Talk me out of this....
 

I have a small Boston Whaler harpoon 5.2 and I mentioned to a friend it would be cool to sail it from Florida to the Bahamas. Now all he has been talking about is doing that later this summer for a couple weeks. We are both college students on break and have nothing better to do than look for some adventure.

My sailing experience consists of sailing the harpoon around on lakes in the midwest. Also when I was a kid I lived in Kemah, TX and we had a Erikson 38. I have never plotted a course or sailed to a destination that wasn't where I left from.

What keeping me from wanting to do this is, I would have to drag the thing from Iowa to Florida, storeage of my truck and trailor in Florida for along time, and I have a really small boat.

Talk me out of it. :dork:

Would that be 5.2 METERS or 5.2 FEET?

I assume Meters, but I also assume ya are from the US of A where most folks can't even spell meters so why would the boats be measured that way...:confused:

Yes, it is meters, and yes I am from the US. I have no Idea why it is measured that way but that is the model.

Stock photo:
https://www.ruach.net/Harpoon/brochure/52pg1.jpg

As far as spelling "meters" it should NEVER have been in the American vocabulary to start with. The so called conversion to the metric system has screwed up almost every commodity it has come in association with in regards to the American public..

We colonial Ameicans, seemed to have done fairly well, using our own measurement system for nearly 200 years, somehow overcoming the lack of the metric system and becoming a world power along the way.

The only thing that has come from the "metric convesion" is confusion, paying the same for a smaller amount of almost anything, thus allowing manufacturers to reshape the packaging slightly to assure that the American consumer, fairly ignorant of the conversion ratios, wouldn't be aware that they are not getting the "quart", "pint", "pound" that they thought or trusted that they would be getting.

Its been a boondoggle since its inception, and hasn't gotten better.

When I buy a boat, I like it measured in FEET! When I buy fuel, I like it in Gallons etc..etc.

JMHO, and I'm sure you'll all have yours.

Thanks, I was thinking the same thing, but my buddy is pretty persistant. Now I kind of want to check out how much it would cost to fly down and rent a boat for a week or so, even though I know it would be out of my budget. :)

It is very possible to do what you are saying but I would by no means encourage you to do so. You need a bigger boat to do it safely,no pun intended. I would however tell you to have fun in that boat close to shore.

No worries, I was being the rational one and said it was not that feasable in the first place. My next step though is to see how much it would cost to fly down and rent a boat, but I am sure it is out of my price range. We are in our early 20's so we have alot of time left for cruising. :D

With expensive modifications you could sail that thing across the gulfstream safely.

As is, it looks a bit open and vulnerable.
Not only from mother nature, but also from the big motor yachts and sportfishing boats that cross at 30 knots on autopilot without a proper lookout and without really caring if they run over some poor souls in their 5.2 trying to prove a point or win a bet.

Besides that, it CAN BE DONE if weather and luck are smiling at ya.

I would not..Too old and too wise now.

30 years ago perhaps: Because I had more balls than brains.

Good luck and hat off, but don't be stupid.

Why not trailer it to the 30,000 Islands (Georgian Bay) load up camping gear and bob around there for a few weeks. Beautiful scenery, fresh clean water and lots of places to pitch a tent. You could even sleep in the boat and take it down the Trent Canal to Kingston.

I'd recommend August as the bugs will have largely abated and the blueberries grow wild up there.

Don't rethink the boat, rethink the trip.

Cheers, Muskoka

You have answered your own question. You had to ask, so the reply from me would be no. If you were confident and competent to not need to ask, then you would have my blessing. I don't really know the area you intend to sail, but I would say it was possible for a boat like this to cope, providing the crew were skilled enough to cope. There are those with enough skill and courage to sail a boat like this just about anywhere. But there also those that want off 40fters as soon as a sea gets a little over a chop.

Did you mean imperial gallons??

wow thanks for the tip. I google earth'd it and it sent me to the great lakes. It that what you are talking about? Looks cool.

You could have a fun time with it camping out in close coastal waters. Maybe fresh water would be the better choice. I would remove the great lakes from your list as well but maybe some of the larger lakes could be a good time depending on the time of year.

Crossing the Gulf stream is a clearly not a safe idea. I think if you lived within your own and the boats limits you could sail some place and have fun. Hey, you are looking for fun not the incredible journey. Crossing the Atlantic in the worlds smallest boat has been done. It's less than 3 meters but was NOT an open boat.

OK, so you can't go the the Bahamas so what. It's about what you can do. Cruising out on nice lakes with islands for camping and having fun could be nice. It's what you know and what the boat can do. Seems more what you need for a fun time. Consider the extra money you would have for on shore adventure.