The Cruise - Week 3 January 12 - 18, 2015

Monday, January 12, 2015, 15th Day

Departed LaBelle City Dock             0740

Arrived City of Fort Myers Yacht Basin    1330

Total day’s run 32 statute miles (28 nm), 581 miles total.

We left Beaufort two weeks ago today.  Sometimes it doesn't seem possible, more like a dream.

We had a nice easy run down the last part of the Okeechobee Waterway to Fort Myers.  The weather was warm, but cloudy with a few light rain showers.  We had to wait for an hour at the Franklin Lock due to maintenance on the lock.  This was the last lock, which dropped us about 1½ feet, so Dubhe is in salt water again.  As we came down the last part of the waterway that was fresh water, I sat outside on the fly bridge most of the way and thoroughly enjoyed the smell of the country and the water. This area is quite rural and the smell of the river was much like that of the Savannah River when I played on it as a kid.

Our arrival at the City of Fort Myers Yacht Basin initially met with a little consternation on my part. They had us scheduled for a slip some distance in and around several turns, which required backing Dubhe into the space.  I advised them that Dubhe is a single wheel (one propeller) vessel with no thrusters so we may need assistance.  However, I provided one of my best performances yet, when I backed Dubhe into place without assistance and without touching any other boat or piling.  This is not easy to do and many people accustomed only to maneuvering modern boats with thrusters would not have a clue.  (OK I know pride is a sin, but I don’t have a chance to do it very often).  In this part of the world, with much smaller tide, or in some cases no tide, the docks are not floating as they are further north, especially in South Carolina.  The normal practice is a four tie system where the bow and stern each have lines extending to each side.  There is normally a finger pier or just a straight pier along the end that is used for boarding.  I like this style of docking because, although it may be more difficult to get on and off the boat, the sides of the boat never touch the dock and fenders are not required.

This slip is actually too big for our little vessel.

We will be spending two days at the City of Fort Myers Yacht Basin.  After we arrived, I washed down Dubhe, (primarily because we had picked up a lot of ash around Lake Okeechobee from burning of the sugar cane fields), we did laundry, and of course I had to pump the holding tank which required a different fitting and took much longer than should have.  OK I will not discuss pumping of the holding tank anymore.

Within minutes of our arrival, we met new people and made friends.  We have even had a couple come on board to see our salty little vessel.  Our celebration of reaching the west coast of Florida consisted of a couple of drinks and dinner out at Fords Garage restaurant (gourmet burgers and craft beers).  Days like today (chores and all) are what make cruising so enjoyable.

Tomorrow sightseeing and meet up with friends from Beaufort.



Tuesday, January 13, 2015, 16th Day

Fort Myers City Yacht Basin

We slept “late” this morning and had a restful time drinking coffee and talking for a while, then of course breakfast of bacon and eggs, and Nancy cut my hair.  We walked to Publix for some groceries then took a free bus back, had lunch, a short nap, and some small fix it projects.  We walked around the marina to look at boats.  This is a pretty typical, middle class marina but some interesting boats.  Today, at least three people stopped by to admire Dubhe, take pictures, and ask questions.  We are continually amazed at the interest she garners.  We have been on the move so much it is nice to have an off day.

The weather today has been perfect.  Sunny with high near 80 degrees…a shorts and flip-flops day.

This evening we met Chuck and Claria Gorgen from Beaufort, on their boat “Odyssee”.  They have a wealth of information and were eager to share it with us.  We really appreciate their help and their time.  We talked a lot about our kids and grandchildren. The most enjoyable part of cruising is meeting up with friends and making new ones…but one of the downsides is that we miss our kids and especially Lilly and Lane.

Tomorrow we head to Fort Myers Beach.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015, 17th Day

Departed Fort Myers City Yacht Basin 0830

Arrived Fort Myers Beach 1155
City mooring field

Total day’s run 22 statute miles (19 nm), 603 miles total.

We had a pleasant trip today except for the heavy traffic of power boats driven by people with little knowledge of boat handling and rules of the road, and no apparent sense of courtesy.  For the most part, the boats were excessively large pregnant looking, overpowered, and going too fast.  One (actually smaller) boat was crossing the channel from my left (port side) and never had a clue that I had the right of way.  I sounded my horn and I could see people on board reacting as if we were going to crash.  Of course, I would not hit him just because I have the right of way (no such thing as “hold your ground” on the water).  He didn’t know what to do, so I veered off.  The unfortunate thing is that he never even understood what was going on or what should have been done.

Dingying

We took a mooring, dingyed over to the office, and took a walk around town.  Fort Myers Beach is not like I expected.  I thought it would be some high end place manicured and controlled so it would look “perfect” for people with too much money, but it was more like a beach town from years ago.  A diverse collection of bars, beach stores, hotdog stands, and low rise motels that you would expect to see at Tybee, or Ocean Drive (North Myrtle Beach) 40 years ago.  I like that atmosphere and would like to come back one day.  We HAD to stop and get ice cream.  We told the attendant that we would like two scoops in a cup so we could share as we were trying not to eat so much.  She filled the cup up with multiple scoops…and we ate all of it.

Dubhe on her mooring

For those who may not know, a mooring or sometimes referred to as a mooring ball, is a permanent anchor set on the bottom with a stout line to a float on the surface.  A boat comes pulls up and attaches to the float by various methods.  It costs $15.90 per night which includes the dingy dock about ½ mile away, and showers.  The advantage (other than being cheap) is that moorings are generally secure and require less swing room than an anchor would, so more can be put in a smaller space.  This is our first time on a mooring on this trip.

Tomorrow we head to Naples where we plan to stay for a couple of days.

Mooring Field

Fort Myers Beach 

Thursday, January 15, 2015, 18th Day

Departed Fort Myers Beach 0705

Arrived Naples City Dock 1200

Total day’s run 34 statute miles (29.5 nm), 637 miles total.

Although we like Fort Myers Beach, we need to move on and the weather today is best for our outside leg of 25 miles.  We wanted to go out Big Carlos Pass but due to the shallow waters, we decided to back track a couple of miles and go out Matanzas Pass.  The trip was nice and fairly smooth. We saw dolphins jumping and I trolled for most of the way but no bites.  In Naples we picked up a mooring, walked to the beach, had a few beers, pizza for supper, and ICE CREAM!  

Cruising/boat life is fun and we love it, but it is certainly not always fun and pleasure and it is not an easy or cushy lifestyle.  We generally start early and spend most of the day traveling.  To be honest, driving a boat for 5 or 7 hours continuously is painfully BORING.  Much of the time, the autopilot is doing the work, but someone needs to have an eye on things all the time.  Today we encountered a lot of crab traps that we had to steer around.  If one of these became entangled in the propeller, we would come to a stop.  There is no dishwasher, or oven, and the refrigerator is like one in a dorm room but Nancy does a wonderful job over feeding us.  Personal hygiene requires a lot more effort.  Our individual bunks are much narrower than a twin bed.  Laundry has to be done at a laundromat.  By 8:00 in the evening we are beat and ready to go to bed.  If there is any kind of weather or the anchorage is not protected, I could be up a lot during the night.  

Now with heavy usage of our “devices” as well as my computer, refrigerator, etc, power is becoming an issue when we are not plugged in.  In the past, I could go two days on my battery power, but about 0400 this morning, the inverter informed us (via loud beeps) that there was not enough voltage to run the refrigerator.  If we stay at anchor or on a mooring for more than one day, I will need to run the generator for several hours a day to keep us going,  When we get to the Everglades, this will really be an issue.  I hope I have enough gasoline for the generator.

Tomorrow we will stay in Naples.  I would like to get some rest but the oil needs to be changed and we need to find a new boat hook.  We are enjoying this ride and especially the feeling of doing something we have planned and dreamed about for so long.  I have not written this to be negative, but I wanted to convey a sense of our daily life aboard Dubhe.  All of life, and all of us have our ups and downs, no matter what we are doing, even following a dream.  No pictures to

Friday, January 16, 2015, 19th Day

Naples, Florida

We stayed at the mooring at Naples City Dock today, so we had a leisurely start and a big breakfast! We still have 15 days (our dock in Marathon starts February 1) and it looks like we are ahead of schedule so we will need to hold up a few more days than originally planned.  We will probably go on to Marco Island tomorrow and stay there a while.  I have never been there or even heard of it before I started planning this trip.

I thought I would change the engine oil today, but checked the manual and discovered that the oil change frequency is every 400 hours (more than twice what I thought) so I thought I had some free time…until I started trying to adjust the chain drive from the autopilot control to the steering hydraulic pump.  It had been way too loose but getting to it required major shifting of other equipment and provisions.  After a couple of hours, I think I have it right.  Then when trying to find a leak on my new bilge pump, I discovered a broken fitting.  Off I went to try to find one on foot.  One man at a marine supply business was very helpful and tried to find one but couldn’t.  He called places in Marco Island too and we may be able to get one tomorrow.  This is the second/backup bilge pump so it is not an emergency yet.

I also ran the generator for the first time today for an hour and it worked well, burning only about a cup of gasoline.  I expect I will be running it more in the couple of weeks to come.

This afternoon, we took a dingy ride around Naples and stopped at “The Dock” bar for drinks and appetizers before coming back to have dinner on board.  We’ve had a good afternoon.  

I have commented on the big expensive houses and boats along the way…Ponte Vedre, Saint Luci, etc., but Naples makes all these other places look like dumps.  Hilton Head is not even on the same scale.  Naples is where the money is.  The houses and boats are indescribable…but there is one aspect of Naples that really displays how much more money is here.  We are moored under the glide path for an airport, which appears to be for general aviation since I haven’t seen any commercial aircraft. What we have seen is a continuous, and I mean continuous, flow of private jets.  They have been landing one after another all day.  I expect I have seen dozens if not more than a hundred private jets fly over today and they are still coming as I write this.  I guess they are all coming in from the big cities to be home for the weekend.  

Tomorrow’s run is only about 12 miles so we will take it easy.

day.

Saturday, January 17, 2015, 20th Day

Departed Naples City Dock 0930

Arrived Marco Island 1200

Anchorage at Smokehouse Bay

Total day’s run 15 statute miles (13 nm), 652 miles total.

It was cold last night, 51 degrees, but this afternoon was a very nice sunny 70’s.  We “slept in” and had breakfast (pancakes and bacon) at the mooring, then went to the fuel dock to pump out, and we headed south.  It appears that all the people hurrying in on jets yesterday were out in their big boats hurrying around the water on a Saturday morning.  It would have been a perfect ride except for the insane boat traffic.  We anchored in a really neat place, Smokehouse Bay on Marco Island, which is in the center of condos and houses.  Check out the iPad screenshot below.  We went to Winn Dixie and to West Marine for a boat hook.  

Lesson Learned:  Don’t by cheap boat stuff.  For some things, especially tools, I have always tried to buy the best, not the cheapest.  A good tool will last a lifetime and work properly.  A cheap tool will waste your time and money.  I have never really used a boathook much, but knew that I might need one, so a year or so ago, I shopped around and bought the cheapest one I could find.  When it comes to day to day life on a boat, especially when picking up moorings, a GOOD boat hook is a necessity.  The cheap one came apart when trying to pick up the mooring yesterday.

Tonight we were cooking hamburgers on the grill and a couple from the boat next to us (Hatteras 48) invited us over for drinks.  We enjoyed the visit and will likely see them tomorrow.  Meeting new people is one of the best parts of cruising.  

We will probably stay at Marco Island until Tuesday when we will move on to Everglades City.

Blue triangle is where we are anchored

Sunday, January 18, 2015, 21st Day

Marco Island - Anchorage at Smokehouse Bay

Hanging out at our anchorage in Smokehouse Bay, Marco Island.  Another cold front is coming so this is a good place to be.  We were on the boat until early afternoon, doing small jobs, and reading.  I cranked the engine and ran it for an hour to charge the batteries.  Lunch was homemade pimento cheese that I am now specializing in.  After lunch we dingyed to the Winn Dixie dingy dock, walked around a street art event, which consisted of folks selling sculptures and pictures for far more than I would pay.  I liked a bronze alligator but it was $2,400.  All I wanted was a $10 tee shirt but there were none.  Walked (we walk anywhere we cannot go by dingy) to CVS and stopped for ICE CREAM on our way back to the dingy.  This afternoon I have been cleaning up all the pictures on my computer and running the gasoline generator.  Power generation is still somewhat in the research stage.  My little 2000 w Honda (really a Yamaha) generator ran for about 1½ hours on little more than a cup of gasoline!  …

For those who are interested (sorry for those who are not):  Dubhe has three battery banks.  One bank is a battery dedicated to starting the engine.  Nothing else runs off of it.  In theory, if we run down the house batteries, we can still start the engine.  There are two banks of batteries for “house” power.  Each bank consists of two 6 volt golf cart batteries connected in series for 12 volts.  They are rated at a little more than 200 amp hours (each bank).  It seems like a lot, but I apparently miscalculated how much my refrigerator needs.  It burns about 150 watts, so at 110 volts, it draws about 1.4 amps, but when 12 volt power is used via an inverter, it needs over 10 amps…ouch…not counting losses in the inverter, etc.  Anyway, one of the house banks is dedicated to providing 110 volt AC via the inverter, and the other supplies 12 volt DC for the lights, electronics, pumps, etc.  I can switch each bank between AC and DC or use both for one.  (I could have posted pictures of all the batteries, switches, etc, but that would probably be too much.)  Besides the refrigerator, another energy hog is my laptop charger, so when I am drinking cold beer and surfing, I am using a lot of juice.  Of course, once we are plugged in at a marina or when we get to Marathon, there is no problem but I expect we will have several days anchored in the Everglades before then...I just need to have enough gasoline for my generator.  One other point…the engine alternator produces twice the amperage as the portable, but it is not good for this diesel engine to idle or run slow and relatively unloaded for long periods.

Tomorrow, we move to a marina for one night, primarily to fill our water tanks, do laundry, take showers, pump out, and get wifi.  Tuesday we hope to head for Everglades City.

Smokehouse Bay. Dubhe is just left of center.