Beach House Is On The Move

Halafricinluya, We are finally off the dock and on our way. We left Goodland Florida on Monday, went 15 miles and dropped the hook at Indian Key. On Tuesday we cruised another 38 miles to the Little Shark River. Today we are in Boot Key Harbor for a couple of days and then?????? We always say our plans are written in the sand at low tide. We plan to be in the Bahamas in early January. Chuck

Hope you have a great trip, Chuck. Write if you find work. Send pics if you don't.

Travel well!

Fair Winds Chuck and Susan!! Skinny Dippin' will be following along with great interest!! We're hoping to make the bahamas in a couple years ourselves. It will be great to hear about the experience from a couple in a little trawler like ours. (especially the crossing part!!)

Hey, Capt. Chuck, if you need some information on some good anchorages down that way, let me know. I just got this neat new book with all kinds of anchorages in it.

Thanks everyone and especially Don. Which anchorage book do you recommend? We will be posting on our Beach House blog. Al, we are going over to work. We will be putting together the Bahamas edition of our anchorage books. It will be hard work but somebody's got to do it. We plan to return back to the U.S. in late April or early May. It will be an interesting experience with our shallow draft trawler. In the past we traveled the Bahamas on our sailboat with a 6 foot draft. Chuck

Capn Chuck said:

We will be putting together the Bahamas edition of our anchorage books. It will be hard work but somebody's got to do it. We plan to return back to the U.S. in late April or early May. It will be an interesting experience with our shallow draft trawler. In the past we traveled the Bahamas on our sailboat with a 6 foot draft. Chuck

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The Bahamas could be a really new experience with your shallow draft, Chuck. One of our most prolific Manatee owners has been poking around down there for two decades or more, and he insists on finding anchorages near the beach. He never has any paint left on his keel from nosing his way to the best spots during low tide, where only the bravest of catamarans go. Shallow draft was a primary element in our boat selection, but so was a full keel. We ended up with a 3'2" compromise.....not bad. If you get down here around Key Biscayne, give us a shout.

We will be in Key Biscayne when we are ready to cross over. To the Bahamas that is. PM me with some contact info and we will give you a shout. Chuck

Capn Chuck said:

Thanks everyone and especially Don. Which anchorage book do you recommend? Chuck

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Can't remember the title right of but it's a GREAT BOOK OF ANCHORAGES by an experienced cruising couple. I got it for the color pictures.

Capn Chuck said:

Al, we are going over to work. We will be putting together the Bahamas edition of our anchorage books. It will be hard work but somebody's got to do it. We plan to return back to the U.S. in late April or early May. It will be an interesting experience with our shallow draft trawler. In the past we traveled the Bahamas on our sailboat with a 6 foot draft. Chuck

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I taught my kids to follow your passion, find a way to work doing what you love and get someone else to pay you for doing it. You have found the PERFECT way to follow your passion and make money at the same time. Brilliant!! (insert jealous emoticon here)

I'll be very interested in your crossing in a vessel of similar size and speed to ours.

The blog has one more posting for the installation of the generator and then we will get down to the cruise. We will probably cross over mid January so stay tuned. Chuck

It seems in the summer the stream is flat for week at a time, in the winter it is rough for weeks at a time. Still better then up north

In our neck of the woods the "old hands" seem to go over in mid March to early April.

The Zoo is gone , and most anchorages uncrowded as the seasons Birds head north

Then they return before the hurricanes head down the slot.

We have found the month of May to be the most reliable for weather to cross the Gulf Stream. It is before hurricane season, the spring fronts have mostly moved through, and daily thunder showers have not started. Oh yeah, the snowbirds are heading home, and there's plenty of space at anchorages and marinas.

Yeah but you can't beat the Exumas in the winter. We have crossed over on about every month. Got the crap beat out of us in May and went over on glassy seas in December. So it really doesn't matter. You pick your weather window and go. We have 3 pieces of advise for anyone making the crossing. Wait, wait and wait. This isn't our first rodeo. It is true the crowds thin out in April and May but we need to be in the Great Lakes early June. Chuck

Trip south on the ICW in florida...day 18 on the indian river...day 19 on the indian river day..... 20 on the indian river .....dam that is a long river

motion30 said:

Trip south on the ICW in florida...day 18 on the indian river...day 19 on the indian river day..... 20 on the indian river .....dam that is a long river

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What's your destination?

Don
i am here now in hollywood, I just remember how long the indian river was,of course my boat is slow .....not like yours

Interesting definition of "work"

We're currently out on our "Christmas Cruise" around the Middle Keys. Having a great time and will be returning to Marathon on Friday to wait out the next front and meet up with friends coming to the Keys. We hope everyone had a merry Christmas. Chuck and Susan

We finally broke loose from Marathon and are now in Key Biscayne. We will hang in in Biscayne Bay until the next weather window. We thought about Friday but it's only a one day window. Maybe next week some time. It's all part of the adventure. Chuck

Chuck,
Where in Marathon were you? If you were outside we would have passed today. If your in no name the Whitby 42 ketch "Red Ranger" is crossing tomorrow. It's the last good window for sometime.

We left Marathon a couple of days ago. We were anchored off of Key Biscayne near the Yacht Club. We moved to Crandon today to wash the salt off and do a few chores. I don't like a one day window and we missed today. Last time we raced a front across the Gulf Stream, we lost the race. Not in this trawler. We were on a mooring in Marathon and at the Boat Yard for while getting a tank replaced. There is always another window. Chuck

What tank did you need to replace?

Good to hear you're on the move and ready for the crossing, Capn Chuck. Hope your holding pattern in Key Biscayne is brief but enjoyable.

Chuck,....sorry I'm not at home in Key Biscayne to invite you over. I'm still up here in Stuart on the hard, staying aboard. Our old house is on a small cove just inside Pines Canal (last entrance before you get to No-Name Harbor. Holding is about the same as No-Name, and it's very protected. Depth is min. 7.5 in just about the whole cove. Catch you next time.

Al, we had to replace the starboard water tank. We posted about it on our blog. healhustler, we might look at the basin you mentioned when we stage to head offshore. Forecast for the next 5 days doesn't look promising. Chuck