Proposed trip to the Keys-- trying to get ready

[cardude01]

So after posting up about the delivery guys in the SP Cruiser who abandoned ship off Cape Hatteras, it got me thinking more about my proposed trip from Sneed Island to Key West this June (and then back again), and what I should prepare for so I don't end up like them. I realize this trip is not as dangerous as where they were, but this boat is new to me (I will only have a total of about 6 days of running it before I attempt this trip) plus I will have my wife and two teenage boys aboard.

Questions:

1. I was not planning to run directly across but probably stop at Shark River. During June, taking this route, will I be able to duck in anywhere else if the weather changes suddenly? How is the weather in June for this trip?

2. For anyone who has made this trip, are there any special precautions I should make, other than lots of mosquito spray?

3. Do I need an EPIRB? I have the best Boat US towing policy.

4. Should I add an extra Racor before this trip so I can switch in case of trouble? I only have one, like the guys off Cape Hatteras did. I would rather add this extra Racor when I get back to Texas when I can do it myself, but if have to pay to have it done now I will.

5. How bad are the crab trap floats? Do I need take any precautions for these? Can I just snorkel down and cut the line if I wrap one on my prop?

Thanks...

 

[N4712]

Yes the crab traps are abundant.

I don't think you'll need an EPIRB but it doesn't hurt to have one.

 

[HopCar]

Keep Florida on your left on your way south and you'll have lots of places to hide if you have to.


Traps shouldn't be too bad in June as both Stone Crab and Spiny Lobster seasons are closed. If you pick up a trap line in your prop, you won't have much choice but to cut it. It would be nice if you could just untangle it but that is unlikely.


June is the start of hurricane season but it is unusual to see one that early. Just keep an eye on the weather reports. You'll know several days in advance if one pops up.

 

[Moonstruck]

I would have an EPIRB or at least a PLB. Remember from Marco it is about the same distance to Marathon as Key West. The Keys run very close to an east/west orientation.

Crab traps are abundant as you get closer to the islands. Take the direct route to Key West, and you will have less floats to deal with. Watch the weather closely. You usually get pretty good forecasts in that area. Usually a named storm will be tracked for several days.

The trip from Marco is about 100 miles. From Sanibel it is about 120 or so miles. We usually run it from there, but in good weather we can do it in 4 to 4 1/2 hours.

Key West is a funky place with lots for everybody to do. Lou loves it.

 

[Billyfeet]

You should be fine with your fuel situation as long as you know how to quickly change filters. I also have a single engine and keep thinking about dual racors. But have not taken the plunge into my wallet to add one. The weather situation in June should be fine. Tropical storm development is rare and should be predicted by forecasters. There are frequent severe thunderstorms in South Florida in June. Usually you will get warning on VHF radio and can see them coming a long way off. Be prepared to have significant winds and seas build in them. They usually are short lived though. Active Captain will give good info on all places to shelter along your planned course. Spend some time on the site reading about the various rivers and anchorages. And the bugs will drive you nuts.......

 

[cardude01]

I would have an EPIRB or at least a PLB. Remember from Marco it is about the same distance to Marathon as Key West. The Keys run very close to an east/west orientation.

Crab traps are abundant as you get closer to the islands. Take the direct route to Key West, and you will have less floats to deal with. Watch the weather closely. You usually get pretty good forecasts in that area. Usually a named storm will be tracked for several days.

The trip from Marco is about 100 miles. From Sanibel it is about 120 or so miles. We usually run it from there, but in good weather we can do it in 4 to 4 1/2 hours.

Key West is a funky place with lots for everybody to do. Lou loves it.

Talking about weather, what do y'all' use? Does anyone here use a weather forecasting service like Chris Parker or something similar?

Hurricane season:

Since this trip is planned for June, I suppose I need a hurricane contingency plan. With a 2-3 day advance warning, I guess it's possible to get back to LaBelle and haul out. Or do places like this fill up fast?

 

[SCOTTEDAVIS]

Have a way to put screens between you and the bugs at night, or else.

Be at anchor early in the afternoon so you can watch the pretty thunderstorms building from a safe place.

Take your time and enjoy. If you pick up a trap the water temp is in the 80's so no problem.

 

[cardude01]

You should be fine with your fuel situation as long as you know how to quickly change filters. I also have a single engine and keep thinking about dual racors. But have not taken the plunge into my wallet to add one. The weather situation in June should be fine. Tropical storm development is rare and should be predicted by forecasters. There are frequent severe thunderstorms in South Florida in June. Usually you will get warning on VHF radio and can see them coming a long way off. Be prepared to have significant winds and seas build in them. They usually are short lived though. Active Captain will give good info on all places to shelter along your planned course. Spend some time on the site reading about the various rivers and anchorages. And the bugs will drive you nuts.......

OK thanks Billyfeet.

I started to look around that area on Active Captain (that's how I found about Shark River), but I'll study some more.

We did a charter in the Pine Island Sound years ago in an old Gibson houseboat of all things. Anchored in a great spot (I thought) surrounded by mangroves, and the bugs ate us alive.

I do need to practice on the single Racor change. The setup has an electric prime pump but it's not working. Need to fix that.

 

[psneeld]

you can go without a plb or epirb...but I would rather take one and the dingy to Key West than the boat.

 

[cardude01]

you can go without a plb or epirb...but I would rather take one and the dingy to Key West than the boat.

I have read this over and over, but I don't understand.

Take the epirb and the dingy, but not the boat?

 

[Ski in NC]

Don't try running the backcountry at night. Too many traps. Even out of season they are out there, abandoned, whatever.

Fine grass on water surface too, you will find out if your sea strainers are set up right.

My gennie one clogged often, still haven't fixed that.

 

[cardude01]

Don't try running the backcountry at night. Too many traps. Even out of season they are out there, abandoned, whatever.

Fine grass on water surface too, you will find out if your sea strainers are set up right.

My gennie one clogged often, still haven't fixed that.

Wish my boat had an engine temp alarm in case I'm not staring at the gauge. How hard is that to rig up?


Instead of wiring it to the dash (I don't want to snake wires) do you think a loud alarm could be set up in the engine compartment? The pilothouse is right above the engine so I'm pretty sure I would hear it.

 

[No Mast]

We use one of those temp sensors meant for home, you know the ones that have a wireless unit you place outside and it tells you the temperature in the house and outside. We put the remote sensor in the engine room and can see the temp inside at all times.

I wonder if any come with alarm features?

Works well so far.

 

[DavidM]

June should be a fairly benign month to go- no fronts and small chance of a hurricane.

I would go direct from Marco to Key West as others have suggested. You can do it in daylight hours if you leave at dawn and cruise at 8 kts.

If by some small chance a hurricane threatens, pick up a mooring in Marathon. Your boat might not survive a direct hit, but Boot Key Harbor is very protected and there is lots of help in that area to be had. If a hurricane comes directly towards you, get off your boat and ride out the eye passage in the town marina. You will have lots of company. But if the hurricane passes 50 miles away you can ride it out just fine on a mooring.

David

 

[cardude01]

We use one of those temp sensors meant for home, you know the ones that have a wireless unit you place outside and it tells you the temperature in the house and outside. We put the remote sensor in the engine room and can see the temp inside at all times.

I wonder if any come with alarm features?

Works well so far.

That's sounds interesting. So you didn't put the sensor directly on the engine but just in the engine room?

I was thinking about water temperature.

 

[No Mast]

Of course we have an engine temp gauge. But i tell you the ambient temp gauge does a fine job as a backup letting us know how things are. It actually was the first sensor to recognize a temperature difference with a clogged heat exchanger.

On my wish list is an EGT gauge, but that's for another time.

 

[cardude01]

What's a better reading to catch an overheat before problems happen?EGT or water temp?

I still like the engine room temp gauge idea. Cheap and easy.


http://www.monnit.com/Products/Bundles/Temperature-Monitoring-Kits/900-MHz/Temperature-Sensors

This seems pretty cool. Two sensors, but not enough range for exhaust gas temp. So I could monitor engine water temp and what else?

Plug the USB into your laptop and read the data. Battery powered. Totally wireless.

 

[No Mast]

EGT would be my choice. In fact many small planes have EGT sensors on each of the cylinders. Easy to spot a problem that way (trust me I know). Is that much needed on our engines. I don't think so. One sensor will do.

We're actually just monitoring ambient room temp with it. It still was the first sensor to show the heat exchanger was blocked.

 

[No Mast]

BTW when you get to key west if you stop at stock island marina it'll be 1/3 the price of the spots downtown. It also has the cheapest fuel in the area with brand new clean facilities. We were just there a few months ago.

 

[caltexflanc]

As someone who has cruised that area (including twice in June, it will be hot!) and the Keys a number of times here's my opinion:

Key West is far better and much more economically visited by car, unless you are enroute to somewhere else, in our case, SW Florida.

The cruising in SW Florida is fantastic, especially if you are more "wilderness cruisers" rather marina hopping from one populated place to another. So many great anchorages and places to explore. Bypassing them all for the sake of a Key West visit seems like a real shame to us.

You can duck in behind a variety of small keys on the way, the last civilization is Everglades City, which with Chokoloskee is funky Old Florida but fun; we always liked to anchor in Russell Pass or off Indian Key and explore with the dinghy. Shark River is beautiful with almost unlimited dinghy, even big boat adventures. Also if weather is from the easterly, anchoring off the secluded beaches of Cape Sable is nice.

Yes, get an EPIRB, you need it anyway (especially for your trip across the Gulf back to Texas) and you will be away from civilization. Do not take any short cuts or rely on charted depths on the Cape Romano Shoals!

Yes, get that second Racor now, same issue as the EPIRB. You are in a good area to have it done; if you suspect your fuel, get it polished!

EGT and coolant temp are important to monitor, and to add a belt to those suspenders, a raw water flow alarm. All of these are reasonably priced from places like Aqualarm. Engine room temp is a "nice to know", but you will be boating in hot weather to begin with.

The crab floats down there tend to be black, so yes, keep an eye out. And they are around in June, season or not. If you are in any kind of seas, stopping and going under the boat to cut free is dangerous.

 

[healhustler]

Since you're goint to Snead Island anyway, I'd do the extra Racor there. That boat is more than capable of handling any normal conditions, including the occasional squall. An Epirb, Spot or any of the other similar devices would be handy. Design your ditch bag in the meantime.

 

[cardude01]

Since you're goint to Snead Island anyway, I'd do the extra Racor there. That boat is more than capable of handling any normal conditions, including the occasional squall. An Epirb, Spot or any of the other similar devices would be handy. Design your ditch bag in the meantime.

I guess I will. I'm such a cheap-ass I want to do all this stuff myself when I get back to Texas, but I like the idea of having the extra switchable Racor now. Plus, I'm really just a car mechanic so I probably wouldn't know what I was doing anyway.

 

[HopCar]

Why can't you install the Racor yourself in Florida?

 

[cardude01]

I guess I could I could take a separate flight down early before the rest of the family arrives (or drive maybe so I could bring more tools) and do it. I'm probably being lazy.

 

[Steve]

We did a similar trip in 2010, in March, we went from Sanibel Marina to Marco Island where we went in back of Marco Island by Goodland on the marked channel "old ICW" We anchored for the night at the south tip of Coon Key. Well protected by mangroves, the next day we went out Coon Key Pass into the Gulf and continued on to Little Shark River where we spent another night also well protected. The next day we kept South to Marathon where we stayed. We visited Key West from Marathon by car. The weather was good, there were crab pots but they were visible and we fortunately did not wrap any if we did the "Shark Cutter" clipped them with out us noticing?
This made for about 50 miles per day. The route inside is not real deep, our draft is 4' we never touched bottom or have close encounters I recall.

 

[Capt.Bill11]

For weather info use weather apps with your smart phone and Passage Weather online.

 

[timjet]

You mentioned you are such a "cheap ass" and my sense is that you are somewhat new to this activity. Both of these can get you in real trouble.

What you are attempting to do is relatively easy and safe but unless you are prepared to handle things yourself without immediate help you could be in for a real surprise. In the FL straights SEA TOW will take awhile to get to you -- if you can reach them.

The whether in June in south FL is usually great but just ask SKI and a few others what happened to them in late June last year. Personally we were holed up in Ft. Lauderdale for a week waiting for that early season hurricane to pass. Hurricane's are well predicted and predicted paths generally accurate, but just know that all the good hurricane holes and marina's will be taken by the locals. Watch the weather and don't allow yourself to be in a remote area if one is predicted. Thunderstorms generally occur over the coast and inland but can happen anywhere. They are usually not a problem, but expect lots of cold rain when it hits. If your anchored, disconnect your VHF and Plotter from the boats electrical system before it hits.

A second racor is your judgement. A dozen or so racor elements is a no-brainer. A vacuum gauge on the racor will tell you when you need to change it, and if it's in a location on the boat that's easy to do I would go that route and spend the saved money on a PLB. Hey dude what's your life worth, $250.

Right after I purchased my boat I installed a dual raw water alarm, +- $120 bucks perhaps $70 for a single engine. I personally wouldn't own a boat without one. I doubt you will hear the alarm at the helm if it's in the engine room, so wire it to the helm. Yes it's a pain but a little prep now will save you a lot of aggravation late. Ski mentioned the sea grass in the water around the Keys. I'll second that and another very good reason to install a raw water alarm on a single engine boat.

Your wife and kids are depending on you to keep them safe, so do the right thing. Boating's not cheap, as my wife reminds me constantly, but adrift in 3-4 ft swells waiting for Sea Tow will make those saved bucks seem worthless.

You are definitely on the right track by asking lots of questions, good luck and safe boating.

 

[cardude01]

Yes. New to large power boats with diesel power. Have owned houseboats and smaller "express" style boats but nothing designed to cross big water. So I have sooooo many questions.

For instance, comparing an EPIRB to a PLB, which one is better. Seems like the fact you have to manually activate the PLB is a negative, but I also wonder if someone could steal my externally mounted EPIRB. Also, what's

And to the raw water flow alarm, are you talking about something like this?

http://aqualarm.net/cooling-water-flow-c-2/10233-cooling-water-flow-detector-1in-fpt-p-2.html

Does it just mount after the sea strainer? This seems like an excellent idea. I like the idea of a buzzer.

I will have 10,000 follow up questions BTW, so be ready. ;-)

 

[timjet]

Perhaps some one more knowledgeable will pitch in but for the type of boating you're going to do I would think a PLB would be enough, certainly much cheaper. I've attached my PLB to my inflatable life vest which we wear any time we're in open water or the weather kicks up.
We also have a EPIRB in our ditch bag, along with a portable VHF, but the EPIRB came with the boat and the battery is out of date.

I'm no expert on raw water alarms but this is the one I have:Wet Exhaust Temperature Alarm by Borel Manufacturing Inc.
much easier to install.

 

[psneeld]

2 theories on PLB/EPIRBs....mounted, auto release great....unless it becomes entangled from freak accident, poor mounting location.


Other theory is have one in a ditch bag and have it handy at all times.


Neither is perfect, redundancy has its benefits.


I bought an aqualarm for last year's trip and it gave me great warning on the only clog I had in nearly 7000 miles...3 dang finger mullet blocking everything.