Duck Key
Hawk’s Cay Resort
(305) 743-7000
www.hawkscay.com
Fort Myers
Fort Myers Yacht Basin
(239) 334-8271
www.cityftmyers.com
(look under Attractions)
Stuart
Pirates Cove Marina
(772) 287-2500
www.piratescoveresort.com
New Smyrna Beach
Night Swan
(800) 465-4261
www.nightswan.com
Feature article from FS February, Page 102
Center Console Cruising
A Florida Intracoastal adventure.
By Fritz Grell, Boating Editor
Most of the trips we make aboard outboard boats are from the dock to the fishing grounds and back. For some reason, we leave it up to the big boats to have all the fun with travel adventures. This could be changing.
Over the past few years, my wife and I have taken a couple of long weekend trips on our center console, along with friends who all have larger boats, and we really enjoyed the outings. We have run the center console by water to the Keys to fish and traveling back and forth from the Treasure Coast was a lot more fun than pulling a trailer. The Bahamas have also provided some great cruising territory.
Part of the reason traveling on a center console is so much fun is that it’s low-stress. We can run fast, even in shallow stretches of the Intracoastal Waterway, without fear of hitting bottom and emptying our bank account. Fuel costs are moderate in comparison to larger cruising boats. Perhaps best of all, we don’t have to wait for bridge openings and we can run by the sailboats without slowing down.
With today’s reliable and efficient outboard engines, versatile center consoles and cuddies are great little cruisers and are a lot less expensive to operate than larger cabin sportfishing boats, even after paying for motel rooms along the way. Checking out the different fisheries is fun, challenging and the Florida Sportsman Action Spotter, as well as Fishing Charts, are a big help when fishing a new area.
Jamie Deonas of Deonas Boat & Motor Works in Yulee was happy to share the details of his recent adventure and offer some pointers about setting up a center console for a trip. In late October, 2006, Jamie and his wife, Janet, traveled from Amelia Island to the Keys, then up Florida’s west coast, across Lake Okeechobee and up the east coast back to Amelia Island, near Jacksonville.
Reflecting on the 1,100-mile trip, Jamie recommends at least a 20-foot boat for a voyage like this, since there are some open areas where you will be subject to changing weather. Jamie’s 24-footer carries 140 gallons of fuel, 13 gallons of fresh water, and has a head inside the console—a nice feature for family members or guests.
Like many in this class, Jamie’s boat has bow seating, padded cockpit coamings and lots of storage. A standard leaning post with backrest and fold-down footrest serves as the main helm seating. They brought a beach chair for Janet’s sunbathing and a 150-quart cooler carried food and drinks. Jamie installed a custom T-top with an oversized electronics box and three-sided enclosure. Wind management and ample space to mount electronics were considered essential for this trip.
Jamie spent quite a bit of time researching the best electronics package. He chose a Raymarine C-120. This unit has a 12-inch color screen which displays radar, chartplotter, fishfinder and GPS navigation information in various split screen combinations or alone on the screen. A Raymarine autopilot was flush mounted just below the helm and interfaced with the C-120. The chartplotter and autopilot proved helpful and made the journey much more pleasant. An ICOM M-45 VHF radio and a stereo completed the electronics package.
Jamie chose twin engines for his boat, in this case four-stroke, inline 4-cylinder 150-horse outboards. Most of the legs were inside passages, but there were some outside days and, when traveling alone, the security of twins is nice to have. Jamie upgraded to digital gauges for rpm, tilt/trim, water temp and other functions. A really nice option for cruising was a fuel-management system, displaying fuel consumption, miles per gallon and fuel burned to show the most efficient rpm and speed to run. This option paid for itself, Jamie said, by reducing the amount of fuel used. He figures his boat achieved 2.8 nautical miles per gallon, burning about 9.6 gallons per hour, at 3,700 rpm and 27 knots. At 25 knots she was burning 10 gph or 2.5 mpg.
Saturday Morning: Go Time
Late October was still quite warm, as the autumn cold fronts had not yet arrived. With the boat ready to go, Jamie loaded personal gear and the couple departed from Amelia Island midmorning on a Saturday. Having a grand total of 1.7 hours on the outboards, Jamie’s package was really being tested for the first time. Fortunately, and to Jamie’s credit, all systems worked flawlessly. Other than the weekend boat traffic, the first leg to Titusville was pleasant and uneventful. The run took 8.7 hours dock to dock and consumed 49.8 gallons of fuel. They spent the night in a motel a short cab ride from the Titusville Municipal Marina.
Day Two
Day two of the trip was a little shorter as Jamie and Janet stopped in Stuart to visit with me and my wife, Mary Jo. Jamie was impressed by the number of custom sportfishing boats in Stuart and by the facilities available in the Manatee Pocket. Sailfish Marina, Finest Kind, Mariner Cay and Pirate’s Cove are all located in the Pocket which is very close to the ICW and the St. Lucie Inlet. Wanting to gain a few more miles to the south, they spent Sunday in Jupiter. The Jupiter Waterfront Inn offers dockage, a pool, very nice rooms and restaurants close by. The Titusville-to-Jupiter run was 6.9 hours with 40 gallons of fuel used.
Day Three
Monday’s scenery was dominated by large homes and yachts. The ICW narrows in southern Florida, with concrete bulkheads on both sides. The character of the many neighborhoods from Jupiter to the Keys makes this leg interesting. Once through a traffic jam of motor yachts waiting to enter the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, it was on to Miami and Biscayne Bay. With a few more hours of daylight available and increasing wind, they chose to take a Florida Bay route to Islamorada. Since draft was not a problem for the 24-footer, and the new chartplotter so easy to use, the route through mangroves and various islands was relaxing, and they could enjoy the scenery.
Monday evening was spent at Holiday Isle, which offers dockage, lodging, several restaurants and bars. A long day, this leg took 10.8 hours and the fuel burn was 63.1 gallons.
Days Four and Five
Lousy weather greeted Jamie and Janet in the morning and the day was not conducive for boating. Since northeast winds of 35 knots were predicted again for Wednesday, a pair of lay days were in order. As anyone who fishes has to do when in the Keys, they made a quick stop at the Worldwide Sportsman, then spent the rest of the day and the next at Hawk’s Cay Resort on Duck Key. Jamie reports they enjoyed their stay so much they made plans to return in the future. The resort is all-inclusive, caters to families and boaters, offers pools, hot tubs, spas, a private lagoon, a pirate ship swimming area for children, spacious rooms, excellent food and reasonable pricing.
Day Six
Jamie and Janet were underway again on Thursday morning, leaving Duck Key on a northwest heading through the Gulf of Mexico. They plotted a course about 4 miles offshore to provide ample depth while maintaining sight of land. The route runs past the Everglades, Ten Thousand Islands, Naples and Marco Island to Sanibel and the Caloosahatchee River. The evening was spent at the Fort Myers Yacht Basin, which has restaurants and motels within walking distance. This run was 7.9 hours and they took on 66.9 gallons of fuel.
As a prudent mariner, Jamie had paper charts and cruising guides aboard as backup to electronics. In the event of chartplotter malfunction, they were prepared to navigate the old-fashioned way. Fortunately, all systems performed as hoped. On long legs, Jamie says the autopilot was great, providing a break from steering and a chance to refresh a little. Some of Thursday’s leg, even though offshore, required constant steering due to the countless trap floats, but the pilot could steer in other areas, allowing Jamie to relax.
Day Seven
In contrast to the open-water Gulf of Mexico leg the day before, Friday was spent inland on the Okeechobee Waterway, which crosses the state from Fort Myers to Stuart. Five locks control the depth and take about a half hour each to lock through. Their first experience with a lock, the Franklin Lock, raised the boat three feet. The concrete-sided locks have lines hanging down the sides to hold onto as you are raised or lowered. Doors at each end of the lock close, then adjust the water level higher or lower. Their last lock, the St. Lucie Lock, lowered them 12 feet. The scenery on the waterway is agricultural and the lake full of alligators, birds, airboats and bass fishermen. Jamie opted for the faster of the two routes on the lake, across the middle, and advises that marks are far apart and a good chartplotter is a must. Once in Stuart, they spent the night at Pirates Cove Marina, which has fuel, dockage, lodging, pool, restaurant and several other restaurants within walking distance. This was an ambitious day with 11 hours on the boat and 9 hours of running time. Fuel was not purchased on this stop as plenty of fuel remained for the next day.
Day Eight and Home
Saturday morning was rainy, windy and all the big sportfishing boats stayed tied to the dock at Pirates Cove. With a lull in the rain, Jamie and Janet took off, headed to New Smyrna. The rain returned but the three-sided enclosure allowed them to press on, even with a 20-knot headwind. A bed-and-breakfast, the Night Swan, located on the ICW in New Smyrna, provided accommodations for the evening. The leg took 7 hours and they purchased 30 gallons of fuel as a cushion for the run home.
The ride home from New Smyrna to Amelia Island took 7 hours, and the couple spent much of the time talking about what a great trip they’d had.
When I later asked them what they would do differently on the next trip, only a few minor items were noted. They would carry two coolers; one for drinks and one for food. Other provisions, gear and clothes would be packed in waterproof bags, as not all storage lockers—on any boat—are completely watertight. A large waterproof sleeve for charts and guides would also be helpful as those supplied with the charts were not adequate. The last item was additional warm clothing. The weather changed dramatically with the passage of cold fronts and they had not packed enough clothing.
Jamie’s summary says it all:
“We had traveled 1,100 miles, seen sunsets and wildlife, been in megayacht traffic jams, witnessed water temperatures from 70 to 84 degrees, navigated locks and have done things within our own state that most people have only read about, all on an open center console boat. We burned a total of 249.8 gallons of fuel, logged 63.2 engine hours, re-ignited a 7-year marriage and made memories that will truly last a lifetime. Our calculations showed a grand total of $1,990 spent on this trip, making our predictions correct; this was far more exciting and less costly than a long weekend at a theme park.”
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