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magicalbill

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As mentioned, here are the stats for my latest run which I did yesterday.

Realize depending on wx, I do it in a weird, quirky way. On this run, I stayed close in and cut back to land after rounding Cape Romano. That will make my numbers likely different from yours. Please refer to my responses in your other KW Trip Thread.

Left CH Harbor at 7:30AM. Arrived at Marathon at 1:15PM. Total trip time: 4 hrs 45 minutes.

Total distance travelled, 190 miles. (Remember, I hug the coast and you’d be leaving from FT Myers, so your distance would be significantly shorter.

Fuel Burn: 149 gallons averaging 1.3-1.4 MPG.

Speed: 4200 RPM achieving 38-39 MPH. (350’s baby...)

Weather & Conditions: Chilly by S Florida standards: Air and water temps in the mid-60’s the entire trip. (It started out in the upper 40’s in the AM; I thought I was boating under the Mackinaw Bridge...)
NE winds 10-12kts, roughly; close in seas less than 1ft with a wrap around NW swell. Rounding Cape Romano, I caught it full-tilt as I had to go offshore 10miles or so to miss the shallow shoal. I had to slack off some to get thru the turbulence; A 2ft NE surface chop combined with the aforementioned NW swell. once I cut back in at Everglades City, I throttled back up and had calm water all the way to Marathon.

Know This: The waters around the Cape act in a very unorthodox fashion. I don’t know why, but the seas get lumpy & confused not unlike the wave action around the Lake Erie Islands in it’s Western Basin.

It’s a fun run to make, and in my view, it’s more about picking the right conditions than the right boat. Your potential 271 should be a good match in reasonable weather.
 

Dhirsh

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As mentioned, here are the stats for my latest run which I did yesterday.

Realize depending on wx, I do it in a weird, quirky way. On this run, I stayed close in and cut back to land after rounding Cape Romano. That will make my numbers likely different from yours. Please refer to my responses in your other KW Trip Thread.

Left CH Harbor at 7:30AM. Arrived at Marathon at 1:15PM. Total trip time: 4 hrs 45 minutes.

Total distance travelled, 190 miles. (Remember, I hug the coast and you’d be leaving from FT Myers, so your distance would be significantly shorter.

Fuel Burn: 149 gallons averaging 1.3-1.4 MPG.

Speed: 4200 RPM achieving 38-39 MPH. (350’s baby...)

Weather & Conditions: Chilly by S Florida standards: Air and water temps in the mid-60’s the entire trip. (It started out in the upper 40’s in the AM; I thought I was boating under the Mackinaw Bridge...)
NE winds 10-12kts, roughly; close in seas less than 1ft with a wrap around NW swell. Rounding Cape Romano, I caught it full-tilt as I had to go offshore 10miles or so to miss the shallow shoal. I had to slack off some to get thru the turbulence; A 2ft NE surface chop combined with the aforementioned NW swell. once I cut back in at Everglades City, I throttled back up and had calm water all the way to Marathon.

Know This: The waters around the Cape act in a very unorthodox fashion. I don’t know why, but the seas get lumpy & confused not unlike the wave action around the Lake Erie Islands in it’s Western Basin.

It’s a fun run to make, and in my view, it’s more about picking the right conditions than the right boat. Your potential 271 should be a good match in reasonable weather.
So did you enjoy your trip? It’s a fun run to make. Even around CR shoals, with an outboard you can get a lot closer than you think and still be ok. I agree with you on the seas. Our seas down here off Marco and the Cape can be really rough and crazy. All the forecasts had it at under 10 kts this Saturday and I got my ass Handed to me. Went out 12 miles in a pretty big following Sea and the wife said ”No More”. Turned around and it took about an hour to get in. 4 FT on the quarter and occasional 6 ft swell. No fun in the gulf this time of year. All the good days seem to fall on a Tuesday or something..
 

magicalbill

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Hey Dhirsh:

Yes, I enjoyed the trip. I usually do except for the few times I get the 4cast wrong.

RE: The Cape:

I tried cutting it closer to shore once and I wound up in 4-5 feet of water. Yes, that's not uncommon in SW Fla, but I get nervous when the bottom creeps up that close to my skegs. Besides, I'm usually humming along at a pretty good clip and the depths vary on that shoal; I'd rather just swing wide to the Shoal Light and play safe.

RE: Waves/Seasons:

Totally agree. I can't tell you how many trips we had to abort because of wind & sea state during the winter season. It's kind of amusing...come May when everything calms down and the boating gets fabulous, all the Snowbirds leave our area as if they got sucked out of the state by a giant shop vac. They're so worried about 90 degrees that they miss the best boating. I'd rather keep an eye to the sky and dodge thunderstorms than deal with rough conditions day after day.

Going North, we have the ICW all the way to the Anclote Keys, so we have shelter, but it's still stressful docking the darn thing in 20kt winds and/or tide rips.

Summer is the time....
 

Fishtales

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Sound like a nice trip. Hoping for spring up here!
 

magicalbill

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It HAS to be just around the bend..Hang in.

Will your transom be done by warm weather?