So it's not Florida....

[Prosideus]

....Where Searay40dad is heading, but it is our first "big" trip overnight. Fall break for the kids this weekend, so we are heading 30 miles up river (which is South) to stay a few nights at Florence Alabama. The Admiral and kids are pretty stoked about going. No locks so should be a no brainier, just a first for us. Hope the fall colors are in full display.

On another note, we were fishing in Kentucky lake this past weekend and snagged two Asian carp. They are making there way to a body of water near you soon....


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[Lucky's]

Safe travels and calm seas to you and the family. Hope you have a great trip!!!


Shaun
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[MonacoMike]

Post pics!

MM

[mwph]

Sounds like a perfect "first trip". No lock throughs will help keep stress levels manageable, & 30 miles won't be too long. You are just barely north of me so I guarantee the scenery & temperature are in your favor.

Remind the crew....safety first!

[DF470DA]

Have a great weekend and safe travel to you and your family- I am planning a trip from Cinci to Pickwick next summer, on my 470....should be a Fuelfest lol....df

[Prosideus]

Have a great weekend and safe travel to you and your family- I am planning a trip from Cinci to Pickwick next summer, on my 470....should be a Fuelfest lol....df

Let's stay connected. May be able to convince searay40dad to join in from ky lake.


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[DF470DA]

yep sounds good...any idea o nhow long the trip from Green Turtle Bay to Pickwick takes??

[Prosideus]

UPDATE on our first trip of any length this past weekend. Many lessons learned.

It was a beautiful morning Saturday here in TN. Cool start to the day and warmed up nicely for a comfortable trip.

I wanted my oldest daughter to get a video of me pulling put of the slip, so she was staged on the dock directly across from us. Tapped the transmissions for a second to get her moving, but doesn't work so well when you leave one aft dock line attached. No big deal, just a do-over. Pulled out and topped off the fuel and we were on our way.

We had 40 miles up river in the Tennessee to Florence, AL and took us about 4.5 to 5 hours. We were in no hurry and cruised at about 10-11 mph. Great scenery and pics that you can see here http://photobucket.com/albums/s381/P...orence AL Trip. Please note the pictures loaded in reverse chronological order.

When we first bought the boat, I thought the auto pilot was a completely useless feature. I have a new appreciation....It Is AWESOME!

We arrived around 3:00pm and easily docked. As I was hooking up, i noted that there seemed to be a lot of water i the transom locker and thought it odd that the wake could create that much water through the utility hole. Oh well, it will dry out.

The girls weren't up to heading put for dinner, so we fired up the BBQ and did it dockside. The rum and coke was most refreshing as we just hung out. The next morning I was messing around I the bilge and decided to figure out why my water pumps kept cycling on even few minutes. After several unnatural acts with a human body and a mirror, I could see a drip every few seconds from the far unreachable recesses of the aft starboard bilge area. Turns out the transom shower in that area was leaking. Removed the apparatus topside and tightened some connections - problem? What problem, next problem!

Headed out around 11:00, another great sunshine filled day. Noted that my port fuel tank was burning through fuel faster than stbd, must be the generator. As we made our way back, I tried to use the trim tabs to trim the boat, at one point it was listing 10 degrees or better. Turns out the trim tabs are wired in manner that I consider goofy. I won't try to describe it, but solved the list after determining the thing was trimming opposite what I was expecting. Whew! Rest of trip was at a much faster pace, running about 22mph, 2400 RPM.

When we returned to the slip, the ladies hit the showers and I was messing around in the cockpit. Towel dried the transom locker from the "following sea". But after a few minutes, it was wet again?? Looking inside the locker, there is the freshwater connection and a hose spigot. Attached to the spigot was a regulator. I removed the panel the spigot and connection were routed through and behind the panel feeding the freshwater hookup was another regulator, installed inline one behind the other. The one behind the panel was dripping non-stop. So I removed the regulated on the freshwater hookup side and replaced the one behind the panel with it. Leak fixed....next problem.

The only unsolved problem I have is a cycling shower sump pump. I plugged all the holes with paper towels to see where water was coming from into the sump...they all remained dry. But what did happen is water continued to slowly rise until the switch kicked in. I am thinking I have a back flow valve that needs to be replaced. Does that make sense?

Stats on the trip (quite shocking to me realizing a quick trip turned into $500):
Estimate 110 gallons used based on fuel gauges.
Between 8-9 hours on the engine going 80 miles round trip
RPM to MPH:
1200/10.6
1700/11.9
2100/19
2300/21.7
2400/22.8
2700/28

So we averaged 12.94 Gallons/HR and 1.37 Gallons/Mile
If I run the numbers on Searay40dad's trip it is 1.68 Gallons/Mile. Don't know enough yet for what is good or bad, but it is a comparison.

Anyway, we had an awesome time and made a bunch of memories. Slingshots and a bucket of acorns I had been collecting proved to be great fun. Cheap entertainment thumping different things heading down the river. Can't wait until our next trip.


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[AMFM3]

Great pics! Thanks for sharing...

Mark

[DaFish]

Great pictures and sounds like a great first family trip - hopefully many more.

Thanks for sharing!