Heading south for the winter

[PT26]

After a nice rest stop

Hanely is right when he said there isn't much rest for the next four days going through Georgia. So it was a nice stop at the Thunderbolt marina and rest up, they build really cool large pleasure craft there. Power and sail I am talking BIG!
A friend picked us up and took us to iHop for breakfast - oh you don't know how well strawberry pancakes with whip cream can taste at this point

We made it to Cattle pen creek and anchored up stream at low tide in ten feet. I will be curios to see what high tide will be. Not much for swing here so you had better know how to set your anchors

Here are a few shots of the creek as we settled in tonight. I hope I sized them right this time!


Middle of the creek tide looks down about five or six feet.




Anchored up and finished for the day



Some say skip Georgia I say. Why?

[hanleyclifford]

Georgia's sounds are wonderful...best part of the trip IMO. Paul and Trina have been making fantastic time; the A4 must be performing well. Paul, if you would, could you post some stats for us like cruise rpm, oil pressure, water temp and any other A4 comments that the members might find useful? Tomorrow you are facing some of the finest cruising on the planet; color me green.

[sastanley]

Looks like a beautiful anchorage. I was imagining something similar when I saw the satellite pictures of that area. It looks skinny!

i bet there are not too many bugs this time of year either!

[PT26]

Hi Hanley,

Our stats are a bit funny when it comes to our gauges. You see when we start the engine the tack goes backwards and start at 2500. So when I ask Trina what the rpms are I normally get an answer like"Minus 600". The rpm gauge has got to go. When we get to sailors exchange in St. Augustine it will be replaced. At this point, from when we installed the new motor and set the throttle rpm adjustment nut I set it to 500 rpms. So when I start the motor I know the lowest rpms is about 500. Knowi the it starts at 500, when the tack starts at 2500 instead of zero I use the guage as a guide and we're estimating that we run at 1100 rpms most f the time. But basically we've been running by ear, listening to where the motor runs smoothly, for about 150 miles.

Before the gauge went wacko, we would run about 1200 rpms, with a fair tide and current most f the time there's no need to run it any harder (Maw Point with heavy winds and sails up no real need to run the A4 more than 800 prms) With current again us and wind on e nose we run the A4 around 1500 rpms which puts us at about hull speed. Against the current and tides, I'm burning 1.18 gallons of fuel per hour... Maybe running too rich.

We're using the indigo 3 blade prop. I don't remember the size of the prop, maybe I can dig up a picture...

For oil pressure, we run a steady 40lbs after warmup, in gear and cruising.

For temperature, after warm up and cruising, e temp is around 145 - 150 degrees. We're still using the preferential flow valve customization to warmup the motor, although once she's warmed up if we open that valve complete the motor temperature gauge drops to just below 100 degrees. At the end of the day, when the motor is shut off and the key is on, it show the temp of the motor at 150.

Never got to the FWC this summer like I wanted to, I hope I get the time to tackle that project soon, it's something I'd really like to do with this fresh motor.

An added bonus of running the motor all day is at the end of the dy, the warm motor actually helps keep the cabin warm on these cold nights.

[PT26]

Hi Shawn,

It's really skinny in here and We use two anchors off the nose to keep us In The middle of the creek. Cattle Pen creek has a 6 ft tidal range but the currents aren't very swift so we aren't pulling on our anchors, just drifting and pivoting on them.

when it's warm the bugs are nasty. Thank goodness it's cold, the bugs in Georgia will carry you away and can make a beautiful anchorage miserable.

[Mo]

On the move again.

Paul and Trina are on the move again. Certainly making short work of the ICW. 6.9 kts when I checked in on their AIS.

Paul mentioned using 1.1 gallons of fuel per hour. Might want to check mixture and timing and see if there's something there you can tweak. If you have points and condenser wear might be an issue. I took apart and cleaned at least 4 carbs this year just to solve excessive fuel consumption for guys...seemed to do the trick. Seems to be running well so maybe leaning it out a little will do the trick.

[hanleyclifford]

0945 PT26 in the Creighton Narrows making 6.1 knots approaching the Crescent River.

[lat 64]

Hi Hanley,

...

An added bonus of running the motor all day is at the end of the dy, the warm motor actually helps keep the cabin warm on these cold nights.

I've faked a cabin heater in the past(way past) by just running a long length of heater hose from the engine in an old Mercedes diesel to the front passengers seat.
The admiral was riding along on road trip our fist year of marriage and the old car had no heater. We stopped at a truck shop in Northern B.C. and I bought about fifteen feet of heater hose and shoved it on through the firewall and on to the existing hose outlet on the engine. It was not great, but it afforded some heat to my wife from the coils of hose on the floor at her feet. Sleeping bags were always present too in the front seats that trip.

Just saying, if theres a complaint about heat, I'm usually the first on to cobble up something. I'll bet seawater conducts heat just fine.

Safe cursing,... I mean cruising,

Russ

[hanleyclifford]

1400 PT26 approaching Lanier Island and St Simon Sound doing 7.3 knots!

[edwardc]

1530 EST, PT26 approaching the dock at Seajay's Waterfront Cafe on Jekyll Island.

[PT26]

Jekyll island

It was a good day, it seemed as though the wind was perfect to sail all day!
Of course tacking a lot but it gave us the extra push to get here, fuel up and go anchor in our spot. This is our third time here so we know where we want to be

Hanley I think I am going to try leaning it out a bit, she is running great.
We will leave out. At 7am at high tide hit marker 31 and cross St. Andrews sound. From marker 31 straight to the lighthouse is the local cut. Marker 32 is to far out and it's to be 5 plus ft. Out there

Time for another oil change and check up tonight.

[hanleyclifford]

Paul, I gotta ask: how much water do you have under you in that anchorage? Your plan for crossing St Andrews is unconventional to say the least; let us know how it goes; you could be writing the new waterway guide!

[PT26]

We're currently in 13 ft of water. When we dropped anchor at low tide we dropped in 7.5 to 8.5 feet. We drop scope at a 6:1 line to depth, basing our number off a tidal range of 6 ft.

[sastanley]

I've faked a cabin heater in the past(way past) by just running a long length of heater hose from the engine in an old Mercedes diesel to the front passengers seat.
The admiral was riding along on road trip our fist year of marriage and the old car had no heater. We stopped at a truck shop in Northern B.C. and I bought about fifteen feet of heater hose and shoved it on through the firewall and on to the existing hose outlet on the engine. It was not great, but it afforded some heat to my wife from the coils of hose on the floor at her feet. Sleeping bags were always present too in the front seats that trip.

Just saying, if theres a complaint about heat, I'm usually the first on to cobble up something. I'll bet seawater conducts heat just fine.

Safe cursing,... I mean cruising,

Russ

Russ, Having met your wife, I am not sure how you are still married...she is a trooper for sure!

[lat 64]

Yea Shawn, Them was the days when we only had our love to sustain us.
I was in love with that old damn car too, but I found it much more rewarding to maintain my relationship with my wife. Still have the wife, and I really don't miss the car that much.
Gotta go stoke the fire now, It's cooling off in the house.

Oh, Hi Paul

R.