Month: April 2021

On Thursday, April 29, 2021, the new adventure began – destination Maine! We departed from Fort Myers with our North Pacific friends on Treble in Paradise, Capt Tom and First Mate Faye Turke.

At the helm is Capt. Rick. Crew on Board includes the Admiral, Maddie Sue; First Mate, Ms. Mary; beloved Master Chef, Craig; and Chief Petty Officer, Maureen (officially responsible for promoting and maintaining a high sense of values and standards).

First watch – navigating the popular Caloosahatchee River, where we met up with Lit’l Houlegan. It’s great to travel with Sideways again! First Destination: City docks in LaBelle, FL.

When travel options ground to a halt by the pandemic, an over-whelming number of pent up, testosterone-filled idiots opted to buy boats in Florida. Bizarrely, unlike an automobile, driving a boat does not require any proof of skill or knowledge. So, just imagine – countless small, crowded, boats – aggressively zig-zagging through narrow channels, as if on a racetrack. To us, the inexperienced boaters are a dreadful blend of “annoying” and “dangerous”.

For us, cruising at a slow pace is a lifestyle choice. We enjoy the water, and often anchor out. We can travel for months without refueling. Seriously. With 920 gallons of fuel on board, we have a range of 3,500 miles running at 1600 rpms, or roughly 7 knots per hour. Slow and steady, tortuga style.

Unlike the NOISY guzzlers with 4 outboards off the back. To be fair, with a high performance boat you could easily run at 70 mph, and if money is no object, you could exceed 180 mph. In exchange for excess speed you would have to spend a LOT of time at the fuel pumps, supporting the economy.

Our boat is slow and QUIET, like a turtle (tortuga).

Here’s a little Turtle Trivia: Most sea turtles walk at the speed of 2 MPH, and swim at 10 MPH. The fastest variety is a Leatherback Sea Turtle, which can weigh around 1500 lbs and averages 22 MPH. Did you know the Russians sent a turtle to space in 1968? That rocket turtle set a world record when it traveled 24,790 MPH.

Next Stop: Clewiston – home of the Bubba Burger! Special Message to Tonto’s Reward – we can’t wait to catch up with you.

With significant input from the captain, North Pacific Yachts designed the new 49′ pilot house trawler with state-of-the-art navigation and operating systems, including a water maker and gyro stabilizer for long journeys. And for the first mate – LOTS of natural light from those gorgeous windows.

Yes, Maddie Sue approved the numerous interior upgrades!