The "1090 Trip": Endurance boating

yes there are. the "challenges" list my dad wrote up had "no wake zones" right at the top of the page. i'm sure that they'll enjoy the break every once in a while though. it may be what keeps my mom from drowning my dad along the way

 

Very cool, def looking forward to some updates!

 

Sub'd... this is pretty cool

 

yeah, it's a pricey trip when it comes to gas money. most efficient cruising speed is 27-30 mph for this hull, motor, and prop combo. peak gallons per hour reached in that range translates to about 3 mpg........

 

yo dog, I heard you liked trailers, so we put a trailer on yo trailer, so you trailer stuff while you trailer it

 

i was thinking exactly that as i winched it up there

 

Overland linky no worky...?

 

dude this trip looks awesome! will be watching this. good luck to your folks!!

 

yeah, i don't have the website up quite yet. here's the facebook page though.


and thank you everyone for all of the "good luck"s. they may need it. today is not the calmest down my way, and they are only about 150 miles south, so today will be a bumpy ride.

 

Looks like an awesome trip!

You probably know way more about boats than me, but 6000 miles / 30 mph avg = 200 hours on the engine. It would be tough to average much more speed than that on the ocean side of the trip. On the river side 40-50 mph is doable if the boat can handle that high of a cruise speed.

 

Subbed, this is awesome, good for them!

 

the boat can handle a sustained 40 to 50 mph without any problems (mechanically), however when you near top speed like that (it'll just touch 60), your fuel consumption goes through the roof. The indevidual legs are designed to be completed on no more than a single tank of fuel, but at the higher rate of speed, you would have to find fuel stops along the way which can be problematic in some of the less populated areas

 

That is a gutsy trip to make in that little guy. Good luck to them.

 

I was thinking the same thing, I wish them nothing but the best!

If I were to make a trip like that I would want a boat with at least 2 engines, 2 outboards, with a spare on board maybe, and at least a small cabin.

Or you could always take a sailboat!

 

my father's always been the daredevil type, so i think the small boat is his way of having a fun challenge. if it were a more risky journey than what they are doing, i hink dual engines and spare parts would be a must, but they will rarely be more than a couple miles off shore. most of it is intercoastal anyway, where your biggest danger is it being shallow enough to walk to shore.

The roughest part i see them facing is Pamlico Sound in North Carolina. It's a decent sized chunk of open water and can get very rough. I crossed it with my father back in 2004 with hurricane Charlie off shore by about 24 hours and we had quite a ride. i think we spent more time in the air than the water, and i couldn't move the next day. that crossing was made in a 16 foot Boston Whaler.

below is a map of the sound. the point jsut above "Atlantic Ocean" is Cape Lookout, and the next point up, to the right of "Pamlico Sound", is Cape Hatteras.


As for sailing, if he could take the time off of work, they'd be in a sailboat. as a family, we are originally sailors. There is a triangular race circut that goes from Norfolk, VA to Bermuda, down to the British Virgin Islands, and then back up to Virginia. Business permitting, My father volenteer crews on yachts making the circut each year. the legs of the triangle are split up by a few months though so the boat owners can enjoy where they've just sailed. he usually is a selected crew member on 1-2 of the legs each year. Must be hard, living the life of a half retired guy

 

I'm more familiar with the Bogue sound than the Pamlico, but yeah for sure. The sandbars are constantly moving too. It will be an adventure!

 

Where/how is the Bogue? I haven't been on that one.

 

4/16/2012 update

they made it safely to their next stop just north of West Palm Beach. todays leg was about 50 miles. windy day with some chop, but most of the waterway they were on today was fairly shielded. it was a fairly uneventfull trip i was told (in a good way), so i'll jsut get to the pictures

pretty standard for the Ft. Lauderdale area


they were able to stop able to stop about half way through the day and see some old family friends. the picture on the table was taken by my dad 25 years ago on the older couple's sailboat at the time. While they are initially on this trip for the adventure of being the water, it is the little things like this that make it memorable.


aparently paddle-boarders are getting lazy they said this guy hopped on their wake in one of the no wake zones and just surfed along for a good 5 minutes



another evning at the bar to celebrate a successful day




Tomorrow's trip is longer, nearing 80 miles. forcast shows it may be rougher again. They will be stopping right by Sebastian Inlet, about a half hour south of me. I'll be headed down to have dinner with them and to get an initial impression of what they think the rest of the trip will be like, since it's only going to get harder. at this part of florida, they are still in very controlled waters. A good warm-up i suppose.

 

It goes from the Swansboro area to Morehead City.

I'm glad they had a good 1st day!