The Big Apple

We spent the night on anchor in New Haven Connecticut because the marina we had planned did not have room for us. The anchorage provided decent protection from the south winds in the middle of the night. The next day we set out for Port Washington, NY where we had reserved 5 nights due to a low pressure off the coast that was causing strong winds and waves.

Cruising

When we weighed anchor and headed out into LIS (Long Island Sound) the south wind was making the boat rock so we headed directly into it until we hit the LI shore and worked our way west to Port Washington. We were passed by this cool looking boat.

Soon we were passing Execution Rocks Light. It has been rumored that the island got the name “Execution” after slave owners murdered slaves by chaining them to the rocks on the island and waiting for high tide to drown them. I can only hope that that horrible story is not true or the way the island came to be known as Execution Rocks.

We tied up at Safe Harbor Capri marina in Port Washington and doubled up on our lines for the predicted strong winds. A small tugboat came in behind us.

Tug Boats

Not a Nordic Tug

Yacht identification is a hobby of mine. I like to guess yacht manufacturers. It’s never easy and rarely can I say with certainty the manufacturer and model of a passing yacht. Some manufacturers make it easy to identify by always incorporating their signature design element into all the yacht models they produce. Even classifying a yacht as a trawler or as a tug boat can start a religious war among other boaters who argue which design elements make a particular boat a tug vs. a trawler vs. a motor yacht, etc. This particular tug intrigues me as most recreational tugs I see are Nordic Tugs, American Tugs or Ranger Tugs. All nice looking boats in my opinion. Less often I see tugs such as the Gozzard Pilgrim 40 (no longer in production) . This particular tug reminds me of a Lord Nelson Victory Tug?

Damaged Radar

When we arrived I planned on repairing our Furuno 1942 MK2 marine radar system which had stopped displaying targets shortly after we anchored next to the USCG boat in Fishers Island. I often wonder whether powerful military style radar systems that output much higher power microwaves can damage our low power 6.0 KW system?

Once when I was near Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay there was military testing operations going on around me. The warship hailed me on the VHF and warned that if I got within a mile of their vessel that it may result in damage to the sensitive electronics aboard my yacht. That started me thinking… it would be useful for military ships to be able to damage the sensitive electronics on a hostile boat by emitting a focused high energy pulse. Older style marine radars like our Furuno 1942 MK2 (circa 2005) emit analog microwaves using a magnetron like you find in your household microwave oven. These magnetrons have a predictable lifespan. Newer marine radars use lower power digital rather than analog microwave emissions.

Electronics Upgrades

After diagnosing the radar I believe our magnetron had given up the ghost. We need to have radar to travel safely so I ordered a new modern radar system as well as some other electronic navigation upgrades.

GMR Fathom 24 Radome
gWind Wireless 2 Wind Speed / Direction Transducer
GMI 20 Display Instrument
Scanstrut PTM-R1-1 Tapered Mast
Garmin GPSMAP 1243xsv MFD (multi-function display)

Train Ride to the City

It would be days before I could have the needed electronics delivered to the marina so we decided to go into NYC and visit my nephew who was living and working in the city.

We took an Uber to the Port Washington station and hopped on the LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) into NYC (about a 45 minute ride)

We arrived at Penn Station and should have just walked to upper Manhattan but we decided to take a NYC cab ride instead.

I’m not sure I understood any of this conversation

Colin

Waiting for us when we stepped out of the cab was my nephew, Colin who we were very happy to see. We. made him take pics with both of us for the blog. Either we are very short or Colin seems to get bigger every time I see him.

We grabbed lunch at a great little middle eastern deli and Colin had to run back to work. We thanked him for showing us around and we headed off on foot to Central Park just a block or two away.

Central Park

Steinway Tower (Worlds Skinniest Skyscraper)

I recently watched a video about the construction of the Steinway Tower masterpiece of engineering on Billionaire’s row

The Sights

As we walked downtown in search of a decent pub we saw many interesting sights.

Times Square

When we arrived at Times Square we took a moment to look around

By this time our feet hurt and we both agreed we needed a margarita and an IPA. It was almost Margaritaville until it was the Yard House.

On the way back to Penn station Teresa hailed a cab and instead a strange man pulled over and said he was a cab. We both laughed thinking our parents had told us never to get in the car with a stranger but we hopped in anyway. It turned out to be a $20 ride to go the short few blocks to Penn station but our sore feet said it was worth it.

Work on the Boat

Back on the boat and some of the new electronics had arrived. I quickly began to wire them up in the pilothouse to test before the actual installation.

Now hopefully the removal of the old radar and install of this new tech goes smooth tomorrow… Stay tuned.

Weather Eye

Wednesday, 10-27-21 Offshore Low pressure

We are keeping our eye on the weather. The current wind forecast shows that in 48 hours or so the conditions will deteriorate to what is shown above.

When this low moves out to sea there is another cold front that will be right on top of us in Long Island.

A smaller disturbance joins as the previous one moves East

National Weather Service – Hazardous Weather Outlook…

Gale-force winds and/or very rough seas are forecast on Tuesday.

Gale-force winds and/or very rough seas are forecast on Wednesday.

Gale-force winds and/or very rough seas are forecast on Thursday.

Gale-force winds and/or very rough seas are forecast on Friday.

Gale-force winds and/or very rough seas are forecast on Saturday.

The waves heights for the Jersey Shore go from their current 2′ to around 8′ or more.

We decided to book a night @ a Safe Harbor marina in Stratford, CT and the following 5 nights at another Safe Harbor marina further west in Port Washington, NY. This would allow us to allow the weather to clear before running the Jersey shore. We are hoping for a 2-3 days of flat seas to run south and into the Delaware Bay.

The future weather looks bad but this morning we awoke to a nice “sun up” view and a calm anchorage.

As we motor west down LIS the waves are small and the sun is shining.

calm seas

Prop wash behind our Bruce Roberts TY57

We passed Falkner Island off the the Connecticut coast. What an odd looking island.

We loaded the boat up with drugs before we left, a.k.a. apple cider donuts These things are crack!

We had booked our slip using the Dockwa app and were disappointed when it was declined. I think the larger boat is going to present a challenge at many of the smaller marinas that I will seek a slip. We made a last minute decision to anchor in Morris Cove New Haven, CT.

Today’s trip salted up the pilothouse windows after I spent a while cleaning all the salt off of them. I’m leaving them salty till tomorrow morning when I deal with them again.

Today’s trip looked something like this.

Southbound

Teresa Arrives

Teresa arrived and we were excited to start our trip south but first we had to finish the maintenance projects such as…

I burned through two Dremels using cut off wheels.

It was not all work this summer. If I was not watching Cozi TV with my Dad I was probably enjoying “Dinner & a Movie” each night with my brother Eddie and his wife, Doreen. They are amazing cooks and I eat well while I am home. Dad & I Celebrated his 90th birthday with a visit from his sister Maybelle and her husband, Armand. Dad’s is 90 years old and I’m still hearing new stories from my auntie Maybelle about when they were young growing up together. It was nice to see the three of them together. I wish I had taken more photos but here are a few…

Dad’s 90th Birthday

Cozi TV makes me smile as I watch the Six Million Dollar Man or Little House on the Prairie and it’s like it’s 1979 all over again.

As the morning temps kept getting colder the marina was empty under a full harvest moon.

We watched as friends also set sail in search of warmer weather.

Saucy Fox Departing Warwick, RI for points south

We found some time to catch a small striper

Finally we untied the dock lines and cast off. It was a great feeling to be sitting in the pilothouse as we pointed Simple Life south.

I wanted to top off the fuel tanks so we stopped in Newport, RI at the Newport Yaching Center.

The New Simple Life has 4X as much power and 2X the speed but also consumes 4X the fuel. Even with the fuel tanks more than half full a top off of the tanks means 890 gals.

Soon we were passing Misquamicut State Beach and running the inside of Fisher Island.

As the sun was getting low we decided to tuck in behind Fisher Island for the night. We arrived at our chosen anchorage and found a CG Cutter anchored so we dropped next to them.

Below you can find a walkthrough Video of the CGC COHO

https://www.dvidshub.net/video/776029/virtual-tour-uscgc-coho-wpb-87321

As soon as I dropped the anchor and started paying out the anchor chain… it stopped… Hmmmmm.. Better go check the anchor locker. I found a dreaded “Chain Knot”!!!!

We spent some time untangling the anchor chain before making dinner and relaxing in the salon for the night. We will retire tonight and in the morning decide where we are going? Winter 05, Leg 001 looked something like below.

Up in Smoke, Down in Flames

I like to think of myself as the type of captain who is never worried when I’m offshore alone because I have prepared for anything.

Like most captains, I plan for emergencies and have procedures for such things as:

Heavy seas
Striking a partially submerged objects
Beneath the waterline hose flooding event
Running aground
Running out of IPA or margaritas, etc.

I know many stories of fellow boaters who found themselves in bad situations. However, I was not ready for what happened on my return trip to Rhode Island.

I was piloting from the flybridge on a moonless night trying to spot crossing boat traffic and the endless lobster pots that dot the coast. I smelled smoke. Smoke is a common occurrence when driving from the flybridge at night along the coast. There are many campgrounds along the shore and campfire smoke is a common smell wafting out over the water.

However on this particularly dark moonless-night, the invisible smoke suddenly revealed itself as it passed by the light of my green navigation light. I thought hmmm. That smoke seems pretty thick for being this far off the coast. I thought… is the smoke coming from my boat? I decided to get up from the captains chair on the flybridge and make my way down and into the pilothouse. Upon opening the pilothouse door, thick black smoke poured out.

SHIT

I rushed inside thinking I needed to find the source of the smoke and was quickly overcome and unable to breathe. I found my way back outside the pilothouse, unable to take a breath. The black smoke had caused my lungs and chest to contract so tightly that I simply could not take another breath. It took a good 30 seconds before I could get a small amount of air back into my lungs. After getting a breath, I hastily opened both pilothouse doors in an attempt to clear the smoke and regain entry. I saw orange flames shooting through the black smoke. The Small Craft Advisory had ended a few hours ago but allowing the still strong winds to enter the boat simply gave the fire the oxygen it craved.

In this moment… I understood I had little chance of getting to my satellite emergency beacon that was mounted inside the boat or even the many fire extinguishers I had mounted throughout the boat. I needed to get my dinghy launched and get off Simple Life. Simple Life has no side walkways and when I order her I asked that the ladder that goes from the fly deck to the lower cockpit be removed. My path to the dinghy was through the burning pilothouse and down through the smokey saloon to the swim platform. I had my dinghy stowed on the swim platform. After seeing the flames rolling through the smoke I thought… If I go back in there… I may not make it back out. I retreated back to the relative safety of the flybridge as I watched flames pour out of both pilothouse doors.

I stood there trapped on the flybridge with the dark water around the boat illuminated by the burning boat. As the flames leapt skyward, I thought…

“Well Captain, if you have a plan you better put it in motion in the next few seconds!”

I quickly decided that the best option was to climb off the stern of the boat onto the swim platform. Now standing on the swim platform, I needed to get the dingy pushed into the water. Serendipitously, a fellow boater friend of mine had graciously given me his almost new pair of dinghy ramps to store my dinghy on my swim platform. I had been wanting to relocate my dinghy as it lowered my center of gravity making the boat more stable on my offshore trips. That fall another friend helped me install the removable dinghy ramp arms. I was ecstatic that the dinghy was not on the flybridge as I’m not sure the electric crane would have been operational or that I would have even had the time to lower the dinghy. It was a windy night and you could hear the roaring sound of the fire quickly ripping through the boat.

I was frantically attempting to untie the dinghy which I had foolishly tied with a ridiculous number of lines each with multiple knots. In the dark the process of trying to untie all these knots had me fearful that I might have to jump in the water instead. As I freed the last line I gave the dinghy a tremendous push and watched it splash into the water. It was then I realized I was not holding the painter line attached to the bow. I quickly reached down and snatched up the painter line before the dinghy could float away. I jumped in and by the time I looked back at Simple Life the pilothouse doors had fallen off, the pilothouse roof had collapsed and the windows were exploding with loud gunshot-like sounds as the flames leapt high into the night sky.

I called the USCG and within minutes they came along side me. One of the coastguardsman asked me “do you need to go the hospital?” I replied, “no I’m OK”. He then asked, “smoke inhalation?” to which I said.. “well as a matter of fact, yes… but I’m fine”. Later that night, I would come to realize the coastguardsmen never thought to tell me my face was covered in black soot. That night while aboard the USCG boat, I watched as Simple Life burn to the waterline and slip beneath the waves. I thank the USCG for their fast response and professionalism. I now realize that if you can’t extinguish an onboard fire, you better have a plan to get off the boat quickly.

Simple Life Reborn

Today I have a new Simple Life. She’s a 57′ Bruce Roberts Troller Yacht. Simply a cross between a high horsepower motor yacht and a long-range trawler.

I had the original Simple life built in 2012 and it took 8 years of modifying her till I had her just the way I wanted her. Today I am starting all over again and there is lots to do! The boat was a bit of a project boat but I enjoy spending all my time and money restoring and upgrading a boat that has lots of potential.

Loosing Simple Life and everything aboard her was difficult. I’m thankful for my family and friends who supported and helped me during this time. The Simple Life philosophy reminds me that life is about the pursuit of happiness through people and experiences, not things.

Cape Coral

19th Leg

This was the 19th and last leg of my winter 2020 journey to Florida. It usually takes me a month to get to the Georgia / Florida boarder.

New Record – 26 Days, 19 Legs

I left on Halloween and arrived in SW Florida in Cape Coral on 11/25. 26 days, broken up over 19 legs.

I was about to do a full breakdown of each leg complete with milage and fuel burn but I think I’ll save that for another winter 2020 summary post.

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We tied between the dolphins in front of the Moore Haven Lock last night. It can take some maneuvering to pull the bow right up to the dolphins and loop a line over the top. Then you have to let the boat idle in reverse and slowly slip out the bow line until you almost hit the dolphin behind you. Now you tie to the dolphin off your stern and take up slack on the forward line until the boat rests evenly between the two dolphins.

Bug Orgy

It’s the morning and as I go outside to untie the lines and the boat is covered in little noseeums. Lake O has bugs! I start using the cockpit shower to wash the sleeping stowaways off the outside of the boat. It’s a mistake.. Now there are clouds of woke bugs flying all around. I quickly untie the lines and run to the safety of the inside. I am a believer that we must share this great planet with all of its inhabitants however, I hate bugs!

Moore Haven Lock – Exiting Lake O

Now I’m back outside in bug land setting fenders while the lock tender awaits me entering the lock.

Once through the lock we pass through a tight railroad bridge, under a highway bridge and town of Moore Haven is on our starboard side.

I wish I had taken a nice photo of the town of Moore Haven but the only photo I took was of this old sailboat that has not felt love in years.

Locking Through

Waiting for Ortana Lock’s green light to enter

There are many locks on the Okeechobee Waterway and now we are at Ortana Lock.

Nathan working the aft lines in the lock

Labelle Florida

The height board on the right shows over 23′ so we hail the bridge tender and let them know that we will cruise right on under without requesting a bridge opening.

I see this dock and believe it’s a free dock. I think the sign is trying to say you can stay for 3 days but must leave for 8 days before you return again? It does not matter as Nathan and I are not stopping. Instead we are throttle down trying to make it to Cape Coral for Thanksgiving.

Mossy Tree along the Caloosahatchee River

This section of the Coloosahatchee River as beautiful as it is… is far from over developed. A great place to buy a river front home that has access to the Florida gulf.

I passed this group of young people enjoying the nice weather and thought… I wonder if they know both their bilge pumps are running? I did not appear to be low in the water as I passed and they did not seem at all concerned.

Soon I was tying Simple Life to the dock and counting the number of days and legs it took to get to Cape Coral, FL from Warwick, RI. – 19 legs in 26 Days. A new record.

Above is what the 19th leg route looked like.

I’m posting this blog entry almost a year late but I promise to start posting again as I prepare for my Winter 2021 season to start.

Lake Okeechobee

As we cruise out of the anchorage in the AM we get a good look at some of the boats anchored. It’s a great wide open anchorage but many of the boats taking up space appear to be derelict rather than actively transiting the ICW.

I don’t believe anyone is actually on this anchored boat

Having traversed the Okeechobee Waterway a few times, I should have checked the water height of Lake O before even starting down the Saint Lucie River. I figured that Hurricane Eta dumped so much rain on the watershed that dumps into Lake O … it would not an issue. I do a quick check of the USACE website and it is 16+ feet. The highest I have ever seen it.

The ICW is a federal waterway so there is lots of debate about weather “No Wake” signs are enforceable. Either way… “Do unto others as you would have done unto you”. I find it rude when I’m in an anchorage and a passing boat does not slow to reduce their wake and items in my salon go-a flying. You will always find a few ICW boaters who turn off their AIS boat name broadcasting as well as mount their dinghy so nobody and read their boat name. After feeling anonymous they blast through “No Wake” areas. You always hear someone from the anchorage attempt to hail them on VHF CH#16 but they never answer. They don’t answer because they know nobody is going to have anything nice to say to them.

As I pass this marina that is full of Fleming Yachts.

I can’t help but think it’s a Fleming dealer?

I just did a quick search of Fleming dealers and low and behold… There is a Burr Yacht Sales Fleming Dealer in Stuart, FL.

I do understand why they have resorted to placing this sign out front of their dealership.

There are many beautiful homes and properties in this area. I’m digging the oversized stork lawn art.

Very quickly you are passing beneath the route 95 bridges that us northerners cross over on our drive to southern Florida.

American Custom Yachts has many beautiful custom yachts and a protected boathouse.

MV Yes.. I think it should have been “Yes, Yes, Yes!”

We arrive at the first lock going west on the Okeechobee Waterway. It’s the Saint Lucie Lock with a 14′ drop.

Stylin in my work Pajamas and lock required life Vest.

Soon a sailboat passes us and I think the captain and crew look really relaxed as they pass.

Sitting on the side deck, feet up on phone

Then after it passes I notice that TowBoatUS has them on a hip tow.

At this point my track looks something like this as we approach Lake O

The weather is beautiful

After crossing Lake O and arriving in Clewiston we must go north around the rim channel to Moore Haven. The natural landscape and birds are something to see in this area.

There are many construction vehicles on the dike. It appears as if they are increasing the height of the dike.

Leg #18 of Winter 04 looked something like this…

Pendarvis Cove

Nathan and I slept late and just as we were about to cast off the lines and leave, I see a Facebook comment from boating friends stating if I come to Suntex Vero Beach Marina to stop in and say “Hi”. I think… “how serendipitous and timely”. I say this because MV Simple Life is always ahead of my blog posts in time. I post in arrears so to speak. They just happened to be in the same marina that Simple Life was just about to leave. So Nathan & I set out to find our fellow cruising friends in the marina and we end up walking ALL the docks before finding them on the last dock. The Simple Life philosophy states that life is about people and experiences, not things. The cruising lifestyle often has you meeting people for the first time and then running into them months or years later in different ports. It’s a great feeling to catch up with people you met along your journey and theirs. We missed Miles as he was out biking to the store for something or other. We enjoyed chatting with Barb and asking about their Bahamas adventure last winter.

Barb & Miles, Blue Horizon, Island Packet, 48′ I believe

As we depart the marina we point Simple Life south with the intention of entering the Okeechobee Waterway so we can transit to Cape Coral by traveling straight across Florida’s interior.

Okeechobee Waterway from Stuart to Fort Myers / Cape Coral

Just a short way south down the ICW and we are being passed MV Windward. This good looking yacht has direct access to the engine room from the swim platform. Something I always thought was a nice feature on a yacht. I also found it interesting that they attempted to make the boat name more readable when the engine room door was locked in the open position. I just don’t see how that can work though with the yacht’s name spanning the door opening? No worries as the name is also displayed on her sides. I love the stairs to the cockpit and flybridge as opposed to ladders. I do not know what make this yacht is? Leave a comment if you know.

It’s windy today but Nathan & I are enjoying ourselves inside the pilothouse as we make our way south.

MV Patty Wagon passes us. She is a cockpit motor yacht with a sundeck style of yacht. I’m not sure that is the proper name for this style but you can see the sundeck on the aft of this yacht is kind of a mezzanine level (floor between floors). The enclosed sundeck sits above the cockpit yet beneath the flybridge and allows for stowage of their dinghy on the roof of the sundeck. Without the addition of the open cockpit on the stern, if you boarded from the swim platform you’d have to climb a ladder to get to the sundeck area. the addition of the cockpit not only gives you a great place for fishing or sitting out but allows you a safe place to climb that ladder up into the sundeck. If you fall on the ladder you fall in the cockpit and not onto a swim platform or off the yacht and into the water.

Soon we come upon a dredge in Fort Pierce, FL. The pic from afar shows the piping on the surface that carries the dredged material away. You must use caution when attempting to pass a dredge at night. Passing on the wrong side can have you running into the metal piping on the surface.

I have included this close up of the dredge where you can clearly see the black day shapes that are required by law. Every captain must learn these day shapes to understand what the dredge is trying to communicate.

In this case you can see the two vertical black balls are hung to the side with the piping. You can see the two vertical black diamonds are hung to the side you can safely pass. At night the dredge uses two vertical red lights on the pipe side and two vertical green lights on the passing side. The photo of dredge shapes and lights below also includes a RAM (Restricted in Ability to Maneuver) day shapes and lights.

Dredge day shapes and lights. I believe the RAM lights above should be red/white/red not red/black/red. It’s kind of hard to see a black light at night hahaha

You can see the shoaling that the dredges must keep keep dredging in the below satellite photo. I marked our path as well as the St. Lucie Inlet, a cool looking development right at the inlet as well as where we anchored for the night in Stuart (blue dot).

The trip into the St. Lucie River has you going back North before south again

The homes as you enter Hoggs Cove are palatial.

We raced to make it to the Old Roosevelt Bascule Bridge for its publicized 4:30 opening but are told it will not open till 4:45 when we arrive. We circle in the wind and current while we await the opening.

Just on the other side is our anchorage in Pendarvis Cove. The sun sets while we are on anchor as we prepare to watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. LA Rams game in NFL Week 11.

TB12 and Gronk. It feels like I’m watching the Patriots game to me.

The final score was not what I wanted but I enjoyed watching.

The days journey looks something like this…

Titusville by Dark

I spent the morning enjoying my coffee and checking the weather.

Winds are Still Honking

The winds off the coast are still blowing. A quick check on the Marine Zone forecast and I see that the winds have not abated and are driving the seas into the 6′-9′ range. Times like this if it were not for the ICW I’d be trapped in port.

Wifi Encryption – Known Exploits and Keeping things Private

I use the in-slip time to wash the salt off the boat and modify the encryption settings on my router. Somehow I have accidentally set my internal WiFi to WPA/WPA2 and WPA (Version 1) has a known exploit when it comes to TPIK (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol)

My iPhone is smart enough to alert me that the Wifi network I connected to supports WPA which is not secure

It’s 11AM and my time at the dock has run out. I cast my lines off and pull away from the dock with a bit more throttle than usual as the wind is blowing hard on my beam. Over to fuel dock to fuel up before heading south towards my intended destination of Titusville, FL.

New Smyrna Beach

As I pass an anchorage in New Smyrna Beach I pass several anchored sailboats. New Smyrna Beach is in Volusia County. According to the International Shark Attack File maintained by the University of Florida, in 2007, Volusia County had more confirmed sharkbites than any other region in the world.

Then I come upon SV Da Capo. That’s quite a pink hull!

Big Motor Yachts Look Comfy

Soon this large, comfortable-looking, motor yacht was passing me. Hatteras I believe?

Dredge Islands?

As I make my way through Haulover Canal there is a thin strip of land that is lined with small trees. This kind of natural geography seems odd to me but I encounter it often. I have always believed that you see these thin continuous strips of land along-side canals which are frequently dredged to keep a minimum center channel depth. I have always imagined that it must be far cheaper for the dredge to push the dredged material through a short outflow pipe that starts to build a new island alongside the channel. I have no specific knowledge or experience with dredging so If you do, please comment on this.

I watch as the sun sets.

Burn More Diesel or Arrive at Night?

In this moment I start doing some quick calculations and realize that it’ll be dark before I reach Titusville, FL where I plan to anchor. Luckily this section of the ICW is pretty open and easy to navigate at night. I find my anchorage and let out about 70′ of anchor which is plenty for the 6′ of water I’m in. Coming in in the dark you don’t expect many ICW boats to arrive after you. The winds are forecast to be steady in their direction through the night. I won’t swing around and there is plenty of room between me and my neighbors anchored next to me.

Refined Tastes of Yacht Living

I’m tired and figure I should finish off my fanciest bag of wine before hitting the rack 😉

Today’s route looked something like this…

Random Thoughts

This is a new section that I thought I would add since being ADD & extraverted I often have random thoughts bouncing around in my head that I feel a need to talk about. Today’s thought is for any fellow boaters reading my blog.

Diesel Efficiency

Today’s thought was on Diesel efficiency. Before owning my 1st trawler, I owned three sailboats. As a sailboat owner, I never thought about fuel economy. Now diesel fill ups can cost as much as $1000 rather than $100. This, because my trawler style motor yacht by design has large diesel tanks for long-range cruising. It’s tempting to discuss the days that the wind was pushing my sailboat along for free but this is not about sailboats vs. trawlers. Instead, I’d like to talk about trawler diesel engine power and hull shape. I’m not an expert or this subject it’s just something I have some thoughts on.

Slow or Fast?

There are two kinds of trawlers.

Slow full-displacement
Fast semi-displacement

Every boat’s hull displaces it’s weight in water. The more stuff you put into your boat it sinks a little lower in the water. Ancient Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes first screamed “Eureka! Eureka!” when he discovered this. This is known as Archimedes’ principle.

To push the hull through the water you must push the water in front of the boat down as well as part it to the sides. When it comes to the force required to move a hull forward, hull shape matters. It should seem obvious as you try to push a boat forward quickly that a slender hull with a narrow angled bow and stern will separate the water gently and then put the water back together gently without causing much swirling drag forces at the stern. A hull with a blunt bow and square stern will plow into the water at the bow and have it come crashing back together behind the stern causing eddys or swirling motions that cause the boat to be pulled backwards by drag forces.

Full Displacement Hulls

Slow trawlers are full displacement hulls and their maximum hull speed is easily calculated by this equation and the length of their waterline (the length from when the hull first splits the water to where it recombines it).

v_{{hull}}\approx 1.34\times {\sqrt {L_{{WL}}}}

Full displacement hull shapes tend to be very round or semi-hemispherical and create little drag. They require a smaller force to push them through the water. However this round hull shape overs little resistance to healing (rocking of the boat). So you often find these hulls using ballast or weight added to the bottom of the hull to keep them upright. Since 1933 fin stabilizers such as Wesmar have been used to stabilize boats. The most modern solutions are active gyro stabilizers such as SeaKeeper. Fin stabilizers require power to move them and create drag in the water. Gyro stabilizers require running a diesel generator to keep them spinning. Full displacement may be the most economical hull shape but stabilization often requires diesel burn.

If you have a full displacement hull you only need a Diesel engine with enough HP to push it along at near it’s hull speed. If you put a larger HP diesel in the boat you will destroy your fuel economy and never go faster than hull speed. Full displacement trawlers will give you the best fuel economy due to tiny fuel sipping diesels. Full displacement trawlers with active fin stabilizers and large fuel tanks can cross oceans. Nordhavn is a popular trawler brand that comes to mind in this moment.

Semi Displacement Hulls

Semi-displacement hull shapes are designed to push water not just aside but down at a rapid rate. The water being pushed down forces the hull up out of the water. Less hull in the water means less drag and you can exceed the max hull speed for the length of your hull’s waterline. This extra downward push of the water means you need to put more HP behind the diesel. You are trading fuel economy for speed. When the waves are not exceeding large, speed can get you out of the weather and to a safe port sooner. You can also move at speeds below your hull speed and be almost as fuel efficient as a full displacement hull. Semi-displacement trawlers will have sharp angles called “chines” in the hull shape that help to create active resistance to healing. Think of a basket ball with a child’s action figure on top of it floating in your bathtub. Your basketball hull form is semi-hemispherical. The round basketball offers no resistance to heal and will likely just roll over with the first wave. Now place a box with square 90 chines at the edges of it’s hull in the bathtub. That same hull shape resists leaning to either side because to do so would displace less water on the side lifting up and more water on the side being pushed down into the water. Recall from Archimedes’ principle that displacing water creates an upward buoyancy force.

Fuel Burn per HP

A rule of thumb often used is that modern diesels burn about 1GPH for each 20HP produced. This number is a rough estimate of how much of your diesel engine’s power (force) you are using to push your trawler’s hull form through the water at the speed you are going. You can double check this number against your diesel engine’s HP/RPM curve.

Slow or Fast Religion

What type of boat you choose is often like choosing a religion. Once you decide you often find yourself defending your decision with great fervor. Debates rage on but I’m just trying to discuss just the basics of the science behind the debate. Often I hear other boaters with much larger boats with twin diesels compared to my single diesel tell me they get twice the fuel economy as me. Hyperbole or magic? I often state that my Cummins Mercruiser Smart Craft display of fuel burn is 2 GPH at about 1400 RPM or 6.5kts of boat speed. This is a rough estimate of course since there are currents, wind forces, drag due to hull fouling, propeller diameter and pitch, etc. that come into play here.

Cummins Manufacturer Specs on my 2012 QSB 5.9L Diesel’s Fuel Consumption to RPM Curve

Propeller Curve (lower) is based on a typical fixed propeller demand curve using a 2.7 exponent. Propeller Shaft Power is approximately 3% less than rated crankshaft power after typical reverse/reduction gear losses and may vary depending on the type of gear or propulsion system used.

Final Thoughts

There is no perfect boat. Every boat is a compromise. The discussion above is only about the tradeoff between economy and speed. I gave up economy for speed when I went with a semi-displacement trawler. I’m OK with my choice. I understand why others chose full displacement trawlers. Chose your religion wisely!

Foxboro Reunion

My phone rings and I answer. I had just fallen asleep after being up for over 40 hours. I answer the phone and it’s a friend asking “where are you?”. I respond instantly with … “Oh. umm, ummm. ummm. I don’t know?” Funny that when you are always waking up in a new place each morning you forget where you are sometimes.

I planned on sleeping in leaving late. Why am I up and checking the weather at 5AM? Staying up for two days has knocked me off my circadian rhythm. The weather outside in the Atlantic is continuing to deteriorate with 25kt winds and 6-8′ seas. Lucky for me today’s trip will be on the inside motoring down the ICW.

Anchored at Fort Matanzas, FL and the current is so swift that you’d swear I was underway and not on anchor.

strong current while on anchor

I weigh anchor and proceed about an hour south down the ICW before docking at a marina in Palm Coast. I’m here to do a walkthrough of a boat for sale. I figured as long as I’m driving by I could help a friend by FaceTiming him from the boat he was interested in buying. The boat was beautiful.

As I make my way towards Daytona Beach, FL I pass several boats along the way.

Honey, I’m just going to buy a little boat and tie it up behind our home 😉

The boat is autopilot and I’m reading a Facebook fishing group post where a FB user has posted about how he caught his biggest fish in Long Island Sound. As I look at the photo of the fish, I’m thinking…. That looks like a federally protected, endangered Atlantic Sturgeon. As I click on the photos to get a closer look FB says the photos have be removed. I’m thinking this must be a joke that nobody would post about catching an Atlantic Sturgeon. Or would they?

Sturgeon are living dinosaurs. Fisheries biologists have discovered that sturgeon existed as long as 200 million years ago.

The Atlantic sturgeon is one of seven species of sturgeons found in North America. Sturgeons are prehistoric species that date back to the time of dinosaurs. Sturgeons have physical features that separate them from other kinds of fish such as: a spiral valve stomach and cartilaginous skeleton (like sharks and rays), but they have scutes (hard, protective, large individual body plates) instead of shark’s denticles or bony-fish’s scales. The Atlantic sturgeon has barbels located on the underside of the snout, no teeth, rubbery lips, and a suctorial mouth for vacuuming food off the water bottom. The Atlantic sturgeon’s coloring typically is dark brown along the upper (dorsal) side, shading to a creamy white-colored belly (ASSRT 2007). The Atlantic sturgeon is a large fish that can reach a length of 14 feet (4.3 meters), a weight of over 800 pounds (363 kilograms), and possess strength to leap nine feet (2.7 meters) into the air.

As I approach Daytona I realize I only used 2 of my 10 FREE nights at Safe Harbor Marinas. After doing some research I learn that the blackout dates in the south prohibit their use.

Included to make sure my fellow Safe Harbor slip mates are aware

As I pull into Halifax Harbor Marina the wind is blowing so I have already prepped and have my fenders out on both sides and my lines coiled on the deck but hanging within reach if there is a dockhand to help me land in the slip. As I start down the I-H dock fairway I see the dockhand is already waiting in the slip for me to back in.

My friend Jay is already waiting and within minutes of landing we are sharing a beer and catching up since our last meeting here in Daytona Beach. We make a quick call to another former Foxboro resident and we meetup at Hooligans to grab some hot wings.

It was great catching up with my Foxboro Friends. It’s great to have friends along the way to break up the month long journey.

Back at the marina I feel like I’m walking into a cage match.

Back aboard Simple Life I plan on sleeping a bit late, enjoying my coffee and not leaving until my 11AM leave the dock deadline.

Simple Life Slipped at Halifax Harbor Marina in Daytona Beach, FL

The day’s route looked something like this

Vero Beach

The morning light exposed my neighboring anchored boats. I have no idea what make boat this is? I don’t think I have ever seen anything like it?

I’m thinking the boat pictured below is a Nordic Tug?

I have no idea what this trawler below is but I think it’s pretty cool looking. Boat make identification is much harder than cars. We often talk about the style of the boat as being a pilothouse or trawler or Sportfisher, etc but it takes practice to notice the subtle details within the styles to be able to name the boat maker or brand.

Leaving Titusville, I pass under the Max Brewer Bridge.

Before I make it to Vero Beach I slow down to minimize my wake as I pass workers diving on a bridge.

I’m now approaching the Vero Beach marina that I reserved for Saturday and Sunday night. However, I won’t check in till the AM so I must find a suitable anchorage. The anchorage I planned to stay at turned out to be to small to fit me so I pushed on into the night until I found a more suitable anchorage. However, my first attempt at anchoring had my 88# Rocna anchor dragging when I backed down at only 730 RPM. I motored around the anchorage to try and find another spot but found much of the anchorage too shallow for me. It was dark and I was getting tired of circling around the already anchored boats so I just decided to drop again in the same spot. This time I successfully backed down at 800 RPM for a solid 2 minutes while I waited to see if the anchor would budge. It did not so I shutdown the diesel and tucked in for the night.

The morning’s light showed a calm water’s surface.

I hung around enjoying the view and my coffee while I waited to be sure that the marina crew would be there to accept my arrival. Soon I was passing under the Merrill Barber bridge. This area is a manatee zone so you must move very slowly to prevent an accidental strike with a manatee.

Once at the marina I only had to wait an hour or so and Teresa and Nathan were pulling into visit for the weekend. Soon we were off to the Bonefish Grill in Vero Beach for some seafood and drinks.