5/22/2008
6:02AM
Monday
I joined Mike and Mercy aboard their "new" 43 Albin in Ruskin, FL. Ruskin is a little south of Tampa. As always, I always offer my customers assistance with their new purchase; this time I'm helping the new owners with their navigation and operation of the boat back to Georgia.
Tuesday
We left Ruskin a little before 7AM on Tuesday with a forecast of thunderstorms and wind all day long; the forecasters were right. I let Mike handle the boat from the start. He was anxious getting her out of the slip but with a few words of encouragement, he did just fine. I don't like to operate new customer's boats but just sit back and offer guidance and encouragement; you only learn boat handling by doing.
Mercy and I sit and studied the charts slowly making our way across Tampa Bay to the intracoastal waterway. Reading charts is a skill you learn by doing also; Mercy picked up on it right away.
We made our way slowly South finally docking near Boca Grande for the night; 80 miles at about 7 knots, 10 hours on the water are tiring. No major problems for the day and the boat ran fine. The only issue is that we ran into major rain and with no side curtains on the Bimini we all got soaked.
Wednesday
Yesterday was better weather. We left Boca early and made our way to Ft. Myers to the Gulf of Mexico. Beautiful blue skies awaited us. Unfortunately a 10-15 knot breeze out of the SW made for 2-3 foot seas on our starboard beam. The trawler is not equipped with stabilizers so she took on a rolling act soon upon entering the Gulf. It made for some difficult walking about topsides but it wasn't terribly uncomfortable.
We made our way 27 miles to Marco island arriving at about 5 PM. The boat was ransacked below but nothing was broken.
After putting things away we treated ourselves to a great dinner at the famous Snook Inn.
6:02AM
Monday
I joined Mike and Mercy aboard their "new" 43 Albin in Ruskin, FL. Ruskin is a little south of Tampa. As always, I always offer my customers assistance with their new purchase; this time I'm helping the new owners with their navigation and operation of the boat back to Georgia.
Tuesday
We left Ruskin a little before 7AM on Tuesday with a forecast of thunderstorms and wind all day long; the forecasters were right. I let Mike handle the boat from the start. He was anxious getting her out of the slip but with a few words of encouragement, he did just fine. I don't like to operate new customer's boats but just sit back and offer guidance and encouragement; you only learn boat handling by doing.
Mercy and I sit and studied the charts slowly making our way across Tampa Bay to the intracoastal waterway. Reading charts is a skill you learn by doing also; Mercy picked up on it right away.
We made our way slowly South finally docking near Boca Grande for the night; 80 miles at about 7 knots, 10 hours on the water are tiring. No major problems for the day and the boat ran fine. The only issue is that we ran into major rain and with no side curtains on the Bimini we all got soaked.
Wednesday
Yesterday was better weather. We left Boca early and made our way to Ft. Myers to the Gulf of Mexico. Beautiful blue skies awaited us. Unfortunately a 10-15 knot breeze out of the SW made for 2-3 foot seas on our starboard beam. The trawler is not equipped with stabilizers so she took on a rolling act soon upon entering the Gulf. It made for some difficult walking about topsides but it wasn't terribly uncomfortable.
We made our way 27 miles to Marco island arriving at about 5 PM. The boat was ransacked below but nothing was broken.
After putting things away we treated ourselves to a great dinner at the famous Snook Inn. Today, May 22, we are headed to Little Shark River to try our hand at anchoring on the hook. This will be another new adventure for Mike and Mercy and they are excited about it. I will not be posting tonight as there is NO cell coverage in that area of the Florida Everglades.
The new owners are getting a good handle on boat handling and navigation; practice make perfect they say. Today, the forecast is for 1-2 foot seas so we'll focus on seamanship skills and offshore navigations.
Stay Tuned.
Mike
The new owners are getting a good handle on boat handling and navigation; practice make perfect they say. Today, the forecast is for 1-2 foot seas so we'll focus on seamanship skills and offshore navigations.
Stay Tuned.
Mike
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