Oregon to Georgia

[hi_im_nick]

I'm trying to get a 41ft Bruce Roberts Spray 36 from Oregon to Georgia. Would gladly appreciate any assistance in planning.

I wanted to go south in the beginning of April and through the carribean before the hurricanes, lets say June 15. I hear it's rough, miserable, and against the elements. If I wanted to do it in a longer timeline, I could get to SoCal in the summer and wait out the hurricane season before continuing.

Thoughts/inputs/links?

[Adelie]

You want to leave SoCal late Oct.
Getting up to VA/NJ by June 15 doesn’t look doable.
8.5mo vs 2.5mo.

[Paul L]

I've done tbe trip from the PNW to the US East Coast. You aren't going to make it in your timing on a new to you boat unless you are willing to push the hurricane seasons in both the Pacific and Carib.
A few useful dates for planning.
Leaving San Diego for Mexico is usually done at the end of the active hurricane season around Nov 1st, while keeping an eye out for late season storms.
Heading north from the Canal is generally best done in Nov prior to start of the hard trade winds, or in late April early May after the trades have laid down. We did it early May.
The rainy season in Panama, summer through Nov, has an excessive amount of lightning.

Work around these and you should have an interesting trip.
If the timing just doesn't work for you, consider trucking.

[Red Sky]

Sail it to Ensenada, put it on a ship to Florida, sail it the rest of the way. $20,000 and two weeks on the ship.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Red Sky

Sail it to Ensenada, put it on a ship to Florida, sail it the rest of the way. $20,000 and two weeks on the ship.

Or via Vancouver

[Red Sky]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Or via Vancouver

You could, but Ensenada is a lot of fun for the few days you’re there.

[CarinaPDX]

If your overarching goal is to have her in Georgia this summer then just have a trucking company specializing in boat hauling pick her up in Oregon and take her to Georgia. Contact AssociatedBoat.com or DudleyBoats.com, or other specialists. Do not consider anyone but one of the large, established boat movers - too many horror stories out there.

If your goal is to get a little fine cruising in before Georgia consider spending the summer in British Columbia, then trucking her home. There are few places in the world that can compare to BC; it would be a shame to miss the opportunity.

If you want warmer sailing, and feeling like you are getting her closer to home, then sail down the coast to San Diego, truck her to Texas (shortest truck route), then ICW to Georgia.

If you can be patient then sail to San Diego this summer and haul out. Come back in November and make the trip as planned from there, with leisurely stops - including Costa Rica,

My favorite would be to cruise BC this summer, head to San Diego in September, go south in November, and then cross the Caribbean in early May when the trades come down. I suspect you may not have the time or inclination to do this but it really would be a treat.

Any of these are safer and more certain of success than the original plan, which was not realistic IMHO.

Fair winds,

Greg

[hi_im_nick]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

If your overarching goal is to have her in Georgia this summer then just have a trucking company specializing in boat hauling pick her up in Oregon and take her to Georgia. Contact AssociatedBoat.com or DudleyBoats.com, or other specialists. Do not consider anyone but one of the large, established boat movers - too many horror stories out there.

If your goal is to get a little fine cruising in before Georgia consider spending the summer in British Columbia, then trucking her home. There are few places in the world that can compare to BC; it would be a shame to miss the opportunity.

If you want warmer sailing, and feeling like you are getting her closer to home, then sail down the coast to San Diego, truck her to Texas (shortest truck route), then ICW to Georgia.

If you can be patient then sail to San Diego this summer and haul out. Come back in November and make the trip as planned from there, with leisurely stops - including Costa Rica,

My favorite would be to cruise BC this summer, head to San Diego in September, go south in November, and then cross the Caribbean in early May when the trades come down. I suspect you may not have the time or inclination to do this but it really would be a treat.

Any of these are safer and more certain of success than the original plan, which was not realistic IMHO.

Fair winds,

Greg

The more I'm looking into it less it seems realistic.

Spending the summer in BC then heading south sounds like a splendid itenerary I had not even considered that thanks for the input.

[tkeithlu]

The core of the comments above, aside from your original time frame not working, is get as much of the fun sailing as you can while skipping the largely unpleasant and simply time consuming legs by putting your boat on a truck.

You need to stay within a day or two of a safe harbor any time June-November for the entire Texas to Virginia run. Anywhere on on the Southeast and East coasts are open to hurricanes for that period, and Hurricnae Michael showed us that we can go from depression to Cat 4 landfall in 72 hours under the wrong conditions. Fortunately, there are good ports all along that stretch, and ICW except for Carrazbelle to Tarpon Springs. Is your mast too tall for the Ocheechobee crossing of Florida? It's about 54' max.

I like to visualize this sort of thing. Put together a single chart that goes from home to destination, marking the ports. Take out your dividers, choose a reasonable average speed, and start marking off the hours inshore or the days offshore. Do it again at worst case speed. Pretty soon you'll have a feel for what the knowledgeable posters above are saying to you. It's the planning chart, and it often takes up an entire queen bed sized table.

You'll have fun just planning. Do tell us about it, and good luck.