It's all about
learning the
weather patterns and how affect the
gulf stream, for the most part. And, then using that knowledge to make a good crossing decision.
Rather than trying to find a boat that will cross in really snotty
weather, just learn how the weather works and go when it's going to be a nice crossing.
We have a Bertram 42
motor yacht, that has the 42 sport
fish hull. It will take seas and slop about as well as any 42 foot powerboat around, but we still do everything in our
power to only cross when we see that "less than 2 feet" wave height prediction.
Remember, the whole point is to have fun. And, not many people I know, think bashing through steep 8 or 9 foot waves on the
gulf stream, is fun.
Our rules:
1. Wait for good days. There is always a good crossing day coming. Wait for it.
2. Have a float plan and people who will alert the appropriate people if you don't show up.
3.
Emergency location devices are not optional.
EPIRB, PLB, Spot, InReach, Satphone. Cell phones don't cut it. And, a
VHF.
4. Think what your plan would be if all of a sudden you find your boat taking on a lot of
water when you are twenty miles away from land. You don't want to be treading water in the Gulf Stream, or even just floating in a life jacket, and heading toward
England at three knots.
5. Think about buddy
boating. Going over in groups of two or three
boats, especially at first, takes a lot of the risk out.
It can be an easy trip. I've seen 16 foot
aluminum john boats taken all the way to the
Exumas. I saw two young guys in Kayaks at Staniel Cay, who had paddled over from
Miami. I had a friend who loaded his 30 foot center console down with building supplies for his house in Guana Cay, then sat and waited in
Miami for two weeks until he found a flat as a parking lot day, and then went across. There are lots of houseboats in the
Bahamas that were brought over on good days.
What's the common dominator? On good days.
Now, as for fuel. Gas can be expensive, but all
power boating is expensive, compared to sailing, in my experience of owning a lot of both (we burned more
diesel bring our Bertram to our home from
Kemah,
Texas, than we did on our last two trips on our 42 40 hp diesel, sailboat, going to the
Bahamas, combined). But, everything else being equal, diesel is cheaper. Here's the thing, too. You burn a lot of fuel getting there, for example, to the
Exumas. But, once you're there, you really don't use much, other than with the generator, which is also a good thing to learn to live without. We have
solar panels to run our Fridge. We can make it with that.
One of the coolest rigs I ever saw in the Bahamas (we almost bought the exact rig, but we didn't) was 39 foot
Sea Ray Sundancer, with twin turbo charged diesels, and tons of
solar panels on it. The couple told us they would quickly
cruise to where ever they wanted to go in the Bahamas at up to 35 knots, paying a fuel price without at doubt, then just drop
anchor, and live like a sailboater until they were ready to go home.
There are many ways to skin the cat. The important thing, is that the cat gets skinned!
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