Pacific to Atlantic via Missouri and Mississippi Rivers

Tips on Cruising, Information on Sailing Destinations and Stories about Trips Taken
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Keith
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Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2009 3:38 pm
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Pacific to Atlantic via Missouri and Mississippi Rivers

Post by Keith »

I have a Telstar 28 (#348). I leave today from my home in Banff, Alberta, Canada to put "Star Hunter" in the water on Vancouver Island. Over the next 5 months, I will be sailing to Washington State (La Conner). The sail across the Cascade Mountains to South Dakota will involve a big truck. I expect to have Star Hunter on the Missouri River in South Dakota at the beginning of October, then --> St. Louis --> Cairo, Illinois -->TennTom system --> Mobile Alabama --> Florida and maybe to Key West by early 2012.

If there are any Telstar owners along the way who want to swap lies (especially along the south coast of Florida) please send me your e-mail.

After storing the boat somewhere in Key West or Florida, we may sail to Cuba from Key West in February of 2012. [Sailing to Cuba is ok for Canadians in a Canadian registered boat].

Figuring out how to get the Telstar back to Canada comes later...

Keith Webb, Star Hunter, KeithMWebb@gmail.com


A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope.
-Epictetus
Ron
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Joined: Mon Nov 24, 2008 6:15 pm
Location: SW Florida
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Pacific to Atlantic via Missouri and Mississippi Rivers

Post by Ron »

Keith -

We spend the winter (late October thru mid May) in Punta Gorda, on the SW coast of Florida. The boat is always there. Give me a holler if you expect to get there during this time period.
Ron Marcuse
Telstar 28 #359 "Tri-Power"
Keith
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Pacific to Atlantic via Missouri and Mississippi Rivers

Post by Keith »

re: Star Hunter Progress

We have sailed thru the Canadian Gulf Islands to the US San Juan Islands and into Puget Sound as of Sept 22. In one week the Telstar will be on a trailer to S. Dakota. Until the last few days the weather has been gloriously sunny, with light to no winds.

Internet acesss has been very spotty as we mostly anchor out. I hope to sign up for 3G service with AT&T soon.

Star Hunter is at the Victorian town of Port Townsend. It's the most nautical town I 've visited, next to Annapolis, Maryland.

Keith Webb
Keith
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Pacific to Atlantic via Missouri and Mississippi Rivers

Post by Keith »

Star Hunter almost on the Missouri.

Thanks, Sandeb2

I looked up your links. I am thinking eventually getting the boat into the Great Lakes but just now I'm figuring out how to get on and down the Missouri.

We are stuck in Yankton, South Dakota. The winds were gusting to just over 50 mph today. Yesterday we sought advice from two Lewis and Clark Recreational area rangers. This morning they came over to the boat launch to make sure we were not going down the river. We could put up the sails and do a Dorothy and Toto, but as the winds are SE we would end up in Montana.

We've had a few oh, oh's every time I try some new equipment, but these have been soon resolved.

I should soon have more reliable internet on the boat.

Keith
onremlop
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Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2009 8:40 pm
Location: Ocala, FL
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Pacific to Atlantic via Missouri and Mississippi Rivers

Post by onremlop »

I know the Missouri pretty well as I grew up in Pierre, SD. They have a great marina in the middle of nowhere on Spring Creek just north of the Oahe Dam (doesn't do you much good in Yankton, though). The winds in the Dakotas get really strong and can stay that way for some time. I remember them kicking up in 1988 and not dying down until 1992.

We just put our telstar in at St. Pete, FL municipal marina and have only squeezed in one sail due to the winds down here being pretty wicked. Tonight there are gusts upwards of 60 mph on the east side of FL. So, hopefully it will calm down a bit so we can go out later. I'm heading up that way this week and driving a car down here, so maybe if you let me know where you are, I can swing in and see you and lie about what a great sailor I am.

Paul and Lisa
3Sum
Hull #352, St. Pete, FL
Keith
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Pacific to Atlantic via Missouri and Mississippi Rivers

Post by Keith »

CROSSING A CONTINENT

Star Hunter has made it down the Missouri River to St. Louis (you just have to remember to make a starboard turn on the Mississippi) We then went up the Ohio River, into the Cumberland river and onto Kentucky Lake. We started down the Tennessee River, which is more a long a skinny lake, into the locks of the Tombigbee river, a week ago.

Today I have a rare day off, because of tornado warning for this morning. We covered several hundred miles of sailing in Canadian waters, 1400 miles of driving, 810 miles motoring down the Missouri, and another 450 miles to a piratical marina in Alabbama. My wife and I have 390 miles to go to salt water.

We averaged 10 mph downstream and from 3 mph against the Ohio Rivers strong current to 5 mph on the Tennessee. We are now doing 6-7 mph down the Tombigbee.

All though the Testar was not designed for river travel, my shallow draft is envied by the other boaters. Only in the last two weeks have we met boaters. I expected that many docks and some marinas would be damaged by the spring floods. I did not expect that only one marina, out a dozen would be operating. There were exactly, four useable docks in three weeks of motoring. We saw more pelicans than people. Even on the Mississippi there were only a handful of pleasure boaters.

I need to make a stop at Mobile Alabama to get my little Honda engine serviced and probably to have the boat hauled out and painted. I did do some hull polishing on the Missouri. The Missouri has the color of a Starbucks double latte, so when the depth went form deep to 8-10 inches in less than a boat length, there was no notice. I was amazed to find that a 20 horsepower propeller could go through mud and silt. Three times, I thought that I might be spending the winter on a sandbar but the boat kept moving in the strong current.

I will contact the Florida Telstar owners, after I talk to an outboard mechanic. I'm getting a small amount of water in the lower gearcase.

Thanks, Keith and Heather

PS. I have been on the Telsar for about 110 nights, it wasn't built for long distance cruising either but it works.
splashy_sam
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Re: Pacific to Atlantic via Missouri and Mississippi Rivers

Post by splashy_sam »

I know it's been a decade since this post and adventure, but what an inspiration! 110 days aboard...whew. But what a trip! I collect rivers... but not usually by sail boat. I shall have to rethink that. Thanks for sharing.
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