Yearly trek St Pete FL to Newport area

[sailingmonika]

Hi all, we are finalizing plans to buy a Jeanneau 52' in FL and intend to winter in St Pete and spend June-Sept in the Jamestown Newport area. We intend to sail up to Newport in early June. I was wondering if any members have done the trek and what to expect for total time and conditions. As this will be our yearly trek, there and back (we may hire a captain to take it back from Annapolis rather than Newport as it be fun to sail there in September) I'd like to get a sense of how much time to allow and what the conditions are like. I understand that the Gulfstream helps on the way up. Thanks

[skipmac]

Dozens if not hundreds of CF members have made the trip, some of them many times. I've only made the whole trip FL to New England three times but have spent a lot more time than that in various parts of the east coast.

The short answer is the trip can take as long or short a time as you want. A lot depends on your inclination and the boat. First I'm guessing a 52' Jeanneau is getting close to if not the height restriction of the ICW bridges. Before making any plans you need to determine that.

Know the vertical clearance of your boat?

[billknny]

We do this trip, or one close to it every year. We ALWAYS go offshore. Our boat is capable, we are comfortable, we just don't like endless motoring down a narrow channel, and we do love sailing on the open ocean. The fishing is good too!

With the exception of the Florida east coast you can't hop in and out of harbors AND take good advantage of the Gulf Stream. It is a pretty fun day when you have good fair winds riding the stream and you see a speed over ground of 12 knots for hours at a time.

From St P to Key West is ~200 miles, so 36 hours or so. Key West to Fort Lauderdale 20 to 24 hours, Fort Lauderdale to Newport, 1000 miles, so about 7 to 9 days--depending on weather. If that's too long for you, good breaks are at Charleston, and Norfolk

[skipmac]

Online the online spec I can find is a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 52.2 that shows a 68' mast clearance. If that is your boat then Bill's comments will apply.

Especially along the SE coast: GA SC and NC it isn't practical to day sail and harbor hop. The entrance channels are so long you end up losing close to a day on the in and out time.

[Island Time O25]

I've done St. Pete to WPB leg 2 or 3 times and FLL to Boston leg twice on my friend's boat who himself had done the trip 15+ times. The FLL to Boston, both times midlle-end of April, we lucked out with the weather - non-stop sailing to Cape Cod Canal. As in "kill the engine coming out of FLL and not starting it until the Canal". Went the offshore route of course and the only spot which we were concerned weather wise was around Cape Hatteras so we went well east of it.

First trip we had crew of 5 but effectively of 4 as the owner's lady was down with the flu/migraine or some such. The 2nd trip we had a crew of 3 and that worked out well as we were all familiar with the boat and the motions of the trip having sailed with each other for some miles by then.

The highlights were trolled out 2 or 3 mahi-mahis, some king mackerel and some yellowfins. Glad we took on board a large cooler full of ice which came in handy.

The year after my second trip the owner reported real nasty weather, had to put in into Beaufort or some such and blamed it on my absence.

[Island Time O25]

Originally Posted by billknny

We do this trip, or one close to it every year. We ALWAYS go offshore. Our boat is capable, we are comfortable, we just don't like endless motoring down a narrow channel, and we do love sailing on the open ocean. The fishing is good too!

With the exception of the Florida east coast you can't hop in and out of harbors AND take good advantage of the Gulf Stream. It is a pretty fun day when you have good fair winds riding the stream and you see a speed over ground of 12 knots for hours at a time.

From St P to Key West is ~200 miles, so 36 hours or so. Key West to Fort Lauderdale 20 to 24 hours, Fort Lauderdale to Newport, 1000 miles, so about 7 to 9 days--depending on weather. If that's too long for you, good breaks are at Charleston, and Norfolk

We had SOG at 14-16kts down the waves in the Gulfstream part. Made WPB to the Cape Cod canal entrance in 5 days. Had 2-4 days to kill as we budgeted 7-9 days as is normally expected.

It was magical - standing on night watch, looking at the stars, the bioluminescence all around and seeing the speedometer sprint from 10-12 to 14-16kts downwave.

[sailnautilus]

Had done this trip annually in a 52’ Kanter with 72’ mast......offshore all the way.
There is a lot of info on the gulfstream on line...use it to your advantage as it really gives you a boost going north.
In a 5 day trip, you will have one spell of bad weather...prepare.
To go south, we would pass the tip of Long Island and aim for the Bahamas...keeps you out of the stream, then cross the stream west when suitable.
We carry 450 gallons diesel so fuel was never an issue. I suspect much less in your boat..so you will want to research where you can get in and get fuel without the bridge restriction. May need it.
There are some inside routes around cape hattaras through the diamond shoals. Research this and have the waypoints in your back pocket Incase the weather is really snotty.
Timing is always important. Going south we waited until hurricane season was over. Going north we always wanted to go early to take advantage of short season.
Fair winds.

[mholtzberg]

This 52' footer wouldn't happen to be a Jeanneau 519 named Seabourne?

If it is, then my son and I rode her home from Cuba back in 2017 (St. Pete to Havana race).

She is a beautiful boat and we were sailing the Florida straights from Marina Hemingway to Rebecca Shoals doing 10-12 knots with an Easterly breeze of 25-30 knots with double reef in the main and jib and she just few over the 14-16 foot waves. We were across the straights in 9.5-10 hours, approximately since we didn't have a land reference.

she had been commissioned at the St. Pete boat show 4 months before and when we took her back to st. pete her fuel gauge didn't didn't work and the forward berth door didn't close and the door needed to be worked on.

I saw her again at this boat show, December 2019 and saw that she was for sale.

If you have any questions, PM me.

[sailingmonika]

yes, and thanks for the info.

[mholtzberg]

Are you looking for possible crew to help move her? I may know some nice decent crew for you since I live in Tampa and work in St. Pete. and I do all of the race circuits.

[sailingmonika]

Thanks, still deciding on which boat. Will reach out if we need a crew.

[sowwaninii]

We do this trip every year. My wife doesn’t like overnights so have done it anchoring out every night with the exception of rounding Hatteras, have done it doublehanded, stopping in Charleston and Port Canaveral, etc. Lot’s of options. Where in St. Petersburg are you? We’re at the Harborage Marina. Let’s talk.