New to Florida- Advice for Thanksgiving Week

[LagunaRed]

Hi Everyone,

Earlier this year we took delivery of a new Lagoon 52 catamaran in Fort Lauderdale and promptly had it delivered to Annapolis for hurricane season. She'll be on her way back to Ft. Lauderdale in a few weeks and we're trying to work out our first adventure in Florida. We are reasonable sailors but have no experience in the area. We also have two young children (4&12) with us. We are planning to be there for Thanksgiving week and I thought we would try sailing down to Key Largo. My questions are 1) Is that a reasonable place to go as newbies to this boat; 2) I was thinking about making it in two days from Ft. Lauderdale (Key Biscayne day 1, Key Largo day 2) does this make sense and, 3) I'd love to get anyone's thoughts on where to anchor / dock / moor in either Key Biscayne. Our boat is 52' long with a beam of 29' and a draft of 5'. I appreciate any insight anyone might have.

Best,

Laguna Red
s/v Summer Kai.

[zboss]

When you say "on her way back" do you mean to say that you are sailing her down to FL yourself or having her delivered?

There are several cities in Georgia and Florida that host cruiser Thanksgiving's.

- St. Mary's georgia is a famous one
- St. Augustine hosts one every year (this year TBD because of the storm)
- Vero Beach
- Dinner Key Mooring field (just south of miami)

[LagunaRed]

To clarify, I'm have the boat delivered. To Fort Lauderdale. Unfortunately, I'm still working so don't have enough time yet for the bigger trip. I'm actually looking for suggestions for 3-5 day trips out of ft lauderdale. The boat is too big for the ICW but we are trying to figure out some adventure when we are down for thanksgiving week. Any help is useful. Thanks!