Harris Chain of Lakes Houseboat Cruise - Dec 2014

Unlike local boating groups where boaters are relatively near one another, houseboaters, especially classic trailerable houseboaters, are few and far between. We started planning in June for a Fall outing but it never came together. Some of us couldn't wait until Spring so I decided even if I had to go alone I'd get out late November or early December at Harris Chain of Lakes in Florida.

When I posted my intentions on:  Classic Trailerable Houseboat Group several folks expressed interest and a December 1 date was set. We would splash at Griffin State Park near Leesburg Florida.You never know who will actually show up, but we had 5 maybe 6 potential boats.

Big Duck (Land N Sea) - Jeff, Suz and Merlin
Mokeedugway (Parker) - Doug and Elaine 
Flobo (Hobo) - Gaetan 
Avitoon (Avion/Pontoon) - Bud, Michelle and Penney 
Meander (Yukon Delta) - Jim and Carol 
We encouraged Lee from NC to come, but he said his YD just wasn't ready yet.

The plan:
I would pull my boat down from SC. Gaetan would drive his Smart car down from Canada, rent a truck and bring his FL stored Hobo across to Leesburg from Marco Island. Doug and Elaine would tow from Chicago. We'd meet at the Walmart in Leesburg FL, stay overnight there (Wallydock) and buy provisions the next morning before heading to the ramp. Bud and Michelle would tow from GA to meet us at the ramp. Jim and Carol, who are local, would splash on nearby Lake Harris and find us out on the water.

Everything went as planned except Doug and Elaine decided to spend the night at the motel across the street and there was a sign at the Walmart that said, No Overnight Parking. The next morning Doug and Elaine joined us and we went shopping.

Gaetan and I ignored the sign and spent the night in the Walmart lot without incident.

 

Bud stopped by Walmart that morning...he had taken a camping spot at the park the evening before but needed supplies. Then off to the ramp.

Big Duck went in first.

Then Mokeedugway

Then the Avitoon

And finally Flobo

We then headed out the channel to Lake Griffin. It was nice to finally be out on the water.

Eventually we met up with Jim and Carol and snaked our way up the Oklawaha River.

Jim and Carol's Yukon Delta - Meander

We decided to stop up the river for the night. Mokeedugway and Big Duck always raft for meals and overnight. Flobo decided to join us.

The next morning, Meander was up and down the river trying to get the motor right. Avitoon decided to join the raft while we waited for Jim to finish tinkering with the motor. Jim's motor continued to give him trouble so Big Duck dropped the trolling motor and pulled the raft of 4 boats to Jim's aid.

The trolling motor on Big Duck allowed us to precisely raft the four of us with Meander, albeit slowly.

Jim's motor couldn't be made to run right so Meander pulled out at a nearby marina that morning.

Jim and Bud working on Meander's motor

Without our local guides, we thought we'd be lost, but Mokeedugway stepped in and did a fine job of leading the gaggle of boats on the rest of the cruise.

After coming back down the river, we went from Lake Griffin through the lock to Lake Eustis.

From Lake Eustis we went through the Dora Canal to Lake Dora. No one told me about bridge clearance on the canal. Big Duck needs 9'8.5" -- some of the bridges had 10'!

Pucker.

Dora Canal is like a Jungle Cruise

 Once through the canal, Avitoon, Mokeedugway and Flobo stopped in at the marina at Lake Dora while Big Duck relaxed on the hook. It's a very nice facility and ramp -- even a seaplane ramp/base.

We overnighted on Dora in a little cove south of the marina.

From Dora we ran a little channel into Lake Beauclair for a look around. There's a nice ramp/facility there too called Trimble Park.

From Beauclair we went back to Dora, then back through the Dora Canal to Eustes. Going back through the Dora Canal wasn't as bad as the first run through because we knew we would fit, but maneuvering an I/O in those tight quarters is no picnic.

The flybridge steering wheel was Big Duck's high point

Low hanging branches were also a challenge

We then went through Dead River to Lake Harris and spent the night on the hook in a little keyhole just off Dead River.

The next day we got off to a very late start and headed to what I call the C&C Hospitality Dock. Cecil and Connie are relatives of the Avitoon folks and welcomed us with open arms. We each found a spot on their dock for a visit. Their hospitality was second to none so we stayed the night on their dock and were welcomed to a most scrumptious breakfast the next morning.

View of the house from the dock

Jim, Cecil, Elaine and Doug

It was a days run back from The C&C Hospitality Dock thru Harris, then the Dead River to Eustis and then the lock to Lake Griffin. Cecil said he would gladly drive us all back to Griffin Park to get our rigs so we could use the ramp about a mile from his house. We then settled in for more fruit, bacon, sausage, pancakes, eggs and coffee.

Jim and Carol stopped by the house with their '49 Hudson and Scamp to say good-by on their way to a Tin Can Rally -- and even joined us at the ramp when we all pulled out.

Jim and Carol's '49 Hudson and camper

Except for the mosquitoes

it was a great trip with great people and great weather. The 40 year old Duck performed admirably with no system failures, although I was a little concerned about the mileage. We have approached 3 mpg at our houseboat speeds (under 6 mph) and were getting about 1.5 on this trip? We used 50 gallons of gas and logged about 80 water miles.

 

We left the ramp late afternoon did the 500+ mile drive home in one shot arriving at 2am. We left Big Duck in the front yard and lapsed into a coma.

The next morning while backing the boat into the boatport in the back yard, I clipped a tree and knocked off the foil on the outdrive. The foil took off both sides of the anti-ventilation plate with it, but a little epoxy and glass will get it back together.

Ouch!

So while I was waiting for the epoxy to set up on the outdrive, I replaced the module in my EST distributor which I suspected was contributing to the poor mileage. I checked the timing with the old one before I took it out. At idle she was running zero degrees and revved up she'd jump to about 14°BTDC. The new module showed 7° BTDC at 600 RPM and a steady climb with revs just like the book says. I think we'll see better MPG now.

Can't wait to get Big Duck out again!

And here's some random shots from various times/places.

Avitoon with awning up

Penney - the boating lap dog.

Working on Meander's motor

Our French chef Gaetan, preparing breakfast

Merlin is a great boat dog.

 

Mokee putting Big Duck's galley to the test

 

 

Elaine, Penney and Michelle on Big Duck

Merlin and Penney