Safely anchored in Cayo Costa State Park

[tuffr2]

Yep, got to love Florida for RV or boat support.

Thanks for sharing, this is good info to know.

[MV Wanderlust]

Actually met capt-couillon yesterday! That was pretty cool. First time meeting a forum member face to face. Everyone here has been very nice and welcoming. Love Boot Key Harbor.

Three of the kids arrived yesterday. We headed out this morning on a two night cruise to hit a couple of reefs and a couple of anchorages.

Broadside seas all the way to Looe Key. 2-3 foot waves with short intervals and lots of whitecaps. This is exactly as forecasted. Too rough for snorkeling in the marine sanctuary (all of the other day charter boats left) so we trolled outside for a while. Lots of fish on the fishfinder but no hits. Tied to an outside mooring ball for a while but the 40 degree, rolly-polly waves seriously sucked. As long as the kids are entertained, that's what it's about... right?

Heading to Bahia Honda state park for the night after this.

[MV Wanderlust]

Anchored of the beautiful Bahia Honda State Park beach. Based on Active Captain recommendations, we let out about 20 more feet of chain rose than we normally do due to the strong current. I backed down on it pretty firmly and felt like we had a good set. Had sideways rollers all afternoon and night. Sometime before 3:00 am, the current pulled the anchor loose and we were dragging. By the time we discovered it, we were minutes from hitting the north bridge. We pulled up the anchor and hauled out of there in the dark because we weren't confident we could reset the anchor in sand in the dark. We contemplated heading north to our next stop but called it a day due to the 3' broadside seas and headed back to Marathon Key. So much for the reefs portion of the trip.

Resting for a day and then starting to head home on Tuesday.

[tuffr2]

Do you use anything to tell you if the anchor fails. Any kind of warning? That is kinda scary for the anchor to come loose and you start drifting to a hard concrete bridge support...hikes.

I am thinking there are alerts that can be set.

[MV Wanderlust]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

Do you use anything to tell you if the anchor fails. Any kind of warning? That is kinda scary for the anchor to come loose and you start drifting to a hard concrete bridge support...hikes.

I am thinking there are alerts that can be set.

I've heard of those but we don't have one configured because we've never needed it before. Never broken loose like that. Kinda scary is right!

[capt-couillon]

Drop a small mushroom at the same location as your anchor.
Reel out light line as much longer than your anchor rode as you want alarm.
Reel out enough additional length to feed into cabin and tie to coffee cup full of noisy bits and pieces.

If anchor drags, mushroom will stay in place and when reaching end of light line will dump noisy cup on floor...
Get up and look...

No electronics, fail safe. Alt method to cup... tie to toe.

Just sayin"

[MV Wanderlust]

Originally Posted by capt-couillon

Drop a small mushroom at the same location as your anchor.
Reel out light line as much longer than your anchor rode as you want alarm.
Reel out enough additional length to feed into cabin and tie to coffee cup full of noisy bits and pieces.

If anchor drags, mushroom will stay in place and when reaching end of light line will dump noisy cup on floor...
Get up and look...

No electronics, fail safe. Alt method to cup... tie to toe.

Just sayin"

Interesting approach, couillon. Sometimes old school is the best.

[MV Wanderlust]

Sadly, we departed Boot Key Harbor this morning. New friends were found. Awesome hospitality from everyone. We definitely want to go back.

The crossing from Marathon Key to Marco Island, Florida, was uneventful and smooth. The weather cooperated nicely. We stay on top of maintenance and made sure to clear the strainers before taking off so the 4+ hours and 80ish miles out of sight of land was never a worry on our Yacht-a.

We're on the hook just off of the ICW in Marco Island. Peaceful and pretty. Tomorrow, we head back outside into the Gulf to Ft Myers Beach for fuel and will then finish our journey in the ICW, staying overnight in Don Pedro State Park.

We did learn that the new electric davit winch we installed before departing really isn't powerful enough. It's supposed to have a 2500 lb pulling capacity but we barely got our dinghy back on the roof by helping it up by pulling on the bow and stern lines. Going to look into a more powerful motor when we get home.

[MV Wanderlust]

After a very pleasant night on the hook in Marco Island, we are now spending our last night safely anchored off of Don Pedro State Park on the ICW. Beautiful spot. Wife is in a bikini, fishing. Two dolphin are lazily feeding over by the shore. Life is good.

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by JohnEasley

We did learn that the new electric davit winch we installed before departing really isn't powerful enough. It's supposed to have a 2500 lb pulling capacity but we barely got our dinghy back on the roof by helping it up by pulling on the bow and stern lines. Going to look into a more powerful motor when we get home.

Have you got a purchase in the winch line?

[MV Wanderlust]

Originally Posted by DotDun

Have you got a purchase in the winch line?

Don't think so.

We've called around and found an electric hoist motor rated at a 1300 lb dead lift capacity. That'll do the trick, for sure. We're going to pick it up tomorrow afternoon. Should be an easy install since everything else is already there. Will finally be able to put Baby back in the water. 😃

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by JohnEasley

Don't think so.

We've called around and found an electric hoist motor rated at a 1300 lb dead lift capacity. That'll do the trick, for sure. We're going to pick it up tomorrow afternoon. Should be an easy install since everything else is already there. Will finally be able to put Baby back in the water. 😃

Hmmm, you would know.

A purchase is using a block at the dinghy with the end of the winch line fed back up to the davit and connected there. It reduces the power needed at the motor by half. Obviously a purchase requires more winch line.

[MV Wanderlust]

Originally Posted by DotDun

A purchase is using a block at the dinghy with the end of the winch line fed back up to the davit and connected there. It reduces the power needed at the motor by half. Obviously a purchase requires more winch line.

Ah. Gotcha. Hadn't heard it referred to as that. We don't have enough line in this motor to use one and be able to reach the water.

[SFS]

Might want to consider it. A block and the associated longer line should be cheaper than a new motor, and a LOT easier to install.