Our string of 6 beautiful, sunny days finally came to an end. Today we woke to overcast skies and by 10:00am we had a steady, all day rain. We pulled out of Belhaven at 7:00 on our way to Norfolk. I had talked to the owner last night and the weather for the next several days looked terrible with seas 5 to 8 feet offshore. We decided it didn't make sense to try to push our luck, so the decision was made to leave the boat in Norfolk until a suitable 2 day weather window opened up for us and we could make the final run from Norfolk, VA to Stamford, CT.
We covered another 138 miles yesterday from Belhaven to Norfolk. This brings our total trip to 1,085 miles from Miami. We have just 2 days left, but need the weather to cooperate for us. We look forward to finishing up and getting Ken his boat home.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Monday, April 11, 2016
Myrtle Beach, SC to Belhaven, NC
The next installment of Bateau Bleu goes to CT...
We pulled out of Myrtle Beach this morning at 6:50am. I was a bit upset since there was a nice Kadey Krogen in front of us and they left at 6:30. I always want to be the first one off the dock in the morning. Oh well, not today.
We ran about an hour up the ICW to the NC boarder and ran out the Little River Inlet. We had planned go out around Cape Fear on our way to Beaufort, but it was still a bit windy and the seas were still on the nose and bumpy. So we quickly turned and came in at Bald Head Island and ran the short distance up the ICW to Masonboro Inlet. We came back out at Masonboro about an hour later and ran about 80 miles to Beaufort, NC. Once back on the ICW we continued on to Jarrett Bay where fuel again was under $2 a gallon at $1.92. We topped off the tanks at Jarrett Bay and ran for another 3 hours up to Belhaven, NC.
We covered another 220 miles today in just over 9 hours. The boat is running great and all has gone to plan so far. The weather does not look good after Wednesday, so stay tuned.
Bateau Bleu tied up for the night in Belhaven, NC
The gazebo at Belhaven Waterway Marina
We pulled out of Myrtle Beach this morning at 6:50am. I was a bit upset since there was a nice Kadey Krogen in front of us and they left at 6:30. I always want to be the first one off the dock in the morning. Oh well, not today.
We ran about an hour up the ICW to the NC boarder and ran out the Little River Inlet. We had planned go out around Cape Fear on our way to Beaufort, but it was still a bit windy and the seas were still on the nose and bumpy. So we quickly turned and came in at Bald Head Island and ran the short distance up the ICW to Masonboro Inlet. We came back out at Masonboro about an hour later and ran about 80 miles to Beaufort, NC. Once back on the ICW we continued on to Jarrett Bay where fuel again was under $2 a gallon at $1.92. We topped off the tanks at Jarrett Bay and ran for another 3 hours up to Belhaven, NC.
We covered another 220 miles today in just over 9 hours. The boat is running great and all has gone to plan so far. The weather does not look good after Wednesday, so stay tuned.
Bateau Bleu tied up for the night in Belhaven, NC
The gazebo at Belhaven Waterway Marina
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Daytona Beach, FL to Hilton Head, SC to Myrtle Beach
Sorry for the lack of an update yesterday. We had the longest day I have ever traveled solely on the ICW. We ran for 12 and half hours and covered 267 miles. We ran all the way from Daytona Beach, FL to Hilton Head, SC. It was kind of interesting how it all happened.
First of all, the boat is running great. She is cruising around 28mph at 80% load. We thought we would go from Daytona to St Simons Island, GA on Saturday. However, we arrive at St Simons around 2:00 in the afternoon. There was no way were going to stop then. So we continued on and we started calling marinas around 50 miles out. One after the other were full. We tried Kilkenny, then Isle of Hope, then every single marina on the ICW in Savannah, GA. All were full for the weekend. We finally reach Harbor Town in Hilton Head and they were willing to put us on the fuel dock since they would be closed by the time we arrived and we would be leaving early the next day. Harbor Town was also full since they are hosting the Heritage Golf Tournament starting on Monday. We got in at 7:30pm just before it got dark.
Anyway, we didn't really have much of a choice. So on we went. The kicker to this whole story was that it was low tide running through Georgia. Anyone who has run the ICW through GA knows how shallow it can be. We hit Hell's Gate at dead low tide. Add to that 20kt wind out of the Northwest blowing all the water out of the sound and we had record low water. I would estimate that more navigation markers were out of the water high and dry than were actually in the water. Without exaggeration, it was the most intense and most scared I've been running a boat. Not only because it was shallow, but if one of the pods were to touch bottom, it was all over.
Thank goodness that someone watched over us. We creep through many spots at idle churning up mud and silt, but we made it through without any problems. Having run the stretch so many times really helped and I knew were all the shallow spots were. We heard many boats throughout the day calling SeaTow and BoatUS for help because they ran aground.
Today was a much different story. We first had to fuel up this morning which went without a hitch. We started to topped off the tanks at 7:00am sharp when they opened and got underway at 8:00. We about had run the boat dry yesterday with our long 12+ hour run. Once underway, we chased a rising tide until noon. So we had lots of water running through SC, behind Isle of Palms and McClellansville which are historically very shallow along the ICW.
We made pretty good time throughout the day. We stopped at Osprey Marina for fuel on our way to Barefoot Landing in Myrtle Beach. Osprey Marina was as full as "7 in a bed". We had to raft off to a sailboat to take on fuel since the fuel dock was already jammed full of transients for the night. Osprey Marina had diesel fuel today at $1.54/gallon with all of my discounts. I wish fuel prices stay this way for a long time.
So, that brings you up to date on the past 2 days. Brad and I are pretty tired from running long days, but we are really happy with our progress so far. To run the entire ICW from Miami to Myrtle Beach in 4 days is pretty good. We hope the weather is going to calm down some finally and we will get to run off-shore tomorrow. We have our fingers crossed.
Hard to see, but this is Hell's Gate. The channel was not much wider than the length of the boat. The depth guage stopped working at 2.5 feet.
Waccamaw River
Downtown Beaufort, SC with a cruise ship.
Beaufort, SC
Little Mud River, also pretty narrow and shallow - about 4 feet.
First of all, the boat is running great. She is cruising around 28mph at 80% load. We thought we would go from Daytona to St Simons Island, GA on Saturday. However, we arrive at St Simons around 2:00 in the afternoon. There was no way were going to stop then. So we continued on and we started calling marinas around 50 miles out. One after the other were full. We tried Kilkenny, then Isle of Hope, then every single marina on the ICW in Savannah, GA. All were full for the weekend. We finally reach Harbor Town in Hilton Head and they were willing to put us on the fuel dock since they would be closed by the time we arrived and we would be leaving early the next day. Harbor Town was also full since they are hosting the Heritage Golf Tournament starting on Monday. We got in at 7:30pm just before it got dark.
Anyway, we didn't really have much of a choice. So on we went. The kicker to this whole story was that it was low tide running through Georgia. Anyone who has run the ICW through GA knows how shallow it can be. We hit Hell's Gate at dead low tide. Add to that 20kt wind out of the Northwest blowing all the water out of the sound and we had record low water. I would estimate that more navigation markers were out of the water high and dry than were actually in the water. Without exaggeration, it was the most intense and most scared I've been running a boat. Not only because it was shallow, but if one of the pods were to touch bottom, it was all over.
Thank goodness that someone watched over us. We creep through many spots at idle churning up mud and silt, but we made it through without any problems. Having run the stretch so many times really helped and I knew were all the shallow spots were. We heard many boats throughout the day calling SeaTow and BoatUS for help because they ran aground.
Today was a much different story. We first had to fuel up this morning which went without a hitch. We started to topped off the tanks at 7:00am sharp when they opened and got underway at 8:00. We about had run the boat dry yesterday with our long 12+ hour run. Once underway, we chased a rising tide until noon. So we had lots of water running through SC, behind Isle of Palms and McClellansville which are historically very shallow along the ICW.
We made pretty good time throughout the day. We stopped at Osprey Marina for fuel on our way to Barefoot Landing in Myrtle Beach. Osprey Marina was as full as "7 in a bed". We had to raft off to a sailboat to take on fuel since the fuel dock was already jammed full of transients for the night. Osprey Marina had diesel fuel today at $1.54/gallon with all of my discounts. I wish fuel prices stay this way for a long time.
So, that brings you up to date on the past 2 days. Brad and I are pretty tired from running long days, but we are really happy with our progress so far. To run the entire ICW from Miami to Myrtle Beach in 4 days is pretty good. We hope the weather is going to calm down some finally and we will get to run off-shore tomorrow. We have our fingers crossed.
Hard to see, but this is Hell's Gate. The channel was not much wider than the length of the boat. The depth guage stopped working at 2.5 feet.
Waccamaw River
Downtown Beaufort, SC with a cruise ship.
Beaufort, SC
Little Mud River, also pretty narrow and shallow - about 4 feet.
Last edited by Capt Keith; Today at 08:54 PM.
Friday, April 8, 2016
Stuart to Daytona Beach
Another day running the ICW. We tried to run off-shore today. Initially we thought it looked good off-shore and we decided to run out the St Lucie Inlet. Once out the inlet, it was a bit more bumpy than we expected or cared to continue. Seas were about 3 to 5 feet on the nose with a short period. We quickly decided to just run up to the Ft Pierce Inlet and get back on the ICW. I think it was the right decision.
We made pretty good time all things considered. Other than some really skinny water around New Smyrna Beach, FL the trip on the ICW was very good. We ran 165 miles up to Daytona Beach, FL and are docked tonight at the Halifax Harbor Marina. The seas look pretty bad the next few days so we will continue our run north on the ICW.
We had some decent pizza tonight. Not great, but no bad either. As one of my school teachers would say... "even bad pizza is good". It was definitely not bad pizza. Fuel prices on the ICW continue to be very reasonable. We are averaging around $2.25 per gallon of diesel right now.
Check out this picture below. This was definitely a first for me... I was not sure what the correct passing signal was??
We made pretty good time all things considered. Other than some really skinny water around New Smyrna Beach, FL the trip on the ICW was very good. We ran 165 miles up to Daytona Beach, FL and are docked tonight at the Halifax Harbor Marina. The seas look pretty bad the next few days so we will continue our run north on the ICW.
We had some decent pizza tonight. Not great, but no bad either. As one of my school teachers would say... "even bad pizza is good". It was definitely not bad pizza. Fuel prices on the ICW continue to be very reasonable. We are averaging around $2.25 per gallon of diesel right now.
Check out this picture below. This was definitely a first for me... I was not sure what the correct passing signal was??
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Miami to Stuart aboard Bateau Bleu
I began my next delivery with my good friend Brad Hanks. We flew down to Miami on Wednesday and will be moving a 2011 Meridian 441 with Zeus pods from Miami, FL to Stamford, CT. Today was a long slow ride up the ICW from Miami to Stuart. For anyone who has done this stretch before, you know what I mean. For those that have not done it, it is a whole lot of low bridges on restricted openings and "no wake zones". If is impossible to make any time or distance.
We left at 7:00am this morning from Miami and after 11 and a half hours we arrived in Stuart at 6:30pm and covered exactly 100 miles. We averaged 8.2 mph. It was a long day.
On the bright side, there were some amazing boats to look at and some unbelievable real estate too. Here are few pictures from today:
My first mate Brad driving early this morning.
We left at 7:00am this morning from Miami and after 11 and a half hours we arrived in Stuart at 6:30pm and covered exactly 100 miles. We averaged 8.2 mph. It was a long day.
On the bright side, there were some amazing boats to look at and some unbelievable real estate too. Here are few pictures from today:
My first mate Brad driving early this morning.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
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
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
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
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