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Old 12-09-2018, 06:12 AM   #41
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My first 5 round trips to FL and back, because of work, I didn't leave till early or mid December.

Only a couple times did I miss a normal cruising day because of weather.

Most only a day, once or twice a multi day layover but never more than 2 additional days.

This has been a cool,vwindy fall...so it won't be easy some days deciding go-no go ... And as RTF posted, if for any reason you can't generate heat at some point, you are in a tough spot.

Other than that, have low expectations of marina services, keep plugging along, making distance on days you can....and things just might turn out as you expect them too.
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Old 12-09-2018, 08:28 AM   #42
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You have convinced me that I should have a more formal Plan B. I'll spend some of my Sunday looking for 2 or 3 places along the route that I can leave the boat that also have good access to rental cars. Charleston, Hilton Head, anywhere else with a decent sized city or tourist center?

Not necessarily- Enterprise is ubiquitous, and they'll pick you up! For example, we stayed at Coffee Bluff- south of Savannah, small, off the beaten path, secure, fantastic folks, inexpensive. I wouldn't hesitate leaving the boat there for a side trip in a rental. The Enterprise branch was about 5 miles, 'Sure, we'll come get you!' There are lots of gems just like that up and down the coast. You'll find helpful reviews on AC, you can find Enterprise locations close by on Google maps or Google Earth. Word of mouth, forums, all great sources of obscure local knowledge.



As far as your air draft, measure it. Don't guess, don't use the spec. Get a cheap laser level or borrow one, measure it, then record it or post it by the helm. You'll be doing enough bridges that it will be worthwhile. You can be fined for requesting unnecessary lifts, not saying that it occurs, but I've had bridge tenders question a request. Knowing the actual air draft usually ends that exchange promptly. They will not give you any information that places them in a position of being liable. So if a bridge shows 14 ft on the boards and your air draft is "about 14 ft", can you get under the bridge? Don't ask the tender, they can't advise you. It's just one area you can improve your confidence level and reduce stress by knowing that easy to determine factoid.


Ditto the aversion to a schedule. Easiest path to make a trip a real unpleasant experience, so your plan to have an optional bailout is sound.
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Old 12-09-2018, 06:55 PM   #43
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Thanks again.
We're going to take advantage of whatever good conditions that might come our way and we'll either stay put or take it easy on the bad days.

Working on some bail out points for renting a car. Thanks much for the Coffee Bluff recommendation, a rental car and a 3 1/2 hour drive would be no problem.

After Daytona our next stops are most likely Miami to visit with friends and the Keys to do some snorkeling but we don't expect to get there until mid January so no rush. We hope to be fairly experienced cruisers by then.
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Old 12-13-2018, 08:50 PM   #44
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Taking advantage of the excellent weather the past few days.
Made it across the smooth as glass Abemarle Sound today to get to the Alligator River Marina.

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Old 12-14-2018, 05:28 AM   #45
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Nice, I am starting to think the weather is better now than back in late October, Nov, when I came down. Keep truckin'!
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Old 12-20-2018, 10:10 AM   #46
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Nice, I am starting to think the weather is better now than back in late October, Nov, when I came down. Keep truckin'!

We made it across all the bays and inlets with nothing more than 2ft of wave - maybe not even that big.


Right now we are at Fernandina Beach in FL and we'll probably have to stay until Saturday due to rain and very strong wind forecasts but it looks like we should make it to our destination in Daytona with time to spare.


A fun trip with interesting places so far from stops in smaller towns to some pretty good meals in Charleston and Savannah. This time we were 20+ knots whenever we had an open stretch of water. Next time I'd like to take it a little slower.
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