Salty Podcast #78 | Bahamas Bound: Repairs, Route, Weather | Live from Sea Hag Marina

A single upgrade can change the way you move through the water. We just installed a below-deck autopilot and walk through what it means for safety, stamina, and real backup when steering cables or hydraulics fail. From the bypass pin to the rudder feedback sensor, we get hands-on with the hardware and talk about keeping linkages clean, joints aligned, and fuses easy to reach when the sea is bouncing and decisions need to be quick.

We also demystify how a Garmin marine network talks alongside a NMEA 2000 backbone and even plays nice with a Raymarine drive. Think of it like two classrooms with a shared hallway: radar, sonar, SiriusXM, and chartplotters on one side; heading sensors, ECU, and drive control on the other. Then we share the calibration routine that avoids hunting and overcorrection—run the setup wizard, carve big circles in both directions in moderate conditions, and set a mid-level response so the unit stays sharp when winds build.

Routing and weather drive the rest of the game plan. With a storm threading Jamaica and the Bahamas while a cold front presses across Florida, timing is everything. We weigh a sheltered stop at Cedar Key, a calmer push to Tarpon Springs, and when to choose the ICW over the Gulf. There’s practical seamanship throughout: seven-to-one or ten-to-one scope when it pipes up, a second anchor for pet-friendly nights, and the unglamorous but crucial logbook entries that insurance adjusters and the Coast Guard will ask for if your screens go dark. We touch on Hydrovane and other self-steering options, lobster and stone crab pot fields, king tides, and how local knowledge can shave hours without adding risk.

If you sail coastal miles, want clearer electronics integration, or need a smarter approach to anchoring and weather windows, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share with a skipper who needs a redundancy nudge, and leave a review with your best calibration tip or Gulf Coast shortcut—we’ll feature our favorites next time.

Chapters

• 0:00 Vanessa’s Big Announcement
• 0:56 Autopilot Install Overview
• 2:07 Backup Steering And Redundancy
• 3:19 Lessons From Solo Sailing
• 5:20 Garmin vs NMEA Networks Explained
• 8:05 Hydrovane And Self-Steering Options
• 10:20 Autopilot Calibration Best Practices
• 12:15 Weather Systems And Hurricane Track
• 15:20 Route Planning: Cedar Key To Tarpon
• 18:20 Anchoring Strategy And Pet Comfort
• 20:15 Logbooks, Safety, And Insurance
• 22:20 Tides, King Tides, And Surge Risks
• 25:05 ICW Choices And Everglades Shortcuts
• 28:10 Pots, Shoals, And Local Knowledge
• 31:00 Wind Shifts, Sea State, And Timing
• 33:20 Final Plans And Sign-Off

Transcript

Tinsley: 0:00

Okay, we are live. So did you want to make a big announcement, Vanessa?

Vanessa: 0:04

Go ahead. I am now a new member of the team at Adventure Yacht Sales with Terry Ivans. I haven't met everybody yet. Still here in Key West, still here in the Keys. Can go all the way up to the Eastern Seaboard now. My specialty is in cataran's ocean cruising sailboats and power boats. Adventure yacht sailors.

Tinsley: 0:24

Okay, so we'll put the contact up. People that watch this channel. There's nobody watching at this moment, but people will be watching in the uh in the in the replay.

Vanessa: 0:35

So number 305-680-9986. Love to help you out finding or selling a boat anywhere near the keys. I don't like to step on anybody else's toes in the company. Or if you know me or any ocean cruising boats, any catamarans, happy to help out.

Tinsley: 0:50

What's your number again?

Vanessa: 0:52

305-680-9986.

Tinsley: 0:56

And what's that email again?

Vanessa: 0:59

My new email is Vanessa at adventureyachtsales.com.

Tinsley: 1:03

You're very qualified. I know you can sell any boat, but sailing is your love. You live on a sailboat, you live on a sailboat in Key West. You sold a lot of sailboats. You sailed all around. You got a lot of experience, and you help me all the time. So thank you.

Vanessa: 1:17

You're welcome. To help everybody everybody gets around there safely and keeps the slippery side down, most important.

Tinsley: 1:24

That's very important.

Vanessa: 1:25

Hey, is that what butt kicked across the goal?

Tinsley: 1:28

I'm gonna I'm I got let's talk about my new toy. And I want to bring this video up so you can comment on it. It's the video I put up this morning. Did you watch it? Not yet. Okay, here it is. It's not that long.

Video: 1:43

That's it. You can move it back and forth. See how it pivots against the wall and all. And then this pin here, you can pull in the event that you ever had an actuator seize or a failure, drop it off the link and your steering still attached up here. This is your Nemo 2000 backbone.

Vanessa: 2:04

Alright, we'll come back to that. But what do you think? I think it's beautiful. There's three things I want to add. More important, if your actuator ever seizes, but if your actuator doesn't seize and you lose your steering arm, you break your cables, either or, depending on what kind of steering you've got. You can always use your autopilot as a backup. You're not incapacitated. You can always have your autopilot on, even to get all the way into the dock and dock the boat. If you ever end up breaking your cables, or you end up breaking your hydraulic arm, if you have a problem with an arm or something happens with that, lose all your fluid, you can use your autopilot now as a backup. You can't touch to be pushing the buttons.

Tinsley: 2:47

I think you told me yesterday that it's probably going to change my life.

Vanessa: 2:52

One of the things that I learned, I've sailed halfway around the world on my own on a 42-foot full keel with a cutaway 29-ton boat with a barn door rudder, which is a monster to steer, especially in storms. Unless you're not having any problems with your hydraulics. We know hydraulics get bubbles in them every once in a while. Things can happen. And the very first thing that I learned from a couple of old farts that were fabulous old farts, cup love is still around. Actually, there's a guy that I met a long time ago by the name of Robin Knox Johnson. Oh person talking to him about single-handing because he'd had a good record behind it. And I had the pleasure of getting to meet him in my team. He's doing the golden glow brace, and he's one of the official members of the committee now.

Tinsley: 3:36

I want to interview him. Is that possible?

Vanessa: 3:39

Associated with his golden glow brace. You got to talk to him in first, and you've got to stand right in front of him in England. He's up there, he's 80s now, but his hearing's not so. I'll go to England. In the village the minisat and the golden globe race right now. Is he gonna do the race? He's on the committee 2026. One of the things that he taught me a long time ago when I was in my teens about single-handers was that the one thing that you always have to have on the boat no matter what is your autopilot. Remember, I've told you that before. I know it from experience. Having an overly robust autopilot for the kind of boat that you have is what's most important. Butter, you've got to have an autopilot that's gonna suit it. You also think about it as a back. You also think about it as okay, I want to get a little bit of sleep. I have to, in order to stay healthy. What's gonna keep my boat going other than a couple of bungee cords and a little old wheel pilot?

Tinsley: 4:37

Oh, I was very creative on how I couldn't get it to stay just more than a couple of minutes. Another I had lines attached to it so I could at least go like this with the lines. And it was still terrible.

Vanessa: 4:51

It was terrible. You can fix a block and tackle system. It's really difficult to do under your engine unless you got some sail area that's up. And you've got to put some sail area up. I'd say a double reef main and actually, no matter what, keep your engine in an RPM where it's balanced, but it's not about making time, it's about staying balance, right? And paying attention to what's going on with your wind direction. One of the easiest things I've seen is with a block and tackle system on either side of the wheel that you can sit there and adjust. That's a two-to-one purchase, like you find on a small boom bang on a dinghy racer, on a laser or on a sunfisher of 420.

Tinsley: 5:28

Here, let me show you the rest of this because then we had to get in the other locker to get to the backbone. He also replaced my audio. Goose says, Melissa's still intense fighting headed northwest. How are you feeling? I'm not sure what you mean by that, but if you're talking about my mental state, it is so up and down. One minute I think I'm crazy with grief. And then what am I doing? I'm endangering these babies' lives. Look at my and next minute, I'm like, let's go. So, yeah, so I'm a goose, I am up seen hatchy, so I'm pretty safe right here. But what I was gonna say is he did replace the weather XM. I went through all checks with Weather XM and Garmin, and it wasn't showing up as a device on my Garmin. We've narrowed it down that it's probably that little audio module, that little power module, whatever it's called. But she said, check for the light. I didn't know where it was, I know where it is now. When this guy came and was gonna put this thing on, I asked him, I told him about that. He said, I just happened to have one of those coming in for another boat, and I ordered two. I said, Perfect, I'll take it. So that he's about to show that here. Let's see. Crap one, by the way, on your reception. Okay, let me turn that off.

Video: 6:45

This fuse is gonna be the fuse to the autopilot pump or actuator that we just installed. As you can see, pull this thing out, got a 40 amp inline right there, and that runs over there to it. Coming over to this way, show you here. That's your Sirius XM. They call it a audio power module. This GMS 10 is gonna be the network expansion hub for your Garmin. That is gonna run the marine network. So that's gonna control Sirius XM. It's also gonna control radar, sonar, and other things on that network. It is a separate network from the NEMA 2000. This is more communications between other systems, and this is more talking amongst the Garmin. The GHP12 ECU, the autopilot controller. So it's got a handful of things on it. Obviously, power in, which is gonna be this larger cord. This is called the CCU, which is gonna be the reactor 40. It's basically the compass. This is your drive, so that is the output to the actuator, and then this little guy right underneath there, you can see it, it says feedback. That is gonna be the rudder feedback sensor.

Tinsley: 7:51

And also, you tidied up my back button. It looks much better.

Video: 7:55

My name's Wyatt.

Tinsley: 7:56

And you're with Sea Hag Marina. I have, and you're gonna sail someday. This is my sailing channel, so go ahead and say it. Go ahead and declare it.

Video: 8:04

Yeah, one day, before I'm 40. That's the end goal right there.

Tinsley: 8:07

And he's 29 right now.

Video: 8:09

Yeah, still young. I didn't like that.

Tinsley: 8:13

I know, it's just starting.

Video: 8:15

Yeah, I know.

Tinsley: 8:16

Cool. Yeah, very good connection. That guy was 29 years old. I had no idea, but he wants to sail, and uh, by the time he's 40, he's all what did you think about what he did? All that stuff was already there in that locker, the Garmin components, everything. But he was basically I asked him just to explain it, and I was kind of and then I have the video to go back and look at it. You got what it all is now, right? Yeah, pretty much.

Vanessa: 8:47

I'd like to hear what you have to say. You understand how those two networks don't really you have a hub in the middle, but you've got the Garmin assigned to doing certain tasks, you've got the autopilot and the Ray Marine stuff assigned to doing certain tasks, and it's difficult sometimes to get them to talk to each other, but the way that it's set up right now, they can actually talk to each other. Not all instruments talk to each other. If you want to put a system in there, you'd gotta have to have a whole individual network and a whole individual network of everything else. You wouldn't be able to cross-reference a CPU and your information station.

Tinsley: 9:19

One of the things explain what he said about this part, it has the instruments talking to each other, then the backbone works with other systems. I didn't realize that. I thought it was more about them talking to each other on the backbone.

Vanessa: 9:33

So that hub, I remember it's like having two different radio stations, but yeah, there's one that if you it's later on in the afternoon, you can get that one over there. But they're both Garmin.

Tinsley: 9:43

So you got the the what was it? The GMS 100 autopilot's a ray marie.

Vanessa: 9:50

Right. What not the autopilot? The drive is a ray marine, right? Yeah, the autopilot is a Garmin. So you've got two different talking to each other.

Tinsley: 10:02

Absolutely, I understand that. Um the Garmin that was above the controller for the autopilot. Explain that one. Oh, that part is a network.

Vanessa: 10:15

The GMS 12 or whatever. You've got the network set up for your depth finder, your wind speed, your indicator, and your GPS on your autopilot. Excuse me, yeah. GPS and your screen. Right, or your chart plotter. Yeah, your chart plotter are all a separate system. They're in their own little network, they're in their own little classroom talking to each other. So now you got your autopilot on here in another classroom. Not everyone the autopilot graduates and wants to come to the other classroom and talk to the Garmin stuff. So it's not Garmin. The autopilot is Garmin. I'm referring to the drive as your autopilot. That's what is your autopilot? Is your head, it's just part of the network.

Tinsley: 11:00

I do want to show Goose says I sail with three Springer annuals. And then he also said, Glad you got below deck unit. These well pilots are bad news. Next, get a hydro bean. Yeah, a lot of people have said that. And I guess if I was going around the world, that would be something I definitely because it just it doesn't use any power, right?

Vanessa: 11:22

It uses a minute amount of power if you're gonna have it hooked up to your autopilot, but it's essentially a self-steer for the boat, and it's relative to your conditions, having a whole separate rudder. The hard part with a hydro vein for you is that you're doing short stints, and so by the time you get it set up, until you get super comfortable, you're gonna be at your destination order. I'm not planning on going across the Atlantic, but you never know. I think the the step that you've made right now is a really good one. And there's something I want to tell you about before I forget, but that's really important for maintenance on your autopilot. Keep an eye on where that pin comes through that little arm that actually has the actuator hooked up to the bottom with the clip that comes out of there real quick. Yeah, you gotta pay attention to that pin in there once a month or after a big long trip, you need to be looking at where that hole goes through that little arm with that pin. Has it worked its way out? It's gonna move up and down a little bit. And when you look at it at the angle that you took a video of it, it's not perfectly right angle. I saw that. Yeah. So off of your steering ram, there is a ball in a little socket on a joint. A little round joint that then comes up to the arm and attaches to the top head of that thing. Yeah, he showed me the pieces before he put them together. So that little round joint right there has a nylon sleeve on the inside of it. That's it. It was yellow. That little sleeve can wear down. If you ever have a situation, just try to remember this, and you're trying to turn your helm and all of a sudden you can't turn and it's jammed. First thing to do is go right there to that little joint and look at it. I bet you money that's actually gone sideways a little bit far.

Tinsley: 13:01

This right here? Oh, I don't know if you can see that. Right there in that little bottom ball.

Vanessa: 13:06

The ball up at the top of that pin. Oh, up there, yeah. That top of that pin goes to your rudder arm, and that little joint right there could be crooked. So if you ever have your steering jam, look right there first. Keep that whole thing juicy lubed up with some corrosion block, nothing else. On a couple of boats that I've run, and we would see a lot of white powder come up on that pin going in between that little arm where that pin rides up and down as the boat's moving all the time. It starts to make the hole a little bit bigger. I took a little piece of cleared water hook, put it around the edge of the pin so the pin had a nice snug fit in the hole in the arm. Because as it ages and it works, it's gonna start making a bigger hole in the aluminum the way that it's sitting right now.

Tinsley: 13:57

Yeah. Goose says uses zero power ever. He's talking about hydrovane. Power up. Huh? Well, it depends on how you set them up.

Vanessa: 14:07

I guess if you're saying you could hook it up to your autopilot, is that what you're saying? Okay. You don't need to, unless you're in really heavy seas, it will work. That's what's cool.

Tinsley: 14:17

So it's better than your You broke my heart and said I'm gonna have to do the calibration again. It has an automatic wizard. So I just go through the wizard.

Vanessa: 14:30

Go through the wizard, but one of the things that I would suggest when you're initiating an autopilot ever, doesn't matter who the manufacturer is. I found this on three of them. Go out in moderate conditions, supposed to have moderate to light conditions tomorrow. Spin a couple of circles with that autopilot first before you go anywhere and have the autopilot engaged. Do a couple circles first, and you'll see a opposite of each other, and then flip it over and go the other direction. Big circles. And the unit will calibrate itself for your conditions. When you're doing a circle like that, it has an intrinsic scale in it for light to medium to heavy conditions. Response time changes, and when you go in a circle, it puts it on a mid-level response.

Tinsley: 15:22

Okay, let me make sure I understand. I need to go ahead and initiate the wizard and then start going in a circle.

Vanessa: 15:29

Yep. Big in a clear area, yeah. Now pick up a mid-level so when your autopilot's going for the first few hundred miles and you get in some heavy conditions, the autopilot won't get confused and tell you to reset it.

Tinsley: 15:47

What if I don't do that when I leave and I do it further down the road?

Vanessa: 15:54

It's acclimated for lighter conditions, and at some point, when the wind fakes up and it gets heavier, your autopilot's gonna slow down or stop. It's gonna be because you need to recalibrate what your condition level is. Way than wind speed and closeness to the wind and how the boat's riding angle is working.

Tinsley: 16:12

Wow, I'm gonna need to make a beeline for Cedar Creek, get there at high tide, which is about eight or nine hours. Goose is still talking about the hydro vane here. You can hook up one to a tiller pilot, but the vane uses no power. The tiller pilot does monitor a wind vane is easier to hook up to an autopilot, yeah. Good point. Okay, so we're gonna look at this. Oh, I have to remove something first. Okay. You can look at both the wind. This is the waves, and this is the wind. And they move together. Look at that. So where am I? Oh, right here. Okay, so this is tomorrow at noon. Pretty mild. Yeah. So let's go to that night and let's go down to Cedar Key. It looks a little rough tomorrow night. Oh hang on a minute. My computer's not responding. It's not happy with you. Yeah. Okay, we're gonna look at Sunday night. And I'll have to anchor right about I got 14 knots out of the east. For tomorrow night? Yeah. Yeah, that's not good.

Vanessa: 17:40

So Monday night four knots.

Tinsley: 17:43

Goose says you're gonna have to do it. Calibration. I should be able to do it, but I just don't want to do it. I want to get down to the ICW. So when there's a day of not ideal weather, I want to be able to make some progress. That's the thing. So anyway, Cedar Key, that's why I want to anchor and see. It's pretty exposed, especially with that wind and the waves coming from this direction.

Vanessa: 18:08

Well, there's an area off of Cedar Key that you could tuck up in above the edge of Cedar Key. Up here? Because this is the anchor spot right here. So if you anchor up around the corner on the other side, also up there, you can tuck in, but you gotta be careful and read your water coming in there. So you can also on Cedar Key anchor up off the edge of this one. You can anchor up. But look at it. 12 knots. You can anchor up on the northern edge right up there, and you're gonna be a little bit protected from those east winds. Right here? Yeah, it's still 12 knots. You've gone up a little bit further. The thing is, that thing's not telling you about your breeze and your protection. Yeah, I guess not. But 12 knots isn't bad, Tensley. You'd be fine in that. And if we have worst case scenario, you get your first anchor down, back down on it, make sure you're set real good with a little bit of extra road, seven to one, and then put a second anchor out if you want. You can always do that. Remember that?

Tinsley: 19:18

I do no, I know. I'm not worried about myself. I just want it to be nice and peaceful for the cats. And that's one second anchor out if you wanted to make it really peaceful. I need to get one. I knew you were gonna embarrass me. And look, someone gave me a a captain's log. I save all my receipts in this book right here. You see this book? There is a track record. Have you done your online course? No. Doug, come on now. Stop. Nope, don't embarrass me.

Vanessa: 19:54

It's vent safety. And then your instruments go out, and you're able to have a VHF radio, and you're able to do pawn-pon or you're able to do a Mayday call to the Coast Guard, and you don't have electronics because your electronics have had something happen.

Tinsley: 20:09

They've gone I've had it happen before, and I used the N-Reach Explorer to navigate.

Vanessa: 20:14

You would have your position right there in your log that you should be keeping immediately to be able to refer to. This was my last position. Put the time on it, and they can track exactly where you are. And you don't even have to have enough time on it. But you but I do have and you're required to do that with your insurance. I'll shake my finger at you. Don't get me in trouble. Don't get me in trouble. The very first thing the insurance company and the Coast Guard ask you for is do you have your law?

Tinsley: 20:53

So what's this storm gonna do?

Vanessa: 21:00

I think it's gonna hurt. I think Jamaica's gonna be I think Kingston and the amount of time that this thing is gonna sit on Kingston is gonna be a very painful cost. I think there's gonna be a lot of damage.

Tinsley: 21:14

When's it gonna hit? Let's see. Tonight.

Vanessa: 21:18

Beginning of the effects. It's rolling.

Tinsley: 21:21

As I come here, what's gonna happen? I haven't even looked at anything. I have to deal with things in little increments. What's in front of me?

Vanessa: 21:29

They should be starting to feel the effects around 9-10 o'clock tonight in Kingston. It's right there. They've had a pretty decent day. Now it's predicted that it's gonna stay on them. The south side of the island come right up in the middle of the island Tuesday morning. Go over the top Tuesday and come up over the edge of the tip of Cuba. Right over the Bahamas. In the mid to the south side of the Bahamas, south of Clarence Town. Firks and Caicos are gonna get railed right over. And then this is where the anomaly starts happening with this cold front that's coming up north and the jet stream dip down. It's our cold front is what's keeping this off of us. Now, our breeze and our north wind and our cold front on Thursday the 30th is rolling out over the Bahamas, coming over south and central Florida. We're gonna have breezes out of the north for a day and a half before that here in Key West. You can have north winds to fly if you wanted to fly down for a couple of days. I do. Which might be a nice trip for you. Yeah. Okay. They're gonna be 15 to 20, but they'll be fun. Look at that. Yeah. That's a beautiful figure.

Tinsley: 23:04

Look what Goose wrote. He's on your side.

Vanessa: 23:08

What's that?

Tinsley: 23:11

He said if you use chart kit, just plot your course on it. Note you're running fixed right on the chart. You can transfer the data to your logbook. Vanessa, you get on her, make sure she does it. Uh uh. Don't you know? I got a whole bunch of devices that are recording everything. Okay, so there's one time I had a situation where you wish you would have done that. Tell me. The storm's gonna go to the Bahamas. What's gonna happen in the Bahamas?

Vanessa: 23:41

They're gonna have a rough go. You should be thankful you're not in the Bahamas right now. I am. There is a reason why you're not in the Bahamas right now. Other than costing me money? I hear ya. It's not only about costing you money, but if you were in Georgetown now, I'd be running. Yeah, you better be doing something.

Tinsley: 24:07

Wonder what the boats are doing. Have you looked? Have you been on those sites, vessel finder or whatever?

Vanessa: 24:14

Um, I have not actually looked lately because I've been a little bit busy doing some other stuff. I have a fantasy fest right now. Fantasy fest parade is tonight.

Tinsley: 24:27

Oh, you're not going to that, are you?

Vanessa: 24:30

I live in a fantasy fest every day of mine.

Tinsley: 24:33

Yeah. I went once. That's it for me. I saw some things I can't forget. I can't unsee. Some people wear clothes.

Vanessa: 24:51

Good, but never take the clothes.

Tinsley: 24:53

People need clothes.

Vanessa: 24:56

It's not for public consumption. So this thing's gonna go over the Bahamas. That's really gonna let it decide what it's gonna do, but it looks like it's gonna wind up, stay out of sea. And it's when it's going over the Bahamas, the problem with the Abacos and some of the other areas are gonna be the effects of the water. You gotta remember all the way up until the 5th of November, we're in our king tide phase. We're in the highest high tides of the year during the course of this month, going into the beginning for about the third to the 5th of November. So when you get a high tide and you have a hurricane and you have a surge along with that, even if it's out your back door and not right on you, that can do a lot of damage. And when you've got consistent 10 to 15 foot seas, because the way that this thing's planning on parking for a little bit, we really can't tell how big it's gonna be once it crosses over Jamaica. That's yet to be determined.

Tinsley: 26:00

So it's gonna be a one, a four, a five, a four, a two, and then a one.

Vanessa: 26:04

But it's going out to sea. Providing that coal front is big enough to keep moving it out of the way, which it looks like it is. Then we're gonna have some high water that's gonna come out of it anyway. And then we're gonna have a gorgeous beaver moon coming up in the beginning of it. Hopefully, I'll be there in November. Let me get here within the next week.

Tinsley: 26:32

Yeah, as soon as I get to Tarpon Springs, I can pick up the pace. Even on a windy or unappealing day, I can still travel then ICW.

Vanessa: 26:42

If you decide to take the ICW and you get down to either Marco Island or Fort Myers, don't make a beeline straight here. Go farther out east, west, before you bang yourself. And it'll actually be shorter than beeline.

Tinsley: 27:00

I'll take Oh yeah, I know I have to go around those shoals. But I'm gonna go into Everglade City Cabangus. What is that? How do you say it? What's the name of that passage that's right below Canvas? Rainfart.

Vanessa: 27:15

Matanzas? Matanzas is farther north. The passage at Everglades City. Right below, Marco.

Tinsley: 27:25

I had local knowledge on it. Here it is. Here it is. I'm gonna bring it up. Okay.

Vanessa: 27:33

Trying to figure out what you're talking about if you're over a little sharp river north of it.

Tinsley: 27:38

It's right here. You see this right here? It's right here. So you just come out of Marco, and then instead of going all the way around Cape Ravano, you can come in right here. It has to be a high tide. I've done it. And you come in here. It gets a little sketchy at this. I can't remember exactly where. But you go right. Yeah, Marco's right here. If I had it would be shorter if I didn't have such a high mass, you could get under this bridge here, but that bridge is not for me. But see how short it would be to come right here. But I got some local knowledge. I stay at that marina. You're right in though over there. So if you go all the way out here, believe it or not, it takes about an hour.

unknown: 28:34

Yeah.

Tinsley: 28:35

Then you come out here, and instead of going all the way around Cape Romano, you can go in right here. I got that from a local captain at the marina. He said high tide, stay in the markers. How long is it? Yeah, it's a shortcut right there.

Vanessa: 28:49

That information.

Tinsley: 28:50

It takes three or four hours.

Vanessa: 28:51

And then we come in here. Remember that little old hurricane that hit Fort Myers last year?

Tinsley: 29:01

I'll check on it. I'm not gonna rule it out. But what are you trying to accomplish, Golden? It did take a lot of time off. Where are you gonna go? To Goodland. I've done it. Why are you going to Goodland? Because uh Key West John meets me there. He actually wants to skip that. He wants to go to Everglades. I can't seem to find it. That's not far down. And we've done that too.

Vanessa: 29:25

Keep coming down. Come back over towards the Gulf. Look for a little shark river. Let me put it in.

Tinsley: 29:33

It wasn't that far away. So we go there. Check Alaska Bay. And then come out. Maybe it's right here. Anyway.

Vanessa: 29:49

We're not looking at a chart, so it's hard to tell. If you're gonna go all the way back in there instead of going out of Marco. One, it's gonna take you longer to get to get it.

Tinsley: 30:01

I've done it both ways. I've done that. Yeah, I'm going to marathon. I've gone directly to QS from Fort Captiva. I've gone many times from Marco to QS or Marco to Marathon more than anything. In 2023, I met John at Goodland, and it really broke the trip up a little more. It wasn't 18 hours. It's more 14 hours. And that was nice. John loves to go into Everglades City. And it's a tough one because it has a big old tide to it, three or four knots. You pull it up, and you got it. I said, I'm not gonna do it myself again because the boat got pulled right out of my hands. There was a painter that came over and helped me out. There's no deck cancer. So anyway.

Vanessa: 30:49

You gotta remember a couple of things when you're going in there this year. There was a big, huge hurricane. Area right over there. That was a little bit farther, and I don't know that you're necessarily gonna be able to get all the way up there during this team tide. The other thing to remember is that the lobster pots are out now, and the stone crab pots will be as well, and there's gonna be a lot more stone crab pots closer in. A lot of the fishermen get lobster pots out. They didn't put lobster pots out, they waited to be able to put stone crab pots out. So stone crab pots are gonna be plentiful, they're not as easy to see. They're spread out a little bit differently, but they're in a little bit deeper water, each 10 feet, and that's gonna go out a little bit further this year than what you've seen before. The tip all the way back up.

Tinsley: 31:48

In the meantime, I need to get to tarpon springs.

Vanessa: 31:53

You're gonna have a good tread now. Probably gonna be Monday. 12 to 14 knots is not bad. Just put more road out. Make sure you got a good hold on it, put more road out, do an eight or a ten to one purchase. Let's see. And see where y'all. Yeah. I'll check it out in the morning. And tuck up in the corner up there, and with 14 knots, you're good. Because you've then got the next day where it's relatively calm to go from Cedar Key to Tarpon Springs. And the wind is going to be walking around out of the north for you. You couldn't ask for that to be much calmer and do a much better thing. It's going to flip to the west real quick, not for very long, and then it's going to come out of the north. What's that going to do to the waves? It'll be fine where you are there once you're down past Cedar Key. It won't have a chance to build up. So it's the second day when the breeze starts building more after Tuesday when those seas are going to pick up some, but they're going to be pushing you. You're going to be going downwind by that time. You'll be going well. That could be a lot of fun. Because you're still talking less than 20. You're not talking about 18 to 20 until uh Thursday morning. Yeah. Fight over there. So that's why you've got some good running time and some light stuff. Keep the kiddies hat. I called a captain in Cedar Key.

Tinsley: 33:24

And uh it was a woman, and she's she was a racer and everything before. She runs a couple of commercial boats. They're not sailboats, but she has a sailing background. I asked her about the channel and she said, You'll be fine. I'll be coming in at high tide. But I don't even think it was that important that it's exact high tide or anything. No, not Cedar Key. I looked at Swanee and that was a no-go. It'd be nice to be tucked up in there, but there's a lot of things that are different over there now. I lost her. Yeah. She's gone. I'll probably look at leaving tomorrow, but I'll probably do it Monday. Anyway, that's it. It's just just gap and Vanessa lecturing me. She's got good suggestions. We'll just go ahead and end it there. Salt you banned. We're out.