Salty Dawg in South Seas Plantation

Bruce's boat is beautiful. His son Braeden picked the hull color. It is Awlcraft 2000 and the color name is Crystal Silver Metalic. He also added a white pin stripe above the waterline and another painted navy blue strip at the waterline. The blue really ties in the canvas on the flybridge and aft deck. It is very good looking indeed.

On Monday, we ran the boat from Longboat Key just 20 miles south to Venice, FL. We tied up at the Crow's Nest Marina late in the afternoon and had a nice dinner at the restaurant on site. We got early start today pushing off the dock in Venice at 7:15 this morning. We ran outside in beautiful conditions down to Redfish Pass and came in to South Seas Resort on Captiva Island. Seas were flat calm this morning. If you have never been South Seas, it really is a must stop. What a great resort. Definitely worth the trip.

We are having a bit of a thunderstorm rolling through the marina right now, but Bruce and his family got a chance to have lunch and visit the pool for a few hours before the clouds rolled in and it started to drizzle. Tomorrow we are thinking we will run down to Ft Myers and Pink Shell Marina before we head across Lake Okeechobee. Bruce has no formal plans so we are taking things one day at time. It is nice to not be on a schedule for a change.


Inside Salty Dawg










Coming into Redfish Pass

2016 Delivery Season Has Begun

The 2016 season has been kicked off. I am celebrating Easter with the Lowthers' Family today for spring break. Bruce, his wife Leslie and son Braeden have taken delivery of a brand new 2015 Meridian 441. I jumped on board with Bruce and his family yesterday and made the short run from St Petersburg, FL down to Longboat Key near Sarasota. The boat is beautiful inside and out and Bruce has made quite a few custom upgrades to the boat including the painted Awlcraft hull and lighted Yachtgraphic name on the stern. Bruce and his family will be cruising the boat back to Jacksonville, FL where they call home. We should be heading on to South Seas Resort in a day or two. Here are just a few pictures:








You never know what you are going to see on the ICW. I have no idea what this is.


I don't think I have ever seen a tug on a mooring ball on the ICW either.


Salty Dawg is a beauty

Chillin' With My Gnomies

Another quick trip in the books. I finished bringing Miss Gnomie to New Bern today. We covered another 191 miles from Great Bridge, VA. We sure did get an early start to the day, however. We pushed off the dock this morning at 5:30am to make the first bridge before it went on restricted opening for rush hour traffic. It was hard to get up that early, but it allowed us to finish early today too. We pulled into New Bern at 3:20pm this afternoon. The temperature of 91 degrees was a bit oppressive!

The boat continued to run great today. We had another perfect weather day on the water too. Seas were flat calm again and once we cleared the no wake zone in Coinjock at 8:30 this morning, the boat didn't come off of plane until 3:15pm as we brought her into the slip.


Miss Gnomie in her new slip in the Grande Marine in New Bern, NC


At 6:30 this morning the sunrise was gorgeous as we traveled down the NC/VA cut.


A shrimp boat on the Pamlico Sound.


The Neuse River Marker

Miss Gnomie

Another trip is in the works. Today I am aboard Miss Gnomie, a 1997 Trojan 44 Express that is coming out of Pasadena, MD just outside of Baltimore on its way to its new home in New Bern, NC. She is powered with Caterpillar 3126's that have her cruising at about 23mph. Boat was on the hard for the past two years, but you would not have known it by the way she performed today. She never missed a beat. She ran great on some very smooth water on the Chesapeake Bay today. Seas were projected at 1 foot or less. As I told my first mate today, this was the "or less" part of the forecast. It is nice to catch a break every now and again.

We ran 190 miles today down to Atlantic Yacht Basin in Great Bridge, VA. We had a few issues once we tied up to the dock. The fresh water pump and the A/C pump were both air locked. After a few choice words and a bit of sweat, we got things fixed and now have the water flowing and cabin cool once again.

Just a really pretty day on the water and a beautiful ride through Norfolk with all the Navy ships looking good.


Smith Point Light with some really flat calm water.






Norfolk, VA


One very large Navy ship in dry dock.


Great Bridge Lock


Great Bridge

Two Days into One

Two-fer...

Well, this is a first.

Greg and Bonnie, the owners of Bonnie Lee, jumped aboard the 541 in Phoenix, NY yesterday. We pulled off the dock at 8:40am and transited the entire Oswego Canal. We covered all 7 locks by noon. We stopped in Oswego and took on about 400 gallons off fuel before heading out onto Lake Ontario. We covered the entire lake, which was flat calm, and pulled into the entrance to the Welland Canal at Port Weller at 7:00 pm. We tied up to the wall and expected to settle in for the night and transit the canal first thing in the morning.

Well, sometimes the plan changes. Greg called into Canadian customs and we cleared into Canada. He then immediately called the canal to see about tomorrow morning to run the canal. They said if we left right away, we could run the entire canal without any stops. Too good to be true...

So we untied the lines and headed into the first lock at around 7:30 pm after a 10 and half hour day running the Oswego Canal and Lake Ontario. No rest for the weary. We got stopped at Lock #2 for about 30 minutes for some commercial traffic to pass. Then it was game on. We transited the rest of the Welland Canal in record time. We finished the canal and tied up in Port Colborne, Ontario at 1:00am. We were dead dog tired, but we compressed a normal 10 to 12 hour day into 5+ hours.

Anyway, we got up this morning and make the easy run from Port Colborne to Buffalo in just over 3 hours. Boat ran great and we had an easy ride to our home port. Another trip in the books. We covered just over 1,900 miles from Ft Lauderdale where we started the trip back on July 6th. It is good to be heading home.


Lock 1 on the Oswego Canal


Another flat calm day on the canal.


Lock 1 on the Welland Canal.


Greg Hewitt at the helm of his 541 on the way out of the Welland Canal to Buffalo.


Greg & Bonnie heading into Buffalo.


The Bonnie Lee III tied up at the Buffalo Launch Club in Grand Isle, NY.

Onward to Phoenix... New York

We did another 6 locks and 83 miles today on our way to Phoenix, NY. Today was almost all no wake speed of 10mph with the exception of Oneida Lake. We were off the dock in Little Falls at 7:30 this morning and waiting at lock #18 at 8:00am when they opened. We finished on the Oswego Canal at lock #1 in Phoenix, NY.

While the day was great and the weather almost perfect, it was sad that Ray had to head back to Detroit today. He has a commitment on Friday to take his son and some buddies on his boat to Put-In-Bay on Lake Erie for the weekend before heading back to college. Ray was a great asset on this trip and we had a ton of good times and laughs over the past 7 days. I can't begin to thank him enough for his help and friendship through the years.

Tomorrow morning the owners, Greg & Bonnie Hewitt will jump back on board and finish the trip with me from Phoenix to Buffalo. We will complete the Oswego Canal in the morning and then head across Lake Ontario to the Welland Canal on Thursday. On Friday we will transit the Welland and continue on to Buffalo and finish the trip. A few pictures from today.


A great start to the day.


Lock #19 on the Erie Canal.


Lock #20


We had been locking "Up" all the way, this was the first lock where we started heading back down.


Lock #23. One of the nicest on the Canal.




Tied up the small town of Phoenix, NY. Just a beautiful day to be on a boat in Middle America.

80 Miles and 16 Locks

Sometimes words are simply inadequate. We had a beautiful day on the Erie Canal. We covered 80 miles and 16 locks on a day that was more like Autumn than August with temps in the low 70's. Simply spectacular.


We came off the dock in Waterford about to enter the first lock on the Erie Canal.




The redneck hardtop.


Redneck Ray?




How about having the Erie Canal in your backyard?


Video coming into Lock #3 this morning.