jip40..Question.

[magicalbill]

I didn't want to post this on the corrosion thread.

I read about your run back from the Keys up the West Coast of Fla.

I agree on the wind down there. Family goes down in Jan and I run the boat down from Ft Myers area. I wait for an East wind or light SE to NE (10kts or less) and run close in..Works fine most of the time.
However, once there, the prevailing E to ESE winds generated by Hi Pressure Ridging seem to never end. It's too sloppy in Hawks Channel most of the time for my 232 Gulfstream and my thing is snorkeling on the reef, so that's frustrating.

Anyway...to the question;

How long is the leg from Steinhatchee to Carrabelle? I assume you waypoint straight there w/out following the coastline? The charts depict it to be pretty shallow even way offshore north of Suwannee River.
Just wondering about the time frame and how many miles? Fuel burn? Decent marinas in that area?

Thanks and have a good New Years.

 

[jip40]

I didn't want to post this on the corrosion thread.

I read about your run back from the Keys up the West Coast of Fla.

I agree on the wind down there. Family goes down in Jan and I run the boat down from Ft Myers area. I wait for an East wind or light SE to NE (10kts or less) and run close in..Works fine most of the time.
However, once there, the prevailing E to ESE winds generated by Hi Pressure Ridging seem to never end. It's too sloppy in Hawks Channel most of the time for my 232 Gulfstream and my thing is snorkeling on the reef, so that's frustrating.

Anyway...to the question;

How long is the leg from Steinhatchee to Carrabelle? I assume you waypoint straight there w/out following the coastline? The charts depict it to be pretty shallow even way offshore north of Suwannee River.
Just wondering about the time frame and how many miles? Fuel burn? Decent marinas in that area?

Thanks and have a good New Years.

The trip odometer has that leg at 83 miles - I believe that the actual distance from offshore Steinhatchee to the entrance of the Carrabelle river was 73 miles. My entire trip was 508 miles & Garmin fuel computers showed an average of 1.17 mpg, I ran at 4500-4700 rpm which pushes the 330 (with F225's) at 27-29 mph (top speed as recorded was 31).

I was on AP the entire way except for the leg from Steinhatchee to Carrabelle. I had a beam sea from NNE with 5'-6' seas. I had to drop my speed to 20 mph to make it a comfortable run. I tend to stay in 10'+ depth and avoid shallow areas - there was no problem running fro Steinhatchee to Dog Island. Most of the time I was in 20'+ until I went behind Dog Island.

The area from Steinhatchee around to East Point is referred to as The Forgotten Coast. The entire area is made up of very small towns with generally small and rustic marinas, usually decent small restaurants that tend to close between 8:00-9:00 pm. It is a very quiet area with very friendly people. My wife's favorite area is St George Island - a barrier island off Apalatchacola (which is why I brought my boat back from the keys)

 

[magicalbill]

Thanks!

One day I'd like to make that run; my better half wants to retire in a few years, giving us the needed time to poke around up there.

Laid back is our type of boating; I was in rock-n-roll for 31 years and I've had my fill of loud bars and noisy people. When I stopped getting paid to entertain them, it became drastically less enjoyable to frequent that world.

Your fortunate you were in your boat instead of mine negotiating your beam seas. I'm great with those kind of conditions if I'm tied up at the dock. My 232 is a great boat, but anything over 10kts and 2 footers is uncomfortable. Swells spaced out? Sure, that's different, but the wind-driven chop is what keeps us inside on those kind of days.

One more question: do they have non-ethanol fuel at Steinhatchee? I would want to top off there before running offshore for the Carabelle run.

Thanks again: This kind of info exchange is what makes this site great. Be safe if your partying tonite. I never see NYE anymore since I stopped playing. It's more fun to turn in early than to try to teach the words to Auld Lang Syne to drunk people blowing paper horns...

 

[jip40]

One more question: do they have non-ethanol fuel at Steinhatchee? I would want to top off there before running offshore for the Carabelle run.

Thanks again: This kind of info exchange is what makes this site great. Be safe if your partying tonite. I never see NYE anymore since I stopped playing. It's more fun to turn in early than to try to teach the words to Auld Lang Syne to drunk people blowing paper horns...

Yes, they have Rec 90 fuel in virtually all of the marinas in the Big Bend Area. I use
https://activecaptain.com/fuelLists/fue ... &sort=city
to find best the best prices as there is frequently a $.30-$.50 per gallon difference & I hold 350 gal - price difference can pay for dinner.

BTW in 11 years of keeping a boat in that area I have yet to get any bad fuel - not so in the last few years in running around other parts of FL & Bahamas.

I agree, this forum and also THT members are very helpful when you ask logical questions. I received a lot of good input on THT when planning my run from Marathon to Carrabelle