Reward's Trip from Cape Coral to Chattanooga

carterchapman

Well-Known Member
SILVER Sponsor
TECHNICAL Contributor
Mar 25, 2008
5,499
Lake Chickamauga/Marietta, GA/Ft. Myers, FL
Boat Info
2006 Sea Ray 58 DB
Engines
MAN CRM V8-900s, Twin Disc Drives; Onan 21.5 Generator
If you are interested, here are the details of our trip moving our boat from Florida to Tennessee.

Reward’s Trip – Cape Coral To Chattanooga
9 Days/7 Running Days/1211 Miles/72 Engine Hours/87.2 Genny Hours/2860 Gallons of Fuel. Her MAN engines ran perfectly. Most cruising was done at 2000 RPM, which was 80% Load and 25 Kts. Speed would pick up to 26.5 kts as we burned fuel towards the end of each day.

Day 1: 4/26/2017: Cape Coral-Clearwater-Panama City 320 Miles
We departed at 0652 and arrived Clearwater at 1217. Beautiful, sunny day. Weather in the Gulf was forecast to go downhill 4/27, so we fueled and departed for Panama City. 5 footers in the Gulf, and 8+45 later at 2145 we arrived at Treasure Island Marina. The last three hours we got a few 6-7 footers. 14+ hour day – LONG! Our friends Frank and Fran Webster helped with weather advice and met us at the Treasure Island Fuel Dock at 2130. Gulf was 9 footers for the next week and a half. Glad we crossed when we did!
15 Engine Hours/Genny 16.5 Hours/903.4 Gallons of Fuel

Day 2: 4/27/2017 Panama City- Mobile 150 Miles
Departed at 0830. Weather in the Gulf was 8-9 footers, so we ran the ICW to Mobile Bay and Dog River Marina. Windy, rainy day. Arrived at Dog River Marina at 1630.
7 Engine Hours/9.7 Genny Hours/434.8 Gallons of Fuel

Day 3: 4/28/2017 Mobile-Bobby’s Fish Camp 135 Miles
1 Lock
Departed at 0722. Gray overcast day. At MM 84.5 hit submerged log – damaged both props. Speed reduced to 8.5 Kts. Max RPM without vibration is 800. Arrived at Bobby’s Fish Camp at 1545.
9 Engine Hours/10.8 Genny Hours/313.3 Gallons of fuel

Day 4: 4/29/2017 Bobby’s-Demopolis 97 Miles
1 Lock
Departed Bobby’s at 0555 for the long day’s run to Demopolis at 8.5 Kts/800 RPM due to prop damage. Bobby’s is known for the best catfish in the southeast – It was terrible! And the highest fuel prices of the trip! We’ll be passing Bobby’s next time. Arrived at Demopolis at 1830.
12 Engine Hours/13.1 Genny Hours/83 Gallons of Fuel – Running at 800 RPM, we almost got 1MPG!!

Day 5: 4/30/2017 Demopolis – waiting for Monday Travellift availability. Heavy Thunderstorms, so a great day not to run!

Day 6: 5/1/2017 Demopolis – Haulout for Prop change. No other damage. Finished at 1400, so we waited for tomorrow to run North. Weather was beautiful.
1/Engine Hour/.8 Genny Hours

Day 7: 5/2/2017 Demopolis-Midway 181 Miles.
Departed at 0610. Perfect weather. Made great time. Arrived at 1640.
7 Locks
9 Engine Hours/11.5 Genny Hours/396.6 Gallons of Fuel

Day 8: 5/3/2017 Midway-Wheeler State Park Marina
118 Miles. Good weather.
5 Locks
Dead Genny Battery. Replaced with new AGM Battery – Departed at 0830. Two 2 hour waits at the Whitten Lock and Wilson Lock. Arrived at 2000. Weather forecast for heavy rain overnight. Marina lost power at 0400, so we ran the genny for the rest of the night.
10 Engine Hours/12.1 Genny Hours/Fueled Day 9 at Goose Pond/250 Gallons

Day 9: 5/4/2017 Wheeler State Park Marina-Chattanooga 195 Miles
Departed at 0757 Cloudy, drizzle/rain
3 Locks. Low clouds and rain all day.
Guntersville Lock got us through in 15 Minutes! Trip Record!
Arrived at Chickamauga 1900.
9 Engine Hours/12.7 Genny Hours/480.2 Gallons of Fuel

So, the totals again:
9 Days/7 Running Days/1211 Miles/72 Engine Hours/87.2 Genny Hours/2860 Gallons of Fuel

Longest Running Day: 320 Miles
Shortest Running Day: 97 Miles
And here she is in Lake Chickamauga at the Blessing of the Fleet ceremony on 5/7/2017

Chickamauga 5_7_2017.jpg
 
What a trip!! You made great time despite that damn log! Happy you and the Admiral are safely on the lake.
 
Excellent
 
Glad it went well. Sounds like the weather wasn't the best but you made it safely. Congrats and you have a beautiful boat!


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One picture? That's it? One picture in 1200 miles?! SHEESH! ;-)
 
Carter, glad you made the trip safely. When you had to get hauled out, did you buy new props and trade yours in or just keep the old props to have repaired at some future date?

Any AHA moments from the trip other than the 1nmpg when running at 800 rpm's? It's funny, when I tell people I can get about 1nmpg at low rpm's/low speed I don't think they believe that kind of fuel economy can be achieved with a boat this big.

Yup, we need more photos. :grin:
 
Glad you are home safe. I was hoping to see you at/near Goose Pond but I never followed up on your float plan...My loss. We'll be at Erwin in Chattanooga in a few weeks....I may get to lay eyes on that beautiful boat then.
 
Great write up - enjoyed reading.

Would second the request for more pictures if you have any to share.

Thanks,

Mark
 
What a trip!! You made great time despite that damn log! Happy you and the Admiral are safely on the lake.

We look forward to being back with you in Cape Coral in Nov/Dec - hopefully with no more "sea stories"...just smooth cruising!
 
Glad you are home safe. I was hoping to see you at/near Goose Pond but I never followed up on your float plan...My loss. We'll be at Erwin in Chattanooga in a few weeks....I may get to lay eyes on that beautiful boat then.
Let us know when you will be there!

carter dot chapman at comcast dot net
 
Carter, glad you made the trip safely. When you had to get hauled out, did you buy new props and trade yours in or just keep the old props to have repaired at some future date?

Any AHA moments from the trip other than the 1nmpg when running at 800 rpm's? It's funny, when I tell people I can get about 1nmpg at low rpm's/low speed I don't think they believe that kind of fuel economy can be achieved with a boat this big.

Yup, we need more photos. :grin:

We had spares onboard, so we hung those. Dropped the damaged ones off at Performance Propeller last Friday for repair. If this were to happen again, I may have to look for a second spare set!

We normally got just under .5 mpg at 80% load/2000- 2050 RPM/25 - 26.5 kts (64 GPH). We had 2-3 kts of current working against us, so the trip back should be better economy...economy...now there's an oxymoron with boat ownership!!!
 
We had a lot of southerly headwinds until the front that came through on the next to the last day. Looking forward to going WITH the current on the river portion this fall!

Thanks again for your help and advice Frank! It was good to see you and Fran in PCB.
 
That was a great write up and thanks for allowing us to feel like we were there. Enjoy the summer.


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