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10-23-2019, 07:23 PM
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#121
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Guru
City: Upstate,SC
Vessel Name: Shipoopi
Vessel Model: derilic sailboat
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 2,884
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rslifkin
Just gotta take a buddy boat along for safety
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We have enough people here to have a buddy flotilla.
__________________
This is my signature line. There are many like it but this one is mine.
What a pain in the transom.
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10-24-2019, 08:22 AM
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#122
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Senior Member
City: stuart
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 122
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Well, whoever is going bring me back a northern lights 5kw generator and collect 2k.....larry never got your pm. cpt,craig
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10-24-2019, 08:31 AM
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#123
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Guru
City: Rochester, NY
Vessel Name: Hour Glass
Vessel Model: Chris Craft 381 Catalina
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 7,550
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ben2go
We have enough people here to have a buddy flotilla.
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Yeah. Regardless of where in the world the transport is taking place.
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11-13-2019, 11:01 AM
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#124
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TF Site Team
City: California Delta
Vessel Name: FlyWright
Vessel Model: 1977 Marshall Californian 34 LRC
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 13,728
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Just stumbled upon this thread and read it end-to-end! What an exciting and worthy adventure.
Kudos to you, Dude, for a great boat save! I'd be honored to put the first cold beer in your hand in Ft. Pierce!
Cheers to Dude and Bijou!
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11-13-2019, 11:11 AM
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#125
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Guru
City: Miami River
Vessel Name: Gotcha
Vessel Model: Grand Banks. Heritage. 54
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 2,988
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He has certainly been my new hero for the past few weeks! I hope he make the gathering.
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11-13-2019, 11:36 AM
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#126
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Guru
City: Victoria TX
Vessel Name: Bijou
Vessel Model: 2008 Island Packet PY/SP
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 5,290
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CarDude begins epic broke-boat return to US
Ha. I appreciate the thoughts but Larry’s use of “epic” was more than a little tongue in cheek I think. I definitely consider the trip more lucky than involving any skill.
I had some contacts who had already been to the the island post hurricane (one a TF member), so I was fairly comfortable I would be OK once I got there. My only concern really was water— I took all my own food but not any water due to weight restrictions. Also, I was a little worried about cell service coverage for weather updates and contacting my wife and friends in the US helping me like Larry and others on TF. Turns out there were pallets of water everywhere and cell coverage was serviceable. So that was lucky.
What I didn’t know much about was the condition of the boat. I knew the mast was broken but other than that not much. My biggest concern was water intrusion, and that turned out to be a non-event. The interior was damp and a little mildewed, but that’s about it. The battery bank was at 13% when I got there and that was concerning, but after plugging into the yard generator for 8 hours a day for two days they charged up to almost 80%. Then after they launched me I set up my portable solar and ran the generator to get them up to 88% before I left. I figured that was good enough to get me home as long as the generator would continue to run. More luck.
Another very lucky part of the trip was that the yard was able to clear enough boats out of the way to get to mine and launch me the second day after I was there. That was huge and it took some prodding and lots of tips to the hands. That saved my bacon because I had a very narrow weather window to get back across to Florida and would have to either wait a week for a cold front to work through or attempt to fly back to Florida and try again later. I really didn’t want to wait around a week, and I also didn’t want to fly back home, so my lucky weather window worked out.
Finally, the broken mast or the other boat systems didn’t cause me any trouble on the trip back. I was a little worried about the mast when it got rough at first starting the trip across from West End to Florida, but my makeshift mast holder board held firm.
The more I think about the trip typing this, the only amazing thing is that all the things lined up for me to be able to get the boat home on the first try. I’m really glad the weather worked out becaue I was so intent on getting it back I’m a little afraid I would have possibly tried to make it back in less than perfect weather, and that is where it could have gone sideways on me.
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11-13-2019, 11:57 AM
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#127
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Guru
City: Phoenix, AZ
Vessel Name: Enigma
Vessel Model: 1997 Wellcraft Excel 26 SE
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 658
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Kudus!!!!!
Thanks so much for the update.
A good boater has the skill and resources to prepare for the worse. The great boater takes in the unexpected and continues to press on.
There were a lot of things that could have gone worse. I think everyone including you are pleased at he outcome.
Kudos!
__________________
>>>>>>>>>>>Action
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11-13-2019, 02:09 PM
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#128
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Guru
City: Upstate,SC
Vessel Name: Shipoopi
Vessel Model: derilic sailboat
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 2,884
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I'm happy it all worked out an the trip was fairly uneventful other than some bouncy times. I believe luck and keeping the boat in good shape is what saved the boat and made it possible to get back home.
__________________
This is my signature line. There are many like it but this one is mine.
What a pain in the transom.
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11-13-2019, 02:22 PM
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#129
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Guru
City: SF Bay Area
Vessel Model: Tollycraft 34' Tri Cabin
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 12,569
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Congrats - You skillful, lucky stiff!! LOL
Good Job!!
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11-13-2019, 02:24 PM
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#130
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TF Site Team
City: Jacksonville
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 11,680
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Art
Congrats - You skillful, lucky stiff!! LOL
Good Job!!
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What he said.
And Bill, what’s the plan looking like to get seaworthy again?
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11-13-2019, 02:40 PM
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#131
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Senior Member
City: punta gorda, FL
Vessel Name: Blue Bayou
Vessel Model: Hatteras 43MY
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 149
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Very well done. As I said back on 10/20, more that the average adventure.
__________________
Punta Gorda, FL
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11-14-2019, 09:04 AM
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#132
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Guru
City: Jacksonville Beach, FL
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 1,252
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And as I said back on 10-20-2019, channeling Jeff Bridges and Sam Elliot, in The Big Lebowski: "The Dude abides."
__________________
"Less judgment than wit is more sail than ballast. Yet it must be confessed that wit give an edge to sense, and recommends it extremely." ~ William Penn
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11-18-2019, 11:34 PM
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#133
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Guru
City: Victoria TX
Vessel Name: Bijou
Vessel Model: 2008 Island Packet PY/SP
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 5,290
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry M
What he said.
And Bill, what’s the plan looking like to get seaworthy again?
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Sorry just saw this. It's in Stuart waiting on a new mast and rigging. Because of the backlog the mast will take two months to get built and delivered by Selden in SC. Not much else to report. Not sure what I'm going to do with my solar. Don't know if I'm going back with those huge panels. I'd like something that didn't hang over the roof so much. I'm sure that's why they blew off, but in 200 mph wind I guess everything blows off.
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11-19-2019, 06:51 AM
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#134
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Guru
City: Jacksonville
Vessel Name: SONAS
Vessel Model: Grand Alaskan 53
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 7,235
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Was there any sign of the outboard?
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11-19-2019, 07:01 AM
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#135
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Guru
City: Hernando Beach
Vessel Model: Seaway
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 506
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Keep the solar
Bill, is your insurance paying for the new mast?
As far as your solar panels go, our experience with our system has exceeded expectations.
We have two large 235-watt panels on our roof, and 6 Fireflys for our house bank. And a Victron 3000-watt controller/inverter.
The beauty of the Fireflys is that we can run them down to 20% safely, so it takes fewer Fireflys, compared to lead & AGM, to achieve the same power availablity. Plus, they charge faster than lead & AGM.
We run a small electric ceramic heater at night and still have 25% left in the bank in the morning to make coffee and start the engines. This is on top of keeping our 10.6 cu ft fridge & freezer happily humming along. By mid-day the bank is fully charged again, even on partly cloudy days.
If we ever buy another boat, we'd install something similar.
I've been so impressed by our boat solar I am thinking about converting half our house to solar. The only thing we need the grid for is the a/c; we have natural gas for the stove, hot water and furnace in the house.
In other words, solar is awesome on the boat. I'd recommend keeping it.
Cheers,
Mrs. Trombley
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11-19-2019, 08:00 AM
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#136
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Guru
City: Victoria TX
Vessel Name: Bijou
Vessel Model: 2008 Island Packet PY/SP
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 5,290
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Quote:
Originally Posted by menzies
Was there any sign of the outboard?
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The outboard was still there. It has a small hole in the cowling now from flying debris, but I expertly covered that with duct tape. Now it looks old so maybe it will be less of a thief magnet.
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11-19-2019, 08:08 AM
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#137
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TF Site Team
City: Jacksonville
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 11,680
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cardude01
The outboard was still there. It has a small hole in the cowling now from flying debris, but I expertly covered that with duct tape. Now it looks old so maybe it will be less of a thief magnet.
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Bill: The covers fiberglass and real easy to repair. When you’re in the yard have one one of the yard guys show you how to. It’s a good thing to practice on, should last longer than the tape and as you say, “it will be less of a thief magnet”.
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11-19-2019, 08:09 AM
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#138
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Guru
City: Victoria TX
Vessel Name: Bijou
Vessel Model: 2008 Island Packet PY/SP
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 5,290
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CarDude begins epic broke-boat return to US
Quote:
Originally Posted by Miz Trom
Bill, is your insurance paying for the new mast?
As far as your solar panels go, our experience with our system has exceeded expectations.
We have two large 235-watt panels on our roof, and 6 Fireflys for our house bank. And a Victron 3000-watt controller/inverter.
The beauty of the Fireflys is that we can run them down to 20% safely, so it takes fewer Fireflys, compared to lead & AGM, to achieve the same power availablity. Plus, they charge faster than lead & AGM.
We run a small electric ceramic heater at night and still have 25% left in the bank in the morning to make coffee and start the engines. This is on top of keeping our 10.6 cu ft fridge & freezer happily humming along. By mid-day the bank is fully charged again, even on partly cloudy days.
If we ever buy another boat, we'd install something similar.
I've been so impressed by our boat solar I am thinking about converting half our house to solar. The only thing we need the grid for is the a/c; we have natural gas for the stove, hot water and furnace in the house.
In other words, solar is awesome on the boat. I'd recommend keeping it.
Cheers,
Mrs. Trombley
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I have all the estimates submitted to the surveyor, and he reviewed them and forwarded them all to the insurance company, so I’m hoping to hear something this week on if they are going to cover it all (less my big storm deductible). Fingers crossed.
We really enjoyed the solar when we were in the Bahamas, especially after the generator went down and I didn’t have the part to fix it. So I want to go back with something, just don’t really like how those panels looked hanging over the back. They were big 300+ watt house panels that I bought from a guy for $120 each. So they were cheap, and I like cheap, so I might go back with the same thing. I keep the dinghy on the roof so that limits my space up there.
As to the batteries, my fairly new Lifeline AGMs were at 18% when I got there but they seemed to have charged all the way up on the way back to FL, so I’m hoping they will hold up. Time will tell. If not I might check out the Fireflys. Thanks for the tip!
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