First I sailed a Moorings 46 from BVI to south
Florida last December and, taking advantage of the tradewinds, made the trip in 6 days sailing around the clock. A very tiring trip for 2.
There is no "safe" place in the
caribbean from July to late November since it is the hieght of
Hurricane season, this goes for the south
east coast of the U.S. as well, including all the Gulf coast states.
With that said we have our boat at a Marina on the
East Coast of
Florida in Cocoa on the
ICW. We take our chances because the sailing territory is excellent with easy access to the Keys and the
Bahamas and a great view of the Space Shuttle launches.
An other reason is that if we moved one more county south of us we would not be able to get
insurance. South East Florida is an
insurance nightmare. Even with that said, we pay a hefty premium for keeping the boat in the Hurricane Zone.
Most Insurance companies will not cover you south of the Turks and Cacios unless to ask for an extra rider (even more
money for them).
If you take the boat up the east coast to NC (which also gets hit by Huricanes) you premiums will come down (when I asked my agent about this, there comment is that there are less boat there than in Florida so if a storm hits the losses would be less for them).
Insurance is a major part of your decision, having spent the money for a nice and expensive boat, I wouldn't over look this issue.
You also need to looking at where you will register your boat and if you will Coast Guard document it. If you register in Florida you will have to pay sales tax, a hefty amount on a boat, if you don't you need to have it out of the State, I believe, every 90 days. there is a
LEGAL way around this and it was just discussed on the Cruiser Net a few weeks ago. This tax is big revenue for the State so If you try to get away without paying
taxes and stay in florida anyway you will get caught, then you will have to pay the
taxes and a fine!