--- In amelyachtowners@y..., closereach <no_reply@y...> wrote:
Hello everyone,
Last night at 7pm we arrived home with our new Super Maramu. She's hull #5 and built in 1989. We purchased her in Mamaroneck, New York and have spent the past 3 weeks traveling down the coast to our
home
here on the east coast of central Florida (Satellite Beach). This Super Maramu had previously been damaged in a collision with
another
vessel on the starboard side, ahead of the main mast chain plates.
We
bought her from the owner and had her repaired by Derecktor Shipyards. What an unbelievable level of worksmanship by the craftsman at Derecktor! The fiberglass repair and joinery repair
work
is superb. It's great to know that the same people building the CEO of Tyco's $20+M dollar 150+ foot yacht worked on the repair of our boat.
The masts were damaged in the collison, so the hardware/motors/winches were removed from what was left of the
masts
(mizzen was snapped in half and mainmast was dented here and
there).
We then motored out Long Island sound, past NYC, down the New
Jersey
coast, up the Delaware Bay and down the Chesapeake Bay and entered the Intracoastal Waterway at Norfolk.
Ok, without masts it's a bit cheating for a sailboat to do the ICW. However the Super Maramu is still a relatively deep draft sailboat-- enough that we went aground 4 times (althought 2 of those were definitely my error of venturing just outside the ICW channel).
For
those interested, be very carefully around Cape LeJuene, North Carolina where the inlets come very close to the ICW. And the
second
time was right in the center of the channel at mid tide in the cut that enters the Cape Fear River (also in NC!). The inlets all in Florida are well marked with cans buoys and we had no problem. (Incidently, we bought the BOAT/US $99 unlimited tow package just
in
case. It's a great deal and we called them for any 'local
knowledge'
before coming close to many of areas where the ICW cuts close to
the
inlets.)
For the trip, I removed the MaxProp and installed the backup
standard
3 bladed fixed prop. I wanted to be very conservative and 'baby'
the
engine (Perkins 80hp with 2000 hours) so I motored at 2,000 rpm at
a
speed of 7.5 mph (I set the instruments/GPS to miles per hour
rather
than knots as all the ICW chart and navigation books refer to
statute
miles rather than nautical miles). Engine ran flawlessly for each days 12 to 13 hour run for the past 3 weeks.
I did not pay to much attention to the fixed bridge heights on the ICW. I can say, however, that here in Florida several of the fixed bridges just south of Cape Canaveral are around 63 feet right now. What is the air draft of an SM? I believe it's 65 to 66 feet, correct?
Our 1985 Sharki is still up for sale. I'll email photos and info on request.
Richard Tate SM #5 SPICE
Congradulation on your boat.I owned hull # 6 for a year.I currently own #283. Although the new boat has all the upgrated systems. I think the older boats had better woodwork and a higher level of finish. I hope you get those masts on soon and go sailing. You may be the only person ever to go down the ICW in a Super Maramu.