June 19-21, 2004

SeaBird II's shakedown cruise was from Home Port at Twin Dolphin Marina in Bradenton to Desoto Point, Upper Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg.  Anchorage at DeSoto Point Saturday night and a slip at the Vinoy Marina in St. Pete Sunday night.

The boat handles like a dream, more responsive and easier to steer than the original SeaBird.  We practiced a bit with the remote controls, but didn't use them to dock.  It takes a bit of a leap of faith to maneuver the boat with a hand held remote in close quarters and with a breeze.  These are going to definitely be of huge help in docking however as they allow you to control the boat from a position of much better visibility. We did create a punch list of a few items that will be taken care of by Marlow before we leave for the north, all of them minor. The nav system is a dual system incorporating two GPS receivers and two computers driving Furuno vector chart and Navtec raster chart displays.  The days of the old paper charts are over, except for backup.  The satellite TV reception is remarkable, the dish adjusts automatically to compensate for the boat movement and hone in on the satellite.  125 Channels at sea. Also high speed internet. It does seem a bit decadent.  The water maker makes about 30 gallons of fresh water per hour, perfectly tasteless after filtration and passing through a UV purifier, no more "plastic" drinking water and no more quickie showers.  All guest cabins have LCD TV's, DVD players and stereos.  All have private heads. Clean sheets are also an option.  Other decadent stuff includes a full size washer and dryer, dishwasher, disposal, trash compactor, two microwave convection ovens, electric stove top, 40 bottle wine cooler, two ice makers, Bose home theater, 42" Sony Plasma TV/Computer Monitor, closed circuit TV, electric BBQ grill, fridge and icemaker on bridge,  wireless shipboard LAN and 7 passenger tender with 40 hp motor.

Our two person crew of Luther Hall and Debbie Dent couldn't have been nicer to work with.  Both are very conscientious and work very well as a team. Luther is a good engineer as well as captain and Debbie, who also holds a captain's license, is good with the navigation systems and is also a very congenial hostess and a fine cook.  We anchored at DeSoto Point Saturday night and had all meals on board, except for Sunday night dinner at the Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg.  We have visited their marina several times before on SeaBird (1) and it is a favorite.

Unfortunately I neglected to take any pictures of lower deck cabins on this trip.

At Anchor - DeSoto Point

       CNN at Sea                                                                                         First Dinner Setting

Crusin                                                                                       The Bridge from the Bridge

The Fishe and Bo the Boater