Advice/criticism for a solo sailor in south Florida. (Concerning west palm to Miami)

[Lost Horizons]

Originally Posted by SVSOLITAIRE

My last question was concerning what a “good” sailing current would look like for the area.

Thanks for the tips.

Oh, that entirely depends on where you are going. Against the current, zero is the best. With the current, faster the better.

[night0wl]

My old home waters. A few things you *must* do before going south like this. First, clean bottom and feathering or folding prop. Second, watch the western wall of the gulfstream...its reported by NOAA. Third, practically hug the coast. I used to race from Port Everglades to Hillsboro inlet and back. The ONLY way to make the finish was to practically sail the swim buoy line. We would joke that you keep going west (towards shore) until you see flashlights from the hotels and the people on the beach pointing with their mouth open....then you turn south. The reason for this is that there are counter-eddies close to shore that help you make your southing easier. Also, the east coast of FL gets deep really quickly...so no huge risk of grounding so long as you watch your charts. Biggest problem was dodging all the diver down flags and people drift fishing.

[SVSOLITAIRE]

Originally Posted by night0wl

My old home waters. A few things you *must* do before going south like this. First, clean bottom and feathering or folding prop. Second, watch the western wall of the gulfstream...its reported by NOAA. Third, practically hug the coast. I used to race from Port Everglades to Hillsboro inlet and back. The ONLY way to make the finish was to practically sail the swim buoy line. We would joke that you keep going west (towards shore) until you see flashlights from the hotels and the people on the beach pointing with their mouth open....then you turn south. The reason for this is that there are counter-eddies close to shore that help you make your southing easier. Also, the east coast of FL gets deep really quickly...so no huge risk of grounding so long as you watch your charts. Biggest problem was dodging all the diver down flags and people drift fishing.

Good advice thank you. Yeah I goes against my instincts to be that close to shore but I suppose I’ll just treat it like the ICW.

[Bill O]

Lots of good advice, especially Stu's w/the GS. I looked at the same thing yesterday and agree you will need to stay in close to shore.

The fastest boat speed you'll most likely see in you Alberg is on a beam reach when trying to get down the coast. Would wait for the wind to clock around so you are not taking both the GS and wind on the nose.

Watch windy.com for a good wind forecast. In a few days it appears (late Friday night/Sat. am) there will be a favorable wind shift to get down to Miami. Downside w/this wind shift it could be a bit bumpy with contrary winds to the GS. Again stay in close.

[Cheechako]

I've sailed from Ft Lauderdale to Biscayne Bay a few times. it seemed pretty easy. I hug the beach for the first few hours. If you aren't making enough progress try motorsailing at fast idle, you'll point probably 15 degrees higher and keep moving.
Watch the afternoons as thunderstorms can seem to come from nowhere in a couple of hours.

[JasonS]

We lived i. lighthouse point and sailed this area routinely. Heading south you will want a east or west wind in general. Northerly component is good. Check current maps. There is often a counter current close to shore. Take a look at your charts and you’ll see that you can sail very close to shore most of your route. Sometimes we sail just outside the swim buoys over the first or second reefs. Watch out for scuba flags and stay away. Sometimes you go out and winds/current don’t do what you want. We sometimes motorsail. Also, if slow going, Hillsboro Inlet has an anchorage just inside the inlet before the bridge and several anchorages a bit south on the ICW. It’s fine for sailboats most of the time - can get rough in opposing wind/tide conditions so check those too. And Fort Lauderdale is super easy to get in to in almost any weather. . Nothing wrong with splitting your sail into two days. Stay away from Boca inlet. There is always shoaling.

[michaeld]

Sailing from WPB to Miami is probably more than you want to do in one day. As the crow flies, it's about seventy miles from Lake Worth Inlet to Miami Government Cut. That being said, I have sailed many times to and from Hillsboro Inlet and WPB as well as Miami. Heading north, use the Florida Current (a.k.a Gulf Stream). Heading south, stay in less than 30 feet of water. Heading into a S or SE wind, you are pretty much doomed to motor and/or motor sail. I will ONLY use Boca Inlet at dead high tide. Hillsboro Inlet is OK unless there is a strong NE wind. Avoid an outgoing tide and strong opposing winds. The inlet gets busy on weekends. Once inside the jetty, you can anchor to the south in the area that is locally known as Chicken Bay. PM me if you need further information.

[mvmojo]

The Gulf Stream basically kisses the beach at Palm Beach/West Palm Beach. You need to get 10+ miles south before you're out of it's grip.

[kmcshane]

showers and thunderstorms to the area today, with locally gusty winds, heavy downpours, and waterspouts possible with the strongest activity. The front is forecast to stall over the area this evening, then retreat to the north beginning on Wednesday. The weather should become quiet once again for Thursday as high pressure rebuilds over the area.

GULF STREAM HAZARDS Strong thunderstorms are possible today resulting in gusty winds, waterspouts, and locally higher seas.



The approximate location of the west wall of the Gulf Stream as of Feb 13, 2021 at 1200 UTC...

8 nautical miles east northeast of Fowey Rocks. 12 nautical miles east southeast of Port Everglades.

9 nautical miles east northeast of Lake Worth.

11 nautical miles east of Jupiter Inlet.



This data courtesy of the Naval Oceanographic Office.

[kmcshane]

I'd also suggest waiting for the right winds to sail the Hawk Channel South. My 30 footer sailed your route both ways, and doable in a day, but it was the right day. I did motorsail the last 10 miles North to avoid fighting the Lake Worth current against ebb.
It's a fun sail either way under the right conditions, gliding past the Florida Coast and avoiding (how many) 50 plus bridge openings (argh).
I would suggest when you approach the turn to Biscayne Bay, keep sailing past Government Cut to the Cape Florida channel and lighthouse before turning West into Bay. It's only 7 more miles, and you'll motor that and more if you use the Cut. There's not any cruise ship traffic, the sailing the East Coast of Key Biscayne is worth it.

Study the charts North and West of Fowey Rocks. It's another 7 miles offshore to Fowey, so you won't be out there. But you stay offshore a bit more before your turn towards the Bay.

Once you make the turn towards shore (well marked even at night) and past the lighthouse, you can hug Key Biscayne's West side to No Name harbor. I don't go into the harbor, but if it's blowing hard from the West or South you can size it up for room (can get crowded, there's a restaurant there).

I just drop the hook in about 12 feet of water there about 50 yards off the walkways for Bill Baggs State Park. You'll have company there (used to before COVID), as boats wait there for a Bahamas weather window.


https://www.floridastateparks.org/pa...ida-state-park





An alternative to No Name anchorage, you can also stay more WSW and follow the lighted buoys toward the Stiltsville entrance to Biscayne Bay.




The NOAA text forecast gives you the Gulf Stream position, it's under 'Synopsis" http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick...fl&zmx=1&zmy=1

[CF32907]

CaptVR here:
2.5 - 3.5 over the bottom was not a bad speed in your configuration, that means you were actually going 5-6 knots.. I was raised in WPB, sailed between there and Miami all the time, 50 plus years. A long slog going south, exhilarating going north. You had the right idea. From shore out about a mile your going to experiance a knot to knot and a half going north, any farther out in the winter a 4.5-5 knot north current is pretty much normal. As a kid on the beach fishing at the inlet we caught, king mackerel, dolphin. the Gulfstream was literally a long cast from the beach.
When I would be taking a boat south, I would leave out of WPB at about 0300 in the morning and get into Ft. Lauderdale at 1600 there abouts. Stay on a mooring and go over to Coconuts for dinner. Leave at first light and be into Miami in the early afternoon.
You do need to stay close to shore 1/4 - 1/2 mile until you get off of Hypoluxo, then you can alter course and run as much as a mile off the beach. Don't have to worry any, no reefs or rocks. There are a number of entry and sea buoys on the way down, they can screw up your day, there much bigger and much more solid than your boat.
Another pearl of to remember. Going out of WPB up to the Space Center (Cocoa), get off shore quickly, 3-4 miles minimum. There is a counter current that runs down the beach to a couple miles off shore. Yes, it runs south. Start cutting into the when your about off of Melbourne. Cape Canaveral inlet is absolutely top drawer, just like WPB, Lauderdale and Government Cut.
Trying to make WPB to GC in one day is a bit much, go into Ft.Lauderdale, pick up a mooring at LosOlas, make Miami the next afternoon.
Happy sailing all, Capt. Vince Rakstis Ret.MS St.Petersburg, Fl.

PS: Check on mooring in Ft.L. before you go, I havn't been in there in years, they are city owned, may have to call for availability.

[rhubstuff]

In my experience, only a couple of days a month are good to sail south from Lake Worth. Lake Worth Inlet sea buoy sits in about 2 knots of constant Gulf Stream current. Palm Beach used to be my home port, and I've gone out that inlet dozens of times. Every single time the current was 1.5-2.5 knots going north. So if your 30 footer was making, say, 5 knots through the water, you'd only be doing 3 kts SOG. Its a tough slog even on a good day. Have you tried motor sailing with just the main up? This was my usual method to get south on the outside. Tie in a reef if you have to and sheet her in hard, full power on the engine, and you should be able to make 4-5 kts SOG parallel to the coast.

[realem]

I have made trip from Boca Raton to Miami many time and it is a good days sail but you need to pick the day and the wind. Wait for an east or North west wind and stay relatively close to shore. Having knot meter is a great point if you match the knot meter to the gps speed and if both are accurate the difference is the current. If you check the water temp that will also tell you where the gulf stream is. It does come pretty close the town of gulf stream. Plan on adding another 45 min to an hour depending on your anchor spot from the port fo miami entry. You can always stay one night in Ft Lauderdale at Lake Sylvia

Leave early plan the day and on either wind no tacking required. You will have to add

[Caliber40]

It's a 60 mile trip....should take 12 hours @ 5K...if you can't sail at that speed turn on your engine.

It's that easy!

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Caliber40

It's a 60 mile trip....should take 12 hours @ 5K...if you can't sail at that speed turn on your engine.

It's that easy!

12 hours @ 5kn over the ground! Looking at the likely 2kn adverse current, you would need to be sailing at 7kn through the water if you can sail the course. If having to tack, it would be considerably more.


<pedant mode>
K is the abbreviation for the SI unit "Kelvin", a unit of Temperature. It is also often used colloquially as an abbreviation for kilometer.
The abbreviation kn is the standrd set by ISO nad IEEE and also the preferrred abbreivation by the International Hydrographic Organisation which includes every major sea-faring nation; however, the abbreviations kt (singular) and kts (plural) are also widely used.
</pedant mode>