Light winds and cool weather combined for a great day of racing during today’s Destin World Championship Offshore races. After a 2 hour delay to replace our port engine raw water pump, we motored out to Turn 5 south of Henderson Beach State Park to watch the races and act as a volunteer Patrol Boat guarding the race course from spectator encroachment. Please click on the photo thumbnail to browse our photos from today. Besides the race boats, we captured quite a few spectator boats and of course the Angel Flight helicopters.

While the traditional North American boating season runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day, September and October mark one of our favorite times on the Gulf Coast. Daytime temperatures are ‘moderating’ into the mid-80’s and nighttime lows on the water finally get to the low 70’s.

When the weather so beckons, we usually find ourselves running down to Spectre Island, a small island in Santa Rosa Sound on the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway about 5 miles west of Fort Walton Beach. Spectre offers a deep water harbor off the ICW and quiet beaches for the kids. Evening during the summer, we usually have the island to ourselves if we go out during the week. Click on the photo to see some highlight pictures from one of our trips out.

It was great to get back on the water after a months down-time due to engine problems. Today’s weather was ideal with light winds and a cool start to the morning. We made a fast drive to Navarre Beach running with a steady stream of traffic headed to the Pensacola Beach Blue Angels Airshow. Returning eastbound made for more sporty driving while crossing wakes large and small. The family enjoyed a leisurely swim and snack at Spectre Island prior to coming home. Click on the image to see our photo gallery of some of the boats we met along the way.

Posting has been a bit slow on DestinSharks due to our continued development of our EarthNC Marine Charts for Google Earth project and some down time on our Regal 2760. Our Regal is powered by twin Mercruiser 4.3L engines which have the distinction of being the only engines in the Mercruiser line with electric fuel pumps.

Anyone who has owned boats can tell you that mechanical problems are a fact of life (unless your boat is a canoe or kayak) and our Regal is no different. This time, it was the starboard engine which quit and would not restart during our last outing in early July. Fortunately, we were only a 1/2 mile from our slip (rather than the 20 miles away we had been earlier in the day) so we didn’t have far to go before the troubleshooting began.

(more…)

We had a great time during the 2007 ABWA Billy Bowlegs Poker Run held in Fort Walton Beach last Saturday. While we didn’t draw a winning hand, we had a full day of fun and sun with great weather. Dolphins and bait schools in Destin Pass livened up our cruise. Click on the photo thumbnail to see our extensive set of poker run photos - hopefully we captured most of the participating boats. You can also see a plot of our course, complete with photo thumbnails in Google Earth via our 2007 Poker Run Network Link.

Last weekend, we got a chance to make our 1st ‘distance’ overnight trip of the 2007 boating season in our Regal 2760 ‘Southern Comfort’. South winds made for calm water in the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway as we cruised west to Little Sabine Bay in Pensacola Beach. Our boating weekend would include camping out with friends Travis and John and their family members Friday night, followed by a beach-side church shrimp boil on Saturday. Read on for our trip report and be sure to visit our photo album. (more…)

While boating season never really ends on the Emerald Coast, it definitely has a ‘high’ season. Based on the traffic at the beach, at the ramps, and on the water yesterday - we’re ready to declare that the 2007 season has arrived. (more…)

Planing out a large cruiser isn’t difficult, but a little attention to technique will go a long way towards understanding how to best plane your boat under different loading conditions. We’ve put together a short video to illustrate the technique we use with our boat when loaded.

Our boat is a Regal 2760 28′ cruiser powered by twin 190HP Mercruiser engines and Bravo III outdrives. At 8500lbs dry, our weight can easily top 10,000lbs with passengers and gear - placing it in the middle of the express cruiser pack.

(more…)

The Westerbeke 3kW BPMG marine generator is one of the quietest and lightest on the market. We’re fortunate to have a 2005 model BPMG in our Regal 2760 and have had great experience with the generator so far. We’ve put together a video to capture the typical noise levels throughout the boat with the Westerbeke in operation. We’ve located an identical Regal 2760 in our area with the Kohler 5kW generator and we’re going to arrange to videotape it also. (more…)

In our biased opinion, the Regal 2760 / 2860 Commodore express cruiser built from about 1999 to 2005 is one of the best 28′ cruisers ever produced. The model number was changed for 2004-2005 to the 2860 with only minor changes in fixtures and finish items. Twin 4.3L engines provide great performance with reasonable gas consumption while an 9′11″ beam yields a class leading cabin and cockpit. The current 2860 Commodore Window Express cruiser is a completely new vessel. Click on the picture to go to our photo tour and read on for a detailed review.
(more…)