Ft Pierce south to drytortugas

[Keithward]

Seems like icw will take forever with 55' mast height and bridges.
Prevailing winds have been and will continue to be out of the south thru July.
Tacking into the Gulf Stream would be fruitless.
Planning to motor close (half mile) to shore due south.
Issues? Thoughts?
Thanks

[tkeithlu]

Right you are. 29 lift bridges between Fort Worth and Miami. However, you have much more margin than 1/2 mile before you start fighting the Gulf Stream.

[a64pilot]

Once you get around Stuart the stream is very close, but you can run pretty close and still be in deep water

[zboss]

There are some counter currents that form as a result of gulf stream eddies. In a south wind these N>S currents can produce some chop that counters whatever benefit you get from extra 1/2 or 1 knot you get from the eddie.

If you can make 6 knots you can time most of the bridges well and while there are a lot of them, you can easily make Miami in an easy two days... one day if you really push it. If your speed is closer to 5 knots you may not be able to time the bridges quite right and waste a lot of time spinning in circles.

[s/v Moondancer]

Keith,

I have followed your plan a dozen times without incident. I keep the boat in 60-100ft of water.

Once south of Miami I stay in Hawke's channel. Through the Keys I also use the dive balls on the edge of the reef if I want to sleep.

[Seighlor]

Originally Posted by s/v Moondancer

Keith,

I have followed your plan a dozen times without incident. I keep the boat in 60-100ft of water.

Once south of Miami I stay in Hawke's channel. Through the Keys I also use the dive balls on the edge of the reef if I want to sleep.

Good plan. Done it many times. Approaching Palm Beach hanging near the 60-foot line becomes more important to avoid the Gulf Stream. Other than that, both to the north and south of Palm Beach, 60-feet to 100-feet is a good plan.

[dwedeking2]

I did this route last Nov in super light winds without an engine. Was slow going. Got stuck doing circles outside Fort Pierce for a couple of days waiting for the winds to shift to northerlies to make that corner at Palm Beach.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by dwedeking2

I did this route last Nov in super light winds without an engine. Was slow going. Got stuck doing circles outside Fort Pierce for a couple of days waiting for the winds to shift to northerlies to make that corner at Palm Beach.

Your more man than I, I would have called Boat US

[Seighlor]

Kinda like being up the creek without a paddle. On the other hand, with an engine it would have been smooth and easy "sailing".

[dwedeking2]

No good story starts with "Well, I was bored so I motored in..."


I bought a project boat and then got myself into situations where I had to move. Taught me a lot of light air sailing.



But Condo Row at 1 knot is a boring skyline...



The point of my post though was that even in adverse conditions you can make that trip on the outside (and I found that way easier than dealing with all those bridges).

[Lost Horizons]

Originally Posted by Keithward

Tacking into the Gulf Stream would be fruitless.
Planning to motor close (half mile) to shore due south.
Issues? Thoughts?

Gulf Stream changes its location. Don’t be surprised if you face 3 knots of current less than a quarter mile from the beach around Palm Beach.