First Trip - DeFever Cruisers Rendezvous January 2003
By Robin Roberts
Saturday, February 01, 2003
"Adventures" first trip - to attend the 2003 DeFever Cruisers Rendezvous at Pier 66 Marina, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Trip Log - 1/24/03-1/31/03
Adventures has been sitting in Stuart, FL since we bought her in November. Now it's time to attend the DeFever Cruisers Rendezvous in Fort Lauderdale, and we are going by boat. It's our first rendezvous, and our first trip! We flew down to south Florida, got a 1-way car rental and headed to Stuart to provision the boat and make our final preparations. We spent a marvelous three months at the Stuart Cay Marina with a grand collection of Krogens and some very lovely people - so we were sad to leave.
Friday 1/24 -
We were looking forward to taking the boat out into the ocean for the two day trip to Lauderdale, but the winds had been blowing for days so the prudent thing was to stay on the "inside" (aka the ICW). Oh well. We got a good look at the St. Lucie Inlet as we turned from the St. Lucie River into the ICW, and the waves were breaking about 20' over the breakwater! Good choice to stay on the inside! The first part of the ICW we encountered was very pretty - lots of wild areas with tons of birds and interesting places to explore. We'll be back to anchor in there sometime in the future.
The only real daunting part of a trip on the ICW through South Florida is the fact that there are a LOT of bridges - mostly short ones. We need 25' to clear a bridge, so we had about seven bridges to contend with on Day 1. Thanks to the "Skipper Bob" book (Anchorages on the ICW) which has very current information on the various bridge clearances and their schedules, we didn't have to wait very often. Most of the bridge tenders are very nice and will open pretty quickly if the traffic allows. We learned that they really like you to bring the boat right up to the bridge so you can pass through quickly when they open up. It took us about 6 hours to travel about 40 miles - not exactly record-breaking time, but slowing and sometimes waiting for the bridges draws things out a bit.
Now it's time for another first with our new trawler - anchoring. We chose a good anchorage just south of Lake Worth inlet and found another DeFever 49 already anchored there. This must be a good place! The wind was blowing 12-15, but we've anchored plenty of boats so we weren't too concerned. We have a pretty substantial ground-tackle configuration aboard: 175' of all-chain rode on the 60 lb. CQR anchor, plus a second (storm) anchor - a 110 lb. claw that we can use with the chain or with 7/8" line. We also have a snubber line attached to a beefy ring on the bow at the waterline. Moving the pulling forces on the anchor from the 10' high bow down to the waterline-level ring is a huge advantage. Jim had to work a bit to untangle the flukes of the CQR from the flukes of the claw - they are mounted side-by-side on the bow. We haven't had a chance to reverse the anchors up there - the big one should be on the shorter bow roller. Another of the long list of to-do's! The anchor finally came free though, and she set quickly for us. We simply used the same hand signals and anchoring procedures we've been using for years, and it worked like a charm. No confusion, no yelling, no problems! It was another lesson for us: the skills we developed and practiced on our small boats translate beautifully to the big boat. We're learning not to be intimidated by the size of our new boat. It's hard, but when we can forget how big she is and run her like we've been running our small boats - we have no problems at all. When I stand up on the fly bridge (20' above the water!) and think about how much damage I can do with a 30 ton boat - I get a little wobbly in the knees. That's when I have problems!
We weren't able to raise the other DF 49 on the radio, but we were content to know we were in good company. We cooked our first actual dinner aboard, and watched a nice sunset from the pilothouse. It was a good first day!
Saturday 1/25 -
The weather radio continued to report high winds from the East, so we had to stay in the ICW for the second day of our trip. We were REALLY hoping to run in the ocean on Day 2 - the alternative is to contend with 18 bridges we need to have open for us! We were concerned about the extra time for those bridges, so we got an early start. Just as we cruised out of the anchorage and back into the channel, we saw a DeFever 48 ahead of us. Someone else going to the rendezvous! We closed the distance to the 48 as we approached our first bridge so we could make the same opening. The radio crackled with traffic from other boats - all with names we recognized from the DF Cruisers newsletters! The large anchorage was actually full of DeFevers going to the rendezvous, so we would have plenty of company for the rest of the trip. Two other DeFevers caught up with us at the first bridge, so we formed a caravan. As we passed under the many bridges (some of them are only a mile apart), we could hear other groups of DeFevers talking to the bridges behind us. There were about a dozen DeFevers strung along about five miles of the ICW, all heading south.
Despite the bridges-bridges-bridges, we enjoyed seeing all the amazing homes from Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale. We saw lots of birds and some manatees - you have to keep a sharp lookout to avoid the manatees in the channel! It was a great ride, and we made surprisingly good time. We cruised into the rendezvous marina - Pier 66, around 3pm. We had called the marina on the phone earlier in the day to get our slip assignment and to explain that we were new to the boat - to make sure they didn't give us a slip that would be difficult. "B25 is your slip", they said. "Is it a bulkhead slip or hard to get into?", we asked. "No... it's right near the end, and would not be hard for newbies." We hailed the marina on the radio when we arrived to confirm the slip assignment and to get directions to it. "B25, all the way in to the bulkhead". Argh! They fibbed - it was a bad slip. Well, these things happen.... you just hope it doesn't happen the sixth time you ever dock a twin-screw boat!
I made the approach to back into the bulkhead slip - there is plenty of power and good control with twin screws. It was going pretty well until the dockhand decided that we were too wide for the slip and waved us out. Not NOW! I'm almost up against the bulkhead with a brand new 100' Hatteras in front of me. I did my best with a little extra engine power and got her away. I went back out to the marina entrance so I'd have some room to sit while we sorted out the slip assignment. Deep breath! The marina got back on the radio and insisted that I would fit in the slip. Make up your minds! I growled at them a bit, and made my approach again. This time, I positioned myself so I could escape with a bit more room, just in case. Fortunately, it turned out to be a 20' wide slip - plenty big, and we backed in with no problems at all. The clueless dockhand was hanging around for a tip - after waving me out and causing more problems - so I growled at him too! The good thing is that we managed to dock the boat without any problems (except for a few moments of excitement for me), and we felt good about successfully doing something we thought was hard. I was also pleased to get some nice comments from some of the men at the rendezvous - that they were glad to see a woman docking the boat, and hoped it would encourage other women to take the helm. Trawler people are great, and we have found them to be a great source of support and warmth. It's just like our Power Squadron friends - you feel you can try just about anything when you know there will always be a helpful hand and an encouraging smile when you need it!
![[Image]](adventures_at_the_rendezvous.jpg)
The rendezvous was a blur of sessions, get-togethers, boat tours, and making new friends. We were particularly thrilled to have Arthur DeFever (the naval architect who designed these wonderful boats) come aboard and talk with us a bit. He's in his mid-80's, and still runs a trawler with his wife Ruth - they have a 63' Grand Alaskan back in San Diego. We also spent some nice quality-time with Bob Smith - the man who created the Lehman diesel engine that powers many of our trawlers.
![[Image]](Arthur_and_us.jpg) |
It was sad to see the rendezvous end, but it was time for everyone to move on to new adventures. Some were heading to the Keys, some were heading home to the east or west coast of Florida, and we were heading about 3 miles down the ICW to the repair yard. "Adventures" was due for some much needed repairs that were identified during our pre-purchase survey, including a bottom job and some work on the props and rudders. It turns out that this is the same yard that originally commissioned her in 1988, and they have a lot of experience with DeFevers. She is in good hands for the next six weeks until we return to Fort Lauderdale to pick her up for the big trip home to the Chesapeake. We'll join two other trawlers for the trip - they winter in the Bahamas and summer in the Chesapeake. They've done the trip many times and are kind to let us buddy-boat with them. The trip north should take 15-20 days, depending on weather, and we're very excited about getting her "home" in early April.
So, until early or mid-March when we get underway again, that's the log of "Adventures".
