Our thanks to Bill Parlatore for permitting Cruisers’ Net to post articles from his excellent blog, Following Seas.
Monday Minute – Get That Seating Right Inspired from comments made from last week’s post, let’s discuss helm seat options. There is no one solution for comfortable and safe seating at the helm on all boats. It is something designers and builders used to ignore. Today it gets the attention it deserves. Notice the helm seating when you go to the upcoming boat shows. And can you get around it once it is in position?
Especially with the current red tide threat to manatees in the Gulf, reported sightings are even more important. How to report sightings is listed below.
Manatee sightings can be reported to the DISL/MSN team 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by phone 1-866-493-5803, email manatee@disl.org, or through an online sighting form found at manatee.disl.org.
Give welcome to a new addition to the cruiser’s library, The ICW – Waterway to Adventure, a Practical Guide for Preparation and Traveling the Intracoastal Waterway, By James and Joyce Ebmeyer.
First of all this is an actual book, not a blog, so you can grab it off the shelf any time and take it anywhere you choose. James and Joyce deliver exactly what the title promises: a practical, well-written manual in an unassuming style with no “old salt” jargon or opinion. The advice is especially valid for vessel owners planning to close their homes and live aboard for a length of time. Although there are loads of photos and very good advice about being underway, the guide is not a chart book or navigation guide to the Intracoastal, so don’t expect charts. You will get attention to the many details required to lock your house door, move aboard your vessel and cast off for the adventure of a lifetime. It is a bargain at $16.00. Larry Dorminy, Cruisers’ Net Senior Editor (Cruisers’ Net is not commercially associated with the authors in anyway.)
Our thanks to Jim Ward for this praise for Historic Edenton, a longtime Cruisers’ Net Sponsor. During their 350th Anniversary Celebration, Edenton has an exciting calendar of Celebration events for all ages. Edenton is at the mouth of the Chowan River on the northwest shore of Albemarle Sound.
Wonderful city dockage. Overnight free and electricity reasonable ($3 for 30a, $5 for 50a). Neat Southern town with good places to eat and even a courtesy car to go to a grocery store. Dockmaster A Richie welcoming and helpful. Well worth a visit. Jim
DERELICT VESSEL REMOVAL GRANT 2018-2019 OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is announcing the first opportunity to apply for Derelict Vessel Removal Grants for the 2018/2019 budget year. The application period for the Bulk Derelict Vessel Removal Grant Program will begin on September 3, 2018, at 8:00 AM (EST), and end on October 17, 2018, at 5:00 PM (EST). Applications received after October 17, 2018, will not be eligible for consideration in round one. All removal applications must be complete and authorized for removal in the Statewide Derelict Vessel Database as well as demonstrate proof that due process was provided for each vessel’s owner. At a minimum, this would include an opportunity for the vessel owner to challenge the derelict vessel determination, either in criminal court or in an administrative hearing. Vessel cases not demonstrating that these opportunities have been offered to the owners of the vessels will not be considered for state funding assistance. A Letter of Authorization to remove and dispose of the vessel, issued by a law enforcement agency must be included in the application. Should funding be available for a second or subsequent round of applications, new announcements will be made. The grant guidelines and application form may be downloaded at: http://www.MyFWC.com/DVGrant.
You may also receive the guidelines and application by contacting Phil Horning at (850) 617-9540 or email DVGrant@MyFWC.com.
Applications that meet the requirements for the Rapid Removal Grant Program may be submitted at any time after the opportunity announcement start date, but no later than November 23,2019, at 5:00pm (EST) (based on available funding). Rapid removal cases must meet requirements of published guidelines as well as due process requirements. Total funding allocated for derelict vessel removal for fiscal year 2018-2019 was $1,000,000. Applications may be mailed to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Boating and Waterways Section, Derelict Vessel Grant Program Administrator, at 620 S. Meridian Street – Room 235, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1600 or emailed to DVGrant@MyFWC.com.
For further information, please contact:
Phil Horning, Derelict Vessel Program Administrator, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Division of Law Enforcement, Boating and Waterways Section, (850) 617-9540 or email Phil.Horning@MyFWC.com
At the intersection of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and the Okeechobee Waterway, Martin County, A CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR, is a hub of boating activity and of events of interest to boaters.
If you were thinking of heading for waters below the Bahamas this winter, take heed to this warning from the Washington Post and submitted by our friend, Sonny Reeves.
A new toy to eat up more of your smart phone’s memory. It does look like a fun app for recreational boating! If you try it, send us a review.
Read more: Notes from the Coast Guard Auxiliary Submitted By Alan Moose USCG Aux. Aug 9, 2018 (0) The United States Coast Guard has released a free mobile app, designed to provide key boating safety information on your iPhone or Android smartphone. The official U.S. Coast Guard app gives you 24/7 access to the most commonly requested information and resources for the recreational boating public. Download the free app from the Apple and Google Play online stores. Search for the app named “United States Coast Guard.”
The two-year project to build a dedicated dredge for NC waterways should insure a much more consistent dredging of the NC inlets and intersecting ICW.
Dare Moving Ahead on Inlet Dredge Plan Coastal Review Online DARE COUNTY — As the need for dredging in North Carolina waterways has long ago surpassed the availability of funds and equipment to dredge, Dare County, with the help of $15 million provided in the recent state budget, is about to try something different: Build a dedicated dredge to maintain its waterways.
Toxic red tide is making Floridians sick — and angry Red tides in the Gulf of Mexico and toxic blue-green algae in inland waters are killing animals and stoking outrage in South Florida. by James Rainey / Aug.03.2018 / 3:13 PM ET
Sarasota grapples with red tide’s effects from YourObserver.com Sarasota beaches were inundated with the unpleasant sights and smells associated with red tide this weekend. How does the community deal with the fallout?
America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association is an extremely active and involved organization supplying information and support for all member cruisers, not just active Loopers. Open their website, greatloop.org, and get a taste of what membership is about.
The Great Loop is the continuous waterway that encompasses the eastern portion of North America including the Atlantic and Gulf Intracoastal Waterways, the Great Lakes, the Canadian Heritage Canals, and the inland rivers of America’s heartland.
Our members range from experienced Loop cruisers to boaters in the midst of Looping; those planning on one day cruising the Great Loop to those simply exhilarated by the process of learning about the journey. Every level of interest is welcome, no restrictions or limitations! Whether you’re young or just young at heart, still working or retired, ready to travel full time or only every-so-often; whether you’ve got a powerboat, sailboat, trawler, rowboat or no boat; whether you are doing the Great Loop or dreaming, you’ll fit right in, come aboard!
One of Cruisers’ Net’s generous contributors who has shared expertise for your benefit, via their excellent blog, The Crabby Captain and the Sunny Sailor, now requests your assistance with a problem many of us have suffered through. Let us hear your suggestions.
Help us before my husband throws our Mercury outboard in the water! We have a 2003 Mercury 15hp outboard motor on our dinghy (which we purchased with our Beneteau sailboat) and it shuts down (or off) when under a heavy load. He had a mechanic rebuild/service the carburetor ($300) and still have the same problem. Since then he has tried: -Changing the fuel tank and hoses (helped it to work for a while and then went back to the same problem) -Changed the fuel in the tank -Changed the gaskets and fuel filter -Changed the spark plugs. Does anyone have any helpful suggestions so that he doesn’t end up throwing it in the canal? My sunny side can only get us so far! Please send help! (Or a new motor if you have one!) Thanks Cara
Our thanks to Eddie and Cara for sharing their repair expertise as recorded in their excellent blog, The Crabby Captain and the Sunny Sailor.
Just today I need my top. Everyone needs a top from time to time and our sailboat’s Bimini needed some repairs. Here is some how to’s to help fellow boaters do the same. From threading the Sailrite sewing machine, to replacing the marine vinyl, we tell you how to do it step by step. And maybe you will see us with no top!
Our thanks to Bill Parlatore for permitting Cruisers’ Net to post articles from his excellent blog, Following Seas.
It’s been a crazy summer around Annapolis, with constant rain and heavy humid air on Chesapeake Bay. Not much fun for boating, but as we move into the second half of the season, it’s a good time to do some midsummer maintenance. Bill Parlatore
Our thanks to longtime cruiser and regular Cruisers’ Net contributor for this disturbing report from south Florida.
Hi Capt, We moved ashore to St James city Florida last August (Jean needed another hip replaced) and we still cruise on our new to us 30 Mainship Pilot. Come down and visit we have room in our canal home. The fishing was great until a month ago the discharge from Lake O and the red tide hit the area. Our last visit to Cayo Costa made us sick from all the dead fish and the red tide made us ill. Dead 400lb groupers, dolphins, manatees and over 300 turtles line the shores of Sanibel, Captiva and Cayo Costa, even a whale dead on the beach. The sad truth is no one in government is doing much than saying the same things they always do. The red tide comes every year, but the Lake O discharge is a fixable problem.
Now our biggest concern is the water here has gone from beautiful and clean to horrible and filled with dead
fish. Between the red tide and Lake O waste discharges, the wildlife does not have a chance. I do not know what can be done. I know that writers like Carl Hiaasen have been complaining about the Lake O discharges since I started boating 45 yrs ago and politicals have promised and made $$$ off of vested interests that are raping Florida. Consider sharing with your readers the petition.
We cruised east to west across the Okeechobee Waterway a little over a week ago. Saw and smelled the algae, witnessed and smelled the dead fish AND saw crabbers emptying their traps in the same water along the Caloosahatchie River above Ft. Myers. The state and local governments allow the crabbers to harvest their crop in that filth? Someone told me that “hey, the crabbers have to make money to feed their kids.” Does that make it OK? Enjoy your stone crab claws and your crab cakes.
They need to embark upon a long term dredging and remediation project to get rid of the organic muck in the lake that feeds the algae. Instead, both PB County and the Corp are interested in small, inexpensive projects that will not improve anything but they can then say they are doing something. They actually want to dig more containment basins to hold more water and muck. Or they want to skim the algae off the top of the canals so it doesn’t look as bad. No one seems to have the courage to address this problem correctly and remove the organic sediment from the lake. Will be expensive and take many (10+) years but it will stop the algae blooms. And yes, I am involved with some proposed remediation that is unlikely to happen.
Our thanks to Bill Parlatore for permitting Cruisers’ Net to post articles from his excellent blog, Following Seas.
Time to step back from social media and regroup. How we get our information has changed in recent years, and not for the better. We need to rethink where we look for answers and updates. A new world is emerging that embraces a more human connection.
Elizabeth City, A CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR and the friendliest-to-boaters community on the Waterway, is located on the Pasquotank River off the northeast corner of Albemarle Sound and at the southern end of the Dismal Swamp Canal Route. With the canal fully open to navigation, this wonderful community continues its calendar of exciting events, making a stop at Mariners Wharf in the heart of Elizabeth City a must!
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