Megayacht Helios in Ft Lauderdale
Dolphins along the way
11/1/08 - 11/3/08
Having arrived late at the marina at Ponce de Leon inlet we docked in one of the few spots left that happened to be a little shallow so we stopped about 2 feet away from the dock in the mud. No big deal, we just spun the bow in so we could step on and off and planned on tightening things up when the tide came in. We had dinner at the marina restaurant and went to bed.
The next morning we were still stuck but the tide was rising and after a half hour we were able to shove off and motor around to fuel up. So with a full belly of fuel we motored out the channel and turned south towards Cape Canaveral.
I have been trying to calculate the fuel usage on the boat but it is a little hard to do. Speed under motor seems to vary considerably depending on wave and wind direction and also whether we are motor sailing. According to the manual, at about 2,000 RPM’s we should be going about 6 knots and burning about 3 gallons per hour which equates to about 2 miles per gallon. Based on my rough calculations we are getting closer to 3 miles per gallon in the worst conditions.
When we started this journey a couple weeks ago the winds were out of the south bringing warm air with them. Since then the winds have been mostly out of the north or northeast bringing cold Canadian air with them (damn Canadians). The winds are still out of the northeast but we are getting far enough south that the local warm air is diluting the northern air. So with the wind to our back we were able to wear jeans and T-shirts during the day for the first time in a while.
The motor sailing was pleasant enough for the full day trip so we settled in and enjoyed the sights, what there was of it 10 miles offshore. There is a very large reef extending out into the ocean to the north of the harbor mouth that we had to go around, combined with the curve of the shoreline that kept us this far out. We were able to see the launch platforms for the shuttle at Cape Canaveral but the launch was still over a week away when we passed by.
We motored into the channel at Port Canaveral just before dusk and found our slip at the marina just as the dockmaster had described it over the phone.
We try to plan whether we are going to stay at a marina or anchorage the night before or early in the day so we can call around to get the best deals etc… We have several tools with which to do this. The Garmin chart plotter has information icons on the maps for different marine facilities. If you move the cursor over the icon and hit ENTER a page opens up with details including phone number and address. Google Earth on our laptop using the Verizon card has the same kind of capabilities using the “find business” field but does not have the depth information that we need to get into some of the marinas. Google Earth does have the added benefit of helping us locate hardware and grocery stores that are within walking distance of some of these marinas.
Back at our dock we see a large Carnival Cruise ship about 150 yards away on the other side of a man made peninsula. There is a second dock for a cruise ship that is about ¼ mile away. Later that evening there was a loud horn blast so we went up on deck and watched the Carnival ship pull away, it was like watching a small city sail off.
After a meal of delivered pizza (they used sliced sausage links instead of chunks) we went to bed. The next morning there was another Carnival ship at dock where the other had been, a Norwegian cruise lines ship and a Disney "Big Red Boat", which by the way is blue with red stacks, at other docks. We shoved off and headed for Fort Lauderdale.
There were no obstructions to force us off shore so we were able to sail down the coast about ½ mile from the shoreline. The waters were much deeper than we had encountered anywhere else along our way so it was comfortable sailing.
By mid-morning the wind was such that we were able to fly our spinnaker (the big colorful sail that balloons out in front of the boat). We set the sail, turned off the engine and where able to move along at about 6 knots which was our typical target speed. On some days when we have greater distances to cover we try to make 7 knots but today was a 45 mile trip and at 6 knots we were looking at an 8 hour day on the water. One nice feature on the chart plotter is that after you plot your course it gives you an ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival).
We had the spinnaker up for about 3 hours as the winds slowly increased we were able hit almost 8 knots if we caught a wave just right and surfed. I joked that we had gone as fast as 9 knots surfing with the staysail and main but I didn’t want to see that kind of speed with this sail especially with only 3 people on board, one of whom had never been on a boat with a spinnaker up.
Julie was down below talking to the sail maker that was working on our replacement jib and the wind was steadily building. We were moving along at a steady 7 to 8 knots surfing to 9.2 when she finally came up. She took over the wheel while John and I put up the staysail and lowered the spinnaker.
I have seen and been part of numerous disasters while lowering spinnakers. I have seen brand new, up for the first time spinnakers end up tangled in the mast and torn to shreds. I have seen spinnakers end up in the water causing the boat to come to a dead stop from 18 knots and spin completely around. We got that one in but it was torn up but repairable, but “it was not a problem, it was an opportunity“.
Our spinnaker dousing came off perfectly and when it was safely stored in it’s bag I came back on deck where Julie told me that we were doing 10 knots after we set the staysail in preparation for the spinnaker douse. Not bad for a 40,000 lb pig dog cruiser.
A couple of hours later as we drew close to the harbor we were escorted by a pod of Dolphins. We had seen a few at a time in the past but with this group we saw as many as 8 out of the water at the same time with silouhettes of more in the water. They stayed with us for 15 minutes or so and amused us by riding our bow wake and jumping out of the water in groups.
We were arriving at Ft. Lauderdale the day after the big in water boat show and saw all types of power and sail boats heading north to their homes.
We pulled into the main channel behind a cruise ship and in front of a small container ship along with about 10 other pleasure craft going in and out of the main harbor. Things were pretty tight especially when the cruise ship stopped to back into it’s dock in front of this parade. After a 10 minute wait for the cruise ship we made the turn and had to wait a few minutes for the bridge to raise so we could pass under it.
We motored up the river to a mooring field where we could tie up to a city owned “anchorage” for the night. As we motored we passed the docks where the show had been and saw more mega yachts than we had seen on the entire trip. In Charleston we saw five 100 foot or so powerboats, here there where about 40 of them along with a half dozen sailboats of the same size or bigger including the 140' sailboat Helios that was across fromour mooring. For anyone who is interested we are starting a collection to rent Helios for a week. We have thrown $100 in, just looking for the remaining $174,900.
After we moored John took me via dinghy back towards the harbor mouth so I could pick up anchor chain for the big 55lb anchor. Along the way he got pulled over by a Ft. Lauderdale police boat and was given a warning ticket for going to fast. The manufacturer of our anchor recommended a 35 or 44 pound anchor for a in the 40 to 50 foot range. Since we were at the top end of the range and heavy for our size we chose to go heavier.
Anchors do a great job of keeping you in one place but they do a better job if you have a chain fastened to the anchor before the rope. Rope floats, chain sinks and helps keep the tips of the anchor down and engaged in the bottom. Chain also acts like a shock absorber in wind and waves, the boat has to lift the heavy chain off of the bottom before it becomes taught. Rope on the other hand is already tight in a straight line between the anchor and the boat and jerks on the boat with every wave.
I went to a place we had found online and paid $3.25 per foot instead of $12.00 per foot for the 70 foot of 3/8” chain that weighed 120lbs. The cab driver had sailed some and was amused and thankfully not upset when he had to back up to the side door and we loaded the chain.
Later that night it was more food and more sleep.
As a side note: marine toilets a.k.a. heads are similar to real toilets in appearance but that’s about it. The water used to flush comes from the ocean thru a fitting in the hull and is pumped into the toilet with a hand pump with the lever set to “wet“. Once you have enough water in the bowl you flip the lever to “dry” and continue pumping until the bowl is dry. Whatever was in the toilet is pumped out continually no matter which direction the lever is set. You must always flip the lever to the dry pump position when you are done as most heads are below the waterline and water will seep in and fill the bowl and overflow.
Last night I got up to go to the bathroom and instead of turning on the light and bothering others I sat down and instantly jumped up as someone had left the lever on “wet” and I had just dunked my dangly bits in chilly water.
Having arrived late at the marina at Ponce de Leon inlet we docked in one of the few spots left that happened to be a little shallow so we stopped about 2 feet away from the dock in the mud. No big deal, we just spun the bow in so we could step on and off and planned on tightening things up when the tide came in. We had dinner at the marina restaurant and went to bed.
The next morning we were still stuck but the tide was rising and after a half hour we were able to shove off and motor around to fuel up. So with a full belly of fuel we motored out the channel and turned south towards Cape Canaveral.
I have been trying to calculate the fuel usage on the boat but it is a little hard to do. Speed under motor seems to vary considerably depending on wave and wind direction and also whether we are motor sailing. According to the manual, at about 2,000 RPM’s we should be going about 6 knots and burning about 3 gallons per hour which equates to about 2 miles per gallon. Based on my rough calculations we are getting closer to 3 miles per gallon in the worst conditions.
When we started this journey a couple weeks ago the winds were out of the south bringing warm air with them. Since then the winds have been mostly out of the north or northeast bringing cold Canadian air with them (damn Canadians). The winds are still out of the northeast but we are getting far enough south that the local warm air is diluting the northern air. So with the wind to our back we were able to wear jeans and T-shirts during the day for the first time in a while.
The motor sailing was pleasant enough for the full day trip so we settled in and enjoyed the sights, what there was of it 10 miles offshore. There is a very large reef extending out into the ocean to the north of the harbor mouth that we had to go around, combined with the curve of the shoreline that kept us this far out. We were able to see the launch platforms for the shuttle at Cape Canaveral but the launch was still over a week away when we passed by.
We motored into the channel at Port Canaveral just before dusk and found our slip at the marina just as the dockmaster had described it over the phone.
We try to plan whether we are going to stay at a marina or anchorage the night before or early in the day so we can call around to get the best deals etc… We have several tools with which to do this. The Garmin chart plotter has information icons on the maps for different marine facilities. If you move the cursor over the icon and hit ENTER a page opens up with details including phone number and address. Google Earth on our laptop using the Verizon card has the same kind of capabilities using the “find business” field but does not have the depth information that we need to get into some of the marinas. Google Earth does have the added benefit of helping us locate hardware and grocery stores that are within walking distance of some of these marinas.
Back at our dock we see a large Carnival Cruise ship about 150 yards away on the other side of a man made peninsula. There is a second dock for a cruise ship that is about ¼ mile away. Later that evening there was a loud horn blast so we went up on deck and watched the Carnival ship pull away, it was like watching a small city sail off.
After a meal of delivered pizza (they used sliced sausage links instead of chunks) we went to bed. The next morning there was another Carnival ship at dock where the other had been, a Norwegian cruise lines ship and a Disney "Big Red Boat", which by the way is blue with red stacks, at other docks. We shoved off and headed for Fort Lauderdale.
There were no obstructions to force us off shore so we were able to sail down the coast about ½ mile from the shoreline. The waters were much deeper than we had encountered anywhere else along our way so it was comfortable sailing.
By mid-morning the wind was such that we were able to fly our spinnaker (the big colorful sail that balloons out in front of the boat). We set the sail, turned off the engine and where able to move along at about 6 knots which was our typical target speed. On some days when we have greater distances to cover we try to make 7 knots but today was a 45 mile trip and at 6 knots we were looking at an 8 hour day on the water. One nice feature on the chart plotter is that after you plot your course it gives you an ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival).
We had the spinnaker up for about 3 hours as the winds slowly increased we were able hit almost 8 knots if we caught a wave just right and surfed. I joked that we had gone as fast as 9 knots surfing with the staysail and main but I didn’t want to see that kind of speed with this sail especially with only 3 people on board, one of whom had never been on a boat with a spinnaker up.
Julie was down below talking to the sail maker that was working on our replacement jib and the wind was steadily building. We were moving along at a steady 7 to 8 knots surfing to 9.2 when she finally came up. She took over the wheel while John and I put up the staysail and lowered the spinnaker.
I have seen and been part of numerous disasters while lowering spinnakers. I have seen brand new, up for the first time spinnakers end up tangled in the mast and torn to shreds. I have seen spinnakers end up in the water causing the boat to come to a dead stop from 18 knots and spin completely around. We got that one in but it was torn up but repairable, but “it was not a problem, it was an opportunity“.
Our spinnaker dousing came off perfectly and when it was safely stored in it’s bag I came back on deck where Julie told me that we were doing 10 knots after we set the staysail in preparation for the spinnaker douse. Not bad for a 40,000 lb pig dog cruiser.
A couple of hours later as we drew close to the harbor we were escorted by a pod of Dolphins. We had seen a few at a time in the past but with this group we saw as many as 8 out of the water at the same time with silouhettes of more in the water. They stayed with us for 15 minutes or so and amused us by riding our bow wake and jumping out of the water in groups.
We were arriving at Ft. Lauderdale the day after the big in water boat show and saw all types of power and sail boats heading north to their homes.
We pulled into the main channel behind a cruise ship and in front of a small container ship along with about 10 other pleasure craft going in and out of the main harbor. Things were pretty tight especially when the cruise ship stopped to back into it’s dock in front of this parade. After a 10 minute wait for the cruise ship we made the turn and had to wait a few minutes for the bridge to raise so we could pass under it.
We motored up the river to a mooring field where we could tie up to a city owned “anchorage” for the night. As we motored we passed the docks where the show had been and saw more mega yachts than we had seen on the entire trip. In Charleston we saw five 100 foot or so powerboats, here there where about 40 of them along with a half dozen sailboats of the same size or bigger including the 140' sailboat Helios that was across fromour mooring. For anyone who is interested we are starting a collection to rent Helios for a week. We have thrown $100 in, just looking for the remaining $174,900.
After we moored John took me via dinghy back towards the harbor mouth so I could pick up anchor chain for the big 55lb anchor. Along the way he got pulled over by a Ft. Lauderdale police boat and was given a warning ticket for going to fast. The manufacturer of our anchor recommended a 35 or 44 pound anchor for a in the 40 to 50 foot range. Since we were at the top end of the range and heavy for our size we chose to go heavier.
Anchors do a great job of keeping you in one place but they do a better job if you have a chain fastened to the anchor before the rope. Rope floats, chain sinks and helps keep the tips of the anchor down and engaged in the bottom. Chain also acts like a shock absorber in wind and waves, the boat has to lift the heavy chain off of the bottom before it becomes taught. Rope on the other hand is already tight in a straight line between the anchor and the boat and jerks on the boat with every wave.
I went to a place we had found online and paid $3.25 per foot instead of $12.00 per foot for the 70 foot of 3/8” chain that weighed 120lbs. The cab driver had sailed some and was amused and thankfully not upset when he had to back up to the side door and we loaded the chain.
Later that night it was more food and more sleep.
As a side note: marine toilets a.k.a. heads are similar to real toilets in appearance but that’s about it. The water used to flush comes from the ocean thru a fitting in the hull and is pumped into the toilet with a hand pump with the lever set to “wet“. Once you have enough water in the bowl you flip the lever to “dry” and continue pumping until the bowl is dry. Whatever was in the toilet is pumped out continually no matter which direction the lever is set. You must always flip the lever to the dry pump position when you are done as most heads are below the waterline and water will seep in and fill the bowl and overflow.
Last night I got up to go to the bathroom and instead of turning on the light and bothering others I sat down and instantly jumped up as someone had left the lever on “wet” and I had just dunked my dangly bits in chilly water.
1 comment:
Love to come help y'all keep the delivey going!
Just let me know the dates available.
"There are always plenty of "opportunities for problems" when I'm around!
Just so you know, the last time I made the Jambalaya, I used real andioullie(sp?) sausage: gotta tell ya', I like the kilbasa better. Plenty of pollaks here!
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