Alulquoy
| Vessel Name: | Alulquoy |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Hunter 450 |
| Hailing Port: | Stillwater, MN |
| Crew: | Doug, Eric and Ken |
22 November 2011 | Ft. Pierce to Hobe Sound
Anchoring Out - Ft. Pierce to Hobe Sound
Low tide this morning is at 11AM and there is a bridge we need to passage that is within 15 minutes of our departure from Harbortown Marina in Ft Pierce. The bridge is 65' high and our mast is approx 64' high. So, we departed at 9:30 to move very slowly under the bridge.
21 November 2011 | Fort Pierce FL
A Nice Day - Canaveral FL to Fort Pierce FL
We departed Cape Marina at Canaveral FL at 7:30AM and transited the channel inlet to the ocean. We set the sails at 10AM with winds from the ESE at 10-15 MPH.Caribbean music is playing and we are feeling good in 80 degree temps. "Looking good Billy Ray - Feeling good Lewis."...That is a fun quote from [...]
20 November 2011 | Canaveral
U-Turn - Canaveral to Canaveral - Lesson Learned
We thought we would rest and recover from our BAM-BOOM-BANG night sail by sleeping in and taking our time today. The plan was a leisurly motor down the intracoastal and put 30 miles behind us.
20 November 2011
Thank You Readers
We just wanted to say thanks to our readers for your comments. We often don't have time to respond to each email and wanted to let you know we have receieved and appreciate your comments. Also, this site only allows us to post one picture at a time under the free plan. I'm sure there will be photos to [...]
19 November 2011 | Offshore to Cape Canaveral
Roller Coaster, BAM-POUND-BOOM! - Offshore to Cape Canaveral
It is still dark and we are standing watch. As winds become more south than north, it is making our sailing more difficult and driving us inland toward the coast. We have been sailing approx 6 to 10 miles offshore to avoid commercial traffic and maintain our final destination. Ideally, we should be 20-40 [...]
Welcome to Hell - Hell Gate GA
So, we are on our way at 12:15PM and it will be a short 4 hour motoring day due to limited sunlight during this time of year. We decided our destination should be Kilkenny Marina about 30 miles south. The Intracoastal Waterway between Thunderbolt and Kilkenny is very "snakey" and marshy. As the crow flies, I think we traveled 15 miles.
We pulled into the backwater Kilkinney marina around 4:30PM. It isn't really a marina, just an old dock 15 miles from nowhere. Although, there is a really nice restaurant and the marina has fuel and power. It is in excellent proximity to the ocean inlet (20 minutes). There are also several anchorages along the marina entrance. Knats were very abundant here and Doug called Kilkenny the knat capital of the world. One of the locals wished us good luck upon arrival... Doug said he then heard banjo music in the distance.
A couple drinks at the restaurant and back to the boat for dinner and a planning session. The weather window looks good over the next several days and we intend to sail in the Atlantic during that time. So we are plotting our course from Kilkenny Marina to Fort Pierce Florida with several exit strategies along the way. If we sail straight through, we will be at least a week ahead of schedule.
We are looking forward to sailing "outside" as the winding intracoastal can be tiring and long at times. If you haven't done it before, you must really pay attention to detail.
By the way, Hell Gate in Georgia is similar to traveling through the narrows in Afton MN/WI. Most people that have encountered problems probably have not paid attention to the tide table or drifted off the channel. It's the name that creates all the negative chatter.
