Dream Cruise

[RicM]

OK, the very thought of this season starting to head towards September has me anxious, I just did not get enough summer this year. I'm thinking about moving Time After Time south for the winter, rather than storage on the hard. I am looking at ports on the southern East Coast to float or ship the boat to that have good airline connections to Providence. US Air flies PVD to Charlestown, SC for example. Southwest flies direct from PVD to Jacksonville FL. I'm looking for a good place to stage from, slip rates not too crazy, nice local color etc. I would like to be back here for business, then take work with me to some place warm for 2 weeks, then back when necessary etc. Anyone ever done this? Any suggestions?

[powerboater56]

Ric,
I have also been considering taking my boat south this fall. But I am pitching in for a wedding of one of my offspring, and I jumped on the cash for clunkers program to unload an aged SUV, so between the new car and the wedding I am probably going to have to skip the trip south. I figure a run down to Florida would tally around $5,000 and then you have to add the cost for a slip all winter.

Haven't done the ICW so I can't comment on good places to stage the trip. If you leave the boat in the river near Jacksonville it will be in fresh water, which is much better for the boat, and I think there are several quite reasonable marinas up in Green Cove Springs. I know there have been two new marina projects completed in Stuart over the last couple of years so there is plenty of slip availability there. There is an attractive semi-retirement community just south of Savannah called the Landings/Skidaway Island and they have an excellent marina. I'm not sure about plane connections to Savannah from RI. My favorite area in Florida is the Florida keys, but slip space in Marathon has gotten tight in the last few years. Also travel to the Keys can be tough -- you have to fly to Miami and rent a car. Although Fort Lauderdale slip space is expensive, you may want to check out marinas in Dania, just south of Fort Lauderdale. Southwest Air has good service to Ft. Lauderdale from RI.

Good luck. I am still agonizing over a go/no go decision and I'll be interested to hear if you decide to go and where you end up down south.

John Schieffelin
35 CB OTTER

[RicM]

I am also listing the project on ushipit, a website that gets bids on transporting boats. A 28TE is trailerable without much problem, and I'm seeing estimates from $2500-$3500 one way. I may cruise one way and ship the other. I had not thought about the fresh water angle. I plan on doing some more research on the JKX area. We are planning on eventually keeping a boat in the south somewhere as our retirement base instead of land based option, and this is a trial balloon, basically, to see if we indeed get the use and pleasure out of it.

Ric

[RobS]

I just said yeserday that I am at exactly the midpoint of the season as I splash in April and come out in December

For about 5 or 6 yrs now my parents have their snowbird condo in Palm City/Stuart. Dad fishes an avg of 5 days a week between friend's boats and charter boats. A good amount of his fishing is done out of Jupiter. The West Palm Airport is nearby (within 1/2 hr). He chose the area for the fishing and now knows the waters/fishing rather well. If you end up in that area you will have a fishing buddy who nows the local fishing very well, can watch the boat when you are north and can almost wash a boat as good as his son

Let me know if you want to chat with him sometime....

[RicM]

Rob,

This is such a great idea I can't believe it! I have been casting about for a place to start this process and this makes a lot of sense. I have gotten prices on shipping the boat down there also, about $3000 more or less. I might run it down with Dave and ship it back or vice versa. Having some one on the ground there when I am not around would be a great comfort. We will talk more about this and yes I would like to chat with your dad at some point in the future.

[jcollins]

Hmmmm....winter rendezvous in Florida. I'm in!

[Mariner]

You guys are so lucky to have the ICW. It seems a shame to ship the boat. Out here on the West Coast, if I want to go south, I have two options. One is to go out into the North Pacific and make the 1,000 mile trip through 10-15' broadside swells all the way to San Francisco, stopping only in Astoria for fuel, where I have to cross the "Graveyard of the Pacific" to get in and out. And when I get to San Francisco, I'll be socked in by fog most days in the winter. My other option is to take the "inside" route. This route involves going about two hours south to Olympia where I run out of water and spending the night on the city dock. It isn't really much warmer there than here!

[RobS]

You guys are so lucky to have the ICW. It seems a shame to ship the boat.

Agreed. Shipping is usually only an option to solve time constraint issues.

[RicM]

OKay! This is starting to come together! I have heard back from Svenson Boat Transport, and they gave me a pretty good price, $2040 to ship to Maryland. I picked them because of Matt's good experience with them and their familiarity with Albin 28's. Apparently they did a lot of the deliveries for Albin and have a special trailer that allows them to ship with the radar arch (but not the dome) in place. They have these recommended MD marinas on their website:

Ferry Point Marina
700 Mill Creek Rd.
Arnold, MD 21012-1128
410-544-6368

Washburn's Marina
14485 Dowell Rd.
Dowell, MD
410-326-6701

Anchor Boats
Susquehannock Blvd.
North East, Md
410-287-6000
If you have any knowledge of these places I would love to hear.
Our plan is to ship end of October to MD, then start heading south in 1 week jumps of several hundred miles. Anyone from the group have recommendations as to good places to stop and leave the boat for a couple of weeks on the Chesapeake and ICW? Our destination will be the Jupiter FL area for Dec-March.

[jcollins]

All interesting choices.

Anchor Boats - Top of the Bay.
Ferry Point - On the Magothy - Mid - Bay
Washburn's - Solomon's - Southern Bay

If you want to cruise the whole Bay (around 125 miles) Anchor would be the choice. I've never been to any of them but will check them out later today.

[Carl]

Ric, might want to consider joining here for all the info you would need for such a trip.

http://www.greatloop.org/news.php?viewStory=229

[RicM]

Well the Dream Cruise has been cut down to size. While I hate to say it, and I'm afraid of cursing myself, I have so much work right now I can't justify the time off to run the boat south. Doing some rough estimates, it would take about 3 weeks (which I don't have), cost close to $3000 in fuel, and probably another $1000 in expenses. The alternative is to ship all the way to FL, keep the boat there for the winter and use it when I can (shooting for 1 week a month) and saving the ICW trip for next year when Karen can join me. The difference is that I can take work with me to FL and still get a lot done there in a much nicer climate. The 3 weeks running would be lost time for me, in that I could probably not get anything done work wise during that time. The new destination is Jensen Beach FL, near the Stuart Inlet. This is convenient to fishing, the Islands, and the inland water as well. Rob's dad, Bob, who winters in the area, has volunteered to show me around a bit, both on land and sea, and will be a point of contact to get established. It's not exactly what I had in mind originally but looking at this plan, it has that one major attraction, which is my season will NOT END NEXT MONTH! As always, I will keep you all up to date on this geographical experiment.

[RobS]

So your new water heater should be safe this winter

[RicM]

That thought did occur to me.

[jcollins]

The alternative is to ship all the way to FL, keep the boat there for the winter and use it when I can

Ric,
Sorry to hear that we may not see you cruising the Chesapeake.

Maybe in the spring...

John