The cruise here was uneventful. There were very few boats on the water. And, there is no more barge traffic. The water is deeper and wider, and is not that tannic brown/black color we became accustomed to throughout Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi (Alabama is about where the water started cleaning up).
Here are some additional photographs of where we stopped in Fort Walton Beach, Florida:
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| Fort Walton Beach waterfront. |
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| There she is! |
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| Waterfront. Nice and new. |
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| This is looking across the ICW from where we were. Lots of condos. |
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| This was a really nice little park. What you can't see in the photo are all the unfortunate homeless folks sleeping in the bushes. |
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| Nice public docks. They are new. Too bad they don't offer power. Water and pump out are free as is the dock. You just have to call the City Manager to get permission to stay over night. The City of Fort Walton Beach could not have been more accommodating. |
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| Look at how clear the water is getting the further east we go. |
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| This old guy was standing with his beak in the wind. They say heron are good weather forecasters. |
We spent a delightful afternoon watching nature go by. Brenda is hooked on her Ipad Black Jack game. She has lost thousands of dollars! Oh well. I keep threatening to stop at the next place where she can attend a GA meeting. In the evening, we found a great series of radio shows on NPR and listened to great American Folk Music and Bluegrass. We discussed how it seemed strange to be listening to this music in Florida, but softened it by noting that, at least, we were anchored in a Bayou.
Fuel is something all cruisers in power boats or trawlers must take into consideration. There is plenty of it along the ICW. There is plenty of water and pump out facilities along the way as well. However, you don’t want to stop at every place to get fuel if you don’t have to. That would be like stopping at every corner on Ventura Blvd. just for the sake of doing so. So, you have to do some planning.
We track our fuel consumption considering at least 4 parameters: 1. Main Engine Hours Running Time; 2. Nautical miles travelled; 3. Average RPMs; and 4. Generator Run Time. I have been keeping a detailed log since we acquired Abreojos 10 years ago. So, we have a really good history of fuel consumption data to look at. The big difference is that, doing what we are doing, we generally move slower. For instance, running between Channel Islands Harbor and Cat Harbor on Catalina Island, we might run at 8.3 knots averaging 1700 RPMs over the 60 miles portal to portal. It would take us approximately 7.5 hours to get there. Historically, at that speed and RPMs, we might burn 2.4 – 2.7 gallons per hour. Thus, the trip would cost us approximately 17.5 gallons of diesel fuel. Those of you who have done that crossing know that the water conditions play a big role in how fast or how slow you move. Sometimes it’s down right rough making that passage. Sometimes, it is simple and easy. I have a tendency to set my throttle at the desired RPMs and not touch it again.
So, sometimes, we go faster and sometimes we go slower depending on the waves, wind or currents. The point is that, at a certain level of RPMs, I can fairly predict my fuel consumption. I did this for almost 10 years cruising Abreojos in the waters off Southern California. Here, however, cruising the ICW, I feel like I have to basically go back to square one. We are moving more slowly, and we often have the benefit of currents either in the rivers or as a result of a tide change, and so we can run at lower RPMs. I’m not sure what the calculation is for fuel consumption on a 200 horsepower turbocharged diesel engine vis a vis speed, engine rpms, etc., but I’m sure one exists. In the mean time, I am tracking hours, RPMs, generator run time, and distance travelled. Each time we get fuel, I make entries into the log for later comparison. Keeping a log is also important because it can help you to identify irregularities or inconsistencies which could tip you off that something is wrong with the engine (or in my case, my math). Twice, now, I have been astounded at how little fuel we are burning here compared to the amount we used at home. This comment is based strictly on a comparison of miles, hours, and RPMs. The problem is that for comparison’s sake, I have only 10 years of cruising in Southern California to compare it to. Well, it is nice to compare and be able to know that, if I burned, say, 93 gallons of fuel over 240 nm in California running at 8.3 knots and 1700 rpms, that I will have used less fuel over 240 nm running at 7.3 knots at 1400 rpms. So, slow down, and your range goes up. You can save money this way. Ok ok. Enough of that technical stuff.
The sunset was gorgeous.
The wind dropped under 22 knots, and we are planning to leave today for our next stop on the way to Panama City, a place called Burnt Mill Creek. It’s another anchorage. We are much happier anchoring out. Everything is better on the hook. We’ll then make our way to the Panama City area. Brenda has a friend from college whose parents live there and whom we will visit for a day. Then, by Friday, we’ll be getting together with other “Loopers” at the Port St. Joe Marina for some party time and a half day of seminars directly related to our cruise.
Thus far, Port St. Joe Marina is a model marina. They are hosting this weekend get together. We were able to register by email. They then emailed back a detailed map of the marina with the available slips for our size boat clearly identified. Also identified was whether or not the slip had 30 or 50 amp power. Later in the day, they emailed a detailed description of how to get to the marina, and told us that they monitor VHF channel 16 and to call when we were close as they would have people on the docks to help us into our slip. I’ve heard that they even go the extra yard and greet transient cruisers with fruit baskets. Folks in the south truly are nice.
Be well, and we’ll talk again soon.
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| Neck deep in the big muddy......... |
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