Mai Tai was purchased by Adventure Charter Boats in Vero Beach, FL in April 2006. Captain Rick, Mike and Sarah sailed her back to Milwaukee, Wi in May! The trip took a total of 5 weeks, covering 2700 nautical miles! They took the ICW (Intercoastal waterway) from Vero Beach to Cape Canaveral and then headed out into the Atlantic Ocean. They sailed north 2.5 days to Charleston, SC. On that leg they were able to sail 23 hours straight with no motors at 8 kts! From Charleston they headed north 2 days to Beaufort NC. While 50 nautical miles offshore of Cape Fear they were ravaged by 4 40kt thunderstorms in one night!
After making repairs they again entered the ICW and sailed behind Cape Hatteras to Hampton Roads, VA. They picked up some parts for the autopilot and then proceeded up Chesapeake bay to Annapolis, MD. While in Annapolis they picked up a big yellow spinnaker for down wind sailing! They headed up to the top of the Chesapeake and took the B&D canal across to the Delaware river and headed down it to Cape May, NJ. Back out in the Atlantic Mai Tai managed 10 kts with her new spinnaker all the way to New York Harbor!
From there they headed up the Hudson river to the Castleton Boat Club where they used a hand operated crane to remove Mai Tai’s mast and then tied it to the deck for the trip up the Erie Canal! 36 Locks and 354 miles later they arrived in Tonawanda, NY where they stepped the mast in preparation for the trip through the Great Lakes! They Sailed down the middle of Lake Erie to Putin-bay, Ohio. They anchored under the 300 ft statue of Commodore Perry and had quite a night as it was Sunday night of Memorial day weekend!
They left at 8 the next morning and proceeded up the Detroit river, across Lake St Clair and up the St Clair river to Port Huron. After refueling Mai Tai and their stomachs they headed up Lake Huron hitting yet another 40 kt storm! Eventually they arrived in Cheboygan, MI where they again refueled. From There they headed northwest under the Mackinaw Bridge, past Grays Reef and into Lake Michigan! After a short 30 hours they arrived in Milwaukee at 8am on Friday, June 2nd.
