FEBRUARY 14-16 2004 :: KEY WEST TO VERO BEACH
This log is hopefully the beginning of many adventures aboard Top Cat. In this first episode, we buy and take delivery of Top Cat, our 1999 Glacier Bay 2670, and embark on the mother of all small boat shakedown cruises, 375 miles from Key West to Vero Beach.
We had been boat shopping for a while (actually, I never quite stop boat shopping). Recently married, Jayne and I wanted a bigger more comfortable boat than the good old Gag Reflex, my 22’ Hydra-Sports. We had cruising in mind, but also wanted something trailerable. We had settled on the GB 2670 as the best compromise for what we wanted, and had been driving all over the state and being subjected to poorly maintained wrecks, sleazy brokers and flaky sellers. Our good friend Dave, who lives in the Keys, heard about a 2670 down in Key West, and was kind enough to go check it out for us. I trust Dave’s judgment without question regarding anything that floats or flys, so we began negotiating with the owner and ordering surveys of the boat without ever laying eyes upon her. To make a long story short, on Valentines Day 2004, Jayne and I were driving a rental car to Key West with a check in hand.
FEBRUARY 14 - We arrive in Key West and do the paperwork and get a checkout ride from the owners hired captain. I am slightly overwhelmed by the complexity of the unfamiliar electronics, but everything seems to be in order. We load our groceries and supplies aboard, and are officially off and running – a short run around the island to Key West harbor, where we get a slip right behind the Southport Raw Bar, just a block or so from Duval Street. After a nice dinner ashore, we settle in for our first night on the new boat.
FEBRUARY 15 - The Tortugas ferry, docked right beside us, lights up his engines at 5:00 am, encouraging an early start to the day. We top up on fuel and head out the Northeast Channel, for a run across the Gulf to Fort Myers. This may seem a bit screwy, to head to Florida’s southwest coast when we live in Vero Beach halfway up the east coast. But it is actually shorter this way, cutting across the state via the Okeechobee Waterway from Ft. Myers to Stuart, than to go up the Intracoastal Waterway on the east coast. And it avoids the slow speed hell on earth that is the ICW in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties. The first leg is about 110 miles to Ft. Myers. It is not a bad day for February, about 2-3 feet of chop and a funny quartering cross swell. The Glacier Bay is renowned for its soft ride, and does not disappoint. After a little fiddling around, I figure out how to set the GPS interfaced autopilot, and we are comfortably clipping along at 25 knots. After about 2 hours, the high rises of Marco Island heave into view, indicating we are on course. Continuing on, we pass under the Sanibel Bridge into San Carlos Bay, and hang a right up the Caloosahatchee River towards Fort Myers. About this time, we get an alarm from the starboard engine, and it refuses to run above idle speed. After some study of the engine manual, I learn that it is no big deal. The level in the 2-stroke oil tank has fallen below ¼, and that triggered the alarm. We add oil to both tanks and press a button to reset the system, and off we go. OK, new boat note #1 – 120 miles is about as far as you can go without stopping to add oil to the tanks. We pass Ft. Myers itself, and are making good time upriver. A little too good, as it turns out. Just short of the I-75 highway bridge, we get pulled over by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and informed we are blowing off a manatee zone. Now, I am used to manatee zones on the east coast, and I pay pretty close attention to signs, particularly in unfamiliar waters. The officer acknowledges that the signage could be better, but writes the ticket anyway. Properly chastised and $100 poorer, we keep going upriver to Franklin Locks, the first of the locks that will take us up to the lofty elevation of Lake Okeechobee, about 15 feet above sea level, and back down again. We stop for the night in Alva, at a very cute little bed and breakfast slash marina – fresh flowers and the paper are delivered to our slip, along with a delivery menu from the Italian restaurant up the street. It’s been a long day, over 160 miles, and we have even farther to go tomorrow.
FEBRUARY 16 - It is pretty cold and windy this morning, so we put up the canvas before heading out at 0700. Making 30 knots at 4800 rpm, we pass La Belle, and pass through the Ortona and Moore Haven Locks. After fueling up in Moore Haven, we set out across Lake Okeechobee. The wind is whipping, and there is a fierce chop on the lake. It felt good to pull into the Port Myaca Lock on the east side of the lake and begin dropping back down to sea level. The Okeechobee Waterway becomes the St. Lucie River, which takes us through Stuart, and from there we turn north in the Intracoastal Waterway. We stop in Jensen Beach to meet some friends for lunch and show off the new boat, and as we try to leave, the port engine will not start! I can’t figure out what is wrong, so we decide to run the last 25 miles or so on the starboard engine, and figure it out later. After a call to the old owner, I learn that the neutral lockout switch in the port engine throttle control is a little balky, and sometimes you have to “jiggle the handle”. New boat note #2 – be sure to ask about little quirks and idiosyncrasies. We get to Vero Beach at around 3:30, and get a slip at Capitan Hiram’s Marina in Sebastian, where the boat will stay until the trailer we have ordered is delivered.
We might have preferred a more gradual introduction to our new pride and joy, but she took good care of us on this trip, and we learned a lot about her. Next stop- Bahamas!