Hello from OPTIMYSTIQUE

[Wmiii]

OPTIMYSTIQUE is my Island Packet 37. Presently we are in Titusville, FL and planning on cruising down the East coast of FL and crossing over to the Bahamas in late Jan/early Feb. This is our 1st trip, so there may be several questions.
We have cruised down the Tennessee River, Tenn/Tom waterway to Mobile, AL and across the Gulf to the Bradenton area. From Bradenton, we went down the West coast to Ft Meyers, across the Okeechobee Waterway and up the East coast as far as Baltimore.
We are looking forward to the gin clear waters, the snow white beaches, the warm weather and the rum drinks with the little umbrellas. That's what the dream has been about.

Wm Mayberry
OPTIMYSTIQUE
IP 37-30

[Islandmike]

Wmiii,

My wife and I are in CT and over the next year will finish restoring/upgrading our Ketch for a trip down the ICW and then a crossing over to the Bahamas. I would be interested in any observations you have on the ICW from Baltimore down.

While I love rum drinks the little umbrellas go up my nose...

This has been our dream for a long time as well - good luck and fair winds

[Vasco]

Welcome Wm.,

I had to come home for a few weeks but will be back in Miami late January/early February. Right now my boat's in Crandon Marina but I'll probably be anchored off South Beach when I go back. We usually wait there for a window. Give us a shout on the VHF. There's a couple of other boats I know who'll be in the area waiting to cross. We usually go from Miami to Nassau but if it's not favourable in the Tongue of the Ocean we'll stop at Fraziers Hog Cay and wait for weather. My boat's "Breathless".

[Wmiii]

We will probably cross from the Miami area. Our "plan" is to skip Bimini and go over to the Berrys, where we'll just ease down them. Then after a few days, we'll stop for the Atlantis experience before crossing down to Alans/Leaf Cay and slowly doing the Exumas down to Georgetown. When we get tired of that we're thinking of going over to Long Island, Cat, Rum ???, then up to the Abacos before coming back in the late Spring.

[Vasco]

We usually go from Govt Cut to North Rock. Just heard from the crowd I was with last week. They all crossed on New Years Day and are in Nassau now. It was a real good crossing. I don't think you can clear in at Chubb yet, they're still under construction so it'll have to be Nassau. We don't stop at Bimini or Cat because you can usually ride the window right across the banks if you keep going.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha WMiii,
Welcome aboard!! Hope you enjoy the forum as much as I do. Lots of good conversations.
Kind Regards,
JohnL