Fort Lauderdale to Charleston

[RossH]

We are planning a trip from Fort Lauderdale to the Savannah/Hilton Head/Charleston area. We are sailing a 41 footer with a crew of 3. I am most interested in feedback on good stops along the way but more importantly on places not to stop and/or to stay clear of.

We have about two weeks and if given good weather windows will go and stay offshore to the extent possible. I am not very interested in the ICW unless there is something compelling to see or to hide from bad weather. Specifically, I am researching the St Andrews Sound to Ossabaw Sound section, as I know very little about it. Any feedback would be much appreciated.

We have been moving the boat since June doing one to two week hops. We started at the Harborage marina in St Pete, stopping in Ft Myers Beach, The Dry Tortugas, Key West, Marathon, and now in Fort Lauderdale ready for the next leg at the end of this month. Our plan is to keep heading north until fall.

Note: If anyone is heading to the Gulf let me know if you have any questions, glad to pass on what local knowledge I have.

Cheers,

Ross
SV Pekina
Passport 41

[SVEOTI]

We did the reverse in March. Charleston to Ft. Lauderdale. We stayed just inside the current and did it in two hops. We ducked into the Fort George Marina at Jacksonville to wait out a gale and do a quick repair. heading north depending on current location you can really pick up quite a bit of steam. Be careful of the fishing boats that like to hang out on the inland side of the stream. They run without lights at night. I don't know if there are any rocket launches but if you are outside the zone they can be quite a site to see a rocket zip overhead.

Totally agree on the ICW. I much liked the overnight sailing and though we ran the RADAR a lot it was fun.

[RossH]

Thanks so much for the heads up on the fishing boats. We will likely stay just on the inside edge of the GS. How was the Fort Geroge Marina?

I will see if I can find the lauch schedules. When I was a kid we camped across from the pad and watched the Appolo 11 launch, it was awesome for sure.

Again, thanks for the input!

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Sam & Sydney.

[sck5]

Brunswick Landing Marina in Brunswick, GA is a good stopover with an all weather entrance. Good shopping and restaurants. Marina is excellent though not the best place to find repair people.

[RossH]

I will keep that in mind, always good to know good spots to duck in if needed.

We are heading out next week. I will post on how things go and what we learn along the way!

Thanks,

Ross

[RossH]

Hi all, just a follow up on the earlier posts. We made the passage from Fort Lauderdale to Charleston. It was an awesome trip with a bit of everything as far as weather.

We did it in two hops - Fort Lauderdale to Hilton Head, then Hilton Head to Charleston.

The first leg took 60 hours, we were making over 10 knots SOG when out in the gulf stream which was pretty cool. We did see lots of squalls at night further out as suggested in one post. We did have some high winds and rough seas, mostly at night. The wind was behind us and the current with us for most of the trip so it went faster then expected.

Thanks for all the input, it was very helpful.

Ross
S/V Pekina