SAILS 1990 45 Florida Bay Coaster
Home Home
Quick Tour Quick Tour
Specifications Specs
Equipment Equipment
Stability Stability
Photos Photos
Cruising Logs Blogs
Contact Us Contact Us
 
SAILS....Cruising Blogs
These are all the Blogs posted in February, 2014.
Friday, 28
Insurance Survey Trip
Pelican Bay to FM BCH and Back- Day 2
Up bright an early at 0700 to be ready to depart Pelican bay for Fort Myers Beach. Haul-out scheduled for 1300 and want to be sure and be there in plenty of time. The trip should take about 4 hours.

We did experience some adverse current slowing us down slightly and it took us 4.25 hours to make the trip... departing at 0800 and arriving to Gulf Marine Ways at 1215.

I called and let them know we were arriving early and they were ready and waiting for us at the travel lift. Quick stop at the dock to let Susan and Beecha off and I pulled into the travel lift... 10 minutes and we were out of the water hanging in the travel lift slings.

The yard needed to do a quick power wash and it was ready for the surveyor to audio-gauge the hull... special equipment to measure the thickness of the steel hull plating.

Then we got another surprise... the hull had a lot of growth on it... looked like we were starting an artificial reef on the hull... there were thousands of itsy-bitsy barnacles and some really big barnacles... so big I think you could of served them as appetizers... really BIG! So much for the eco friendly bottom paint ECO-Clad... it sucks... It had only been 10 months since we had the bottom done... :(

I made some phone calls and tried to complain to the paint company about the growth and found that they had gone out of business... I did reach the former CEO of the company and although there was nothing he could do he was very kind and pretty much told me that only thing we could do was clean the bottom "often" and suggested we have the bottom redone with new bottom paint... so much for the eco friendly multi-year paint as promoted to me a year ago... oh well!

Then the guy pressure washing the hull walked up to me and handed me part of CAPAC anode... he had hit it with the power washer ripped it apart. This was replaced as well last year when the sand blaster did the same thing to it... the sand blaster actually destroyed two of the three anodes and I replaced a bad one so all three anodes were new less than a year ago.

Off the yard office I went with the piece in hand and explained what had happened to the girl in the office. she was very gracious and asked what I wanted I was wanting the yard to do... I said replace the part they damaged... told her where to find a new one... Wards Electric in Fort Lauderdale is the closet dealer for the Siemens titanium anode. I left her making some phone calls and returned to SAILS still hanging in the lift.

The surveyor had just finished up the audio-gauging and was ready to inspect the interior of SAILS. They dropped her back in the water and I moved her to the face dock outside the travel lift bay. The survey was completed and I was back to office to see the verdict on the anode.

Things did improve slightly at this point. They told me that there would be no charge for the haul-out and pressure wash and that if I purchased the new anode shipped to me that I could return and they would haul SAILS and install the anode at no charge.... so the haul-out and pressure wash should of cost me $608.00... got that free and will get the next haul-out and installation of the anode free... I just have to purchase the new anode from Wards Electric... last year they cost just under $500.00 and I installed them... so even though it is a pain to return at least the cost worked out in my favor... :)

we departed from Gulf Marine Ways at 1500 and arrived back to Pelican Bay at 1900... 4 hours for the trip covering 26.5 miles and averaging 6.62 knots.
Posted at 6:42 PM by:Jay
Thursday, 27
Insurance Survey Trip
Punta Gorda to Pelican Bay - Day 1
Unexpected trip... our boat insurance renewal came through and it had increased 40% from last year. So, we got some quotes and BoatUS came through as the best value for the dollar. However, they are requiring an out-of-ware survey to bind the insurance. Did some investigation and the closest boat yard that can haul SAILS was Gulf Marine Ways at Fort Myers Beach.

Scheduled a haul out with them for February 28th at 1300... about a 7.5 hour cruise to reach them and due to work Susan and I only have a small window to make the trip.

I was on call today Thursday and had to stay in Punta Gorda till late afternoon... typically, I am free and do not expect towboat calls after sunset... only had one night call since we arrived in late December 2013. So we planned to leave at sunset 1830. The weather was crappy all day and virtually no boat traffic and VHF radio traffic was dead so we opted to leave earlier at 1730.

Had 20 knot winds and current on our nose so we did not make the best time... taking 3.5 hours to go 21 nautical miles averaging under 6 knots and it was raining the entire trip. Still raining now as I write this blog entry. supposed to be nicer tomorrow with some sunshine... although it is forecast to be cooler with high of 70 degrees.

We also opted to not anchor and pulled up to the Cayo Costa State Park docks and tied up at 2100... we will be leaving in the morning at approximately 0800 for the remaining 4-5 hours to Fort Myers Beach.

Posted at 8:22 PM by:Jay
Cruising Blogs
S M T W T F S
       1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28  

Keyword Search

Archives
Posted By
Home Quick Tour Specs Equipment Stability Photos Blogs Contact Us