" When Pigs Fly"

This will be a long report as it covers from Thanksgiving eve up to today. Enjoy.

Anna checking out the Gulf at Gulf Shores

It’s been a while since we coasted into Dog River Marina on one engine the day before Thanksgiving. Our time at DRM was pretty eventful from a “repairs” perspective. It seemed like we had been tinkering with the port engine for months without ever feeling totally comfortable with the way it ran. Then in Columbus, issues started with the starboard engine.  In addition, we were becoming increasingly concerned about gas odors in the boat when we refueled. Knowing that DRM was a full service marina, more geared toward boat work than resort living, we hoped to put a lot of demons to rest.   

    

So, we started with the engines.  It took some time and the help of Captain Bryson Hollowell to sort out all the work we’d had done over the last couple of months and all the different mechanics and opinions that had been involved.  It’s a little complicated but just let me start with a word about Captain Bryson.  He’s been with DRM since 1966 and knows just about everything there is to know about gas boat engines.  Before we were finished we were pretty sure he was MacGyver’s father.  Ok, so, about the engines.

 At Columbus the mechanic removed the resistors from the electric system claiming the electron ignition didn’t need them. It seemed strange to me since it had all worked just fine since it was installed in 2009. However, I was assured that with the resistors removed we would see more power and better fuel economy; not so much. It seems when the resistors were removed we still had a resistor coil. The spark plugs and the plug wires were for a resistor system. With the resistors removed everything soon turned to crap. We really had the engine volts and amps all confused.

Captain Bryson thoroughly checked out the engines and for the first time I felt I had someone taking a holistic look. It was discovered the screws in the distributors that held the electronics in were either missing or sheared off, so everything was coming apart and it was just some sort of mystical power that had gotten us this far. I wondered way back to a Tennessee marina if we really had carburetor problems or was it electrical. We will never know at this point.

So we have installed two new distributors with new electronics, no more of this add on stuff for us. Also installed were 16 new “non-resistor spark plugs”, we kept the new resistor plug wires. 

  

We also knew coming into DRM that we had a fuel leak on our fill hoses; these were also replaced along with new vent hoses. The fuel fill hose is an inner and outer hose. The inner had collapsed causing one leak. The leaky sending units’ cover plates were our other problem with gas fumes. These are all now fixed and we are counting our blessings that we did explode.

Work on the fuel lines meant a mess in the salon.  Ultimately worth it, though

After being at Mobile for almost two weeks we were ready for our first sea trial to shakeout the bugs of the repairs. The gas tanks were intentionally over filled to put extra PSI on the gasket and hoses to insure there are no leaks. This over pressurization is mandated by Sonny Middleton, Sonny owns DRM and he doesn’t want to hear of any gas boat they worked on exploding. Of course this worked for us too. All the repairs seemed OK however at the sea trial the right engine had a vibration. We were sure we knew the cause on this one.

We had bumped something, most likely a deadhead since we were in 8’ plus of water, in Bashi Creek while checking out a possible anchorage.   It’s now my opinion that some anchorages are best not even tried, no matter how many people have stayed there with a magnificent sun set and rising romantic full moon. Later that same evening we even talked a guy out of trying to enter Bashi Creek. It was well after dark when the other boat radioed us about possible anchorage there.  Our experience had occurred about an hour before sun set, and we still didn’t like the looks of it. We suggested he tuck in behind us for the night on the other side of the main channel. 

We have learned coming down the river that just about any point along the river bank can offer a nice anchorage as long as you can get safely out of the channel. We just communicate with the barge captains so they know where we are. They’ll pass it on to other captains. Never the less it’s scary when the first barge passes in the dark of night. You’ll first hear the distinctive nha-nha-nha-nha hum of their props. As they pass you’ll feel the suction from the 600’ barge passing pull the boat toward the center of the channel and lightly jerk it to the end of its anchor chain. Then it all goes back to calm again until the next one passes. Some will slow for you, other will pass and rock you like a bucking bronco, they most likely do this to break up a boring evening, but it always returns back to a calm river. And it sure beats tight quarters with other water hazards for propellers.

 

Our first thought was to move on from Mobile and have the boat prop checked in Florida. We would most likely have time to kill before the Gulf crossing so we could get some miles between Mobile and Somewhere, FL before following up with the prop. Our new best friend Bryson thought we might be OK since we travel at such a slow speed. Over our last sea food dinner on Friday night in Mobile we decided it just didn’t make sense to leave DRM with that vibration.  So I called Bryson and made a plan to check the prop on Monday.

One little up side to that decision is that it meant we were at the Marina for the Dog River Christmas Boat parade!  You guessed it boaters had decorated their boats with Christmas lights and had their own little parade.  As we talked with folks about what to expect it was hard to tell how formal this event was.  There wasn’t an official start time and there was some talk about when and where the boats went being affected by the extent of pre-parade libations shared among parade participants.

Santa, Dog River style!

Ok, the pic stinks but you get the idea

The whole affair was great fun with lots of lights and Christmas music coming from the boats.  They were all throwing Mardi Gras type beads and generally having a terrific time.  Definitely one of those little moments that will bring a smile when we remember it! I’m still finding beads! I was working on the hard top a couple of days ago and found a strand of red beads.

We also had a nice surprise Saturday morning when George and Donna, our friends and boat neighbors from Buzzard Rock rapped on the boat.  They had cruised down to Mobile with some other friends and just happened in to Dog River to gas up.  Couldn’t miss the ole’ Pig sitting there on the end of the doc.  It was great to see them and catch up for a few minutes. 

  

Coming out of the water

The Captain checking her out

How many guys does it take to look at a prop?

On Monday we had the boat hauled out of the water and checked for damage. Well you didn’t need a fancy degree in rocket science to see our problem, all four foils were curled. Only good thing is I’ll have help from Boat U S with this fix. It took three days to get the prop back from the repair shop but it was worth the wait. Bryson didn’t waste any time when the refurbished prop arrived. He had the boat at the hoist 5 minutes after lunch and in 15 minutes it was back in the water. We were on our sea trial in 30 more minutes, on the sea trial Bryson had our Pig doing 18.3 MPH, and she wasn’t even screaming.

When we went back to the gas dock I helped Bryson check the settings on the new carbs. He made some final twist and turns taking just long enough for Anna to accomplish her first solo pump out, which she did with great success. Bryson was then ready to check out the adjustments so we went back out into the channel. He pushed to WOT and the pig then squatted and blasted off all the way to 18.8 MPH. This is the fastest we have ever seen the old girl go. It’s also the last time it’ll be seen too. I was watching the fuel flow on the Garmin and although we were only at that speed for just a few minutes the fuel flow on the Garmin was reading 87 gallons per hour and the miles per gallon was bouncing between .1 and .2 miles per gallon. At this rate we would be out of gas in 4.0 hours and only traveled about 85 miles for a cost of $1,580.00. This is why we go slow, at 10 MPH we only burn between 12-15 gallons an hour.

Among all the people we met at DRM and the sights we saw in Mobile there are only two things for sure that will not be missed. They are the noseee’m bugs. These critters are just a small dot when you find them on your arm or leg, but have the furious bite of a German Shepherd. Then there are the pecker flies. These little pests with wings are out day and night and you can swat and wave your arms all you want but they will never leave your face. All you end up doing is looking like a fool failing your arms around waving at people you don’t even know.

The big day finally arrived. Everything was fixed. Garmin gave us a course across the great Mobile Bay and we headed out.  Our first trip across the bay had been under almost perfect weather conditions but this one started out a little differently.  We got our first experience with the definition of “a light chop”.  For Anna especially, this was a little more intimidating than those benign words might imply.  Our little Pig was rocking and rolling.  Though we didn’t actually break anything inside the boat we had a very real reminder that we’ll want to make sure things are very secure before beginning the Gulf crossing.

 So we were dealing with this light chop when another issue arose.   Our Garmin had given us a course to our destination but we were following a slow moving fishing boat that had his nets out. He was obviously trolling at about 5 MPH. The Captain had his own agenda and neither answering the VHF nor going faster was on it. This was only a problem for us because Garmin was telling us to make a course correction to port. This would require us to pass over the nets of the fishing boat. I tried hailing the fishing boat to figure out the best way to cross wakes but couldn’t raise him. 

All that water and you run by some of these very "unnatural" sights

I should have just slowed or stopped and then made my course correction with the fishing boat out of the way. But these nets are sometime miles long and without a reply I wasn’t going to pass over his nets. I decided to overtake the fishing vessel and find another passing lane to port to go to our destination. This should have been a simple feat but sometimes Garmin gets a course in his feeble mind and will not let it go.

I asked for a new course to GICW Red 24, the entrance to the ICW. The genius kept giving us the same course we had just passed. Basically he wanted me to do a U-turn to the cut that we missed because of the fishing boat. I could see on the chart that there were several other cuts that would take us to the same place. I was making my stand. I was not about to back track 5 plus miles so he could win, so we had a meeting of the minds.

Right then I should have referred to my list of things I know to be true; you know the one, I’m not as smart as Garmin. My stubborn streak cost us much more than back tracking miles. Between trying to plot a new course, reading the charts and steering the boat, I lost total track of the ATONs. You know, the little red and green road signs they so conveniently put in the channel so idiots like me don’t get lost. Without them you are up the creek and looking to find some trouble really quick. I finally followed my own #1 boating rule; when in doubt stop! You can’t get in to too much trouble going slow or stopped. I found the ATONs and located our spot on the charts. I then drove through a cut I wanted, once on the other side I asked Garmin again to plot a course to GICW Red 24. I pushed the magic buttons, route to/guide to, and the magic pink line came right up taking us to Red 24. The Garmin genius is great when he’s on, but several times he has come close to swimming with the fishes. So that day it was Cap’t Frank 1 Garmin 0

Lulu's ropes course and restaurant. 

Now doesn't this look like fun?!

GICW Red 24 guided us into the ICW right past Lulu’s. Lucky for me it was rainy and cool or Anna would have wanted to stop and do the ropes course. We had driven over there by car one day while in Mobile. We got there after dark so the play land was closed but Anna just sat and drooled at this ropes course. For the people who don’t know Lulu is Jimmy Buffett sister, she has this really neat restaurant and play land in Gulfport, Al right on the ICW. There is this ropes course that you can climb. Cost only $14 for all day and Anna wants to do it. Sometimes I think I have the only 60 year old teenager in captivity. No time to play today as we wave hello to Lulu and her guests and slide on pass.

We stopped for the night at The Wharf, about 15 miles from Lulu’s. By the marina standards we’ve stayed at lately this is very upscale with a nice choice of restaurants and some shopping for those that have money. We have no money, we have a boat. A very generous Looper discount at just $.75/foot for slip rental includes electric and water. They also gave a nice $.25/gal Looper discount on their already fairly priced gas. So all in all this was a very nice stop, coming back this way it will be a stop again. It could have only been better if there was a donut store close by.

We made it!

The next day was the ICW all the way to Santa Rosa Island. This was a beautiful ride. Our boat was running well, not much traffic, sun was out all day, temperatures in the mid to upper 70’s. Life’s great. That night we spent anchored at Manatee Point just north of Santa Rosa Island a nice secluded anchorage and finally in Florida. We anchored in 12’ of very clear water.  We could actually see the anchor stuck in the sand. 

 

Florida sand instead of Missouri snow

That night we grilled dinner and watched the sunset over the sand dunes that to our northern eyes looks like piled up snow. I had set two anchor alarms before we went to bed. Neither went off during the night. Around 5:30am I got up to do a bathroom inspection and then went on the back deck to see how we were sitting. Boy was it foggy. It’s really hard to get your perspective in fog. I checked the lat/long on the alarms and we were sitting in about the same spot as when we went to bed, but the depth finder said we were in 8’ of water. That in itself shouldn’t be alarming since we draw 4’, except we were in 12-15’ at bed time. I pondered this for a minute then realized I hadn’t allowed for the tide change. Good thing to watch in the future. Us mid-western lake boaters are learning a lot here in the tidal water ways.

The morning fog put a damper on our schedule. We had planned to be moving by 7:00am to make our destination in Panama City by sundown. I told Anna when we could actually see the far bank we would head out. About 8:30 it started to clear. We pulled our anchor and made way at about 6 MPH through the area known as the Narrows, just west of Ft. Walton Beach. In the fog we were trusting the radar to the fullest extent, blasting the fog horn every so often. Most of this section is a no wake zone anyway so we knew we’d be going pretty slowly until we got to the open water of Choctawhatchee Bay.  That’s why we had wanted an early start.  We had essentially lost an hour and half of daylight and come the end of the day, we would really want it back. Once we entered Choctawhatchee Bay the fog lifted and we had a very nice cruse. (Hey I don’t name these places)The water was flat, we even had cell phone service so Anna was able to check in at home. We didn’t have service at Manatee Point the night before, so there was some catching up to do.

Choctawhatchee Bay was 35 miles of open water that cruised by very comfortably. Once on the other side of the bay we reentered the ICW.  At this point it’s basically a ditch about 75 yards wide and straight as an arrow and no services. If you break down here no two ways about it, you’re gattor bait. The long ditch is 16 miles from end to end and we thought it would be pretty uneventful.

dolphin playing with the boat

We were sliding through at about 12 MPH and had been in the ditch for 5 miles or so when up ahead I saw the breaching of two dolphins. Anna didn’t believe me.  I had sighted a couple of other dolphins earlier but she had always been inside the boat doing something and they disappeared before she saw them. She even began to call me the dolphin liar. This time though, she saw them and quickly headed to the bow with her camera. There were two dolphins sliding on our slip stream on the port bow, it is an effortless swim for them only having to rise for air. Then on the port stern there were two more, these were body surfing our wake. These incredible animals must have played with the Pig for 10/15 minutes then they left us as silently and as quickly as they had come.

Exiting the ICW we entered into West Bay, another large body of open water 15 miles from St Andrews Bay. We had about 2.5 hours of sun light left and we would require every minute of it to make our destination. West Bay is a vast open body of water which is very shallow. The dead giveaway is the water birds standing in what appears to be boatable waters. We stayed in the fairway, only diverting to follow Gamin’s route. Here Garmin was doing his thing, shaving miles off the marked sailing line. This saved us fuel, and more importantly it saved us sunlight. There were countless pods of dolphins all over. Many seemed to enjoy playing with the boat and deliberately swam along side of us.

  

Once under the Hathaway Bridge we entered St. Andrews Sound with about 15 miles to go to the city marina. We were watching the sun get low in the sky and checking our phone apps for sunset.  Did you know there are four different times for sunset? Official, Civil, Nautical and Astronomical. That night we felt like we were doing a hands on experiment to find out which one really means “dark”.  Lots of people boat in the dark but it just isn’t something we’re comfortable with.  Old eyes, unknown waters and dark skies don’t add up to fun and this is supposed to be fun. 

We had very explicit entry instructions. Pass left of green can 27, go to the yellow roof building, and go through the breakwater, call on channel 16. As we tied up we watched the sunset into the Gulf of Mexico. We pretty much used every minute of boating time the boat gods allowed and arrived at our new home for the next few days.

The city marina in Panama City, FL is OK, nothing too special, they advertise big about old town, but I would describe it more as dead town this time of year. There is not much there, McDonalds; a 10 block walk from the marina is the downtown highlight. There are a lot of stores however most are either antiques stores or closed stores. They have a trolley they’re rather proud of but no one has a schedule to when and where it runs, not even the drivers. I asked a driver about the schedule he told me to call the office. I did this and got a recording telling me that they would be back to me within two business days. How’s that for customer service? I was able to talk a trolley driver out of her schedule but she really didn’t want to give it up.

Sign outside Tom's Hot Dogs

While at the city marina we did find two really nice places to eat. One was a small dinner on the main drag called Cassandra’s where we had a great breakfast. Then as we were looking for one restaurant we found another, Bayou Joe’s. We liked it so much we went back the next night. Anna pigged out on the broiled shrimp both nights; we also had our first slice of sunshine pie. It’s just like key lime except orange is substituted for the lime. I’m sure it’s an acquired taste I’ll stay with key lime myself.

Bayou Joe's, quite the place! 

Gator bait at Bayou Joe's

Our original intentions were to move to on to Carrabelle and I’d wait there as Anna went home but the weather was cold and not really good for boating. I got to looking and decided to move over to Bay Point Marina. At first it looked a little pricy but when I called they told me that they had a Looper special and we could stay for only $400/month which included power and water. That’s a deal in this area. Not to mention it’s an easy bike ride to the stores.

The bimini is getting worn really badly and the whole bridge glass area leaks when it rains so I contacted a canvas man to take a look at it. I ended up contracting to have the fly bridge completely redone; new top and new glass. The work is going well and with any luck he’ll be finished ahead of schedule.  I also have a Garmin wizard coming next week. Hopefully he can make some sense of the fuel flow inconsistencies I’m having between screens.

DRM sent my original carbs back. I had left them with Bryson to have them refurbished.  After all the other work on the engines we had come to the conclusion that they were worth saving.  I think maybe they’ll be going back on, seems we got better fuel economy with them. I also bought an item called a tank tender that I’m installing it on the front head. It’s really getting old not knowing how full the holding tank is or is not.

There has also been the usual sitting still maintenance. The brand new battery charger purchased in August stopped working. I did get it replaced for free under warranty but had to pay $40 for priority shipping. There was really no choice. When the batteries are dead the heads don’t flush. That’s a problem. I bought a new inverter too that is now installed. Even if we had to buy four a year it would still be a deal.  The inverter essentially eliminates the use of the generator so it pays for itself in gas savings. 

So, the New Year started today.  2012 has been an incredible boating experience in both good and not so good ways.  We had hoped to be basking in the sun in Marathon before the holidays but at least we made it to Florida.  We’ve spent a lot of money on the Pig and we’ll have to see how all that investment works out.  We left Buzzard Rock in August as novice Loopers.  We might not yet use “experienced” as an adjective but we sure have learned a lot, met some great people, and had a lot of fun.  We’re looking forward to more new experiences when Anna returns to the boat next week.  Happy New Year!

See ya on the water