[Rhodes22-list] Fw: [rhodes-list] Gulf Coast Sailing Trip

[Mark Kaynor]

Ed,

Here you go, r.e. Bob Keller's report last year.

Mark

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Keller" <r22yankeeclipper@hotmail.com>
To: <rhodes-list@sailnet.net>
Sent: Tuesday, June 25, 2002 9:53 AM
Subject: [rhodes-list] Gulf Coast Sailing Trip


> Below is our report on our April sailing trip in South Florida.  My
> apologies for the length, but you can always hit "delete."
>
> Sheila & Bob's Excellent Gulf Coast Adventure
>
> After taking possession of our 1995 Rhodes 22, "Yankee Clipper" in
December,
> fixing the pesky leak in the CB area, and getting her outfitted with the
> latest gadgetry, we decided to take her to Florida.  We had sailed it on
> Lake Hartwell several times, and Rummy helped me to properly break in the
> bar, stereo and stern seats just two weeks earlier.
>
> With close to 8 hours of sailing on our home waters, it was time to take
our
> portable, trailerable cruiser elsewhere.  If I didn't want a trailerable
> cruiser, I would've bought that Catalina 27 with the 4 foot fixed keel
that
> would now be embedded into the bottom of Lake Hartwell.  Just to be sure,
we
> had the drop axle replaced on the trailer, new bearings, and had the bow
> stop moved forward a foot.  We did everything except have the trailer
> blessed by a Cardinal before the trip (they're very busy these days).
>
> Pulled it out and it trailered well, but fishtailed when the
> tractor-trailers went by at 80 mph.  So, I moved the rudder into the V
berth
> and got back on the highway and it trailered perfectly.  Top speed was 64
> mph, and occasionally I went faster, but was only comfortable at 62-64
mph.
> My Toyota 4Runner did well, but it has a max of 5,000 LB and I estimated
the
> total weight in my rear-view mirror to be around 4,400 lb.  With a single
> axle trailer and no brakes, I left a lot of room between the next vehicle
> and us.
>
> Initially we were going to take the YC from Atlanta to the Florida Keys
over
> spring break, stopping in Fort Myers to drop the kids off with family.  As
I
> read about cruising in S. Florida, I learned that, right off the coast of
> Ft. Myers on the gulf coast is one of the best sailboat cruising grounds
and
> one of the top chartering destinations in the world!  Duh.  So, for four
> months, I planned a one-way, 4-5 day trip through Pine Island Sound (PIS),
> ending in Charlotte Harbor at Punta Gorda.  PIS is the sound between the
> mainland (Pine Island, really) and the barrier islands of Sanibel,
Captiva,
> North Captiva and Cayo Costa.  Charlotte Harbor is a huge body of water
that
> begins at Boca Grande Pass near Gasparilla Island and Cayo Costa and runs
> 20+ miles northeast to the towns of Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte.  This
> harbor is 10 miles wide in some parts-a very impressive body of water.
>
> There are many options as to where to launch the boat.  I considered Ft.
> Myers beach, Sanibel Island, Punta Rassa, Ft. Myers and Cape Coral.  It
> turned out that the most convenient location was in Cape Coral, and I was
> able to find a place that had a boat ramp and transient slips to rent:
Cape
> Coral Yacht Club, a public facility.   This gave us about a 5 mile run on
> the Caloosahatchie River to get to Pine Island Sound.  Ft. Myers would
have
> been more like 10-15 miles-way too long.   Our ultimate destination was
> going to be Punta Gorda where we had two marina choices: Burnt Store
Marina,
> or 15 miles further north was Fisherman's Village Yacht Club.  Both had
boat
> ramps and are great marinas, but FV was the only one that would let us
keep
> the trailer on site for a week, so FV it was.
>
> The route that I originally selected was:
> Day 1 - Cape Coral to Tween Waters Marina, Captiva Island
> Day 2 - Tween Waters to Cabbage Key
> Day 3 - Cabbage Key
> Day 4 - Cabbage Key to Boca Grande
> Day 5 - Boca Grande to Fisherman's Village, Punta Gorda
>
> The drive from Atlanta to Cape Coral is long.  Slightly over 600 miles,
and
> at 64 mph with a 4,000 LB load in the rearview mirror, we decided to split
> the trip into two days.  Left on Friday, April 5 at noon and made it
almost
> to Tampa the first day and then on Saturday showed up at Cape Coral Yacht
> Club at noon (not a great idea).  Decided to launch the boat first and
raise
> the mast when it was at the dock since the boat ramp was so crowded.
Worked
> very well.  Raising the mast was a breeze-the quick-release pins that I
use
> for the rigging are worth the ridiculous prices that they charge for them.
> As I raised the mast, I had a couple of people stop to watch and they were
> quite impressed.  The boat drew a lot of curiosity wherever we went.
People
> just seemed to always do a double take and stare at the boat.  Probably
have
> never seen stern seats like that before (except on a bass boat).  Some old
> timers at Cape Coral commented that they never saw in-mast furling on a
boat
> that size before. The harbormaster was a real nice guy and was asking
about
> the Rhodes motor lift.  Next thing I knew, I had him on the R-22 website
and
> he said he was going to call Stan and try to buy a motor lift.
>
> We left the next morning and the trip to 'Tween Waters was fairly
exciting,
> with winds 15-20 knots and seas 1-3 feet.  The big boats were everywhere;
we
> felt like we were in a dinghy at times.  We did not see another sailboat
> smaller than 30 feet the whole trip.  The powerboats were huge, but
cutting
> through their wakes was nothing at all with the Rhodes.  The only
> uncomfortable part was the seas that came at us from the stern and the
beam.
>   With three footers coming across the beam, the boat was rocking and
> rolling quite a bit, but let me save that story for the next day...
>
> Arriving at Tween Waters, they let us dock up right alongside the main
dock,
> which was good since I only had two dock lines on board (another brilliant
> move).  The pilings on the dock were at least a foot in diameter and my
> little lake fenders four inches wide were absolutely useless.  (First
thing
> I did when I got home was to buy large fenders).  Since they did not sell
> any fenders at the ship store at Tween Waters, we spent the night on the
> boat listening to the rub rail grind against the piling as 25 knot winds
> blew us into the dock all night long.  Otherwise, we had a restful night's
> sleep.  Tween Waters has a great location with the sound on one side and
the
> gulf beach right across the street.  Great beach, but the facility is just
> average.  Next time, I will probably choose South Seas Plantation, which
is
> fancier and much easier to reach by water.  The markers leading to Tween
> Waters were very confusing.
>
> The next morning on the boat was great with coffee and bagels in the
galley
> and cockpit before shoving off (literally) for Cabbage Key.  As we motored
> out the channel to the ICW, the winds were at 15 knots and building.  They
> hit 23 knots and then leveled off to 17-20 knots with a pretty serious 1-3
> foot chop.  The chop wasn't bad until we turned north and the seas were
> coming across our beam, the same direction as the wind.  We were able to
> sail with part of the jib alone and keep the boat pretty flat, make good
> speed (4-4.5 knots) and put up with the rocking from the waves.  The boat
is
> in its element when sailing regardless of the conditions.  Much better to
> sail her than to motor in those conditions and we never even got wet!  One
> bad wave really tossed us over and Sheila went flying from windward to
> leeward in the cockpit, with her leg going under the cockpit seat and her
> shin stopping her fall when it banged into the seat.  The open seats serve
> another great function!  Just before the wave hit us I had inexplicably
> decided to move to the other side of the boat to turn the motor up,
without
> saying anything, of course. Sheila received an impressive bruise, the best
> of the nine different bruises she earned during the week (no others caused

> directly by me).
>
> Once we got the hang of it, had a great four-hour cruise to Cabbage Key,
> arriving at 1PM.  After we arrived, we found out that there was a small
> craft advisory out that day because of the wind and severe chop in the
> Sound.  Only then did I realize that the weather band on the VHF works
much
> better if you press the WX button!
>
> Checked in to a cottage with a private dock and spent the day sipping
> cocktails on our dock watching, waving and talking with the harbor traffic
> coming and going.  Amazing place-we called it the "Home for wayward men
and
> women."  Reminds me of the Florida Keys in that regard.  If you ever want
to
> cash in your chips and disappear for a while, there are jobs available to
> live and work on Cabbage Key.  Great destination to visit, and is close to
> the beaches of Cayo Costa, which are spectacular.  We stayed at the
cottage
> on the island for two days of relaxing, exploring and mixing with the
locals
> who work on the island.  It is a popular lunch destination for boatloads
of
> people from the mainland, and supposedly, Jimmy Buffett wrote his
> "Cheeseburger in Paradise" masterpiece based upon this spot.  I will say
> that the cheeseburgers are great, and the place is a paradise...  The
second
> day we went for a day sail and ended up at nearby Pelican Cove where there
> is a boat dock associated with the state park that is Cayo Costa.  You can
> dock overnight  (with no services except rest rooms) for $10, which we
will
> definitely do next time. This is also one of the best anchorages in all of
> Pine Island Sound, and there were a half dozen sailboats anchored there.
It
> is the widest part of Cayo Costa and there is a tram to take tourists
across
> to the beach on the gulf side.  Since it was 4PM, everyone was gone,
except
> for one Pearson 30 that was docked and we chatted with the owners who just
> sailed down from Punta Gorda for an over-nighter.  Sheila and I walked
> across the island and it was probably about a mile across and took us
15-20
> minutes.  Amazing, uninhabited, beautiful, peaceful island.  Spent some
time
> on the beach, saw a porpoise and a bald eagle.  Come to think of it, we
saw
> at least one porpoise every day we were in PIS.
>
> It was supposed to be on to Boca Grande, but Sheila was a little spooked
> from the rough ride to Cabbage Key and we decided to head up Charlotte
> Harbor to Punta Gorda one day early just in case the weather did not
> cooperate.  We were advised that Charlotte Harbor can be particularly
nasty
> when the wind blows hard because, despite the fact that it is a large body
> of water, it only averages about 20-30 feet deep.  It's deeper than that
in
> our cove at Lake Hartwell.  Our day sail from Cabbage Key up through
> Charlotte Harbor was a full day; it took us seven hours.  The weather was
> perfect, sunny, mid 80's, with 15 knots of wind.  The first half of the
> trip, in the lower part of the harbor was the best sailing we had all
week.
> This was what I had read about Charlotte Harbor- it is great for sailors,
> and that day it was the best. Wide open, no shoals and very few other
boats.
>   Although it is well marked, the markers in the lower Harbor are as much
as
> five miles apart, so we had to use the small compass that we had
> accidentally brought along.  It worked and we did not miss the mark (by
> much).  As we sailed northeast up the Harbor, there were more boats and
the
> wind started to die.  Still, it was 5-8 knots and we didn't resort to
> motoring until we were close to the marina.  Long day, but a great day
> sailing Charlotte Harbor.
>
> Fisherman's Village Yacht Basin in Punta Gorda is a first class marina
with
> a nice, upscale shopping center attached (or is it the other way around?)
> This was the best marina we visited all week-it is first class all the
way.
> Nice restaurants and facilities, plus tennis, and swimming pools.  And,
most
> important, my trailer was still there!  They actually don't have a boat
> launch, but there is a very nice, free, municipal boat launch very
close-by
> that we used.
>
> It was a great four-day trip that I highly recommend.  Fortunately, we
left
> something good for the next trip: a visit to Boca Grande.  Next time we
will
> use Burnt Store Marina in Punta Gorda as the starting and ending point.
It
> is in lower Charlotte Harbor and all the places we would visit would be
> within a half day sail of this marina: Boca Grande, Cabbage Key, Cayo
Costa
> & Pelican Cove.  Plenty to do and see in a compact area.
>
> The Rhodes 22 drew a lot of attention, from stares to people asking what
> kind of boat and several people asking about the stern seats.  It really
is
> a great boat to trailer, rig, launch, sleep and most important, to sail.
> The area around Pine Island Sound seems to be perfect for it because of
the
> protected, shallow water and the strong winds we had all week.  Not to
> mention the beautiful scenery and great weather.  We will definitely
repeat
> this trip, or something similar again.
>
> Bob & Sheila Keller
> s/v Yankee Clipper
>
>
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