Puerto Rico to Florida

[mark60]

I am thinking of cruising from Puerto Rico to Florida - route suggestions, duration and best time of year would be appreciated. thanks Mark

[oldcal46skipper]

We sailed from Boqueron on the west coast of PR non-stop to Key West a few years ago in May 1995.
I think about anytime other than hurrican season should be okay.
There are not too may places to stop, DR is okay, southern Bahamas also, but Cuba is out due to the politicos. We stayed in the Old Bahama Channel and were called several times by land based Cuban stations, but ignored them. Spring of 1998 we sailed to Cuba with the Regatta as "missionaries", enjoyed a month at Hemingway, loved it and want to go back.
We carry two spinnaker poles on our Cal Cruising 46, so once we got clear of PR we put up another jib, poles on each side and the mainsail reefed and amidships to reduce rolling. We carried this rig almost the entire trip.

Tom

[Cats Eye]

We left the USVI March 17th. We landed in Florida May 1st. We had fantastic weather.

[osirissail]

The routing would also depend upon where in Florida you are headed. If it is the southern parts - Miami, Keys, etc. then the Old Bahama Channel is the most direct.
If it is further north in Florida - say Lake Worth to Cape Canaveral then you can cut through the Bahamas and either "Q" through or enjoy some wonderful stops along the way. The Bahamas are and have been a premier sailing experience.
- - North of Cape Canaveral you can again sail through the Bahamas and out the northern side of the Abacos or the New Providence Channel and ride the Gulf Stream to your destination.

[mark60]

thanks for your comments. I was hoping to make the trip in July - would this be crazy or are there normally safe windows between possible Hurricanes. I think I will end my trip in Jacksonville as I want to freight the yacht back to Perth Australia.

[osirissail]

July is getting near to the middle of the hurricane season although historically the early part of the season - June to August sees storms originating in the western Caribbean basin and then traveling north and east. Around August to October the storms generally originate in the eastern Atlantic and travel west and curve northward such that they track anywhere from the Windward Islands to Leeward Islands to the east coast of the USA and also Bermuda.
- - But all of this is just statistical - Mother Nature is not one to adhere very strictly to statistics and can throw storms at you from anywhere and anytime that she wishes.
- - So July has a reasonable "chance" of being okay for moving from Puerto Rico to Florida. Since non-stop it is almost a week of sailing, you are really exposing yourself unless you have onboard the communications equipment to continually monitor the forecasts of potential storm activity.
- - If you chose to stop along the route you are looking at almost a month underway including stops for weather.
- - As to shipping the boat to Australia, Jacksonville is a bit off the main road for doing that. Miami and Ft Lauderdale are the two primary locations where boat shipping companies operate. Also there is Road Town in the B.V.I.'s for shipping and that is a lot closer. You have to Google "yacht shipping" and communicate with the yacht shipping companies to see when and where they have vessels heading west to Australia.
- - However, Jacksonville and specifically the Green Cove Springs area - up the river and inland is a good place to hide from storms while in Florida. There are also other areas further north.
- - You can go to: Unisys Weather and look at the historical data of where Atlantic Storms have tracked for the last 15 years or so. But what happened in the past is no guarantee of what will happen in the future. It is only an indication.

[racing8989]

some peope say to me that a less than 15000 us sailboat is no able to cruise around the caribeam. Can you explain to me is that is true. Which are the minimum instrument or upgrades needed? I am nre and I want to buy a sailboat. Thanks

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by racing8989

some peope say to me that a less than 15000 us sailboat is no able to cruise around the caribeam. Can you explain to me is that is true. Which are the minimum instrument or upgrades needed? I am nre and I want to buy a sailboat. Thanks

Possibly you should shift your question to the "Under $500/month" thread which discusses in excessive detail what sorts of boats make good long term or around the world cruising vessels.
- - But the simple answer to your question is NO, size of the boat and its cost is not the only qualifier as to whether it can cruise the Caribbean or any other part of the world's oceans.
- - Also what and how much instrumentation and equipment you need beyond the mandated safety minimums of your home country - is totally a personal decision. Some folks like the simple and historical ways of sailing from destination to destination. Other folks like the cockpit of their boat to resemble the cockpit of a Boeing 747. And the rest are usually somewhere in between.
- - All of this is discussed in the early sections of the "Under $500/month" CF thread.

[John A]

Originally Posted by racing8989

some peope say to me that a less than 15000 us sailboat is no able to cruise around the caribeam. Can you explain to me is that is true. Which are the minimum instrument or upgrades needed? I am nre and I want to buy a sailboat. Thanks

This is a bit of thread drift, but the general answer to a general question is that it depends on what level you wish to live.

From boat bum to marina queen, your choice.