Milwaukee to St Petersburg

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 Slocum 43 Pilothouse Cutter

Because of bridge height restrictions, the mast had to be unstepped and secured to the deck. My concerns about trying to maneuver the boat with a 58 ft mast over hanging the boat turned out not to be a problem. Turbulence in the locks also was not a factor. 

The run from Milwaukee to Chicago down Lake Michigan was quiet and uneventful. The next morning, however turned out to be the most dangerous part of the trip. We needed to go about 1 mile from the marina  to the first lock via the inner breakwater in the Chicago harbor. There was a strong southeaster. The 2-3 ft waves were rolling into the harbor and then reflecting in every direction off the breakwalls. It was chaos and a severe test of the strength of stands holding the mast to the deck... fortunately we passed the test. The 15 minutes that it took us to get thru the harbor seemed like a lifetime. Once inside the lock, the water was calm.

The trip can best be described as long and tedious. Day after day there was little change in the scenery.... water, trees and shoreline. Constant attention was required however to stay within the buoys and avoid hitting debris in the water. Straying even a few feet out of the channel meant going aground. The chart books did not give depths, so trying to leave the channel to anchor for the night became quite a challenge. 

 Fuel is scarce on the waterway. On the Illinois River, we ran aground trying to get to this fuel barge and ultimately had to hand the fuel hose over via boat hook.

Passing thru the locks was very simple. The primary concern was waiting time. The first 2 locks required a 2 hour wait at each lock while barges passed thru..... they have priority over RVs (recreation vessels). Waiting time at the remaining locks generally ran from 0 to 30 minutes. And a few times we managed to be the last boat thru before the locks were shut down for 4 or more hours to be repaired.

Typically locking thru meant placing one line around the floating bollard and riding up or down in the lock. Turbulence was minimal and little effort was required to fend off the lock wall.

It was very important to be anchored by 5 to 6 pm, since it was pitch dark by 6:30 pm and very difficult to navigate. In the morning, we were usually underway by 7 am and radiation fog was a common problem until about 9 am.

One of the adventures on the trip was staying over night at Aberdeen Marina in Mississippi. We called on the radio and were assured that there was a 6 ft channel back to the marina which was concealed by trees. Once in the channel, it was too narrow to turn around and we began riding over logs on the bottom. Perhaps the strangest part of the experience was that the channel wound thru a forest which the land had subsided and was now underwater. 

Once we reached Mobile, Alabama..... actually Fairhope, we re-stepped the mast and prepared to sail across the Gulf of Mexico approximately 350 miles to St Petersburg, Florida. I made two mistakes on this leg. First, I worked myself into a corner regarding the departure window and had zero slack time. Secondly, I did not get a good offshore forecast for the trip.

The result was that we were totally unprepared for a heavy weather passage. The wind blew out of the north at 20-25 apparent for the entire 2 1/2 day trip. Sea were steep and in the 5-7 foot range. 

I had been power sailing the entire trip even though we were on a beam reach to keep the momentum up on the boat speed when hit broadside by a big wave. And at night with the radar, refrigeration, and running lights, we are drawing 20 amps on the batteries.

On the second night, the wind piped up to 30-36 apparent. Since it was pitch dark, I can only guess that the seas were BIG! We furled the head sails and double reefed the main. Things seemed under control, until the radar screen lit up. Twenty miles ahead, there were at least 10 blips on the screen, and we were still about 100 miles out of St Pete. At first, I thought they were oil drilling platforms or a fishing fleet. Eventually, we found out that a gas pipeline was being laid from Mobile to St Pete... the same rhumb line that we were on. A great grand finally to a rough trip.

Polaris was launched mid-May, 2001 in Milwaukee. July was spent cruising the North Channel in Lake Huron, Canada. 

We departed Milwaukee on October 7, 2001 for St Petersburg, Florida via the Tombigbee waterway to Mobile, Alabama.

The route took us thru Chicago, down the Illinois River, to the Mississippi, up the Ohio River, to the Cumberland River, thru the locks to the Tennessee River and the Tombigbee Waterway to Mobile.... 1350 miles and 25 locks.

The next leg of the trip was a 350 mile sail across the Gulf of Mexico from Mobile to St Petersburg, Florida. This turned out to be a very rough ride in 20-25 knot winds and steep 5-7 foot waves for 2 1/2 days.

The boat is now safely in St Petersburg.

Remember... if you have to wear socks, you shouldn't be there!

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