Maryland to Key West to Maryland

[TBW]

Seeking comments, opinions, advice and thoughts for upcoming trip. All are sincerely welcome.
Leaving Easton Md. first of February. Boat is 50 foot trawler, 24 foot beam, draws 6 feet carries 1250 fuel, good for about 2000 miles - about 2 months self contained. 7 knot or so cruise.
The first point of interest is St Augustine. Then Key West / Fort Jefferson.
Maybe across to the Bahamas (Waderick Wells is nice) maybe not.
Have to have someone at the BWI airport on 28 March without fail.
Pay a lot of attention to weather. Last year was ICW to Beaufort, to Charleston to Ft Lauderdale (can do without Lauderdale).
I can go across at Stuart and go around Sanibel to Cayo Costa and then down to Ft Jefferson and then to Key West. Can go back the same way or north by Miami and straight home or jump over to Alicetown and across the banks to Chub Cay and down to Exmas.
I do not know anything about Key West (we are in our 70's and pretty quiet) and am not really able to get very far looking at the charts and AC for working my way north along the coast from KW to Miami, Lauderdale and so forth. Not really eager to get crossed up with what seems to be a new regime of water police. Last year caught a nice weather window and ran from Chub Cay to Beaufort in about 90 hours.
I know - schedule is the worst thing but you go when you can. Will try to leave around first December later this year.
So any advice about Key West (will use marina there if available) and the keys is much appreciated. If I go from Cayo Costa or Naples I will loop out a bit to give any crab traps etc clearance.
With a bit of luck with the weather gods can probably make it through Okeechobee, down to Ft Jefferson / Key West and over to Bahamas and then jump straight home.
For all of you who wade through this, thank you.
TW

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by TBW

Leaving Easton Md. first of February.

Have to have someone at the BWI airport on 28 March without fail.

I know - schedule is the worst thing but you go when you can. Will try to leave around first December later this year.

Can't tell what you mean...

And your timing maybe seems to indicate you'll be traveling into the hurricane zone/season?

-Chris

[TBW]

Apologies for the confusion.
Leave Md First of February and return end of March.
Mainly trying to sort out the east coast of the keys from KW up to about Key Largo. Lots of skinny water.
Thanks
TW

[ranger58sb]

It took us almost a full month to get from Annapolis to JAX... mostly due to weather delays.

-Chris

[tkeithlu]

That skinny water is on the west/north side of the keys, and my first reaction was that your draft is dicy for that side. Why not straight down the east/south side? You can pop in numerous places in the keys (Marathon, for example) if you don't like the front that comes through every few days.

[Scrimshaw4]

Given the time frame, unless you run outside non-stop from Beaufort, NC straight to the Miami area and do the same on the return I doubt you will be able to make your schedule. JMHO

[Cadence]

Just curious. Is it a typo or does she have a 24' beam on a 50' trawler?

[Gtstricky]

Originally Posted by Cadence

Just curious. Is it a typo or does she have a 24' beam on a 50' trawler?

Yes... 23'6"

From google search....

LeBlanc 50
Based on the high-volume, very seaworthy hulls developed around the commercial fishery of Nova Scotia, the new LeBlanc 50 from the board of Laurie McGowan and the well-known LeBlanc Brothers Boatbuilders should give those venturing well offshore a sense of safety and livability. The flybridge is protected by a hardtop and offers outstanding seating plus a helm console large enough to accommodate a full suite of marine electronics. The boat deck has ample room for a crane, as well as a 13-foot dinghy and a 12-foot sailing dinghy, built at the request of the owner by Neil LeBlanc. Full-sized kitchen appliances and massive counter spaces typify the galley, which adjoins the pilothouse. Visibility from the helm is excellent, especially aft through large windows in the aft saloon bulkhead. Cherry woodwork with a white trim is found throughout the boat. The engine room is massive, as is the lazarette, allowing excellent access to all equipment. For more information call 902.663.2927 or visit leblancboats.com.



LOA 50'
LWL 47'7"
BEAM 23'6"
DRAFT 5'3"
DISPLACEMENT 87,000 lb. (half load)
ENGINE Single 341 hp John Deere 6125
GENERATOR 21 kW

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Gtstricky

Yes... 23'6"

From google search....

Thanks, I was asking the OP. That sounds like a floating condo or a barge. A cat or tri. I'd buy with that ratio. I was just asking.

[grandmaR]

A friend of ours with sailboat - draft similar to yours ran the west/north/Gulf side of the keys when he was running from a hurricane and he said he had no trouble. However we always go down Hawk Channel which is the east/south/Atlantic side. It usually took us 2 days to get from Miami to Key West, but you are probably faster than we are. It also would take us 2 days from Key West to Fort Jefferson. We went down on the Atlantic side and came back on the Gulf side.



So if you get to Charleston by Feb 14th and go outside Charleston to Fernandina or St. Augustine, and the outside from there or from Ft Pierce to Miami, you should be in Miami by the 20th and should have time to go down the Keys to Ft Jefferson and get back by the end of February. (It's Leap Year) It will be cold.



As for marinas - It depends on what else is going on when you are there. https://keywest.com/key-west-marinas/
The only marina I've actually stayed in there was on Stock Island. Don't let them BS you about "only one bridge from Key West". If you stay out on Stock Island you'll need a car or a bicycle to get down to where the action is in Key West.


Otherwise we've anchored out or had a mooring (which we were technically too big to use but they weren't charging because there were no amenities)


It looks like the race this year is in January - otherwise there would be no place in the marinas. This is the sailboat race people's list of marinas.

In Key West:

Oceanside Marina
Ph. 305-294-4676
Fax. 305-292-4995
www.oceansidekeywest.com
Robbies Marina
Ph. 305-294-1124
Fax. 305-294-0936
A&B Marina
Ph. 305-294-2535
abmarina@aol.com

Galleon Marina
Ph. 305-292-1292
Fax. 305-294-0653
Westin Marina
Ph. 305-292-4375
Fax. 305-292-4349
Conch Harbor Marina
Ph. 305-294-2933
Fax. 305-294-0432
Key West Bight Marina
Ph. 305-809-3984
Fax 305-293-8369


Key West Bight, A&B and Galleon are the marinas that are closest to town where you can walk to stuff. However they are also closest to the crowds of the other tourists.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by TBW

Have to have someone at the BWI airport on 28 March without fail.

Idea: it's easily possible to get to BWI airport by flying from Key West... or Miami... or Ft. Myers... or... etc...

-Chris

[Woodland Hills]

It sounds like an absolutely exhausting trip...... Doing the entire AICW twice in 60 days sounds like misery. 1153 miles one way times two divided by 60 days is 38mi a day. Each and everyday for two months! I assume you just want to see the inside of your boat since you won’t have time for much else.

[rgary]

My wife and I just made a trip down the ICW from St Mary's MD to Thunderbolt GA (the 3rd time we've done this 675 mile trip in our 36ft Sailing Cat). We just needed to get the boat down to our condo dock there before Christmas. We left early on Dec 13 and stopped south of Charleston to wait on a passing front with 35-40kt winds. Ended up renting a car to drive to Savannah to be with family for Christmas then returned to the boat for the final 2 day leg, we docked Dec 28 - normal duration for winter daylight hours would have been 9-10 days. My point is don't tie yourself to a rigid schedule, things and weather happen. Additional info - keep aware of the ever changing conditions not just around inlets on the ICW but access to marinas. We had to wait on high tide in 2 different locations (both in NC) to get out due to shoaling from recent storms. We only draw 4ft. Waterway Guide 2019 version indicated MLW of 7ft at one of the locations, but we bottomed and it wasn't yet dead low tide. With your draft don't even bother with the area around McClellanville, SC unless you hit it at high tide. They are not dredging it fast enough.

[ranger58sb]

The ICW at McClellanville had just been dredged when we came through on Nov 22nd/23rd. The dredge was preparing to work inside Jeremy Creek after that, but hadn't gotten there yet when we stayed at Leland Oil.

-Chris

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

The ICW at McClellanville had just been dredged when we came through on Nov 22nd/23rd. The dredge was preparing to work inside Jeremy Creek after that, but hadn't gotten there yet when we stayed at Leland Oil.

-Chris

I hope you got some Bull's Bay oysters form Rut. while there. You won't want
oysters from any place else.