The big cruise I have much talked about, well ... I am going to actually do it. This is the trip from Annapolis, MD to Guntersville, AL onboard the sailing vessel Andrea Lynn. The following is the itinerary of the trip. It is broken up into 5 major segments with estimates of how long it will take to do each one.
Here is the detailed cruise itinerary. A Glossary of terms used in the logs and an explanation of Military Times is provided.
Cruise Itinerary | ||||||
July, 2001 | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 - Launch Andrea Lynn, provisioning and maintenance | 6 - provisioning and refit, dinner before cruise | 7 - depart Annapolis, MD for Rhode River, MD |
8 - to Solomon Islands, MD | 9 - to Tangier Island, VA | 10 - to Norfolk, VA | 11 - to Pungo Ferry Marina on the ICW | 12 - to Alligator River, NC | 13 - to Belhaven, NC | 14 - to Beaufort, NC |
15 - to Swansboro, NC | 16 - to Pages Creek, NC | 17 - to Pelican Pointe Marina, NC | 18 - to Myrtle Beach, SC | 19 - take train to Washington, DC | 20 - Doctor's appointment | 21 - Drive back to Myrtle Beach, SC |
| 22 - tour Myrtle Beach, SC | 23 - to Georgetown Landing, SC | 24 - to Whiteside Creek, SC (SM 450) | 25 - to Charleston, SC | 26 - rest in Charleston | 27 - to Coosaw River, SC | 28 - to Wrights River, SC |
29 to Blackbeard Creek, GA |
30 - to Brunswick, GA |
31 - head for Fernandino Beach, FL(SM 720) |
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August, 2001 | ||||||
1 - to Jacksonville Beach, FL |
2 - failed attempt to fix pump |
3 - road trip to Clearwater, FL |
4 - head for St. Augustine, FL |
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5 - to Flagler Beach, FL |
6 - to Mosquito Lagoon, FL |
7 - to Titusville, FL |
8 - tour Kennedy Space Center |
9 - Discovery Launch Scrubbed - head to Indian River City, FL |
10 - Arrive Sebastian, FL |
11 - Arrive in Stuart, FL |
12 - Visit relatives |
13 - Get Alternator Fixed |
14 - Head to St. Lucie |
15 - Cross Lake Okeechobee |
16 - Arrive Denaud, FL |
17 - Arrive Sanibel Island, FL |
18 - Arrive Venice, FL |
19 - arrive St. Petersburg, FL |
20 - drive to Huntsville, AL |
21 - see doctor in Huntsville. |
22 - take care of errands |
23 - return to boat in St. Petersburg |
24 - arrive Anclote Keys, FL |
25 - commence Gulf Passage |
26 - Gulf Passage |
27 - arrive Apalachicola, FL |
28 - East Bay - east of Panama City, FL |
29 - Choctowhatchie Bay, FL |
30 - West of Navarre, FL |
31 - Palafox Marina, Pensacola, FL |
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September, 2001 |
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1 - Ingram Bayou, AL |
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2 - Mobile, AL |
3 - Alabama River Cutoff, Tombigbee River, AL |
4 - Sunflower Cutoff, Tombigbee River, AL |
5 - Bobby's Fish Camp, Coffeeville, AL |
6 - Mile 152 1/2, Tombigbee River, AL |
7 - Chickasaw Bogue, Tombigbee River, AL |
8 - Demopolis Yacht Basin, Demopolis, AL |
9 - Mile 327.9 - Tombigbee River, AL |
10 - Mile 286.5 - Tombigbee River, AL |
11 - Columbus, MS |
12 - Mile 371.5 - Tombigbee River, AL |
13 - Mile 418.9 - Tombigbee River, AL |
14 - Beech Branch, Pickwick Lake |
15 - Second Creek, Wheelers Lake, AL |
16 - Ditto Landing, Huntsville, AL |
17 - Lake Guntersville, AL |
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The cruise is now complete.
Transportation:
I think it is reasonable that you provide your own transportation to the pickup and drop off site. I will visit all the major coastal cities along the way. You could, say, drive to Charleston, SC. Enjoy the town for a few hours to a day until I get there to pick you up. After enjoying the sail, I can drop you off in Savannah, GA - a two hour drive south. You can then ride the bus back to Charleston, pick up your car and return home. Another idea is to, say, fly to Orlando, FL, then take a bus or rent a car to where I'm at. There's the problem of getting back to the rental car though. Airline tickets could be a problem due to the vageries of when I actually get there and the difficulties of changing the tickets. Use your own judgment. I will try my best to stick to the schedule when there are people but safety comes first. There are possibilities to fit just about any vacation plans.
Schedule:
There are too many "ifs" on this type of thing for me to say "ok, I will be in Savannah on July 25th". Anything could happen to delay it. However, the next week is much easier to predict than the next month. Let me know if you wish to join me for part of the cruise ahead of time. Or if you do want to at the last minute be prepared to travel to whatever city I happen to be in or will be in next. That way I can try better to coordinate meeting up with you.
Communication:
I will be anchoring most nights to control costs. I am now able to charge my cell phone with ships power so I will keep it on all the time. I have good coverage now - since Beaufort, NC. I expect coverage to be good until I get past Sarasota, FL. Then it will likely be gone until I get to Mobile, AL. It will then be good only in patches as I head north into Alabama. If you get voice mail and I don't call back in a day, try to call again. Sometimes voice mails take a long time (days) to get passed to my phone. I will check email roughly once a week.
Food:
I should have enough food aboard if it is one or two people. If you have special dietary requirements please make necessary food purchases before coming aboard. If it will be a lot of people, please purchase extra food. I will go to restaurants periodically.
What to expect:
My main goal is to get the boat to Alabama but I want to have as much fun as possible along the way. A typical day has me getting up around 0830 and starting out about 1000. Around 1900 I would start looking for the place to stay the night. I want to go about 50 miles each day and have a day of rest every 7 days. I like to eat at nice restaurants or buy food to bring back to the boat and cook. Also at interesting places I like to sight see. If the weather is nice I want to sail outside in the ocean sometimes. On the Gulf of Mexico I have to do that.
I had wanted to sell the boat as I did not have enough time to do the maintenance it required. Later, for various reasons, I decided to keep it. However, I had to get it near to where I lived. Next the question was how to move the boat. There are several ways of doing it.
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Why should I not do the cruise? The arguments generally fell into these categories | |
Issue | My answer |
| Lost salary? | It's basically a wash whether it is lost salary or captain's fees, or trucker's fees. |
| Shouldn't I be working? | I need to work to keep food on the table, pay the mortgage, etc. I desire a satisfying career like most everyone else but I will not further the career at the expense of my personal life. That is totally counter productive. Some people cower at the prospect of taking leaves of absence. I am not disrespecting a company by doing this but sometimes there are things in life where it is necessary to do this. Recent personal experiences have underscored to me that it is absolutely paramount that I have a proper balance between work and personal life. |
| Experience? | Life is meant to be lived, to gain experience, and to learn about the world. Whether I pick a concervative or adventurous course the final outcome is the same. I would rather have more fun and be happier along this course. |
| Risks? | As we all know there are various risks of bad things happening to the boat or to me. It is not possible to totally eliminate the risks but out of consideration for my safety and the concern of loved ones and friends I have taken many prudent measures to manage and mitigate risks. I'm not trying to imitate Joshua Slocum - I'm sure he took the safety measures available to him. |
| After the cruise? | What will I do with Andrea Lynn after the cruise? I plan to dock it at Browns Creek Sailing Association on Lake Guntersville. I also plan to join the sailing club and enjoy socials, raft-ups, and races much like I did on the Chesapeake Bay before. |
This is always a concern for folks as this is a bit more involved than an afternoon
walk in the park. Thus, I do the following...