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 [...]
U-Turn - Canaveral to Canaveral - Lesson Learned
So we departed Cape Marina at about noon and transited two bascule bridges and a lock between the marina and the intracoastal. A dolphin escorted us through a bridge and we were so close we could hear it breath.
At the intracoastal there is fixed bridge with a 65' height. Most fixed bridges on the intracoastal are 65' at high tide. Our mast is 64' high. As we approached the bridge we thought we should take a binocular view at the bridge height marker. 64 feet. 64 feet! Yep, 64 feet. Are you sure, yep 64 feet. Let me look. Crap, 64 feet. Ok, let's check the tide tables. High tide is at 2PM. Crap! That means we will have to wait at least another four hours before we can pass under the bridge. What should we do?
One alternative was to place Eric and Ken at the end of the boom and swing them out to the side of the boat so the boat would heel over and the angle of the mast would lower to clear the bridge. That alternaitve was dismissed upon visions of our photographs in Transiting the Intracoastal Waterway for Beginners Magazine.
After about a half hour discussion, we decided to return back to Cape marina in Canaveral through the 2 bascule bridges and the lock. Deja Vu. We would start out early the next morning and avoid those darn fixed bridges on the intracoastal by sailing the ocean.
So here we sit at Cape Marina at 4PM for more R&R before we depart tomorrow on the ocean. Hopefully the wind and waves god will be with us.
The lesson we learned today was the 6 P's. Most of you know what that means. In a nutshell, we were too focused on relaxing after our last passage and did not plan appropriately before the next departure. Another lesson learned.
The plan for tomorrow is to depart at 7AM and sail the ocean to Ft. Pierce FL. Hopefully there are no bridges on the Atlantic ocean.
