Crossing Gulf of Mexico

[zeehag]

di dslidell to ft myers and was recommended if i were from galveston to icw to ponchartrain then head into mississsippi sound.at pascagoula head out into gulf IFF your weather window is good. if the tugs are tying up and hunkering down--seek protection as weather will hit the fan
ask me how we learned that one hahaha
find safety harbors in case of need.
when vhf says extreme front they mean over 80 kts winds get sheltered. when iit says severe front, that is 70 kts winds we sailed thru those and wished we hadnt. was a lot of busy all at once.
if you go thru mobile bay, donot vary one inch out of the marked channel as water is very very skinny. lulus is a good place for a hb, in alabama, annd the marina is a good hidey hole from weather. farther in the icw will be found wolf bay and ingrahams lagoon--good anchoring locations for storms. we found in biloxi that point cadet was a good storm hiding location.
that was before repairs were complete post katrina. ha ha ah
we were caught between pascagoula and ft myers beach by an extreme front--we got to st josephs bay---is difficult to find th e clear channel--donot fall for this trick. we shipwrecked on the spoilsbank that comes out from engineers cut. the 4 ft seas made the lit buoys all but impossible to see.
sail between fronts or learn heavy weather sailing. use icw as needed for safe passages durinng the fronts which seem to be about every 4 days. watch for surprise potential events arising in the fla area... can be fun . out at sea off ft myers beach with big boxy seas--is not ok.it is easy to enter ft myers beach area in weather. whew. btdt. the inland gicw between ueseppe island and ft myers beach is awesome. inside behind sanibel is a safe place from some storms, better off in marina

btw--when your chart shows a tower in middle of open water--donot disbelieve it--some even have lights......

pps--we did sail the crippled shipwrecked boat back to its dock off lake ponchartrain without further incident, despite the unhung rudder and cracked skin-- that just made stuff more interesting.......

[a64pilot]

I bought my boat in Daytona and had to take it around to Panama City Fl. We had ten days to do it in and took I believe eight days, we started out in the ICW for the first several days, took probably four or five days to get to Marathon but the trip from Marathon to PC was maybe three days tops. Difference is we were only covering maybe 50 miles a day in the ICW as we didn't run nights, but covered 150 a day in the Gulf as that was 24 hours a day running.
That was 95% or better motoring as the winds were not favorable, I'd plan on motoring 100% of it seeing as how your on a schedule as we were and if you get to sail great.
From Georgia I'd say two weeks and that will give you some rest

[papalos]

hey thanks for the input everyone. yes, if he gets the boat we are looking at the spring 2017 and I told him I have about 1.5 weeks I can use to help him sail back. that gives both of us a chance to get our skills back up and to play around with the boat before we take her home.

but all this info was well worth it.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, papalos.

[capngeo]

I've done the Panhandle/New Orleans to the east coast many times in my years as a delivery captain. I agree with Cap Erict3, Even though the ICW up north is jaw dropping beautiful in places and I hate to miss it, the rhumb line from Tampa Bay to points north (or the reverse) is the way to go with a tall stick.

As to what time of year, a64pilot nailed the calms in the middle during summer; I have sat perfectly still for hours at a time. That said, there always seems to be some wind at some time during a 24 hour period. Sometimes that wind is more than you want as well. Generally in Summer the Trade Winds blow out of the East-Southeast when you are well offshore, which is perfect for north/south, but if you put too much East or West into your course, you'll fight it on the southbound leg. From late Fall to early Spring the Cold Fronts rule. You have 24-48 hours of balmy, moist wind out of the South... one hell of a squall line for a few hours.... then cold Northers for a day or two... finally a day or two of seasonable weather with gentle winds of random direction. Generally in that season I'll make the trip by cruising just offshore; I time my passage to use the cold front / warm front winds to my advantage, and duck inside to weather the squalls or opposing winds.