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

[Robert Quinn]

Mark:  Thank you.

Bob:  Ouch!  I must be losing it.  I do remember reading this last year.
Crusing World magazine had an item in the last year which covers this area
as well.

Kathy and I visited Burnt Store Marina last year on the way to visit with
some friends down toward Naples.  It is a really neat place.  I keep
checking my lottery tickets as it looks like a great place to live.

We're going to have to try your route next year.  We're all anxious to hear
how you do this year.

Bob and Kathy on the "NoKaOi"


----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Kaynor" <mark@kaynor.org>
To: <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2003 9:41 AM
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Fw: [rhodes-list] Gulf Coast Sailing Trip


> 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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> >
> >
> > --
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