First Trawler Rental

[AZ2Loop]

As a fellow LOTO boater here, I understand your concerns with the shallow water. It is definitely something you have to get used to here in SWFL. Going farther south, in the keys we spent full days cruising, while staying in marked channels, with 2 to 4 feet under our keel -- all day long. Not being used to that kind of skinny water, it got old! At LOTO, on the other hand, I don't even care if I have a depth finder.

Based on your screen name, I think I recognize you (OP) from a prominent LOTO forum, so you may have have seen my thread there about our trip. We will also be in the Fort Myers Beach area when you come down, so feel free to reach out if we can be of any help. It sounds like you are in for a great vacation!

 

[ljk]

As a fellow LOTO boater here, I understand your concerns with the shallow water. It is definitely something you have to get used to here in SWFL. Going farther south, in the keys we spent full days cruising, while staying in marked channels, with 2 to 4 feet under our keel -- all day long. Not being used to that kind of skinny water, it got old! At LOTO, on the other hand, I don't even care if I have a depth finder.

Based on your screen name, I think I recognize you (OP) from a prominent LOTO forum, so you may have have seen my thread there about our trip. We will also be in the Fort Myers Beach area when you come down, so feel free to reach out if we can be of any help. It sounds like you are in for a great vacation!

What is LOTO?

 

[AZ2Loop]

What is LOTO?

Lake Of The Ozarks
Sorry about that. The OP mentioned Lake of the Ozarks in the opening post, which is a place we have also boated a lot. Commonly referred to as LOTO.

 

[ProMaritime]

Chart depths are not based on your keel off-set on your depth sounder. A careful inspection should be made of every chart for your cruising area to verify charted depths and if they are feet, meters or fathoms.

I use the a water-line off-set on my sounder. I can actually do the arithmetic to translate that into the safe depth reading.

Charter operators frequently add imaginary sounder off-sets thinking this is an added safety factor for novices. It can lead to confusion instead, especially when using soundings as a navigation tool.

Once in French Polynesia while chartering a Moorings boat I slowly powered forward over a very gently sloping sandbar in crystal clear water. When the sounder said zero we anchored and I went over the side to measure the clearance. There was an additional 2 feet between the bottom of the keel and the sand.

 

[ClChnge]

WELL we made it!
Left Tarpon springs this morning. Roughly 3 hour cruise to Tween Waters Marina. And haven’t touched the bottom!!!
Getting used to the skinny water is going to take some time but felt better about it at the end of the day then when we started. Thank you to everyone for all the feedback. It has helped with some of the anxiety.

Attached are some pics of the first day.
Guy was fishing off the dock and caught a shovel head shark! Pretty cool!

Heading to Pelican Bay tomorrow.
Having a blast!!

 

[Comodave]

WELL we made it!
Left Tarpon springs this morning. Roughly 3 hour cruise to Tween Waters Marina. And haven’t touched the bottom!!!
Getting used to the skinny water is going to take some time but felt better about it at the end of the day then when we started. Thank you to everyone for all the feedback. It has helped with some of the anxiety.

Attached are some pics of the first day.
Guy was fishing off the dock and caught a shovel head shark! Pretty cool!

Heading to Pelican Bay tomorrow.
Having a blast!!

No photos.

 

[ClChnge]

Day 2

Day 2
Made it out of Tween waters with no issues. Worked our way up to Pelican Bay. The chart plotter has not worked since we got on the boat. Downloaded CMap on our phones and have been navigating for both days with it. Auto pilot doesn’t work either.
Made it into Pelican Bay. Sketchy without the chart plotter but made it in without hitting bottom.
Launched the dingy only to find the pin that holds the motor up is bent so motor won’t pivot down.
2 hours later, lots of sweat, a little bit of blood, and lots of cursing I was able to remove the pin and lower the motor.
We cruised around and had some fun!!
Then the storms rolled in.
Then the generator quit.
Then the wife got unhappy.
We needed a marina for the night. It’s getting late. We can see the storms coming at us. We decide to pull anchor and make a run for Boca Grande. They agreed to put us on the gas dock for the night.
Storms moving at 16 MPH. We’re not. Made it Charlottes harbor when all hell broke loose. Using CMap on an iPhone was our only means of navigation. At one point we saw the green marker on our approach and a few seconds later it was gone in the storm. Following the app blindly led us to where we needed to be. Found the channel marker and followed the course on the app. It lead us blindly to the entrance to the channel to Boca Grande.
The rain let up as we entered the last leg into the marina.
Currently sitting at the gas dock having had a few destressers and some dinner. Extremely rough here tonight but the a/c is working!!
Happy wife, happy life!

 

[ljk]

Great thread, thanks for updating!


Hope the rest of your experience is trouble-free!

 

[ClChnge]

Last night was rough! My oldest was up till 2am expelling everything. The wind was not in our favor all night. It finally switched directions late afternoon. Definitely the longest,hardest nite I’ve ever had on a boat.
Still at the same marina. Geny is done for the rest of the trip. Not too big of a deal as we’ll be in marinas the rest of the week.
Heading to Useppa in the morning. Having a great time exploring this part of Florida.

 

[ljk]

Useppa is great, we love its quiet beauty. Hope you are spending time at South Seas and Pink Shell as well, in order to get the "full picture" of this area.


Fisherman's Village was also one of our favorites!

 

[rgano]

2. Maptech Chartpak chart guide. I know many consider paper charts an anachronism compared to electronic charts, but I find paper charts useful in new areas as paper provides situational awareness in a way electronic screens cannot. I cannot fully explain why, but I find it difficult to really "see" a relatively crowded zone/area on an electronic chart.

Peter

Having grown up with paper charts used all over the world, I understand the part you cannot fully explain about situational awareness. During a delivery through the entire AICW (where I had never been before) and up to the Gulf Coast last Spring I used my laptop's Coastal Explored to have the big picture with its handy Active Captain and the Garmin plotter to handle the clode-in picture.

 

[rgano]

You are putting up with a piece of crap for a boat. With an inop plotter and AP, I'd have return to the pier in Tarpon and demanded every cent returned to me or a boat in operating condition. Imagine all the other things which are probably not maintained.

 

[Seevee]

You are putting up with a piece of crap for a boat. With an inop plotter and AP, I'd have return to the pier in Tarpon and demanded every cent returned to me or a boat in operating condition. Imagine all the other things which are probably not maintained.

TOTALLY AGREE! Plus the gen and problem with the dink. BUT, probably too late to abort. It's a shame that they obviously didn't keep that boat properly maintained. At least a refund of sorts is deserved.



=====
Now, as for that area and the Mainship and the Ozarks.... I've got all three. Live in St. Pete so don't get to SW Florida as much as the folks that live there, but a superb area to boat and explore... could spend several seasons there. As for the Ozarks, loved it too, but totally different. Deep fresh water. Been from Gravois Mills, thru Osage down to Camdenton. And gets really crowded in the summer, worse that Florida.


As for the Mainship, it's a GREAT boat for doing what you're doing, and fairly easy to operate. If single, there's a few things that one needs to know how to do, but overall pretty flexible and very easy to single hand.


PM me, if a Mainship is in your future, I'll give you the skinny.


And please give us all the details when you finish up... goods and bads, etc.


Enjoy for now!

 

[bayview]

WELL we made it!
Left Tarpon springs this morning. Roughly 3 hour cruise to Tween Waters Marina. And haven’t touched the bottom!!!
Getting used to the skinny water is going to take some time but felt better about it at the end of the day then when we started. Thank you to everyone for all the feedback. It has helped with some of the anxiety.

Attached are some pics of the first day.
Guy was fishing off the dock and caught a shovel head shark! Pretty cool!

Heading to Pelican Bay tomorrow.
Having a blast!!

Three hours from Tarpon Springs to Tween Waters on Captiva????? Did you rent a seaplane.??

 

[denverd0n]

Three hours from Tarpon Springs to Tween Waters on Captiva????? Did you rent a seaplane.??

That's a typo and/or confusion. Southwest Florida Yachts is headquartered at the Tarpon Point Marina, in Cape Coral.

 

[Comodave]

I agree that the boat should actually work if you are paying money for the use of it. I would ask (demand nicely) for a significant refund or else give them a very bad review on Yelp (is Yelp still a thing?). Or Active Captain.

 

[ClChnge]

We made it back to Tarpon today and turned the boat in. So here’s what happened the last few days.
Left Boca Grande Wednesday without incident. Winds had calmed considerably. Rental company picked up the tab for one of the nights. We had a golf cart and made it to the beach and a nice dinner out.
Have to give a shoutout to Eric at the marina. We’re traveling with both daughters. Ones still in high school and thanks to COVID she was able to travel with us but needed to be in virtual class during the day. It was so rough at the marina So I asked if there was somewhere she could work. He set her up in a conference room immediately. Found out later the kitchen staff was worried she hadn’t eaten lunch and brought her a hamburger (she had already eaten but didn’t want to disappoint them since they already cooked it so she had 2 lunches!) She also said Eric came and checked in on her periodically throughout the day. What a great person! Above and beyond great service.

Made it to Useppa without incident We were the only boat there. Took a golf cart around the island. Ended at the beach for the afternoon. Nice dinner on the boat.

Left at 10 am Thursday to head to Pink Shells Marina. 3/4 of the across Charlotte Sound we see the coast Guard coming in from the Gulf. There was 3 other boats near us but they managed to single me out. Yep, got boarded but he coasties!
All was good once I explained it was a rental because I was having a few issues locating some of the items they asked for. Kids got some good pics but I haven’t figured out how to post them here.
Had several dolphins playing in our wake after the coast guard left. Got pics and video that I’ll try to upload later.
Made it to Pink Shells and had a great day and nite. Rental company picked up the marina tab here also because of the geny not working. Will definitely go back there. It was a great place.

 

[Comodave]

Glad you made it back ok. Love the dolphins when they come to escort you.

 

[ljk]

Boca grande marina

We made it back to Tarpon today and turned the boat in. So here’s what happened the last few days.
Left Boca Grande Wednesday without incident. Winds had calmed considerably. Rental company picked up the tab for one of the nights. We had a golf cart and made it to the beach and a nice dinner out.
Have to give a shoutout to Eric at the marina. We’re traveling with both daughters. Ones still in high school and thanks to COVID she was able to travel with us but needed to be in virtual class during the day. It was so rough at the marina So I asked if there was somewhere she could work. He set her up in a conference room immediately. Found out later the kitchen staff was worried she hadn’t eaten lunch and brought her a hamburger (she had already eaten but didn’t want to disappoint them since they already cooked it so she had 2 lunches!) She also said Eric came and checked in on her periodically throughout the day. What a great person! Above and beyond great service.

Made it to Useppa without incident We were the only boat there. Took a golf cart around the island. Ended at the beach for the afternoon. Nice dinner on the boat.

Left at 10 am Thursday to head to Pink Shells Marina. 3/4 of the across Charlotte Sound we see the coast Guard coming in from the Gulf. There was 3 other boats near us but they managed to single me out. Yep, got boarded but he coasties!
All was good once I explained it was a rental because I was having a few issues locating some of the items they asked for. Kids got some good pics but I haven’t figured out how to post them here.
Had several dolphins playing in our wake after the coast guard left. Got pics and video that I’ll try to upload later.
Made it to Pink Shells and had a great day and nite. Rental company picked up the marina tab here also because of the geny not working. Will definitely go back there. It was a great place.

Which marina at Boca Grande?

 

[Seevee]

ClChange,


Glad the rental company pick up some of the tab, make one think that they are trying.



Now, how did you like the Mainship 400? And are you thinking about selling the Wellcraft and getting a trawler? Boating plans?

 

[bayview]

Sounds like you did it really well.

 

[ClChnge]

Boca Grande Marina. Here is link to there website:
Welcome to Boca Grande Marina

 

[ljk]

Boca Grande Marina. Here is link to there website:
Welcome to Boca Grande Marina

Thanks!

 

[ClChnge]

ClChange,


Glad the rental company pick up some of the tab, make one think that they are trying.



Now, how did you like the Mainship 400? And are you thinking about selling the Wellcraft and getting a trawler? Boating plans?

I specifically chose this boat because it was single crew. I wanted to get the feel for the difference of single over twins. Due to nothing working properly on the boat I had a very rough experience with it.

My biggest concern initially was navigating the ICW. Turns out that was the easy part even without a chartplotter. The boat had all the charts for the area so we managed.

Docking became my biggest issue. Not having any experience controlling a single engine in tight quarters without both bow and stern thrusters was nerve racking! While the bow thruster did work I had a heck of a time trying to control the back end.

The boat itself was fine for us for the week. We loved the openness of the upper deck and that it was all one level. The lower cockpit was also large enough that we set up a table and had dinner out there several times.

The beds were much too small for us. I'm of average height and weight and I was hanging off the bed. One of my daughters slept on the sofa because the twin was under the walkway on the port side of the boat. She couldn't lay on her side to sleep.



I'm starting into a five year plan. Oldest will be out of college and youngest will be halfway thru. The goal is to be there Nov - April then back home to work for the summer. Hopefully there will be Trawlerfest this year! I need to do a lot more looking and exploring. Nordhavn's have always caught my eye but I don't need anything to cross oceans. My wife is more into the Navigators.

Guess we'll see how things play out in the next few years...

 

[ljk]

Navigators

I specifically chose this boat because it was single crew. I wanted to get the feel for the difference of single over twins. Due to nothing working properly on the boat I had a very rough experience with it.

My biggest concern initially was navigating the ICW. Turns out that was the easy part even without a chartplotter. The boat had all the charts for the area so we managed.

Docking became my biggest issue. Not having any experience controlling a single engine in tight quarters without both bow and stern thrusters was nerve racking! While the bow thruster did work I had a heck of a time trying to control the back end.

The boat itself was fine for us for the week. We loved the openness of the upper deck and that it was all one level. The lower cockpit was also large enough that we set up a table and had dinner out there several times.

The beds were much too small for us. I'm of average height and weight and I was hanging off the bed. One of my daughters slept on the sofa because the twin was under the walkway on the port side of the boat. She couldn't lay on her side to sleep.



I'm starting into a five year plan. Oldest will be out of college and youngest will be halfway thru. The goal is to be there Nov - April then back home to work for the summer. Hopefully there will be Trawlerfest this year! I need to do a lot more looking and exploring. Nordhavn's have always caught my eye but I don't need anything to cross oceans. My wife is more into the Navigators.

Guess we'll see how things play out in the next few years...

Pier One Yacht sales is a broker out of Fishermans' Marina in Punta Gorda. They kind of specialize in Navigators, may even be able to set you up with a rental.


My contact there is Tony Mondello, 941.286.8055.

 

[Woodstock]

I need to do a lot more looking and exploring. Nordhavn's have always caught my eye but I don't need anything to cross oceans. My wife is more into the Navigators.

Guess we'll see how things play out in the next few years...

We rented the Salty Peanut for several days a couple of years ago and had a great time. We ended up buying a Navigator and are loving it.

 

[markpierce]

Fifty years ago went on a Sierra Club sponsored daysail. Very disappointed no winch handles were provided by the third-party vendor. The end of any future thought renting/leasing a boat.