No Change (No Travel)
Overall Great Loop Statistics to date: (No Change)
Statute Miles 407.0
Average Miles/Day 50.9
Total Hours Underway: 58.1
Average speed (mph): 7.8
Total Days 11
Travel Days: 8
Locks:5
Days at/Layover
Marinas: 4/2
Anchor: 3/1
City dock: 1/0
Free Wall: 0/0
Mooring: 0/0
Great Loop Travel Days (GLTD): N/A
Map of our Great Loop travel:
Layover in Jacksonville: We planned to stay here for about 2-3 weeks, hoping to get a 2nd COVID-19 shot (and staying put for a few days during any side effects). We enjoyed spending time with our son, who came over a few times for dinner on SCOUT and picked us up several times to run errands and to have dinner out.
The day we arrived in Jacksonville FL, we failed to see the Blue Angles up close. (Thanks to COVID, the NAS Jacksonville Air Show was cancelled, but the crew practiced here for 3 days.)
The next day, our son picked us up at the marina on his fishing boat. We spent the early afternoon on the St. Johns River, hoping to see the Blue Angels practicing “up close” & unobstructed. We had a beautiful visit, but, unfortunately, we headed back to the ramp and pulled the boat out of the water an hour before the Blue Angels flew. 😞
Third day’s the charm! The next day, I captured video of the Blue Angels from SCOUT, in the marina. Awesome “show”!
We got to visit 2 breweries while in Jacksonville. Our son drove us to Wicked Barley. I splurged on a little gluten for some garlic-ginger fries – highly recommended!
He also drove us to Strings Sports, where the wings are awesome – Alabama White Sauce -- highly recommended!
For a full list of Jacksonville breweries, refer to Jax “Ale Trail”: https://www.visitjacksonville.com/jax-ale-trail/.
We visited many of those breweries between Sept 2019 and Oct 2019.
My dad stopped by for lunch one day -- a chance to see him before we head north for the big adventure. 😊
A few days after arrival, a severe storm moved quickly through the area, and we clocked 36-mph winds! Pop-up spring storms are the norm in Florida.
Great Harbour Jacksonville Gathering: While we were gathered with a few Great Harbour owners in Fort Myers recently, we realized there would be a LOT of Great Harbour boats in Jacksonville, coincidentally, in The Marina at Ortega Landing during a specific week of April. So, we said, “Let’s gather in Jacksonville!” We each contacted GHTA members (Great Harbour Trawler Association, https://ghta.clubexpress.com) that we thought may be in Jacksonville. We then reserved space for outside dining at a nearby restaurant.
There were 10 Great Harbour boats in the marina.
Let’s play Great Harbour Squares! One of the squares is occupied by 2 “slip neighbors”.
Twenty-five GHTA members made it to the dinner, including the owners of Mirage Manufacturing, where Great Harbour boats are built. At least 1 owner was there, representing 4 of all 5 Great Harbour models available: N37, N47, GH37, and GH47. It was great seeing so many of our fellow boaters -- especially since the annual meeting had to be cancelled/postponed for the last 2 years, due to COVID-19.
We enjoyed a few riverside cookouts with “Great Harbour-ists”. Below, are the crews of SCOUT, JADIP (Just Another Day in Paradise), Quiet Company, and Journey. (Sorry, Maggie, I forgot to snap a photo of cookout # 2.)
We also had a few days with perfect pool-time weather.
The ladies took a short walk to Chick-Fil-A one day to bring back lunch for a picnic at the gazebo by the marina. Below, are crew from SCOUT, Balena, Quiet Companry, and JADIP.
I took a nice long walk with JADIP -- across the Ortega Bridge, admiring plants throughout the quiet neighborhood.
This unknown tree had a gerbera-daisy-like flower. And I learned what a loquat tree looks like.
Emergency Repair: While getting food ready for one of the cookouts, one of our water sensors sounded the alarm! Where is the water?
Because the engine room houses the only through-hulls that bring salt water into the boat for air conditioners, engines, and generator, we naturally checked there first. All fine!
After checking a couple of places, we finally locate the problem area, literally right under our feet – where we had been working in the galley.
After some troubleshooting, we determined there was a disconnected hot water hose fitting, under the galley sink, at the manifold, where all of SCOUT’s fresh water is distributed.
The water had run from the cabinet under the galley sink, into the bilge under the galley. (In the rush to clean everything up, I didn’t get photos.)
Now, what?
We shut off the water pump and drained water from the lines (sink & shower in the head, and galley sink).
I began bailing the water from the bilge, while Ray finished preparing for the cookout.
After the cookout, we stayed up late. I bailed water one last time, while Ray researched spare parts and a plan for repair.
First thing the next morning, we set up fans to dry out the bilge and cabinets where water had overflowed, and Ray repaired the hose fitting.
Ideas that worked:
Ray had purchased/installed water sensors that will send a text to our phones (in case we had been away.) If we had been smarter, we would have checked our alarm text, which would have indicated specifically which water area had been breached.
As do most Great Harbour owners, I store things in SCOUT’s bilges (affectionately known as “alleys”). Fortunately, a while back, I had decided to store almost everything in large plastic storage bins – for just this possibility. So, even though there was water in the bilge, our alarm notified us before the water rose to the height of my storage bins, and nothing in those bins got wet.
Improvements to consider:
Add a narrow drip tray under the galley water manifold, with a water sensor, to alert us when the tray fills with water – prior to the bilge filling with water.
Loop Stuff: Even though we were not travelling the loop, we did a few “loopy” things.
Ray replaced the failed PA hailer speaker, which interfaces with the “Fog Horn” special function key on the VHF radio. (He later realized the original root cause was probably just pinched wiring).
We also remeasured our air draft -- after switching from a gasoline outboard (stored mounted on the dinghy atop the deckhouse) to an electric outboard (stored inside the boat). The gasoline engine used to be our tallest point – with antennas lowered.
🔷 Boater Tip: Air draft is the height above the water line; it is most important to know when passing under bridges.
[Geek Alert, by Ray] How we measure SCOUT’s air draft:
Drop the mast and …
1. calculate maximum air draft -- with mast and antennas upright. Total of measures:
a. from water line to horizontal point on deck.
b. from deck point to base of mast (on bow deck).
c. from the base of the mast to the cross arm (that meets the base of the antennas).
d. from the base to the tip of the tallest antenna.
2. calculate secondary air draft – with both antennas lowered. Total of measures:
a. from water line to horizontal point on deck.
b. from deck point to base of mast
c. from the base of the mast to the anchor light (at the top of the mast).
3. calculate minimum air draft – with mast AND both antennas lowered. Total of measures:
a. from water line to horizontal point on deck.
b. from deck point to roof of deckhouse.
c. from roof of deckhouse to top of dinghy bow.
A revised quick-reference card showing the different heights was printed to keep at the helm.
NOTE: In this photo, the crane looks like the tallest point, but that is not the travelling position of the crane. The crane is in a working position, after being used to lower the mast.
This photo shows that, if the mast and antennas were lowered – and crane in travel position, the tallest point is the bow of the dinghy.
[End Geek Alert]
While Ray was getting SCOUT ready, I made a few provisioning (and prescription refill) trips to Publix, a short walk away. Ray joined me for the final trip, with our rolling cart.
I also calculated a rough calendar for the Great Loop – despite chills (side effects) from my 2nd COVID-19 shot. 🤒 As my former co-workers and youth counselors know, I am very risk averse and an analyst at heart. Good or bad, planning is what I do! 😊
While we won’t “plan” a year ahead for every stay, we want to visit friends and family at various points along the way. A few weeks ahead, we hope to give them an EWA (estimated week of arrival). And a week ahead, we need to reserve transient marina slips.
We decided we’d like to target travelling an average of only 4 days each week, and I want to ensure that we can make it off of the great lakes and down the inland rivers before it gets too cold. We should be good with this “schedule”, unless we encounter too many weather delays (waiting to go outside at Cape May, etc.) or bridge/lock delays (due to maintenance, etc.).
🔷 Boater Tip: Below are just some of the other generally-accepted “seasonal” looping targets I’ve heard:
Above the hurricane insurance line (usually 30th parallel) before June.
NOTE: Know your insurance policy. Some policies do not cover hurricane damage “below the line” June – November; others may have higher deductibles Some do not cover inland waters.
NY canals do not typically open until May. This year, the scheduled opening is May 21, 2021.
“Off the great lakes” by the end of September. Even with our late start, this will not be a problem.
Not back below the hurricane insurance line before November. Should not be a problem for us.
Now, that I have a ROUGH idea of where we’ll be each month, we can decide, along the way, the impact that any extended layovers (multi-day stays), side trips, or delays will have on the overall schedule.
What’s next? We will resume our travel north, out of Florida.