- Joined
- Jan 1, 2000
- RO Number
- 3223
- Messages
- 640
Just got off the plane from Florida to Newark a couple of hours ago---to be greeted by snow and ice. Good!
Now I feel better about sleeping aboard an unheated gofast at 40 degrees F in Florida. <gg> Yep, big mistake to leave the propane cabin heater at home when the boat was shipped to Florida for the winter; we sure could have used it. But, good planning by my wife to leave aboard the long johns, heavy blankets, mittens and heavy coats from our late fall boating trips off Long Island in NY, because we used them all in Southern Florida!
Hey MarioG sorry we missed you at Boca Chita, we left on Friday morning after spending three wonderful nights at Boca Chita. Thanks to Pascal for his great advice to go there. Loved it, I think that is our new favorite Florida cruise destination.
It was terrific to finally meet hurricane Pascal, the guy who, during the chaos of 47 MPH gusts in No Name Harbour with 60 foot boats pushed into the mangroves, calmly motored up to the seawall single handed, with his two kids asleep aboard, and stepped off to tie up with a quizzical expression as if to say "why are these boaters having a problem? This wind is a joke, all boaters should know how to anchor and singlehand in a hurricane." Oh yeah, he also makes great capachino in the galley of his 53 hat. He also convinced my wife it would be a good idea to move aboard a 58 Hat, so I have a lot to thank him for.
Forgot to take pics of Pascal for curious Boatered members. But, my wife and I declined his generous invitation to take a warm shower aboard his boat, something my gofast lacks. Now I see some talk about his desire for a webcam, perhaps I did my wife a favor. <gg>
Interesting comments about the raft up in No Name Harbour. But, in fairness to the nice folks involved in that excitement, most thought they would be tied to the seawall the FIRST night.
I was in one of the yachtclub raft-up raft up formations and assumed that since one of the boats I rafted to was 68 feet, his massive anchor would hold us along with the other anchor that was out. The yacht club guys wisely decided ahead of time that there should be no more than four boats in any raft up formation, and blasted their horns at 5:15 am to alert everyone that chaos was afoot, 47 MPH wind gusts were pulling anchors. That woke me up in time to cast my raft up lines and fire up my engines to avoid hitting an anchored sailboat by a safe margin. Hence, NO anchor lines were fouled with each other despite over 15 boats in the yacht club raft up formations, and about twenty independent sailboats. Not a lot of room in that harbor as previously noted.
Also, several yacht club members wisely decided to avoid smashing into other boats by exiting the harbor and making for the storm tossed Biscayne bay. They suffered alot of spray and bouncing around in the dark until things were settled and they could return to tie up to the seawall or another securely seawall fastened boat.
There was mention made of one guy motoring around for about two hours in the harbor before tieing up. But, it should be noted that he looked to be in his mid eighties as was his handicapped wife, so I'd argue waiting for things to calm down in the chaos of boats shifting from anchoring to the seawall in poor visibility conditions was a smart decision on his part.
Anyway, I am glad Pascal is an expert boater who could put many licensed captains to shame. He is a great resource to Boatered. I saw him in action during a really horrific wind storm with boats pushed into the mangroves, and his boat handing skills in a 53 foot Hatteras were really incredible. He also was a great resource in helping the yacht club members tie up etc. Kudos to Pascal.
Cheers,
Now I feel better about sleeping aboard an unheated gofast at 40 degrees F in Florida. <gg> Yep, big mistake to leave the propane cabin heater at home when the boat was shipped to Florida for the winter; we sure could have used it. But, good planning by my wife to leave aboard the long johns, heavy blankets, mittens and heavy coats from our late fall boating trips off Long Island in NY, because we used them all in Southern Florida!
Hey MarioG sorry we missed you at Boca Chita, we left on Friday morning after spending three wonderful nights at Boca Chita. Thanks to Pascal for his great advice to go there. Loved it, I think that is our new favorite Florida cruise destination.
It was terrific to finally meet hurricane Pascal, the guy who, during the chaos of 47 MPH gusts in No Name Harbour with 60 foot boats pushed into the mangroves, calmly motored up to the seawall single handed, with his two kids asleep aboard, and stepped off to tie up with a quizzical expression as if to say "why are these boaters having a problem? This wind is a joke, all boaters should know how to anchor and singlehand in a hurricane." Oh yeah, he also makes great capachino in the galley of his 53 hat. He also convinced my wife it would be a good idea to move aboard a 58 Hat, so I have a lot to thank him for.
Forgot to take pics of Pascal for curious Boatered members. But, my wife and I declined his generous invitation to take a warm shower aboard his boat, something my gofast lacks. Now I see some talk about his desire for a webcam, perhaps I did my wife a favor. <gg>
Interesting comments about the raft up in No Name Harbour. But, in fairness to the nice folks involved in that excitement, most thought they would be tied to the seawall the FIRST night.
I was in one of the yachtclub raft-up raft up formations and assumed that since one of the boats I rafted to was 68 feet, his massive anchor would hold us along with the other anchor that was out. The yacht club guys wisely decided ahead of time that there should be no more than four boats in any raft up formation, and blasted their horns at 5:15 am to alert everyone that chaos was afoot, 47 MPH wind gusts were pulling anchors. That woke me up in time to cast my raft up lines and fire up my engines to avoid hitting an anchored sailboat by a safe margin. Hence, NO anchor lines were fouled with each other despite over 15 boats in the yacht club raft up formations, and about twenty independent sailboats. Not a lot of room in that harbor as previously noted.
Also, several yacht club members wisely decided to avoid smashing into other boats by exiting the harbor and making for the storm tossed Biscayne bay. They suffered alot of spray and bouncing around in the dark until things were settled and they could return to tie up to the seawall or another securely seawall fastened boat.
There was mention made of one guy motoring around for about two hours in the harbor before tieing up. But, it should be noted that he looked to be in his mid eighties as was his handicapped wife, so I'd argue waiting for things to calm down in the chaos of boats shifting from anchoring to the seawall in poor visibility conditions was a smart decision on his part.
Anyway, I am glad Pascal is an expert boater who could put many licensed captains to shame. He is a great resource to Boatered. I saw him in action during a really horrific wind storm with boats pushed into the mangroves, and his boat handing skills in a 53 foot Hatteras were really incredible. He also was a great resource in helping the yacht club members tie up etc. Kudos to Pascal.
Cheers,