Shakedown cruise complete

Pecan, and ourselves, now safely home; our log of our travels from Michigan thru Canada to New York, and a taste of the Chesapeake, are detailed here. Start from the beginning:

Michigan to New York

or anywhere in between!

(Photo courtesy of Reed on Filamingo)

Maryland to Satellite Beach

After loading Pecan back on her trailer at Ferry Point we went south to Lusby, located next to Solomons Island at the mouth of the Patuxent River, to visit friends from Rich's Autodesk days (Betsy, and Liz and Monte) that live there. We didn't launch Pecan for our brief two days there but did have any enjoyable time and even had a nice tour of the Maritime museum and a hit the water on Betsy's neighbor (Larry) new-to-him Jefferson 42 cruiser.


Arrived home at 4:30PM today. Pecan now 'moored' in the driveway beside the house.

Chesapeake stop-over

We arrived late afternoon on Saturday, October 10th, at Ferry Point marina, located in Arnold, Maryland on Mill Creek in the Magothy River--"X" makes the spot on the chart above. We chose to be 'based' out of this location because fellow Rossie owners Reed & Judy Whitten on Filamingo had good experiences there with both storing their tow vehicle and trailer as well as ability to handle launch and retrieval of our boats. Plus the folks at Ferry Point are very pleasant and their rates are great too. We paid around $12 a week to park the truck and trailer, and launching Pecan was $25.


This aerial shot of Ferry Point marina was taken, clearly, in the off season. The boat yard is chock full of yachts; since we were there before winter haul-outs began, we parked the truck and trailer behind the workshed denoted by the black "X". Our visit here also coincided with the weekend running of the Annapolis Sailboat Show. So, on Sunday we unhitched the truck from the trailer and drove into Annapolis for the show. Thanks to John at Ferry Point we scored two free passes! Thank you John! Show was nice and very manageable to see everything...our past experiences have all been at the Ft. Lauderdale and Miami shows, both of which are too spread out to see most everything in one day.




Cruising around the Magothy River. Photos courtesy of Reed on Filamingo.


Filamingo powering alongside in the Magothy River.


Our route from the Magothy River to Baltimore on Tuesday, October 13th. Reed on Filamingo told us about a special Tues thru Thurs deal for this week up in the Baltimore's Inner Harbor East marina: free overnights, just pay the $8 electric fee. Sounded good, so north Filamingo and Pecan headed Tuesday morning.


Entering Baltimore's outer harbor.


Pecan passing alongside a docked container ship, Evergreen's Ever Deluxe.





Two vintage, or vintage replica, sailing vessels out with guests. In the period we were passing by and watching them the winds went from calm to about 10 knots, giving them a nice sail downwind. The above four photos courtesy of Reed on Filamingo.


I asked Reed on Filamingo to show us what 300 horsepower (with their twin Yamaha 150s) looks like on an RF-246; here's the answer...I believe they're going just under 30 knots.


Schooners tied up at Fells Point.


Schooner Arabella. 160 feet overall.


Aerial of the Inner Harbor East marina. Aquarium and other attractions are a short walk. We also took the water taxi across the harbor and walked to Fort McHenry for a tour.








Turns out our visit coincided with the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. Before heading off to Portsmouth, Virginia from Baltimore (starting line actually off Annapolis), the schooners had a parade of sails in the inner harbor at 5pm on Wednesday, October 14.


Winds calm to very light. This schooner, Heron, is a modern design.


Many of the schooners hail from up and down the eastern Seaboard. 50 schooners are racing, including the 157 foot Pride of Baltimore II, 104 foot Lady Maryland, and the 126 foot Virginia


The weather Wednesday and Thursday deteriorated, and looked to continue thru the weekend. We decided Friday to head back to the Annapolis area, however, if the conditions in the Chesapeake showed to be too rough we'd return to Baltimore.


It was a gray day with limited visibility, and bumpier than what it seemed it should have been for the winds...perhaps some wind-against-tide affect was in play as well.


A couple of short videos showing the rolly conditions with Filamingo off our stern.


Speed is in the 9 to 11 knots range, depending if a wave is helping with a little push.

Lake Champlain to the Chesapeake

We arrived back in Plattsburgh last night--boy, has it been an interesting ten days. In a nutshell, after stopping along the way to visit the boys in Princeton and Philadelphia, and Rich's Mom in Fairfax, we got back to Satellite Beach on the 30th of September and started immediately looking within the Melbourne-Orlando area for a used but suitable pickup truck. Ever dealer seemed to be looking to make their monthly commission off the one truck they wanted to sell us. So, after a bit of quick research, we found four(!) 2008 commercial off-lease Ford F250 diesel long bed crew cab pickups for sale at Texas Direct Auto in Houston. Yes, Houston. Saturday, October 3rd, I flew out to Houston Hobby (TDA folks run shuttles every 30 minutes to this airport, and hourly to IAH), bought one (with 43,000 miles), and drove home arriving Sunday night.


I didn't keep a copy of the auction showing our particular pickup, but the picture above show a similar, but gasoline-powered, truck on TDA's ebay site. Their pricing is thousands less than anywhere else I checked; I guess they make up for low margins by selling heaps of vehicles. My sales person told me they sell about 70 or so cars and trucks a day. They market themselves as the ebay's largest auto reseller.

So, after a fluid change and lubrication at the local Melbourne ford dealer on Monday, Oct. 5th, we left Satellite Beach on Wednesday, Oct 7th, towing the empty trailer north. I think that was something over 3,500 miles driving in 10 days!
Now back to Pecan.


First part of the journey is the short trip from Plattsburg down the Lake to the Valcour area for the haul out of Pecan.


And then the overland route towing Pecan south.


Peru state docks boat ramp.
Our first choice on where to haul Pecan out of the water was suppose to be the boat ramp 1 mile north of the Plattsburgh Boat Basin marina on Cumberland Ave. This morning we drove the truck over to check out the site; ramp had too shallow an angle and, even if the slope would have been OK, there's a ledge drop-off just where the trailer wheels would reach. So, no go here.
After checking with the folks at Plattsburgh Boat Basin (even asked them about travel-lifting Pecan out and placing her on the trailer but they were busy with their scheduled hauling of boats out for the winter) they suggested to try Peru state docks. So over to Peru state docks for a look-see, and we were presently surprised. Excellent twin lane concrete launch ramps with floating docks on either side. Plus perfect slope to get the rear of the trailer in deep water.
At 10am, then, we hauled Pecan out. Peru state docks are just opposite from Valcour Island, as you can see in the photo above. Tamara drove the truck and empty trailer the 7-8 miles south from Plattsburgh Boat Basin marina while I motored Pecan down.


We've just pulled Pecan from the water for our first time and all went well--even the boat looks to be centered on the trailer. Now to secure straps around the stern and bow and stow gear for the road ahead.


A view off I-87 in the Adirondacks--the trees are at peak color change.


"Bio break" at rest stop along interstate 87 in the Adirondacks. Great fall colors!


Along the way, we saw these CAT Scales at the truck diesel plazas and thought if we could use the service it'd be good to know what the gross weight of the Rossie and the trailer are. So we did. Each time cost $9.00.



As you can see above, we have print-outs from getting weighed on two separate occasions. In Pennsylvannia, with an empty trailer--just the truck and Shor'landr trailer (no Pecan):

Steer axle of truck: 5,020 lbs
Drive axle of truck: 3,780 lbs
Trailer axles: 1,580 lbs
Total: 10,380 lbs

After leaving Plattsburgh, here's the data at a CAT Scale, this time with Pecan on the trailer (as in the photo above):

Steer axle of truck: 4,720 lbs
Drive axle of truck: 4,960 lbs
Trailer axles: 8,680 lbs
Total: 18,360 lbs

At the time of both weigh-ins, our 2008 Ford F250 4x4 diesel long bed crew cab truck is full of diesel; Pecan has 80% full of gas and full of diesel (15 gallons for stove/generator) and 50% or so full of water. No dinghy and minimal clothes and gear in boat or truck.