Planning a route - Fort Myers to Miami

[ccanupii]

You can do it, BBBUUUUTTTT, easier said than done. From FT. Meyers use the Okeechobee waterway to the lake. Stop at Labelle, free dock, stop at the last lock, city dock and hit the lake early. Do not take the rim route. The lock on the otherwise, treacherous at best. Lots of shallows, lots of currents. Once across the lake, take a right at the Atlantic Ocean and follow the ICW down. Get waterway guide books or use their website. Get Navionics. Get an experienced captain to help you. It looks easy, but it is not. All your experience with big trucks is not going to help you on a boat. I did the crossing in a Carver 444 for the first time and was interesting to say the least. Straying off course for even a few feet if the water level is low could be disastrous. Get assistance, and get to know your vessel before you just head out.

[torroshop]

"What you think you know can kill you"

[Wolfe10]

Very familiar with the Okeechobee Waterway, but unless he has help, I would suggest that starting out the first day of ownership by boat handling in the locks is sure not I would recommend.

[onavegador]

Hi
first buy the charts from your point of departure to the lake Okeechobee and further to the ICW to sail down to Miami, as ccnupii wrote before.


Sail your boat slow not planing, so if you touch ground its not a disaster.


Have many fenders on both sides and the moorings (ropes) ready. In the locks one mooring from the springclamp (clam midships on the side) to the bollards may be enough (with this system I passed several hundred locks with ease). Do not forget to fasten the mooring or to ease if water in lock goes down. For unforeseen stops or anchoring have a good anchor on board (may be 50 lbs).


Take your time and gain experience on this trip. I you are short of time hire a captain.


Good luck!

[Mark Stillwell]

Originally Posted by federalexport

Hi. We bought 2020 Galeon 425 hts. Have no experience at all. We are going to drive it from Fort Myers to Miami on june 9. It is about 240 miles and should take 2 days. Due to no experience at all we cant drive in night time and we have to stop for night at some island. Can anybody give me idea of our course, where can we stop for a night and where is the passage that we need to find to get through these islands that goes from miami to key west. Boat got navigation and everything that needed for 2 days traveling, but we have 0 experience and decided to do it by ourself without hiring captain. Please dont advise to hire captain. We just need course and we can do it. Thank you in advance.

Just a course….Fort Myers to Boot Key Harbor in Marathon. Easy run first day. Under 7 Mile bridge. Watch for stone crab traps. Refuel. Marathon to Miami second day.

We’ve taken this route a couple of times on our sailboat ….2 days to Marathon, another 2 days to Miami.

[Stmurray62]

Sorry, to be so blunt, but you are being obtuse and not listening. It is not safe to make the trip you plan without competent assistance . Hire a Captain, be safe and you will learn a lot in the process.
I am an ASA certified Instructor and retired Delivery Captain, with over 100,000 blue water miles. Si, I know what I’m sharing with you is safe advice.

[ccanupii]

I appreciate the private messages but let me re-visit this here so there is no misunderstanding.

I am not trying to give the exact course, nor is my intent to tell someone how to navigate from Ft. Meyers to the Keys then to Miami. I was trying to answer being vague for a reason. Do I have some experience with this, yes. Am I a licensed captain, no.

I did about the same thing with my new to me Carver 444. I traveled from Texas to where I am now in Washington D.C. area. Before we departed, we had touched almost every system on the vessel. All electronics were new, all charts were updated. We took classes on navigation and weather as a refresher to what we already knew. We plotted, replotted, confirmed, read and reconfirmed. A captain gave my wife handling courses, we took the vessel out and tested everything, we took nothing for granted just because we were told it was in working order. By the time we got to the Okeechobee, we had a few miles of ICW and the crossing from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs under our belts.

Yes the Okeechobee is no easy ride, but it sure seems more prudent than taking an engine only vessel on a passage that has very few, if any now, fueling points. I was simply giving a general direction to go, two stopping points that worked well for us and ended with get the knowledge and get help.

After reading this entire thread, it does seem like there is some loss in translation going on. It is important to remember that the chain is only as strong as the weakest link. Just because you have a 25ton masters, doesn't mean your friends know what they are doing. I have told a family member that they can visit while we are at dock, but because of their inability to follow directions, they are not welcome onboard while underway.

Port Mayaca Lock is treacherous and is a tale that will stay with us for a long time but it was the better option that a long span of nothing from Marco Island to Marathon. That is a lot of area for something to go wrong and no place to shelter.

So please, I don't need the private messages telling me I should or shouldn't have posted something.

[RSH]

Originally Posted by federalexport

Hi. We bought 2020 Galeon 425 hts. Have no experience at all. We are going to drive it from Fort Myers to Miami on june 9. It is about 240 miles and should take 2 days. Due to no experience at all we cant drive in night time and we have to stop for night at some island. Can anybody give me idea of our course, where can we stop for a night and where is the passage that we need to find to get through these islands that goes from miami to key west. Boat got navigation and everything that needed for 2 days traveling, but we have 0 experience and decided to do it by ourself without hiring captain. Please dont advise to hire captain. We just need course and we can do it. Thank you in advance.

I live here in Ft. Myers and I own a 40' sailing catamaran.

You are a fool if you think you can navigate our waters without local, experienced guidance.

You can't trust the charts because the shallow, sandy bottom shifts after every storm, and the weather can be absolutely crazy with little to no warning unless you know what to look for.

You can't "just need course and we can do it" if you DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO CHART A PROPER COURSE.

Feel free to ignore my advice, my second piece of advice is to make sure you have an active Sea Tow membership because you'll be using it.

[vanderd]

I live in Cape Coral just across the River From your starting point in Fort Myers. Been boating for 45+ years, most recently with a 44 PowerCat. I’d be happy to go over some basics with you and point out some important info on nav charts. If you choose Okeechobee I’ve locked thru a number of times and would be happy to share what I’ve learned

[Cynara]

Buy some good charts. Maybe there are some cruising guides.. learn to read them. Maybe YouTube can help. Don't be in a hurry. Don't travel at night. Layout your course on the charts. Make sure your depth sounder and knot meter are fairly accurate. Make sure what you see out the window is what you expect to see. Make the first few trips go like you expect.

You probably have a chart plotter and GPS. if it tells you to turn left don't follow it blindly. Practice anchoring because marinas might be full. Talk to people a long the way they will have a lot of information. Have fun

[rwaldrop13]

Originally Posted by federalexport

Hi. We bought 2020 Galeon 425 hts. Have no experience at all. We are going to drive it from Fort Myers to Miami on june 9. It is about 240 miles and should take 2 days. Due to no experience at all we cant drive in night time and we have to stop for night at some island. Can anybody give me idea of our course, where can we stop for a night and where is the passage that we need to find to get through these islands that goes from miami to key west. Boat got navigation and everything that needed for 2 days traveling, but we have 0 experience and decided to do it by ourself without hiring captain. Please dont advise to hire captain. We just need course and we can do it. Thank you in advance.

Does your insurance company know you're doing this? Even with 13+ years in the Coast Guard our insurance required a licensed captain accompany us to move from Stuart to Fort Myers and sign off my competency.

[wing15601]

I once bought an Ocean Alexander 38 which was on Pickwick Lake about 1/4 mile south of Tennessee. I have boated extensively in the NJ and Fort Myers area but my largest boat to that point was 26 feet. I made several trips to the boat from my home in Ft Myers and spent the money for everything necessary to take the boat home. I was intimidated by the boat and stayed on the boat several days to familiarize myself with all its systems. There are a lot of locks and draw bridges between Pickwick Lake and Fort Myers. I only had two problems on the entire trip, a hurricane kept me in port for several days on the Tenn-Tom and the starboard shaft flange’s bolts broke while meandering waiting for a bridge. That was an unexpected $3000 problem. My advice is to plan every stop, Stay in contact with someone ashore. Buy the best BoatUS towing package and have plenty of money. The Locks on the Okeechobee waterway/ Caloosahatchee river are easy. Never, ever, yell at a crew member, especially your wife.

[Wolfe10]

With ANY offshore passage, plot out and program into your GPS all possible "bailout" ports and study them enough to be comfortable going in to any of them if difficulties (weather, mechanical, etc) occur.

[boatingisbetter]

They are moving the boat June 9th... today. Spoken as someone who has never moved a boat off the dock.

Nobody who actually has moved boats would make a hard and fast date for any move. Weather is the number one factor and cannot be predicted more than a few days in advance.

Thus a plan to move a boat on a certain day is not a plan.

A flexible schedule that allows for waiting for proper weather is the number one priority.

I have made this trip many times in both directions and all options. It is not difficult with the correct weather. (Marathon is the logical half way point. It should take two days. Or take the inland route and layover in Stuart... it is less weather dependent.)

Though I must admit I don't think this is a real posting. My assumption is that it was posted to get a reaction.

[Seadaddler]

Get IPad and Navionics it has auto routing and use it on my 36’ sailboat 5’ draft
works great been to keys and up and down both sides Florida