Cape Cod to Ft Lauderdale

[swpalmer1]

Hi all,

After sailing in our new to us Lagoon catamaran up to Cape Cod for the summer, my wife and I are readying our plans for our return trip back to Florida.
We would like to leave with a time window sometime mid September through late October.

We were hoping we might be able to meet a group of cruisers also heading south to buddy with. We are fairly new to sailing. Our mast is 71 feet so we will have to stay outside all the way except for Long Island sound and inlets to duck in.

If anyone is interested we would love to talk. We certainly are open to taking our time and enjoying the company on the way down. We are currently in Newport and will be on the Vineyard in a few weeks. We look forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards,
Steve and Mary-Ellen

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by swpalmer1

Hi all,

After sailing in our new to us Lagoon catamaran up to Cape Cod for the summer, my wife and I are readying our plans for our return trip back to Florida.
We would like to leave with a time window sometime mid September through late October.

We were hoping we might be able to meet a group of cruisers also heading south to buddy with. We are fairly new to sailing. Our mast is 71 feet so we will have to stay outside all the way except for Long Island sound and inlets to duck in.

If anyone is interested we would love to talk. We certainly are open to taking our time and enjoying the company on the way down. We are currently in Newport and will be on the Vineyard in a few weeks. We look forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards,
Steve and Mary-Ellen

If you can wait until early November you might consider joining Salty Dawgs. They leave primarily from Hampton, Va. with destinations in the Caribbean, Bahamas, US coast. The normal fleet is around 80 boats. If you depart from Hampton you will share in lots of learning, assistance, weather routing, fun.

https://www.saltydawgsailing.org/

[swpalmer1]

Thanks Nicholson58. I will look into that. Appreciate the reply.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by swpalmer1

Thanks Nicholson58. I will look into that. Appreciate the reply.

There are usually special promotions for this at the Annapolis sail boat show. The Dawgs have a booth with helpful, knowledgeable members. Tell them Mark on ROXY sent you. Also lots of show specials as well. Anchor or moor out. Free samples at the Hendricks Gin tent. Lots of samples and good food.

[sailorboy1]

As you stop along the way, ask around where you are (marina, mooring field, anchorage). You will have lots of chances to bubby boat up, especially in a mooring field/anchorage.

[swpalmer1]

The Salty Dawg group rally’s look awesome and is definitely something we would want to do in years to come. Though their Fall Rally goes from Virginia to Antiigua, it doesn’t appear to go to Florida.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by swpalmer1

The Salty Dawg group rally’s look awesome and is definitely something we would want to do in years to come. Though their Fall Rally goes from Virginia to Antiigua, it doesn’t appear to go to Florida.

There are always member who drop out into the Bahamas and Florida. You are correct that the main body goes to Antigua. There are others who drop in the US and British Virgin Islands. Four years ago, pre-hurricane, the rally was to Virgin Gorda. We made the transit in 7-1/2 days with highly favorable winds. 1500 miles. Bumping the east coast would have taken months and there were few places for our depth and 80 foot mast.

[kipwrite]

Last year several Salty Dawg boats headed to the Bahamas ran down the coast to Florida, and then across the stream to the Bahamas.

[Kenomac]

We also plan to make the trip down the eastern coast starting from Boston in late October 2019 on our Oyster 62. Please keep in touch.

[LeeV]

Most certainly the weather window “should” be better. End of August into September “could” be messy. Go along and drop off when you need to.

Have fun!

[swpalmer1]

Thanks everyone for your input. Still somewhat perplexed about weather windows and timing. We need to stay up here until September 10th. Some say if we leave in October we could be past the weather window and might get stuck. Others say it should be earlier then September. We are still all ears.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by swpalmer1

Thanks everyone for your input. Still somewhat perplexed about weather windows and timing. We need to stay up here until September 10th. Some say if we leave in October we could be past the weather window and might get stuck. Others say it should be earlier then September. We are still all ears.

Travel with the Dawgs and you get Chris PARKER as weather router. Nice folks and great community.

[Kenomac]

SWPalmer,

Our insurance won’t allow us to be south of Cape Hatteras until after Nov 1, they must know a thing or two about October storms. On your boat, like ours, we should have no trouble motoring over 200 mile days if necessary to get down there quick and to avoid storms.

Fuel is still cheap in America, so I have no issues with using it when necessary.

[Kenomac]

I checked out the Salty Dawg Rally, looks like fun. Pretty sure we bumped into the rally going north last season. If our boat is ready in time, we might try to join up.

[Kenomac]

The more I think about it, the more I’m inclined to join the rally. So our new goal is leave Massachusetts mid October, join up with the group in late October and make the crossing rally style putting us in the Caribbean by mid November.
https://www.saltydawgsailing.org/fal...-dawg-rally-2/