.
My daughter came up from Tampa on Friday to make the trip with me. We motored out on Pensacola Bay at 0730 Saturday morning on a glassy smooth surface with wind forecast to be out of the northwest at 5-7 knots. We motored at 2300 rpm all the way across the bay and picked up the ICW. Never did see even the mild wind. Motored all the way to the Navarre bridge and went under it wiithout incident other than my nerves being wracked. The height gage on the bridge showed close to 50 feet so I wasn't actually too worried. East of the navarre bridge we actually managed to sail for an hour or so before we couldn't keep headway and resorted to the engine again. Everything went well all the way to the Brooks Bridge. The gage on the bridge showed a clear height of just over 48 feet. The published mast height is 46'9" above the water line. I thought I might lose the wind instruments on the this one. We approched VERY slowly and if not for an anxious motor boater probably would have slipped under without any contact. As it was we got just enough bouncing from their wake to have the vhf antenna rattle pretty good on the underside of the bridge. Probably would have rubbed even without the wake, who knows.
So, the boat is now safely tied up at Ben's Lake and I am looking forward to exploring Choctawhatchee Bay this summer. It was a wonderful trip considering the limited sailing and almost exclusive motoring. We arrived at Ben's Lake around 1600, so 9 hours or so making around 5 knots. We had a beutiful sunny day and I couldn't have asked for a better deck hand than my daughter.
Boat performed well under motor, looking forward to really getting her under sail and see how she does.
Mobile to Pensacola: Trip was a little less than ideal and we ended up coming into Pensacola under tow. Lesson learned, fuel the boat myself next time and don't believe the delivery Captain when he says "all full".
A good learning moment and no harm done. Beutiful day on the water and would have loved to sail if only there was wind. Pensacola to Ft Walton: I spent the week in Pensacola at the marina on Naval Air Station Pensacola. WOW! What a spectacular facility. I would stay there permanently if they allowed boaters to spend more than four consecutive nights aboard. But they do not, and seem serious about enforcing that rule. So I stayed the week on the transient dock, fueld up, 24 gallons in a 27 gallon tank ( see above:dance
took the opportunity to change primary and secondary fuel filters, bought a used dinghy, and temporarily rigged up a Raymarine A50 chart plotter. My daughter came up from Tampa on Friday to make the trip with me. We motored out on Pensacola Bay at 0730 Saturday morning on a glassy smooth surface with wind forecast to be out of the northwest at 5-7 knots. We motored at 2300 rpm all the way across the bay and picked up the ICW. Never did see even the mild wind. Motored all the way to the Navarre bridge and went under it wiithout incident other than my nerves being wracked. The height gage on the bridge showed close to 50 feet so I wasn't actually too worried. East of the navarre bridge we actually managed to sail for an hour or so before we couldn't keep headway and resorted to the engine again. Everything went well all the way to the Brooks Bridge. The gage on the bridge showed a clear height of just over 48 feet. The published mast height is 46'9" above the water line. I thought I might lose the wind instruments on the this one. We approched VERY slowly and if not for an anxious motor boater probably would have slipped under without any contact. As it was we got just enough bouncing from their wake to have the vhf antenna rattle pretty good on the underside of the bridge. Probably would have rubbed even without the wake, who knows.
So, the boat is now safely tied up at Ben's Lake and I am looking forward to exploring Choctawhatchee Bay this summer. It was a wonderful trip considering the limited sailing and almost exclusive motoring. We arrived at Ben's Lake around 1600, so 9 hours or so making around 5 knots. We had a beutiful sunny day and I couldn't have asked for a better deck hand than my daughter.
Boat performed well under motor, looking forward to really getting her under sail and see how she does.
