After a year and a half with my Axopar 22, its first 130 engine hours have been made up entirely of short hops. They've tended to involve either trips to restaurants along the Florida Intracoastal or 12-mile jaunts to the islands of Lake Erie. But when my 24-year-old son, Henry, comes for a visit from Blighty, I usually try to plan something really memorable. I've been itching to run the inside of the Florida Keys, threading through the mangroves to one of the many smaller Keys in the southern half. It's not well suited to bigger boats, due to the many sandbars and shallows and it has to be said, 130 miles in a 22-footer is also a significant distance. But my Axopar is more than capable. With careful monitoring of cruising speeds, it has enough range for the one-way trip and with an engine-down draft of just 2ft 8in, shallow water is not a major concern either. The only issue was whether Henry would love it or hate it - and I firmly believed it would be the former.
Having decided on the exclusive Hawks Cay resort on Duck Key, I booked a room for two nights at $800 a night and the marina on DOCWA at a whopping $220 a night plus resort fee. But with houses starting at more than $10 million, it didn't seem all that unreasonable to me.
The trip itself, although not overly complex, requires accurate navigation to find the small cut-throughs in the barrier islands but an early start on 5 March at the bottom of the rising tide would work in our favour because in the unlikely event of getting grounded, the rising water would free us up quite quickly.
Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av Motor Boat & Yachting UK.
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Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av Motor Boat & Yachting UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YACHT TRANSPORT
As the name suggests it's a means of having your boat moved professionally from one location to another. It might be as simple as hiring someone to tow your RIB a few miles down the road or as complex as shipping a superyacht halfway around the world.
HANDLE A SINGLE SHAFTDRIVE BOAT PART 1
Single shaftdrive boats are relatively rare these days but the reduced costs of buying, servicing and fuelling such a simple but reliable drivetrain does mean they are making a bit of a comeback.
COCKWELLS MOTOR LAUNCH
There can be very few boats that have appeared three times at the Southampton Boat Show and been sold off the stand each time.
INSTALLING AN AUTOPILOT
Rick Channon makes solo boating simple with a Raymarine Evolution Autopilot
GOOD AS NEW
Why fit a brand new engine when Volvo Penta's remanufacturing service can rebuild you an old one to the same standard for a fraction of the price?
BENETEAU SWIFT TRAWLER 54
Alex Smith heads to France's Beneteau HQ for a UK exclusive on what might just be the best Swift Trawler yet
ΧΟ EXPLR 44
Can XO's all-new aluminium flagship really make it big in the Med?
BUYING OUR FIRST CLASSIC
Instead of whiling away their retirement playing bowls, Rob and Shona Adams decided to invest their time and money in a classic Silver gentleman's yacht. Would the gamble pay off?
PRINCESS S65
Torn between the V and F Class flagships? The new S65 might be the boat you've been waiting for...
FERRETTI INFYNITO 90
Ferretti Yachts is diversifying into the long-range fast-displacement market. But can its debut model justify the hype?