Brooklyn NY to Miami FL

[ezechiel]

Hello I was wondering if anyone has done this passage and or has any advice starting from Brooklyn NY to Miami FL taking the ICW routes and suggestions to offshore sailing which I'm aware currents and winds usually isn't in our favor when heading south. any and all advice is helpful thanks!

[NormanMartin]

Hi and thanks for asking.
I have made the trip a bunch of times on a variety of yachts. Of course, those were all before the current health crisis.

First consideration is air draft and water draft. Over 65 ft airdraft is out of the question for any interior transit. Water draft over 6 is difficult though I know that 7 ft can make it carefully.

Currents from NY to Norfolk, VA are favorable but weak. South of Hatteras, along the near shore, the current may run south as a counter current in many places. I have found it a bit random. Getting onto the shallow continental shelf makes for a very bumpy ride with the choppy seas.

Bucking the Gulf Stream is horribly slow. Some times boats will sail out to the other side of the Stream and enter the USA via a Bahamas transit, really the long way around!

If you can do it: NYC to Norfolk, a couple days of straight sailing.
Norfolk to Beaufort, NC inside, about 5 days and very pleasant.
Beaufort to Florida with stops in Charleston, SC or Jax or Cape Canaveral if you feel the need to stop. Easy in/out is a major factor in picking a layover. Probably 7 days of sailing plus layover time.

I use www.ventusky.com to plan my weather windows. There are plenty of other sites, too. You are looking for a NW wind. A NE wind is likely to be stormy and very uncomfortable though fast.

Norm
Averisera

[ezechiel]

Thanks Norm I appreciate the insightful feed back! (:

[tkeithlu]

As Mr. Norman suggests, there are areas on this route that have currents counter to the Gulf Stream. The Georgia Bight is one. When you are thinking inside/outside, consider two points: One, if you are tending toward short hops rather than long runs, the Chesapeake/NC stretch is attractive, because bay sailing has wind but not wave, and you are not in a narrow channel. Two, there are 29 lift bridges between Fort Worth FL and Miami that you cannot get under without their opening. The heavily developed strips of the ICW are a pain, and made an off shore boater out of my wife.

[NormanMartin]

OP:
What type of boat do you plan to use?

One of the fun ideas my wife and I have is to do the ICW in a small motorboat, less than 8 ft airdraft, cockpit camp or stay in a motel ashore sort of RVing. She likes to birdwatch and small shallow draft appeals. Maybe we will?

Norman Martin
Harwich, MA