Clearwater to Marathon

[Ryanengr]

I've been digging through the forums this past week for suggestions and advise as I prepare for the trip - quickly approaching (Aug 3 to Aug 15). Lots of good reads!! Unfortunately some of them are many years old..... so as go time approaches, any last minute suggestions? We are planning on running to Naples on day 1 (not sure where we will tie up - suggestions?). Day 2 we will make the crossing (going straight across, not taking the yacht channel). Staying at Faro Blanco. Gonna get some lobster ingredients and recreational diving in!

Also, I am planning to blog the trip.... my brother is bringing 4 go pro cameras (1 attached to a drone) to video document the adventure..... so for anyone who cares to follow our adventure, it'll be up here: http://thiscaptainsblog.blogspot.com

 

[FootballFan]

Great sounding trip.

Most of the marinas at naples are back to the north after you go in the inlet. Plan on 30 minute transit to and from after you get inside.

When you leave Naples inlet, turn south. Make sure you stay out west of Romano shoals. At the bottom of the shoals, run about 60 mm at a approx heading of 150. Your target is Bullard Bank. Going south take Bullard Bank on your starboard.

At this point you are 7-8 miles out. Take John Sawyer Bank on your port, straight shot into faro.

If you have difficulty finding Bullard bank on your charts, look 7nm due north of pigeon key.

Don't think tides will affect you much, they are a foot or so at most.

I got this route from another member here, cod, have used it several times.

Have a great trip, sounds fantastic.

Can't wait to see the go pro

mark

 

[Ryanengr]

Planning day complete...... thanks for the help!!!!

Clearwater to Marathon
Pg references are Maptech Region 8 15[SUP]th[/SUP] Edition

Day 1
1. Pg 14
ICW down to St John’s Pass
Target G“9”
N27deg 36.22min
W082deg 51.87min

2. PG 14
Target G“1”
N27deg 32.20min
W082deg 48.50min

3. Pg 14, 13, 12, 2
58nm @ 159deg
N26deg 39.85min
W082deg 19.55min

4. Pg 11, 10, 2
17.6nm @ 156deg
N26deg 24.50min
W082deg 10.00min

5. Pg 9, 2
Target Gordon Pass
N26deg 05.50min
W082deg 48.70min

Day 2
1. Pg 10A
Exit Gordon Pass
N25deg 41.30min
W081deg 38.77min

2. Pg 27A
Target Bullard Bank (Keep to Stbd) - G”17”
60nm @ 150deg
N24deg 50.00min
W081deg 10.00min

3. Pg 4A
Target John Sawyer Bank (keep to Port) – Straight shot between R”16” and R”18”
N24deg 45.65min
W081deg 45.65min

4. Pg 19A
Faro Blanco
N24deg 42.68min
W081deg 06.30min

 

[Ryanengr]

Well this has proven to be quite a.... let's just say interesting.... trip thus far!! Killed the pump for fresh water and snapped my new antenna before even leaving the marina. Rain all morning. Then the stbd engine died just 30 miles into our trip (before we could even leave the ICW).

Follow the details on my blog at: http://thiscaptainsblog.blogspot.com/

 

[JimmyDubai]

Starting to enjoy your adventure from Day One!!!

 

[Ryanengr]

Well - the adventure never ceases here on Positive Lattitude. So far, nothing tops day 1 - and with the boating gods by our side, nothing will!!! Found the business end of a bouy - luckily we had dive gear aboard... Snapped my danforth on GOD KNOW WHAT!!! Decided enough was enough and went to Burdiines for a burger. Thank you CSR members for that tidbit of local knowledge. Ive been coming here for over 10 years and never seen this place!! After that, finally found some quality lobsters. The adventure continues:
www.thiscaptainsblog.blogspot.com

 

[k9medic]

Well - the adventure never ceases here on Positive Lattitude. So far, nothing tops day 1 - and with the boating gods by our side, nothing will!!! Found the business end of a bouy - luckily we had dive gear aboard... Snapped my danforth on GOD KNOW WHAT!!! Decided enough was enough and went to Burdiines for a burger. Thank you CSR members for that tidbit of local knowledge. Ive been coming here for over 10 years and never seen this place!! After that, finally found some quality lobsters. The adventure continues:
www.thiscaptainsblog.blogspot.com

Sounds like my trip down to the Dry Tortugas this past week. I'm surprised that we didn't pass each other.

 

[Ryanengr]

Well the adventure continues to say the least....!! About 40 miles into the crossing back north, alarms started buzzing. I brought her down to idle to inspect gauges and identify what the problem was - the port engine overheated. Opened the hatch and killed the port engine. We saw the port engine exhaust tubes collapse momentarily (some sort of back pressure occurred).... Checked and cleaned the strainers and attempted to restart..."clunk"... We continued to motor slowly with stbd engine while the port cooled down enough to get a closer look. Once inside the engine room, I realized that the idler pulley had disentigrated and the belt was thrown....that explains the overheating.... but not the "clunk" on restart. I can only assume at this point that the vacuum we saw sucked seawater into the engine and I have hyda-lock. We limped up to Marco Island on Stbd engine at 8-9MPH. Once safe in port I pulled a few of the plugs and what appeared to be fluid (Sea water???) came out... "CRAP!" We are now limping up to Marine Max Naples to get a technician onboard to inspect. Hopefully it is nothign serious and they can dran the cylinders and get the salt and water out and we can continue our expedition.......

Full story of our adventure at www.thiscaptainsblog.blogspot.com

 

[FootballFan]

I have used Marine Max in Naples in the past. Was very pleased, very positive experience.

Sorry to hear about the challenges, hope the "clunk" is not too bad.

Mark

 

[BillK2632]

Hopefully it didn't do any real damage, hydro lock in a Merc 7.4 is a known issue. Does yours have the old log style exhaust vs the newer lift style mufflers. The valve overlap in the 7.4 created back pressure in the exhaust and combined with the log mufflers it as just a matter of time before there was an issue. Hope it is not too bad, have enjoyed following your trip, looks like a good time inspite of the boat adventures.

 

[Ryanengr]

Hopefully it didn't do any real damage, hydro lock in a Merc 7.4 is a known issue. Does yours have the old log style exhaust vs the newer lift style mufflers. The valve overlap in the 7.4 created back pressure in the exhaust and combined with the log mufflers it as just a matter of time before there was an issue. Hope it is not too bad, have enjoyed following your trip, looks like a good time inspite of the boat adventures.

I believe I have the old style, based on pics of what the new style "should" look like..... based on saturday's findings, it is believed that the hydro-lock was likely caused by a cracked/damaged intake manifold gasket, head cover gasket, or manifold/riser assy.....cracked due to the heat. MarineMax put a mechanic on her right away to at least clear out the sea water - success! With the sea water removed and new plugs she fired to life - all be it, sounded like ****.... sounded like a misfire and she had a hard time running at only idle. Presumably due to bad gasket as mentioned above. Compression checks and stripping of the top-end will have to wait until next week unfortunately.

Had to leave her behind and rent a car to get back home for the work week. Rented a car one-way from Naples to Orlando, only $60, so I'll take it! For now though, I can sleep easy knowing the engine isn't TOAST!

 

[BillK2632]

Main problem is the exhaust combined with the 7.4 makes this engine susceptible to hydro lock and general exhaust water intrusion issues - it's referred to as reversion. Plenty of info out there on it and specifically with this engine/exhaust combination. Usually it's a slow death from small amounts of water being drawn back through the exhaust at low rpm resulting in rust in the valves, eventually you go to start up after a period of non use and a valve sticks and now you have a problem. In your case I would bet the hot engine "ran on" or "dieseled" after you shut it down those one or two engine strokes with no exhaust pressure drew the water in. Get Marine Max to address the exhaust system or you will have more problems. At one point SeaRay was fixing this under warranty, but that's been a number of years. That era 340 is a great boat, but this was one issue with it.