Impulse on the Move

Vessel Name: Impulse
Vessel Make/Model: Catalina 350
Hailing Port: Langhorne, PA
Crew: Bill & Mary
13 November 2013 | Punta Gorda
12 November 2013 | Punta Gorda, FL
11 November 2013 | Fort Myers, FL
10 November 2013 | Moore Haven, FL
09 November 2013 | Indiantown, FL
08 November 2013 | Manatee Pocket, Stuart, FL
07 November 2013 | Vero Beach, FL
06 November 2013 | Vero Beach, FL
05 November 2013 | Merritt Island, FL
04 November 2013 | Daytona Beach, FL
03 November 2013 | St. Augustine, FL
02 November 2013 | St. Augustine, FL
01 November 2013 | St. Augustine, FL
31 October 2013 | Jacksonville Beach, FL
30 October 2013 | Fernandina Beach, FL
29 October 2013 | Jekyll Island, GA
28 October 2013 | Jekyll Island, GA
27 October 2013 | Blackbeard Creek, GA
26 October 2013 | Savannah, GA
25 October 2013 | Beaufort, SC
Recent Blog Posts
13 November 2013 | Punta Gorda

ICW Thoughts

12 November 2013 | Punta Gorda, FL

Day 45 - Home at last...

Happy 50th Birthday Joe!

11 November 2013 | Fort Myers, FL

Day 44 - Locks and bridges all day long...

(Sorry - this was delayed due to poor internet access...)

10 November 2013 | Moore Haven, FL

Day 43 - I finally saw an alligator!

(Sorry - no internet access for a few days so this is behind.)

09 November 2013 | Indiantown, FL

Day 42 - and the wind subsides...

The wind blew all night, and it rained too. We pulled anchor and motored out of Manatee Pocket and into the St. Lucie River – and the wind blew some more. Finally, when we got into the St. Lucie canal it let up a bit, only because we were inland from the coast I think. Then it drizzled.

08 November 2013 | Manatee Pocket, Stuart, FL

Day 41 - More wind!!

We took early showers at the marina and then dropped the line and left the mooring around 7:15. Once out into the Indian River again, the tide and wind helped us to cover 40 miles in about 5 hours – that is good for us! We actually caught up to three other sailing vessels and passed them – the [...]

ICW Thoughts

13 November 2013 | Punta Gorda
Bill Yeomans

Couple thoughts and observation to share with those who may follow. I have C-MAP and C-MAX on my Standard Horizon chart plotter, new and updated, Navionics on the IPhone, full size charts, Kettwells ICW charts and a depth finder. These work 90-95% of the time. The other 5-10% you will find everything is wrong. Default is to follow the markers, which becomes a bit difficult when some of the markers are not even in the water and you're in a boat. Evidently there is no one right answer, it is a question of which option is most likely the right or the least wrong. Pay a lot of attention to the depth finder and watch the changes. As far as the "magenta line" is concerned, mine is not, it's black. It may not sound like much but it makes it easy to lose the course line in the contour sounding lines, whose brilliant idea was that? Sometime the "magenta line" is dead on, other times not so much so, like when it is cutting thru a marsh or someone's backyard. Hard to determine who's responsible for that, is it poor cartography or intentional governmental variance of the GPS signal? A number of times when you need "the line" the most, like when you pop out on a large sound or river, it will disappear, especially on C-map. Nice. At least if they had written something like, "Have Fun Sucker" on the plotter you wouldn't waste a bunch of time searching for something that's not there. Scan ahead.

As far as anchoring. I would suggest at least 100' foot of chain and one pointy anchor. The claw works most of the time and has had no problems in mud or fine sand. Surprisingly, there are some areas where you find a very coarse, almost pebbly sand, the claw not so good there, leaning towards a Rocna. Current is swift, tide swing can be great, 5-8', swing area can be narrow in some spots. You're not in Kansas any more, nor the Chesapeake. You need to know where you are on your tides and make the necessary adjustments to your soundings to ensure water under you and enough scope. Protected anchorages of the Chesapeake are more like swaddled anchorages, finding that kind of protection along the lower part if the ICW is tough.

We stayed in many marinas along the way. There are many places and things to see and marinas make it much easier. It's also much easier to meet others in a marina and pick their brains. Not a lot of social interaction on an anchor by yourself. Can't really think of more than 1 or 2 marinas that we would have, could have or should have skipped. The next trip will most likely involve fewer marinas.

With regards to sailing on the ICW, can it be done? There are some places where it is possible, but a number of things need to be considered. Point one, most of the time your current course is going to change substantially in the not too distant future, so sailing could also double as your exercise routine for the day, "up-down-in-out-up-down, repeat". You do get some long straight runs in Florida. Point two, being in unfamiliar waters with questionable depths and charts do you want to run a ground with your sails up? Can you slow down, stop, change course or go into reverse quickly with your sails up? Not really. Point three, you get passed by some large motor yachts on the ICW. Typical procedure is to go to dead slow while the vessel passes and then turn into its wake and resume speed. If you are sailing, the yacht will be forced to pass at a greater speed and in turn will throw a much larger wake. Point four, we found that most of the time the wind direction was very close to being on our nose, be it the funneling effect of the channels, ditches and woods or lighter winds given our motoring speed, the direction was not very conducive to sailing.

It would probably be really, really nice to have a 4G hot spot. This would give you access to "Active Captain" and "Cruiser.net" while underway. Using such, overlaid on a Garmin chart app, on a "tablet" would allow you to see problem areas ahead of your position and also research marinas and anchorages as timing changes. While you can review such on your computer when you are in a marina the prior evening, given WIFI access, maybe, sometimes, the chances of noting and remembering so much info the following day aren't real good, for one reason or another. Enough said.

Clearance. 65' bridge clearance is a farce. so is 64'. At 63' you need to be careful, read the boards and be prepared to abort if the water level is too high. You will find times where you will most likely have to wait for the tide to go out a bit. 62' seems to be the real number for ICW bridge clearance.

We put 250 hours on the motor, went approx. 1450 miles, and went through about $630 in fuel.

Day 45 - Home at last...

12 November 2013 | Punta Gorda, FL
Mary/ sunny Mid 80s
Happy 50th Birthday Joe!

We left Fort Myers Yacht Basin before sunrise – and it was a glorious one! The day went smoothly as we motored and sometimes motorsailed out of the Caloosahatchee River, past Sanibel Island, Captiva Island, and Cayo Costa. We talked about stopping at Cabbage Key for a “cheeseburger in paradise” but decided to continue on home. There was even a dolphin riding our wake for awhile again.

The tide and wind were against us as we turned into Charlotte Harbor which prolonged the trip a bit, but we arrived at the dock by 4:00. The photo shows Bill on his "makeshift helm seat" that he sat on most of the way down, and will be glad to get off of for awhile! Mom and Dad came over and had dinner for us – we unloaded some of our stuff but the rest can wait until tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone who has read and followed this blog. Our adventure has come to an end, and it is one we’ll never forget. We appreciate all of the support and interest in our experience that we have had from family and friends – we miss all of you! Bill says to check in because he has a few insights about his trip down the ICW that he wants to share with anyone who is interested, so look for another post in the near future.

Take care, and keep in touch! And please stop by for a visit if you are in Florida, or even plan to come and stay with us a few days. Our house can serve as a home base if you want to explore the Gulf coast, or attend some spring training events. You know we have the space, and Bill loves to cook for company!

Day 44 - Locks and bridges all day long...

11 November 2013 | Fort Myers, FL
Mary /mostly sunny, 80s
(Sorry - this was delayed due to poor internet access...)
Another beautiful day weather wise - it started out very mild and was nice all day. The sunrise was gorgeous as we moved down the Caloosahatchee Canal. We left the dock in Moore Haven at 6:30 along with two other boats. We requested openings at four bridges and passed through two locks today - it was a busy one! It was nice to travel with the other boat that was tilted yesterday, Jabiru. They travel at about the same speed and we chatted here and there while waiting for bridges to open and locks to empty. They live on their 37 foot Cabo Rico and are from Australia, on their way to St. Petersburg to tie up behind a friend's house and spend time on the land (We heard people who do that call themselves CLODs, Cruisers Living on Dirt).

Since we left the St. Lucie Inlet area the water has gotten darker - today it was coffee brown as a result of the tannins in the water. We are looking forward to seeing turquoise again in the gulf maybe? We went by sugar cane fields, citrus groves, and grazing cattle today. The Caloosahatchee River is really beautiful and quiet, so we enjoyed passing by many homes and marshes.

We docked in the Fort Myers Yacht Basin, which is gearing up for the boat show here that starts on Thursday - we got the last slip! We walked into the Fort Myers Historic District and had dinner at Cabo's Cantina. This part of Ft. Myers is charming, and dinner was very good. Workers were busy decorating for Christmas while we ate! I guess they want it all pretty for the boat show visitors. We walked by many of the boats that are ready for display as a part of the boat show on our way back to Impulse.

This is our last night aboard the boat for awhile if all goes as planned tomorrow! We will try to get to our house in Punta Gorda before a front comes through with predicted 30 mph winds, but it will require an early start and a long day...

Day 43 - I finally saw an alligator!

10 November 2013 | Moore Haven, FL
Mary /mostly sunny, 80s
(Sorry - no internet access for a few days so this is behind.)

The weather today was beautiful - light breeze, mostly sunny, and about 84. We left the dock at 6:40 and motored to the RR bridge. On the way we saw a pair of bald eagles sitting on a power pole!

Billy Owen and his buddy zoomed up in an open workboat and rafted up to our port side. They placed 9 barrels on our side deck using ropes from our bow to a winch in the cockpit and from the mast to the safety line to hold them in place, and then they started a pump and filled the barrels with water. The boat slowly tilted to about 23 degrees. A plumb bob that hung from the top of the mast eventually touched the water surface, and then Bill slowly drove us under the bridge. The little antenna on the top of the mast went "ting, ting, ting" on the struts of the bridge, but we made it! (We got the attached photo from the people in the second boat, Jabiru. That is us, going under the 49' bridge with a 53' mast.) They then opened the bottom of the barrels and emptied them of water, unloaded our boat, and took off to tilt the next boat. We waited around for that boat and then entered the Port Myaca lock, and then went through to Lake Okeechobee. It is HUGE!! But the water was pretty calm and the trip across was uneventful - we like it that way!

Between the RR bridge and the lock Bill spotted my first alligator - he had seen one several weeks ago, but I hadn't seen it. This one was not very big (3 or 4 feet) but now I have seen all of the types of wildlife I was looking for on this trip! We saw several more gators on the other side of the lake and I'm sure we will see more tomorrow.

We passed Clewiston and headed for Moore Haven. We went through the lock fine, but on the other side the RR bridge had closed so we were stuck in between for about 40 minutes. Two trains went by, and eventually it opened, but not knowing what was going on was very frustrating. Just past the bridge we docked at the Moore Haven City Dock and after tying up had a well-deserved beer and a glass of wine, and then we tried to find a local Mexican restaurant to no avail. So, Burger King had to do. Back at the boat, bedtime came early once again. The end of Daylight Savings Time has brought our days to a close earlier than ever!

Day 42 - and the wind subsides...

09 November 2013 | Indiantown, FL
Mary/cloudy, rainy, high 70s
The wind blew all night, and it rained too. We pulled anchor and motored out of Manatee Pocket and into the St. Lucie River – and the wind blew some more. Finally, when we got into the St. Lucie canal it let up a bit, only because we were inland from the coast I think. Then it drizzled.

We got through several bridges and the St. Lucie Lock, which was interesting since they change the water level by opening the gates a little and letting it just pour in instead of pumping it in. We rose 12 feet! One other boat was with us, and we followed them to the Indiantown Marina. Once here we talked to them and they will also be getting “tipped” to make it under the RR bridge tomorrow morning. It is good to have company!

Once in the marina it poured rain, several times. We signed up to attend the weekly Saturday night barbecue so I made macaroni salad to take to the pot luck – burgers and dogs are supplied. Everything was good – not much interaction with the others there though… But, they have done very nice things with this marina. Hardscaping, lights in the banyan trees, lots of tables and chairs. Very comfortable.

Back to the boat to escape the mosquitoes – we were warned so we had Off! On – and then a little TV before bedtime. Some planning for the next few days – a storm is brewing that may arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday, so we hope to be at PGI by then. We need to move at 6:30 to meet Billy, the “tipper,” at the RR bridge.

Day 41 - More wind!!

08 November 2013 | Manatee Pocket, Stuart, FL
Mary/cloudy, windy, rainy, mid-70s
We took early showers at the marina and then dropped the line and left the mooring around 7:15. Once out into the Indian River again, the tide and wind helped us to cover 40 miles in about 5 hours – that is good for us! We actually caught up to three other sailing vessels and passed them – the reefed jib was the ticket! Several times we had dolphins ride our wake again – it seems to be a sport for them. They spot us, and then chase along side until they are on the side of the stern and are surfing the wave that the boat makes as it moves through the water. We passed a couple of islands with vultures soaring over them – not sure why? Maybe something is dying there?

When we neared St. Lucie Inlet, the water turned to turquoise – it had been greener the past few days but now it is actually that azure blue you think of as tropical. As we moved along the clouds built up and just as we were about to anchor in Manatee Pocket, the rain started. We both got wet while anchoring, but then we had a nice salad for lunch and Bill took a nap while I caught up on things. We were going to head into a restaurant for dinner but it started to pour rain again, so Bill whipped up some supper and we stayed on the boat. The wind picked up and hit 25 knots easily – maybe more – so he worried about those anchored around us dragging. Hopefully everyone will stay where they are for the night! Tomorrow we head off of the ICW into the Okeechobee Waterway to Indiantown. Maybe the wind will die down a little as we move inland…

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