In New England now, Where to go for the winter??

[SouthernPride]

Hilton head island or Charleston might work.

I am in a 53 foot Hatteras, draft 5 foot. I keep her on the hard a Summit North Marina. There are liveaboards there year round. Nice Marina, tucked away off of the Chesapeake canal. Might work for you.

[rmlarson1098]

Originally Posted by IL1333

Its a great thought!!! SC could be a possibility! From there, we could look at our options and make better plans as we learn more about the area.

For us it's not so much 'cold' (a relative thing) but freezing temps, and I mean a HARD freeze that will make you wish you had winterized your sailboat.

[Symphony]

Or go north. Maine. Nova Scotia. Heated storage shed for the winter and a place where you and good techs can prepare the boat for next season. Then sail direct to BVI and south or over to Ireland and all the deep water your keel desires.

[deluxe68]

Originally Posted by IL1333

We bought a boat in New England at this year and have spent the season there sailing it. Our plans were to sail it to the Caribbean for the winter, but we are not ready. The boat is not ready.

We want to continue cruising through the winter where we will stay on the boat for 3-4 weeks, then head home to the Midwest for a week to manage business and our house.....then back to the boat for another month.

Our boat is big and deep. A Hanse 575 with 9'-6" draft. We cannot fit in the ICW and we want to get south....perhaps to Florida, the Keys....somewhere warm and sunny for the winter.

We plan to leave Newport, RI at the beginning of October and take a month to get into and down the Chesapeake Bay. Staging near Hampton,VA at the beginning of Nov.

What is it like cruising Florida in the winter? East and West? The Keys?

Where would you go to spend the winter on the hook?

I know these are open ended questions....but let me know what you think.

Thanks!!

Rob

Did you buy the boat in Rhode Island? If so, you have to carefully plan where you are going to stay for more than a few months. Florida will want to tax you if you stay too long.

[sonAdmiralson]

if you would like to get the hang of navigating your deep draft boat in relative safety, then probably the best place in the Caribbean would be the British Virgin Islands. The islands have few reefs, and all the approaches are straightforward and deep. The area caters to larger luxury vessels. And of course its quite civilized.

[IL1333]

Great responses!! Thank you all very much!!

Yes, we do in fact draw 9-1/2’.

We’ve changed our plans a bit. From New England, we are heading south a month earlier. Next week, we plan to pull out and head to the Chesapeake taking a few weeks to get there by harbor hopping and site seeing. We want to spend a few days at several locations along the inside route. We want to get to Annapolis to see friends and for the boat show.

We will cruise the Chesapeake for a few weeks in October and decide what to do from there. At this point we have some time to make decisions and the responses have been very helpful!! Thank you!