464 Miles on a 290

Sadler

Sadler

Member
Nov 29, 2006
907
Live in Western NC, boat in Charleston, SC
Boat Info
2005 Nordic Tugs 37 FB
Mercury RIB dinghy with Honda 2 hp 4 stroke,
sold: 1997 290DA,
Engines
Cummins QSB 380
Well, it wasn't the Bahamas like we planned, but it was a great trip nonetheless. A lot of factors prevented me from taking the time I would have needed to take my 290 from Charleston to the Bahamas, but with the time we had, we sure had a great trip.

Three friends and I ended up taking my 1997 290DA "Hey Babe" from Charleston, SC north up the ICW to Wrightsville, Beach, NC and back. We spent eight days on the boat, and all but two of the days were spent on anchor. The two days not on anchor, we stayed in a slip at Bald Head Marina--a fantastic place where we rented golf carts to tour the island.

The total mileage on the boat was 464 miles, and the only technical problem we had was a loose nut on the wiring harness, that took about thirty minutes to diagnose and fix. It was by far my best boat trip.

Afterwards, I met up with my wife and daughter near Charleston, and the three of us did a week-long driving trip to Key West, FL, stopping along the way in Key Largo to do some snorkeling in PenneKamp State Park. Key West was fun, but very commercial. We stopped in Stuart, FL (for a dance contest for my daughter) and St. Augustine, FL on the way home. Again, a great trip, but on land not by boat.

I took lots of photos of our boat trip north over the eight days. I've uploaded them here. They are in order of the trip. I've inserted captions that describe details of the trip. If you'll select "Slideshow", hit "Pause" and then use the arrow to go as fast or slow as you want, you'll get the full screen hi res photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Sadlerlv/HeyBabeGoesNorthMarch2008?authkey=pTBZDEZAcKU

And here are my buddy's Jeff's pictures of the trip:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Sadlerlv/JeffSBoatPicsHeyBabeNorthMarchApril2008?authkey=q8psI6vQuLc

We are so jazzed after this trip, we are next planning a trip to Jacksonville, FL to do the St. Johns River.

Sadler
 
Last edited:
Great pics. Thanks for posting. That is one interesting bridge. Where is it? Do you have a map of the route? (Maybe a garmin track)
 
Great pictures, brings back a lot of memories for me as I bought a 95 290 DA in 1999 and kept it in Wrightsville Beach for the 1999 season. We made the trip down the ICW as far south as Myrtle Beach, we also frequented Bald Head and Southport.

Lets see it was before kids (have three now twins age 7 and a 4 year old) and gas that summer was less than $1 per gallon even on the water, plus in NC you got .22 per gallon back at year end for off highway use. Life was good!

I sold the 290 in the fall of 2003 and got my 370 the next spring. After the kids came we kept the boat in Morehead City, since it was half the drive from home as Wrightsville. Moved back "home" to NJ in the spring of 2005.
 
chuck1 said:
Great pics. Thanks for posting. That is one interesting bridge. Where is it? Do you have a map of the route? (Maybe a garmin track)
Click to expand...

The pontoon bridge is at Sunset Beach, NC.

I do have a track. It's on my boat in Charleston. I'm headed back to the boat on the 23'd of this month. I'll download it then and send to you Chuck, and anyone else who'll send me a PM.

Sadler
 
First Born said:
Not sure if this is the same one but another swing bridge at N. Mrytle Beach.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVsDgfja7mY&feature=related
Click to expand...

This swing bridge was exactly where the nut came loose on the wiring harness! We were about to go through the swing bridge when Doug (our chef) went to start the generator for lunch, and suddenly "duhhh" the engine dies and all electricals go dead. I quickly dropped anchor, and the fire drill started: pull all the seats up aft, lift the engine cover, and climb down into the engine room. I guessed it was a wiring harness issue, and wiggled the wires and we had power again. Jeff figured out it needed a metric wrench to tighten (we couldn't see the loose nut--too far down to see), a half turn with a metric socket, and we were back in business. Whew!

Sadler
 
Last edited:
Neat bridge Wesley, but not the same one. The one I talking is picture 68 + Looks like the bridge has ramps that move/retract before the barge swings.
 
Last edited:
Looks like a great trip Sadler. Liked the photos. What did you have time for in Key West?
We've spent six vacations down there (a week at a time.) I think people enjoy it more when they have some time to stay. There's alot more to Key West than Duval. Had anyone interested in your boat?
 
Last edited:
I've had some good interest in the boat. Latest is a gentleman from the Netherlands who seems very interested. My problem is going to come when I get an offer. A lot of good times on that boat.

Yes, you're right Time. We only had two days in Key West and since this was our first trip, we had to do Duval, and my comments were the same to my less than impressed wife--lots more that we didn't see. We had intentions of some scuba and/or snorkeling, but ran out of time. I forgot to mention we also stopped in Orlando on the way down to do Disney and Paramount, so with two days in Key Largo, Key West got shorted.
 
Sadler, enjoyed looking at photo's. Looks like you guy's had a ball. Hope to run into you this summer . We go to Charleston several times ayear. Nicky
 
Great photos Sadler, and I'm sure the memories are even greater. BTW, how much of the trip were you on plane, and how much goin' slow? What was your fuel consumption? The wife and I are looking forward to some cruising on our 290 this summer.
 
Nicky--maybe we'll do another Charleston Rendezvous this year and we can meet then.

TM--we averaged 1.6 mpg overall. I'd guess we were on plane about half the time. We tend to take our time and like to go slow whenever possible, so we are slower than some. For me it's the getting there that's enjoyable.

Sadler
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,177
Messages
1,427,986
Members
61,086
Latest member
MrWebster
Back
Top