....there is some mention here of leaving for the B'mas from NE
Florida or even points further north.
...Quite a few people do this.
I live in the NE
Florida area and have headed straight due east and headed south when I got to the longitude of Green Turtle.
It's about a 3 day trip...AND....you still have to cross the
Gulf Stream.
The problem is that by the time the
Gulf Stream is off the coast of NE Florida, the west wall is about 70-80 miles
offshore and the Gulf Steam is also much wider, so you will be in it longer.
How wide ?. Well, that varies.
Additionally, the Gulf Stream starts to meander, so it's exact location is a hit and miss thing. You can get Gulf Stream updates though.
The winds
offshore will likely all be from a SE quadrant, unless you have a big front come thru'. so you will be hard on the
wind the whole way, but it's not a bad way to do it, even a relaxing way to do it..
After having done this trip for several years, I have concluded that the easiest and fastest way to get to the B'mas from NE is Florida is to sail down the coast.
There seems to be a " reverse"
current along the coast to boost your speed.
In this regards, a Nor-Easter is perfect, as you will have the
wind and waves on your quarter and you will be sliding off waves at 10 knots or more.
It's an exhilarating trip and I've made WPB in 1.5 days from NE Florida.
If you time it just right, by the time you get to WPB the NE will have died out and you can hang a left to Memory Rock without skipping a beat.
If for any reason, the doodoo really hits the fan, there are several inlets you can duck into.
Lastly, you can use the
ICW. I'm not a big fan of the
ICW. It will be a long, slow trip and can take you a week to make it. I did it one time and swore i would never do it again.
Sailing offshore, in my opinion, is the only way to fly. You can relax, put the boat on
autopilot, crack open a
beer, etc. The
weather will be the
weather, just take what you get and go. At night, after blowing out of the SE all day, the winds often swing to the west along the coast due the flow of air from the land to the sea and more often than not, by midnight, there will be no wind at all and you can switch the
engine on for 6 hours or so.
I've been doing this trip since the early 1980's and running down the coast at night is the way to go.
You can stay fairly close to shore, 3-5 miles, with the exception of Cape Canaveral, which has a large exclusion zone ( check your chart). If you enter this zone by mistake, you will quickly find a Coast Guard boat on your butt. Ask me, I know.
But the reality is that there are extensive offshore shoals around the Cape Canaveral area, so you should be a good distance offshore anyway.
I've also had the US drug squad board me around the Ft. Pierce area at night. They will sneak up on you on their 4 engined go-fast and put the spotlight on you when least expected. They will ask to come aboard and take a look around. Be nice to them :-) They are armed to the gills.
By the time you reach Ft.Pierce, you should only be 1mile offshore max. as the Gulf Stream runs much closer to shore here....from Ft.P to WPB stay close to shore.
Despite the impromptu boardings, sliding the coast, in my humble opinion is the easiest, simplest and most relaxing way to do it.
If you don't want to do it in one whack, the trip from J'ville to Cape Canaveral is an overnighter. Another day trip will get you to Ft.Pierce and the next day will get you to WPB.
Speaking of WPB, there is an anchorage immediately east of Peanut Island, but it's usually crowded and shoal. There is a
fuel dock/marina directly across from Peanut Island on the east, but be mindful of the shoals.
On the west side of Peanut Island is the City marina, where you can also gas up or tie up.
The preferred anchorage (for a quick departure to the B'mas) is to the south of Peanut Island, but there is another anchorage to the north of Peanut Island as well.
Be aware that this is heavily used inlet and boat wake will drive you nuts.
You may find several
boats anchored there all wanting to
head across to the B'mas.
It's not unusual to hook up with other
boats and leave as a group for additional
security. Just get on the
vhf and ask around.
I've often gone across with a half dozen boats. You may even make some friends.
Interestingly, the CG has very tall
vhf radio antenna's that can reach out to the B'ma banks, even 50 miles offshore, you can call the CG. They also have " repeaters" up and down the coast and their vhf signal can reach a long way.
Finally, I want to say this. Many people agonize over the weather to the most minute detail and end up never going anywhere. This is the ocean we are talking about and there will be wind and waves. Unless, its really honking out there, just go.
The weather will be the weather. It will be a rare day that the wind and waves will be so bad to keep you in part.
2-4' seas is the norm....get used to it....after a while, you won't even notice it, most sailboats can easily take that, unfortunately the same can't be said for the people sailing them.
Waiting for 6" waves and a gentle breeze is not going to happen.
It's a 60 mile crossing trip, not very long at all and just part of the whole adventure.
See ya on the
water !!