Speculating about the things that could go wrong is straying into another blog topic I had in mind, "What could go wrong?" that keeps me from sleeping as well as I normally do. I know Chuck has been having similar thoughts when he should be sleeping. Just know that the four of us have tried to think of everything we should prepare for, and we've done our best to be prepared.
And now I realize that I don't have any motion sickness remedies. Hey guys, if you need them, bring them. And bring extra for those who don't know yet that they need them, because they've never done anything like this before.
Back to the journey. I arrive at the boat on Wednesday to buy food, stock the boat, and put away all of the stuff that I've had shipped to the boat over the past 2 weeks. I have a few projects I want to at least start before we leave, and I'll work on those Thursday and Friday. Chuck and Scott arrive late Thursday, and Todd arrives late Friday. We will leave early(ish) on Saturday to be at the first lock by 0700 when it opens. Here's the chart that diagrams the first day and part of the second:
The Navionics+ chart program tells me that it is just under 13NM to the first lock, and that it will take just under 2 hours to get there at 7.5 knots. We can do a little better than 7.5 knots if we want to, but I charted the journey at 7.5 knots as a conservative average. To be there when the lock opens at 0700, we'll be leaving the marina around 0500. Chuck and I are both early risers - if we sleep at all the night before - so the early start shouldn't be a problem.
The next lock on the other side of the lake is 6-1/2 hours from the start. Getting through the first lock will add some delay to the times, but even if it adds 30 minutes, we should be at the second lock around noon. If we're there that early, we may rethink spending the night at Indiantown Marina, or we may all be ready for a break after the excitement of finally starting the trip and not sleeping much the night before. Even if we did continue on, that might force us into an unfamiliar anchorage, anchoring the boat for the first time or navigating unfamiliar waters in the dark. We'll talk it over as we go and decide what to do.
To transition from the above graphic to the next, note that I restarted the clock from the Sunday morning start at Indiantown on the first graphic and then drove off the top towards Fort Pierce. The total time from Indiantown to the Fort Pierce inlet is 6 hours and 23 minutes. We have another lock to go through between Indiantown and Stuart, so that could slow us down roughly 30 minutes.
The next graphic picks up the trip at the Fort Pierce inlet and shows the rest of the way to Solomons with the total distance from the second start point and the time in hours shown at each major point along the way. I simplified the route shown by the blue lines on all of the graphics, but the depiction is close. The farthest we plan to cruise from land is ~100 NM, and that furthest point is shown on the graphic east of Jacksonville. If the weather's iffy or we're still gaining confidence in the boat, we'll stay closer to land which will increase the total trip distance somewhat, possibly a lot if we have to seek the shelter of the Intracoastal Waterway, or ICW.
We're going to drop Scott off at Deltaville, VA after we get into the Chesapeake Bay, and that stop is not included in the distance or times shown. 116 hours is 4 days and 20 hours. Let's call that 5 days. That plus the first day makes 6 days.
We may decide to get fuel along the way. Fuel gauges and boats don't seem to go well together and since we don't know this boat well, we may not want to let the tanks get too empty. Plus, the boat should ride better as there is more full in the tanks.
Like fuel gauges, plans don't go well with boats. Boaters need to have them, but all boaters know that a plan is something to deviate from, never what actually happens. The graphics above show what could happen in an ideal world with smooth seas, no wind or current, and a perfect boat driven by infallible machines, but probably not what will happen.
The graphics should give the crew and those following our progress some idea of what to expect. If we travel offshore out of Fort Pierce and all goes well until we get off the coast of North Carolina, you may not hear from us for ~3 days. The crew may not be comfortable being out of contact that long, so we may stray from the lines I've drawn above to get close enough to shore to update our weather and let our loved ones know that all is well.
This boat has been all over the East Coast of the US, down the river system from New York to the Gulf of Mexico and into the Caribbean and South America where the previous owners lived on her for 6+ years. It is capable of going anywhere there's water deep enough to float her - about 4-1/2 feet. She's a good boat, and she'll get us all home safely. I'm excited to get going and prove it!
Greg.
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