The Great Carrier Reef

Accounts of trips taken in Boston Whaler boats; organization of rendezvous for Boston Whaler boats
Hoosier
Posts: 149
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2015 8:04 pm
Location: Indiana and Eastern UP

The Great Carrier Reef

Postby Hoosier » Wed Dec 26, 2018 9:57 am

I'm going to be down in the Weeks Bay area of Southern Alabama in March with my V20 Outrage and have wondered, for years, about going out to the USS Oriskany. I figure I'd trailer to Perdido Pass and then head out from there. Have any of you Gulf Coast Whalers gone out and what do you think of doing the trip in March?
1978 Outrage V20 with 2004 Suzuki DF-115. 1992 23 Walkaround with two 2010 Yamaha F-150s.

fno
Posts: 170
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2015 10:01 pm

Re: The Great Carrier Reef

Postby fno » Wed Dec 26, 2018 12:41 pm

Watch the weather closely and expect that seas of 1-2 feet will really be 2-4 feet and so on.

Jefecinco
Posts: 1592
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 6:35 pm
Location: Gulf Shores, AL

Re: The Great Carrier Reef

Postby Jefecinco » Fri Dec 28, 2018 9:33 am

Dave--I expect Perdido Pass will be fine. You can launch at The Cotton Bayou ramp but the route to the pass is a no-wake zone. I believe Cotton Bayou is the more convenient ramp, but the Boggy Point ramp is also good and is closer to the pass. Boggy Point is less protected and can have some troublesome cross currents and winds. Orange Beach in their wisdom has made access to Cotton Bayou a little complex. Boggy Point is at the east end of Marina Road off County Road 161. Cotton Bayou is on the north side of County Road 182 or East Beach Blvd.

I believe I've seen some organized floatilla trips to the Oriskany. It may be more convenient and safer to join a group. Most will leave from Pensacola.

Give me a call when you get here. I'm recovering from an L-3 compression fracture so boating is out for me for a few more weeks. We moved to Gulf Shores in this Spring.
Butch

Hoosier
Posts: 149
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2015 8:04 pm
Location: Indiana and Eastern UP

Re: The Great Carrier Reef

Postby Hoosier » Sat Dec 29, 2018 11:29 am

Thanks, Butch. I was thinking of Boggy Point as the launch point. It'd be about an hour's drive from Weeks Bay but a lot better than going all the way by water. Did you move into the condo on the Lagoon?
1978 Outrage V20 with 2004 Suzuki DF-115. 1992 23 Walkaround with two 2010 Yamaha F-150s.

Jefecinco
Posts: 1592
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 6:35 pm
Location: Gulf Shores, AL

Re: The Great Carrier Reef

Postby Jefecinco » Sun Dec 30, 2018 10:29 am

Email sent.
Butch

jimh
Posts: 11672
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 12:25 pm
Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
Contact:

Re: The Great Carrier Reef

Postby jimh » Sun Dec 30, 2018 12:19 pm

DAVE--that you will be down there for a month will likely give you a chance to get out to this wreck site. We were in Orange Beach for a week in March or April several years ago. We towed the boat down there, too. The Gulf was quite rough almost every day. We only got out on open water one day, and even then we ducked into the inside to return. We tried to go out on another day, but after a mile we decided we weren't having much fun in the waves and went back inside.

That Gulf can get rather lumpy in winter. I see why all those guys have 70-foot Sport Fishing yachts: you need something big to go offshore down there on many days.

ConB
Posts: 248
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 2:52 pm
Location: Suttons Bay, MI

Re: The Great Carrier Reef

Postby ConB » Sun Dec 30, 2018 4:18 pm

Dave I saw one of these boats at Orange Beach Marina the other day.

http://www.bluewateryachtsales.net/boats-for-sale/2019-regulator-41-mobile-alabama-6803268/

Ask them for a test ride out and back.

Con
!987 Outrage 18 / 2011 Yamaha F150
1969 13 / 30hp Johnson tiller

Hoosier
Posts: 149
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2015 8:04 pm
Location: Indiana and Eastern UP

Re: The Great Carrier Reef

Postby Hoosier » Thu Jan 03, 2019 9:15 pm

That Regulator is nice, except for "Fuel Tank Capacity: 600-gallon" and the four 425's. My 23 WA has a 1800gallon tank and, theoretically, can go from Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay without refueling. That's across Lake Superior, the long way. I think I'll stick with my 40-year-old Whaler Outrage V-20 with a 67-gallon tank and more than 200-miles of range. Nice try though.
1978 Outrage V20 with 2004 Suzuki DF-115. 1992 23 Walkaround with two 2010 Yamaha F-150s.

Hoosier
Posts: 149
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2015 8:04 pm
Location: Indiana and Eastern UP

Re: The Great Carrier Reef

Postby Hoosier » Thu May 02, 2019 7:07 pm

Just to close out this thread, for this year anyway. I didn't get a chance to make a run out to the Oriskany for a bunch of reasons: lousy weather, Alabama DNR closed the Boggy Point Ramp for repairs, more lousy weather, and I ran out of time.
1978 Outrage V20 with 2004 Suzuki DF-115. 1992 23 Walkaround with two 2010 Yamaha F-150s.