St. John to Savannah...

[Tspringer]

If all goes according to plan, I will be the new owner of a Stevens 47 in St. John. Current plans are to complete the deal at the end of March and then I will spend a week or so aboard getting to know her. My wife and kids will fly down for spring break when we will do a bit of sailing around St. John and perhaps to the BVI. Life is hard.

Sometime in mid to latter May, I will be going back with my father and a buddy to start bringing the boat north to Savannah where I plan to spend time this summer and fall doing various refit stuff her in between having fun aboard.

I have never done an extended offshore passage and its likely that nobody else along for the trip will have either. But we will have no schedule to keep and the timing should be the most docile time of the year for such a trip.

Here are my thoughts so far: We head west from St. Thomas early in the morning for a daysail to Culebra where we overnight. Leave very early in the morning and head over toward the north side of Puerto Rico and again hole up for the night. We may pause here for weather or provisions if required. Then head out north for the Turks and Caicos. From there north to he Bahamas and eventually GA.

Or..... should we skip PR and just head straight north?

Im sure this route has been done by lots of folks here.... gimme some ideas and suggestions. We are not wanting to bite off more than we can chew, but at the same time this strikes me as about as easy as it comes as far as first time overnight passages and such go (assuming we track the weather, pick a good time to leave and winds blow from the east as is typical)


Terry

[Tspringer]

Nobody has an opinion, suggestion or experience to relate on this? I figured at least someone would chime in with "your all gonna die!" or such.



Terry

[Charlie]

Hi Terry:

Have no experience on the route but I can tell you that I took on a green crew for a trip from Port Townsend WA to Astoria OR. Make sure to prepare for seasickness ahead of time. I had to figure out how to get the crew to reasonable safety in a pretty desolate part of WA state. It all worked out but it could have been bad if it were a two day offshore passage. Congrats on the purchase of your Stevens 47.

[GordMay]

Terry:
You can't get there from there.
The voyage from St. John USVI, to Savannah Ga is an impossible undertaking; which will certainly result in the death of all aboard!

[never monday]

Terry,
I did this a few years ago in a cat.
PR is a separate customs zone from the VI's. You have to check in. Do your provisioning at Red Hook, St Thomas and head out. Skim the north coast of the SVI and PR then start making north to the T&C weave through the Bahamas and into S.FL. then ride the coast up. It's easier to clear customs in S. FL/WPB, Lake Worth area than Brunswick/Sav. It'll take about 2 weeks weather dependent.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by never monday

Terry,
I did this a few years ago in a cat...

And Pat's ghost is looking very well ...

[Tspringer]

LOL.. thanks Gord.


Terry

[never monday]

I'm oh so glad my knowledge is so valuable....good luck with the trip

[Tspringer]

Originally Posted by never monday

I'm oh so glad my knowledge is so valuable....good luck with the trip

It is.... and appreciated..... and if you want to give more details and impressions of various spots to linger or problem areas to take note of that would be great too.


Terry

[Lodesman]

Terry,

Haven't done the trip myself - I think the route you describe is called the "thorny path"; found a website that may be helpful for you: Thorny Path

I have been to Puerto Rico and highly recommend a stop at San Juan - there's lots to see and do for the family; if you time it right you will be there for one of the many street parties/festivals. Don't know what duties you would have to pay, but the rum is very inexpensive. Have fun.

Kevin

[imagine2frolic]

There is so much to see along the way. Get all the cruising guides you can. I left the BVI with a stop in Culebra. They will want an import duty tax if the boat is not U.S. Documented.....1.5%

Then we headed over to the eastern tip of P.R.. El Fajardo. From there we by passed the Turks , because we arrived at sunset, and headed off for the Bahamas. There is where the real fun will begin in exploring. Use the Explorer charts, and you will need a lifetime to get through the Bahamas. Use the Abacos as your last departure, and you will be home in several days. WHATEVER you do spend what time you have in the lower, and eastern Bahamas. Georgetown is a good place to reprovision, and enjoy a little party life if you wish.

DO NOT miss the Exumas....if you do nothing else spend all your free time there......BEST WISHES.....John

[Tspringer]

The boat will be USCG Documented. But.... whats with a 1.5% import duty on a visiting yacht under the same national flag? Isn't Culebra part of Puerto Rico? Do people who visit with say a Florida registered boat get whacked with an import duty?

I wish we were going to have time to explore all there is to see on the way back up island but this time we are going to have to make some tracks north as time will be somewhat limited. Odds are my wife and kids will meet us in Georgetown, Bahamas and we may spend a couple of weeks in June making our way back to Florida. At this point.... and of coarse all can change based on weather at the time... I am leaning toward a direct route from St. Thomas to the Bahamas. If weather changes mid route, it would seem we could divert to the Turks for shelter.


Terry

[btrayfors]

Terry,

Later in May is better than earlier. Less chance of running into foul WX.

The route from STT to the Bahamas or T&C is well-traveled. Here's how we did it in 2002: Gallery :: Bahamas Trip 2002

Click twice on each pic/chart for full resolution.

Culebra is certainly nice and worth a visit, but you might wanna skip it this time. Not a great place to provision (as STT most certainly is), and only a few hours west of STT.

It would be good to have at least one crewmember aboard with offshore experience, IMHO.

Cheers,

Bill

[Reality Check]

Personally I would consider keeping the boat in the Islands for a while if you don't need major refits. This is one heck of a nice place to spend a few months/ years just kicking around. You could easily spend a month on St. John alone...

While your in St. Thomas, check out the anchorage at St. James across from Current Rock in Christmas Cove. Lots of spots to anchor and lots of snorkeling sights that draw several commercial snorkeling boats each day. Spend the day and night and do your swim when they are gone... they only stay about 90 min and are gone.

[scallywag]

Terry,

Welcome and the best of luck on your trip. I can not comment on the time your trip will take but it took me 8 days to travel from St. Petersburg, FL to St. Augustine, FL. The days were from 6:30 am until around 6:00 pm. St. Augustine's Municipal Marina is open 24hrs a day. All the mainas we encountered closed at 5 pm. Was I shocked! Take time to stop and smell the roses on the thorny path. You might not return for a number of years. The first time in St. Thomas it was a sleepy little town (Peter, Paul, & Mary were there and unknown). The last time I was there it greeeeew.

Safe Trip Captain