Sailing the Bahamas and Florida with 81' Mast and 7' Draft

[videorov]

Its a 65ft boat with 7ft draft and 80ft mast. Where in the Bahamas could
you cruise. I guess you would have to stay out a bit and come in by
dinghy. I wonder if ICW could handle the 7ft draft in most places?

[gbanker]

forget the 7' draft in most of the ICW; we brought an HR 53 with 7 1/2' through the Bahamas last fall.

[marc2012]

no fixed bridges in icw 80 ft.marc

[defever]

better buy the explorer charts before you go...and pay close attention to them..there was a perini navi in the exumas a few yrs ago w/ a 12 ft draft but he sure wasn't gunkholing anywhere.. make sure you dink has lots of power because you'll be anchoring well away from land.. have fun

[Sunspot Baby]

We have cruising friends who do the Bahamas with a 7' draft. They are very careful but they are there.

George

[boatsmith]

One advantage to anchoring further out is fewer bugs in the evening.

[SydneyTim]

Have done 2 seasons in Bahamas and embarking on 3rd in a boat that draws 7'6" no problems at all just read the charts and go where you can. There are at least a 1000 anchorages that you can which is enough for most peoples life times!

Your mast and the US coast is the issue, we have 66' mast and our standard route is:

Hampton - Cape Lookout Bight - Wrightsville Beach - Charleston - St Marys - Lake Worth - Bimini. This means anchoring and no marinas/bridges.

You would also have an option at Port Royal, Canaveral (marina) and St Augustine we just haven't bothered. I may have missed others but that route means no passage more than 1 night at sea and gets you south quickly.