Cardude on treacherous maiden ICW trek

Cardude, after a send-off yesterday by local TF members, launched himself into the unknown this morning with his spiffy new Island Packet 41 PY Cruiser! Armed with nothing but a can of tuna, a leaking shaft packing and a CQR on the pulpit, he's already made it through unpredictable Lake Worth where winds and fetch can push the chop to a foot or more, So far so good, he texts, but soon he will throw the boat into the graveyard sands of West Palm Beach, where many an ICW mariner has met his match. With no dinghy or life raft, he would do well to avoid being thrown into the frigid 78 degree waters, where even the most durable swimmer could only last several days (provided he didn't wade to shore)! Already, he's taken green water over the bow (a bucket of washdown spilled over the pulpit).

Another Dauntless candidate? He still has to cross the infamous Jupiter and Stuart inlets!

Cardude's eventual destination is Indiantown to store the boat on the hard for several months.

Send best wishes

Hope he has his paravanes out.

Please don't tell me that he is attempting this treacherous voyage single handed. How will he manage watch standing? This is one for the TF record books. Good luck, Cardude.

What an unmitigated lunatic!!

Moonstruck said:

Please don't tell me that he is attempting this treacherous voyage single handed. How will he manage watch standing? This is one for the TF record books. Good luck, Cardude.

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Not to worry! We've got the crack TF Rescue Squad in position and ready to spring into action at any time between 1000-1300 and 1500-1700 on any Tuesday or Thursday.



Rumor has it he's not wearing his PFD, but he was seen wearing this pin



on his Captain's cap in the bar immediately before departure at the sendoff party.



He is also equipped with the French battle flag signalling device should he need assistance from the TFRS.



In the event that the TFRS is not available during a time of need, our Trawler Forum Drone - TFD PFD Dispenser will be available.



Godspeed, Cardude!!

Can we send him wake forecasts ?

Oh good grief. I wish I would have seen this thread before I posted mine. Yall are pretty damn funny.

Lake Worth was a bitch...
???

What I learned so far:

1. Larry is a trip. Oliver is a genius.
2. Sea Rays throw large wakes
3. There are lots of bridges on the ICW in Florida!
4. Old Port Cove marina gives you a free bottle of wine at check in!
5. Barbancourt is good rum
6. ?

Al, uh, I think you got the send-off party picture confused with the Cardude's belly-blow extravaganza. He's in there somewhere.....oh year, there he is (red arrow).

He has a CQR---what the heck is he thinking?? Poor Cardude.

Funny, first thing Oliver said when he saw the boat was, "That's the wrong anchor". ??

Wow, what a party. Flywright where did you get that picture of Eric on the paddle board? He'll do anything to look at another anchor.

cardude01 said:

Oh good grief. I wish I would have seen this thread before I posted mine. Yall are pretty damn funny.

Lake Worth was a bitch...
???

What I learned so far:

1. Larry is a trip. Oliver is a genius.
2. Sea Rays throw large wakes
3. There are lots of bridges on the ICW in Florida!
4. Old Port Cove marina gives you a free bottle of wine at check in!
5. Barbancourt is good rum
6. ?

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Congratulations. The only thing I can offer is the proper pronunciation of Barbancourt Rum -boo ban coo. (so say Haitians). It indeed has magic powers. It once made me magically wake up in the hospital asking "why am I here"? boo ban coo indeed.

Cardude
Congrats on the new-to-you boat.
Are you going to take the boat back to Tx and leave it on the coast?
I'm sure TF will come up with volunteers for the trip.
best of luck.

Yeah, I thought so. I snuck down to Jupiter Inlet and took this shot of Cardude passing under the pedestrian bridge. He calls that strange forward cockpit "the hot tub". Now I understand. Things that happen on the ICW stay on the ICW!

Cardude docked safely at Indiantown Marina somewhere around 4PM this afternoon. I drove up to Stuart and climbed aboard his boat to ride the last 25 miles or so. Wow, what a solid boat. Relatively quiet and vibration free at the helm I'd say, the work that Oliver did on the electronics made navigation "push button easy", including a remote for the Auto Pilot so he can drive from the hot-tub. Super responsive to the rudder, gorgeous hardware, heavy rails, easy line handllng with those side decks. She belly's out like a sailboat, so going through the lock required an oversized balloon style fender forward. At one time, I leaned on the bow thruster for a half minute with no issues, but pulling that big keel around was a lot of work for it. The Yanmar had an easy job pushing this design. Loved the extended-hull/swim platform idea. Great access off a low dock. Visibility from the helm would be improved by a higher helm seat, which is part of Cardude's plan. The twin helm seat idea is puzzling to me, especially since greater use, comfort and access would have come by simply extending the settee seating. All in all, I've never felt a more solid vessel.

Larry, your hot tub idea is the shizzle. You even have the outboard mounted!!

cardude01 said:

Larry, your hot tub idea is the shizzle. You even have the outboard mounted!!

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Dude, that motor is mounted....how do you say....BACKWARDS!!

If you're expecting to use it as a get-home engine, some slight modifications might be warranted. Do you own a chainsaw?

Congrats Cardude.
Y'all went right past Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart, like maybe 100 yards away, and didn't even wave to us waiting on Magic! All of us are so disappointed. Our dogs won't even eat now.

Well, Cardude yanked his boat early this morning and she's packed away in Indiantown Storage all nice and cozy. He flew home this afternoon, but not before we hashed over the coming big-buck mods he'll be doing soon. Among then are wannabe windows, fly-bridge, and a very pendulous and intimidating anchor! I got to wondering what it would look like.

That's one well-endowed vessel!

healhustler said:

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Oh man, that's perfect!

Where is my oxygen tent?