Mast height off water

[chimerakc]

So I am too lazy to go find out the mast height on my 1986 '23.    I want to do Matlacha Pass and the chart says for a power cable over the pass that has 32 foot clearance.  So of course I need to figure the height above water...  I know the mast over laps the length of the boat by a few feet when down so it could be a close call?

[brackish]

Compac lists it as 30' in their brochure.  I suspect that is without any antenna or wind speed/direction equipment.

[notbob]

Sounds like you have room, but power lines within two feet would make me nervous.  Transit at low tide will give you a little bit more room.  Also, my experience with power lines has been that if you can stick to the sides of the waterway, you can gain some room as the lines sag in the middle.  Barring all else, grab some water bags:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiv0fxFcV3I

[chimerakc]

Thanks for the replies - and yikes I forgot I put some anti bird spikes up there that are at least a foot tall - no radio wires or wind indicators though.   I can get to Ft Myers using the intra coastal waterway too - but would have to deal with alot more huge boat wakes....but I would rather do that than worry about the power line.....

[chimerakc]

Sooo - first, NotBob - how did they get the water bags to stay out over the water?   If you push them from the deck they just swing back?

And the Compac 30' mast height I am using - I know it hangs about a foot off each end of the boat when stored, and I measured 4 feet from the water to the deck where it sits.   And my bird spikes are only a foot and very flexible steel rods.

Wow are my dock neighbors happy I have those up there!    When I had the STiletto 30 with the 18' wide deck on a mooring, I would go out there after a week and literally could not tell what color my deck was. Finally started stringing ropes around it.

[notbob]

No...if you push them out, they hold the boat over and stay out.  Then you have to use the winches and a tag line to haul them back centerline afterwards.  If you read the comments on that video, the math is all explained by the kids of the guy that did it.  He's passed now, but was the founder of Titan or one of the big marine companies, can't remember which.

[chimerakc]

Interesting - I guess I can picture that if you push them out with a pole or whatever... It sure worked!

[Potcake boy]

I brought my 19 through there a couple of years ago and was followed by an older hunter 23 with no problem. Funny, when transiting under it sure looked a lot higher than specified on the chart. I can't see you having any problem. It is certainly an interesting journey, and if you get out of the channel you are in really shallow water. If you take the channel all the way to it's intersection with the ICW you exit right into the "Miserable Mile" or you can take the western channel which brings you out near the causeway bridge.

[philb Junkie19]

We lost a friend whose small sailboat passed close to but did not touch a power line at Sebec Lake, Maine very close to a launch ramp.  I don't know the line's voltage or the distance jumped.  The rule for equipment, backhoes, cranes etc. operating near lines has been to keep a minimum distance of 10ft or more, recently changed to 20.  Equipment is mobile and Power companies and OSHA do figure in an extra margin of safety . 

[chimerakc]

Ok - thanks for these last replies.    And wow that Sebec lake incident is incredible.   Would a bolt of electricity from a power line be different than lightning - where as long as you are inside the shrouds you are ok.

Also its good to know I can take either channel into the Caloosahatchee as we are going to Shell Point and can avoid some of that channel.

Soooo -  on the chart it says this --  OVRHD PWR CABLE
                                                     AUTH CL32 FT
                                                     47 FT (OVER CHAN)

So does that mean the clearance over the channel is 47 feet and then they say the authorized clearance is 32 due to the risk of electrocution getting to close, as happened in Maine?   Is that why it looked so high compared to 32 on the chart?

[Potcake boy]

I am very confident of your safety crossing under those power lines. In fact we will likely take the Little Pine Island Sound route in a trip south in the near future. It is more a motoring route as the channel is pretty winding in places but it is a more serene and less traveled route than the ICW.

[chimerakc]

I have seen alot of it while fishing - thanks.   Its rare though to see the channel height and authorized height on a chart, no?

I also learned from my brother that the apparenently the no wake Miserable Mile extends up the Caloosahatchee River past marker 101 to the turn for Shell Point, where he lives.   Thats great.     Maybe if the motorboaters would realize that most chicks actually like going slow and enjoying the dolphins and peaceful scene going by they would like to slow down....

[chimerakc]

To Ron who transited this area not long ago - or anyone with this local knowledge.   We are going to do Matlacha Pass south on Thursday to Ft Myers and I just wanted to confirm what looks so hairy on the chart and GPS but must be a deep enough channel for my 2.3' draft?   There is a shortcut toward the Caloosahatchee River from the main channel that starts below marker G13 and you head for G27 and R28 - private aids - to start that shortcut channel down to G1 and R2 (have to say how much I think of heading for Thors Twins in Hunt for Red October) just before joining the Miserable Mile.

Around G19 it shows one foot depth all around on GPS and charts but I assume its ok?  I have no idea what private aids means but would think if its on the charts and GPS its not too shallow.   Should be a south wind so if we go aground hopefully easy to back up.

Kip

[Potcake boy]

Kip,

You will be good all the way through, but don't forget that you are going to seaward so keep the green marks to starboard, there's not room for error in many places. It is easy to get confused as you feel like you are coming in from Charlotte Harbor. When you get to #13 turn to port and pick up the #28 and #27 markers. That channel will take you to the intersection with the ICW just north of the causeway bridge. Cross the ICW and proceed to markers #14 and #15 then right under the bridge. At marker #6 you are making a turn to port to pick up #1 marker going into Matanzas pass.

If you plan to stay on one of the moorings then you would check in at Matanzas Inn which is the first canal on the right. There is a dock at the restaurant that you can tie to and check in at the little office just beyond the restaurant. They have nice showers for transients, and you can roam Ft. Myers beach from there. Be aware the there are strong currents in the pass and if the wind is light in the opposite direction it can set your boat against your buoy, which are usually encrusted and will leave souvenirs on your hull, not to mention waking you up in the middle of the night. If you bring your mooring line up hard on your sprit it may keep you off the buoy. 

So you should have a peaceful and interesting trip down Little Pine Island Sound, but beware of the raging motoryachts that so eagerly run down boats of lesser size when you enter the area of the ICW. The route I described will avoid most of the Miserable Mile.

Enjoy

[chimerakc]

Thanks Ron!!   Good to confirm.   We are headed to Shell Point where my brother lives - overnight there and come back.   I have been down to those Ft Myers moorings on a friends boat.  Ended up sitting at a great beach bar 3 days in a row - I had not been witness to whats happened to young girls bikinis in the last decade.   Thats what happens when the wind blows hard directly from your supposed destination - Key West.   We were happy right there.

I also learned that those high tension wire heights on the chart are the height over the main channel and the lower ones are the height on the sides of the channel

Kip