I've Gone and Done it Now

[Tayana42]

Good first day. Keep it up.

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[letsgetsailing3]

Congrats on your first successful day and thanks for the update!

Keep up the good work.

[captainbri]

Aww your 16 again with a nrw car. How awesome congratulations

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[a64pilot]

Made it to Stewart yesterday. Picked up a slug of the what looks like Tofu in the fuel line which shut us down. Getting the kid pretty good at emergency anchor drills as we were in the inter coastal.
Found the fuel tank vent line blocked when we tried to refuel. Ended up having to pull the extra fitting meant for generator fuel return to get fuel in the boat using it as a vent.
Went out St Lucie inlet this morning where I ran her aground but the waves were so high It was picking her up off the bottom at most wave crests I was able to get her free pretty easily. Dove the boat and no marks on keel. Winds straight off the bow at 20 to 25 Kts today when we went out with 5 to 6 ft. seas and about a 5 sec period. Found a small leak at the hull to deck joint in forward head. Seas were breaking over the bow regularly. Knocked off early and are sitting in West Palm now as the Admiral was having a tough time of it and we have a long way to go. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Plan is to make Miami if we can.

[Prairie Chicken]

It sounds like you're getting more than you hoped for but nothing you can't handle. Hopefully the Admiral is doing better soon.

If you haven't had a lot of response, CF have been distracted with another thread, a serious one. They're safe now, but lots of fall out.

Good luck with the remainder of your trip.

[letsgetsailing3]

Sounds as if you're running into normal sorts of issues, but still making good progress. So far so good. Thanks for the updates, and keep up the good work!

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Prairie Chicken

It sounds like you're getting more than you hoped for but nothing you can't handle. Hopefully the Admiral is doing better soon.



If you haven't had a lot of response, CF have been distracted with another thread, a serious one. They're safe now, but lots of fall out.



Good luck with the remainder of your trip.

The thing with Rebel Heart? It had started before we left. I believe before we had left the kid had been taken off the boat and was OK? I'm on the phone now and will check up on that thread . Hope all worked out OK. From what little I remember of reading about him here he wasn't born yesterday he will figure it out.

[Tayana42]

We are all pulling for the Rebel Heart family, safe now but a lost boat which was their home. You, on the other hand are doing great. I am impressed that you take each issue as it presents itself and handle it. Keep it up and thanks for sharing the adventure.


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[a64pilot]

They lost their boat? I'm very sorry to hear that. I didn't expect that. Still trying to catch up on that thread.
God speed to Eric and his family I hope they recover from it.

[Terra Nova]

64--attaboy! You are getting a very fortuitous shakedown, now, while you have professional help at hand and are close to shelter and any part or service which might be needed. The information gleaned from this trip will help guide you to take your boat to a much higher state of readiness. And you will know your boat more intimately because of this interaction.

I believe it is the right path to forge on when faced with new challenges; to overcome any problem that may arise.

Yachting builds strong character.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Mr. Pilot!

Was at the outta town for a week, so missed your sendoff... Sounds like you were doing great with "pretty normal crap" thrown at ya for a first boat move...

Hope all is still going well, and you're nearing the conclusion still married!

[J Clark H356]

Congratulations on your new boat and your decision to hire a Captain to help you and your wife get back to Panama City. You will learn a tremendous amount about your boat and your own limits on the trip. Hope it goes smoothly for you. The fuel issues are pretty standard for an older boat. Be sure you change filters very frequently until you get all the debris and sludge out of the fuel system. Carry lots of spare filters and impellers. Also get some extra belts. You don't want to need any of that when you are offshore and can't get it.

[letsgetsailing3]

How far did you make it? Last we heard you were headed towards Miami?

[a64pilot]

Sorry about not responding, all I had was the phone and I was getting pretty tired, then we jumped off of Marathon Fri. afternoon and headed straight for Panama City. I don't want to ever do that again, ran for a coupe of hours with less than a foot of water under the keel, took a year off of my life, but we arrived in Panama City at 4AM Sun. morning, I know the area well so just threw a hook in a good local anchorage and slept for a few hours. We did the trip without an autopilot, windless or a chart plotter as the one in the boat's chip is good only for South Carolina and N. Fl. It did give speed, and course though as well as present position. Mostly ran on paper charts (which are getting hard to find) and the Garmin blue chart app on my cell phone.
Admiral held up real well, got sick one day off the east cost when the waves were approaching six ft with a five sec. period and winds were 25 to 30 straight off the bow. Once through that she did fine.
Burned a LOT of diesel though, winds were favorable only for a day out of Marathon, the we motor sailed for a day or so, then just furled sails as there wasn't enough wind to keep them filled.
Had a few mechanical issues, mostly fuel contamination, but worked through them, seemed to have flushed everything through the fuel system by now.

[J Clark H356]

Congratulations on your completed passage! That is a long sail direct from Marathon. You will now know what you really need to make your boat personalized to your tastes and needs. Fair winds!