Liveaboard travel to St Thomas

[sean144]

First let me start off by stating that I am just beginning to look at boats, mostly liveaboards. It will probably be atleast a year before I get one. I am now beginning to learn the basics to boating. I am trying to see if a liveaboard boat between 35-50 feet like a Carver or Sea Ray would be an acceptable boat to one day travel from Florida to St Thomas. By some day I mean several years from now once I get some sea miles under my belt and take some boats out and about around central Florida. I know that it would cost a good bit of money just for the gas as liveaboards do not get great mileage on fuel and I now it would be cheaper to fly, but I just thought that one day it would be fun to take my boat to St thomas and spend a week there and then travel back. I also know that there would be several factors to consider...weather, condition of boat, maintenance, several days travel to get there, etc. Just in general, if the boat were good shape and weather looked to favorable would a liveaboard be a safe (main concern) way to travel to St Thomas. Has anyone made this type of trip from central FL or South FL to St Thomas in a liveaboard? Also, I have seen posts on various boating forums mentioning pirating, how serious is this on the route I would possibly be planning?

[OldManMirage]

Man, I always hate it when someone asks a question and gets no replies...so let me throw one out here for you Sean.

Is it possible to do this ? I'm sure it's possible but it's probably not easy. Those kind of boats are just not made for this kind of trip. That said, someone has probably done it. I would search YouTube and see if you can find any videos of it. Might be one out there.

But I can't recommend it. You'd probably have to marina hop your way down to it. And I think you'd be waiting in marinas a lot for those few and far between good weather windows.

A trawler would be a much better choice if you want to powerboat your way. Or come over to wind side like most of us here and get a sailboat. You should at least try and sail on one a few times, you might find you like it !

[sean144]

Originally Posted by OldManMirage

Man, I always hate it when someone asks a question and gets no replies...so let me throw one out here for you Sean.

Is it possible to do this ? I'm sure it's possible but it's probably not easy. Those kind of boats are just not made for this kind of trip. That said, someone has probably done it. I would search YouTube and see if you can find any videos of it. Might be one out there.

But I can't recommend it. You'd probably have to marina hop your way down to it. And I think you'd be waiting in marinas a lot for those few and far between good weather windows.

A trawler would be a much better choice if you want to powerboat your way. Or come over to wind side like most of us here and get a sailboat. You should at least try and sail on one a few times, you might find you like it !

I am not worried about quick replies on this thread as I am still a long ways out of even acquiring a boat. But, thanks for your input. I have searched youtube and there are not many videos involving the type of trip I am talking about. There are a couple and I think that they were using about a 37-40 foot catamaran with sails. I have seen a few trawlers that are not bad. And I am not 100% against a sailboat. However this type of trip ultimately must just be a fantasy as I would ultimately have to set aside a good 3 weeks for the trip there and back (allow for an week to get there marina hopping, spend a week there and another week to get back). That's a long time to take off from work.....not saying that would stop me. I was much more concerned about the safety aspect of it and as it looks since there is many people talking about that type of trip it would really not be recommended for they type of boat I am looking at. Plus I know it would probably cost 4-6 grand for the fuel to get there and back. So time will tell what type of boat I get. And most likely this will be a trip that does not happen and I'll probably try to do something simpler like the Bahamas as it's a much shorter trip. Again thanks for the reply and input.