Corpus Christi to Bradenton, FL.

[sailorman7225]

Considering buying a boat in Corpus Christi to relocate to Florida. Any tips, thoughts, suggestions on making this trip? Over 900nm! Is 7 days about right? Any thoughts on hugging the coast instead of a straight shot?
Thanks

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by sailorman7225

Considering buying a boat in Corpus Christi to relocate to Florida. Any tips, thoughts, suggestions on making this trip? Over 900nm! Is 7 days about right? Any thoughts on hugging the coast instead of a straight shot?
Thanks

And the boat would be?

[tkeithlu]

Gotta know more about the boat. You have one straight shot, Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs or given you destination, straight to Bradenton. Straight shot from CC is going to put you through a maze of oil rigs, and I doubt you're talking about a boat fast enough to avoid doing that at night. Airplane, yeah, boat, nope.

[dennismenace111]

Plan on much more time. It's still tough to do more than 100 nm a day

[Sailmonkey]

Hugging the coast, especially east tx and la, is miserable!

Also time of year and boat type matter.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

Gotta know more about the boat. You have one straight shot, Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs or given you destination, straight to Bradenton. Straight shot from CC is going to put you through a maze of oil rigs, and I doubt you're talking about a boat fast enough to avoid doing that at night. Airplane, yeah, boat, nope.

+1.

Ive done this route inside (ICW) and outside. Outside near shore puts you smack in the oil patch with its related traffic and hazards. You can also go way outside and shoot for somewhere like the Keys or Dry Tortugas and avoid a lot of the oil patch (still have to get thru it off Texas though).

No ICW around the Big Bend of FL so you have to jump outside. Departing from Carrabelle is common. Ive also jumped off from Pensacola to Tarpon Springs.

Inside has some long tedious motors and still plenty of oil patch traffic in Texas and Louisiana. Once you get to Lake Ponchitrain from there to Carrabelle is a good cruising ground (Mississippi Sound, Mobile Bay, ...) with mininal oil patch traffic, but still some commercial traffic in places like Mobile Bay. Crossing the Mississippi on the inside is interesting, but not for the faint of heart or underpowered boats.

Time of year is an important consideration. Winter months = cold fronts which can be violent in the GOM. April-May are most settled, but Ive had my butt kicked in the GOM in every season.

[FSMike]

Bought my catamaran in Port Aransas.

Left from Rockport via Port Aransas and went SSE about 100 miles (see fairway on chart) and turned left on about the same latitude as Tampa Bay.
Don't have my log book handy so all times and distances are depending on my memory - good luck lol.

I wanted to avoid oil rigs and related traffic close to the coast, and didn't want to do the ICW with it's locks, bridges, barge traffic and nightly stops. Going this way I think we saw less than 6 rigs once we turned for Tampa Bay.

My main worry was adverse winds. Caught a weather window and had light conditions all the way to St. Petersburg, approximately 800 miles in 8 days. Mostly motoring/motor sailing, some sailing, flew the spinnaker once, never put a reef in. This was July 2014.

Had a rookie crew member who proved to be worth his weight in gold when the autopilot died the second day out.

Good luck and fair winds.

[SSgtPitt]

I did this last year, end of Aug, Pensacola to Corpus. 6 days and 800nm +\-. Loved every minute of it. 3 people made for managable watches. The rigs are avoidable quite easily but you REALLY need to stay awake and pay attention.
We went down the Mississippi for a little ways to shave off a day.
There are some large rigs just outside the MS delta that are guarded by CG cutters. Stay away from those. I was "escorted" out of the area after a few terse words, admonishments and threats were exchanged.....all on their part.
I think i still have my hourly iNavX track and my hourly plots on the paper charts.
AUTO PILOT DOES NOT WORK CONSISTANTLY. the auto pilot will take a hard left or right every time it passes over a submarine cable. Scares the crap out of you.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by SSgtPitt

...
AUTO PILOT DOES NOT WORK CONSISTANTLY. the auto pilot will take a hard left or right every time it passes over a submarine cable. Scares the crap out of you.

Thats not universal, its installation dependent. Likely a grounding issue. Ive spent a lot of time in the GOM on w lot of different boats and never had that issue.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by FSMike

..

Left from Rockport via Port Aransas and went SSE about 100 miles (see fairway on chart) and turned left on about the same latitude as Tampa Bay.
...

I like to run the edge of the saftey fairway, keeps you out of the rigs and gives big traffic plenty of room.

[FSMike]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

I like to run the edge of the saftey fairway, keeps you out of the rigs and gives big traffic plenty of room.

Reminds me of one noteworthy occurrence during my trip.

At one point on a night watch saw a group of small ships/large boats approaching from my port side. The radio went off and they requested that I alter course to my port and go around behind them since they were towing a sonar array (looking for oil?). I said ok, and then they requested that I go around the last ship in their flotilla, which was pretty far back. Why? Because their towed array was 3 miles long!
Now that's some big traffic lol.
Longest detour I've ever made in the middle of nowhere.

[sartorst]

Originally Posted by FSMike

Reminds me of one noteworthy occurrence during my trip.

At one point on a night watch saw a group of small ships/large boats approaching from my port side. The radio went off and they requested that I alter course to my port and go around behind them since they were towing a sonar array (looking for oil?). I said ok, and then they requested that I go around the last ship in their flotilla, which was pretty far back. Why? Because their towed array was 3 miles long!
Now that's some big traffic lol.
Longest detour I've ever made in the middle of nowhere.

Same thing happened to me only my vhf volume had been turned down. We could not figure why this guy was on the horn with warning signals over and over and no chance of collision or so we thought , at some point we realized the radio was down and when we turned it up and could hear the captain he was pissed SORRY capt
On another occasion at night in a race several boats were on a tack that had us going between a tug leaving a drilling rig or so we thought, it was towing the rig!! on a looong cable The lead boat actually hit the cable and took out a shroud ! They apparently did not have there vhf on or understand signals
I will have to admit I did not know the light combinations or day signals in both situations So now I review before a crossing

[tkeithlu]

Wonderful stories! But, to get back to the topic, giving sailorman the advice he has requested requires that we know the boat that he has in mind. His island packet 31 raises questions in my mind about committing to a multiday offshore when fronts are close together, but then he plans to buy something new. While I've done parts of this trip several times, but not its west end, I don't think I'd take it on as an offshore run without radar and AIS. So, is it larger monohull, trawler, cruiser? Equipped?

[ddavis4464]

I have made the run from Corpus to FL several times, a few years back. Never tried to make the hop outside. It just never interested me very much. The inside run was always very interesting. CC to Galveston is low country with many small towns to visit. Galveston to New Orleans is swamp, real honest to God swamp. Heavy petroleum traffic with the longest barges I have ever seen. I once saw a raft, with a very small home on it complete with chickens, pigs, dogs, and a guy with about a fifteen hp outboard barely making way. I guess he was moving from his summer site to his winter site.

The trip was great every time I took it. The Industrial Lock is the least enjoyable encounter and very time consuming. Often waiting hours to for push boats to clear their barges. Might consider floating down the Mississippi and take a sea level exit near Venice and then back north, passing though a world class fishing area, to the Mississippi Sound. Mississippi sound is long and shallow but the towns along the way are mostly casinos sites that offer a change of pace and good buffets.

Once past Mobile you are back in typical Florida cruising country. The short jump across from Apalachicola to Tarpon or any number of inlets down to Tampa Bay are easy.

For most cruisers the trip is a once in lifetime adventure. Something to savor not rush through. Plan on six months. It once took me two years. It is about the journey after all isn't it?

[BamBaLam]

Can't comment on the trip but can tell you that we're liveaboards at Twin Dolphin Marina in downtown Bradenton. It's a great marina - not the cheapest but one of the best. We love it.