Bahamas in August

[jargenta]

Hello! Hoping for gracious sailors out there. It is my first time on a boat with two friends-- a 37 foot Catalina sailboat. Everything is manual and no auto pilot. Tiny motor, but enough to compete with Gulf Stream. We sailed from West Palm Beach to West End. It took about 30hrs. Because they decided going straight wouldn't work. We are now in Freeport, looking for the safest routes to return back to Palm Beach by the 14th. We talked about going down to Bimini and then up to West Palm to catch the Gulf Stream. But that feels like a lot of open water... my two friends push passed their limits and don't realize it. And I am as green as it gets... Is it better to depart from Freeport or West end and then just hug the coast down?

What is the safest, fastest route back to West Palm Beach?

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by jargenta

Hello! Hoping for gracious sailors out there. It is my first time on a boat with two friends-- a 37 foot Catalina sailboat. Everything is manual and no auto pilot. Tiny motor, but enough to compete with Gulf Stream. We sailed from West Palm Beach to West End. It took about 30hrs. Because they decided going straight wouldn't work. We are now in Freeport, looking for the safest routes to return back to Palm Beach by the 14th. We talked about going down to Bimini and then up to West Palm to catch the Gulf Stream. But that feels like a lot of open water... my two friends push passed their limits and don't realize it. And I am as green as it gets... Is it better to depart from Freeport or West end and then just hug the coast down?

What is the safest, fastest route back to West Palm Beach?

When we left Freeport, we went in at Port Canaveral, but we were pointed northwest. Depends on the wind and the sea, but if you can steer into the current to have your course made good (CMG) beeline straight to West Palm. Yes the speed made good won't be very high, but ultimately it will take the same amount of time. If you can't hold the course and it takes you north, then you can push south along the coast where the stream subsides - about 20 miles off the FL coast.

[jargenta]

Lodesman--Thanks so much for your reply! Beeline makes sense even if slow going. As this is my first time sailing--and there seem to be a number of circulating storms-- what would you recommend in terms of picking a favorable day to head out?

[kev_rm]

30 hours for west palm to west end??? I think its 62 miles??

[jargenta]

yes....we tried straight across but the tiny motor on the boat was slow...so we went down near Miami and came back up to catch the Gulf Stream. I've never sailed before and found out the other day the two I am with have never done a sail like this before... I'm a little concerned about the way back. They are both in their 60s and don't realize exhaustion/limits. No auto pilot etc on the boat. I'm looking for shortest safest route. Best day. Right now they are saying Wednesday 8am from Freeport.

[kev_rm]

Its a sailboat right? Why are you talking about the motor. Wait for winds from the south so you can reach. You might need to wait a week or more but should be easy to make 6kt CMG, ten hours. The last time I did this I was driving a power boat which could do 17kt but was rough and my crossing buddy in a hans christian beat me back over to FL on sail power.

Originally Posted by jargenta

yes....we tried straight across but the tiny motor on the boat was slow...so we went down near Miami and came back up to catch the Gulf Stream. I've never sailed before and found out the other day the two I am with have never done a sail like this before... I'm a little concerned about the way back. They are both in their 60s and don't realize exhaustion/limits. No auto pilot etc on the boat. I'm looking for shortest safest route. Best day. Right now they are saying Wednesday 8am from Freeport.

[jargenta]

Yes a sail boat. Folks not checking winds before we left and they were not in our favor.

[Lodesman]

The common advice is to not have any northerly component to the wind as it builds a steep chop against the current. Southerly winds didn't seem very common IME, but if you can get something mostly E for a broad run or mostly W for a broad reach, it should get you there with little drama. With sailboats you have to plan for slow progress, and just enjoy the ride.

[sveinung]

Sounds like you don't have much confidence in the rest of the crew: get off the boat and take the ferry or plane back.

[s/v Moondancer]

It is very easy to get trapped in the Bahamas when the winds are from the north or tropical storms start to appear off Florida and the Bahamas. If you check passageweather you will see that light southerlies are predicted towards the weekend and early next week.

https://www.passageweather.com/

On a slow boat the less time you spend in the stream the better and where you are crossing the stream runs significantly within a couple of miles of Florida. Just get across the stream which will put you uo to 20-30 miles north of your destination and then work you way back south close to land, less than a half mile off the beach or just come down the ICW.

I have worked south to Bimini on the Bahamian side but you have to be very close to the shallow banks to be out of the stream and it sounds as if the skill levels might make that difficult, especially at night. The Florida east coast inlets can be difficult at night and in bad weather, I haver been in and out of the Riviera Beach inlet in bad weather but you need to be careful with the ones further north,

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, jargenta.

[AA3JY]

Originally Posted by jargenta

yes....we tried straight across but the tiny motor on the boat was slow...so we went down near Miami and came back up to catch the Gulf Stream. I've never sailed before and found out the other day the two I am with have never done a sail like this before... I'm a little concerned about the way back. They are both in their 60s and don't realize exhaustion/limits. No auto pilot etc on the boat. I'm looking for shortest safest route. Best day. Right now they are saying Wednesday 8am from Freeport.

11 hrs to do West Palm Beach to West End in our CR 34 with a Yanmar 3GM30F ..return from Green Turtle Cay to Jacksonville using the push from the ‘Stream..and we are in our 60’s. I sense age discrimination..

[jargenta]

Hi all just a really huge thank you here. I appreciate all your advice and expertise. We are looking to head out on Sunday. It seems things clear here and also on FL coast with ok winds.

ps no age discrimination. Just that it is good to know one's limits and know also that those can change over time. Especially for 30 hrs with no auto pilot and too much pot smoking to know where we are on the map. At one time, you maybe could muscle the sails. But if you can't anymore, whether 20 or 60. Its important for everyone to have self awareness.

[michaeld]

I have done that crossing three or four times on our Cal 2-27. Returning to FL, we were trying to make Hillsboro Inlet at the north end of Broward County. For that destination, we motored south until we were due East of Fort Lauderdale, then turned west. Even then, we would often end up north of the Inlet. West Palm Beach is 35 miles north of Hillsboro Inlet, so to make that, just steer due West. Don't try to fight the current. You will end up near the Lake Worth Inlet (a.k.a. West Palm Inlet). It's a commercial inlet with freighters and cruise ships entering/exiting. It's quite deep. The tide runs hard there, so keep that in mind. When you say "tiny" motor, I assume you actually have a diesel engine in the range of 25-30 HP. With that you can cross in about 10-12 hours, maybe even quicker. If the winds are out of the south, sailing home is much preferable though. If the winds are anywhere from the north, the Florida Current (a.k.a. the Gulf Stream) will get choppy to rough. Wait for a decent weather window. You will be fine. I suggest that you depart from West End a couple hours before sunrise. With that, you will be across well before dusk.

[a64pilot]

We anchored out at Memory rock and spent the night, yes it was bouncy, and left in the morning.
I’d head straight for West Palm. It’s going to take pretty much a due South wind, because your going to have to hold about a 30 degree course into the wind to maintain a due West track.
Don’t forget about having to hold that heading when you think about what winds you need to head due West.
If after you leave you find that you can’t maintain that due to the wind not being from deep enough South, don’t sweat it, hold South as much as you can and go to Ft Pierce, it’s a very easy entrance.
How easy the entrance is, is important. Don’t go to a tricky inlet.

I think you need to get back, this isn’t the time of year that I would feel safe in the Bahamas.