Florida Keys July 2-18

[kevin27]

We will be leaving for the Keys on the 2nd from Tarpon Springs and going to Key West to start. After that its whatever we want. I usually plan the whole trip out but this time I'm just going to see where trip takes us. This will be our first time running the boat all the way down from T.S.(had trailer for old boat) so that should be fun. All maintenance up to date, equipment checked, EPIRB rented and boat test run after all the work was done so I hope all will go well.
I will try to post pics when I can throughout the trip. If anyone is the area give us a shout.

 

[Mystic Dreamer]

Great trip. I just got back a couple of weeks ago from bringing my boat from West Palm, down through the Keys, and then up the west coast to St. Pete. I am sure you will enjoy it. Have a fun, safe trip!

 

[Bucit]

I haven't made the trip either (always trailered a smaller boat) but be safe and enjoy the trip. Make sure you post some pics!

 

[Searaybio270]

I bought my boat in Key Largo and you should hear the stories my boat tells about the Keys and going to the Bahamas. Nothing but a great stories. Makes me mad!!!!!!

 

[kevin27]

Big trip starts tomarrow and I can't wait. I may not be able to sleep tonight. I borrowed a SPOT personal tracker from a friend so if anyone want to follow the trip here is the link.http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0SSSoICeCg6Mm4VxgldUtXpYYf2N1sfxu.

 

[Bugsy24]

Kevin, enjoy and be safe!!! Take lots of Pictures and Post!!!:thumbsup:

 

[kevin27]

We made it to Key West on the 3rd. The crossing from Ft Myers was a little bumpy in the middle but all was ok. As we arrived to the Northwest channel we ran into a major thunderstorm which was made worse by the fact I waited too long to put up the windows for the top. Lasted about 20 minutes and was right on through with no problems.

Just before the storm I went in the cabin to get the windows and realized the a/c was not working. Big problem for this time of year! After we docked at the Galleon marina I found the a/c blower fan was inop. So I started troubleshooting and found the control board on the unit failed for the fan control. My wife asked what the smell was when I opened the box. It smelled like burnt curcuit board alright. All other functions of the a/c worked. I found the manual and figured out where the main a/c power feed was and connected the fan wires bypassing the curcuit board for now till I can get a part on tuesday. It's a cool 72 in the cabin and all is good.

pic before we left Tarpon Springs

Key West

 

[wetpaint]

Only two pictures...That was a tease....Keep them coming and post at 5:00 am so I can look at and have my coffee.....kidding....do take plenty of pictures

 

[kevin27]

I wil have more pics when I get the computer working right. I went out in the dingy and took more before it rained. Rick Hendrick's Trinity yacht is here named "Wheels" as well as a real cool 61 Sea Ray and other BIG yachts too. You guys and gals should see the hardware in this basin. All I can say is WOW!

 

[kevin27]

Went to Sand Key reef today but was too rough to snorkle. We will wait till Thursday to go back out when it 1 to 2 seas. Here is some pics from the 4th.

 

[Mystic Dreamer]

Wheels has a permanent slip there... I was at the Galleon last year and it was there then, as well as the former Wheels a few years ago... those center console's are his too... The crew would clean everything every day!

 

[Steve S]

There are a bunch of the large yachts that came down after the race in Daytona. I believe the one is the owner of the Indy Motor Speedway (Penny Holman?) along with Hendricks and others.

I was hoping to catch you Kevin and check out your Dancer before I left Key West but I checked your tracker it still showed you up north.

-Steve

 

[Floridays]

It looks like you had a great trip.
Question
I have a Sea Ray 360, planned on making the trip also from the area of St.Pete.
What was your fuel burn. Trying figure what it will cost approximately for my boat.

 

[kevin27]

Few more pic from the trip. We are having a great time and have met some cool people.
Sand key reef

Marquesas keys

Boca Grande key

Night pics at the Galleon Key West

 

[Bugsy24]

Very COOL!! Glad you guys are having a good time!!!!!!!

 

[kevin27]

We left Key West on Thursday(14th) and made it to St Pete. We anchored up in the north yacht basin by the Vinoy for the night. I love the St Pete water front with its beautifull parks, views, and restaurants with outdoor dining. We used the dingy to go ashore and had a great dinner at The Moon Under Water.http://www.themoonunderwater.com. The next morning we walked around the water front and watched the kids from the sailing school have fun crashing into each other in little sail boats at the south basin. Very funny. The instrustors were so patient with them. The kids were tring so hard but some just had trouble getting the boats to go in the right direction.

Later in the morning we left for Tarpon Springs and went down in the cabin and smelled a very foul smell. It took me hours to figure out what it was. The smell was from the mud on the achor rode. I tried to clean it when I pulled it but was not good enough. The boat needs a washdown hose in the anchor locker. I will look into that later.

We pulled the boat out of the water on Saturday(16th) and found the bottom very clean except for a few barnicals and green slime at the water line. Not bad for no bottom paint.

Total trip was a little over 700 miles. Quick calculations show about 24 gals per hour running between 28.5 and 32 mph cruise. This is more than normal but was loaded very heavy. Boat had no major problems and we had an awsome time.

Here is a few more pics. Sunset K.W. on the 13th.

Crossing the Gulf Of Mexico halfway to Ft. Meyers. Not a bad ride.

The boat Ocean from the tv show I think on Discovery Channel anchored up inside to the north of Boca Grande Pass.

Sunshine Skyway bridge

 

[kevin27]

http://fischerproductions.com/ This is the boat Ocean and it's on National Geographic Channel.

 

[highslice]

Awesome pics. Looks like a great trip, thanks for sharing. I have driven over the Skyway a ton. It's interesting to see from the water. It seems much steeper when your driving it!

 

[DontPanic]

Awesome! Thanks for pointing me in this direction. Definitely gives me confidence for the trip I'm dreaming about.

 

[wetpaint]

Great Trip......Thanks for posting