Asking the northern boaters

If you needed to bring a 30', single engine, semi displacement boat down to Florida from the Connecticut area would there be a cut off date in the winter where it would be impossible to do? I realize it will be uncomfortable to say the least.

Greetings,
Mr. CR. I don't know the area at all but you would need: open and sufficient depth of water, operating swing/lift bridges and or locks, enough operating marinas along your route to re fuel and re provision and acceptable weather. Make sure the TOW companies will be available.



Navigating in a snow storm is akin to the same in fog visibility-wise. In freezing temperatures any water that gets splashed or sprayed on your boat will freeze. Too much ice and over you go.


Definitely a LOT more comfortable, albeit more expensive, to have it trucked or wait until spring.

Thanks RT I never even thought about the marinas being closed down. I have lived in Florida to long. They are, of course open all the time here.

You can do it all winter but some weather delays could be measured in weeks instead of days.

Finding fuel isn't all that hard, but water and electric at many places north of North Carolina may be shut off.

I have left as late as Dec 15th in a 6 knot boat and it wasn't too bad.

By January, it almost becomes a survival trip till south of Hatteras.

I wouldn't do it unless the boat was a pretty special craft, outfitted to the teeth....and I endured USCG icebreaker duty.

Greetings,
Mr. CR. You're welcome. I speak from fairly recent experience. Left our old home port in Camden, NC March 1st. Had to break 3/4" of ice in the harbor to get out to channel. BIL ran us aground in a heavy snow squall coming across Albermarle Sound.



Our VERY good fortune the woman who owned and operated the Alligator River Marina sent someone down to turn on the power at the docks with 10" of snow on them. Next morning had to "hover" for an hour or so until the swing bridge thawed out enough to operate.



Other than the minor inconveniences the first two days, I don't recall any other real problems...An adventure, to be sure. Would I do it again? Hmmm....

WHAAAAT? You ran aground???
So deceptive, you were like a mentor to me, but now...
LOL of course I am just kidding, no offense.

L

Greetings,
Mr. L_t. Ecoute et pense...In my post above (#5) I wrote "BIL ran us aground..." BIL=Brother In Law. I was crashed out in the saloon.


I ran us aground twice further south on that trip!




Bon!

This boat has a 3.5' draft and a protected prop, but I will try my hardest to not bump the bottom to much.

No way to declare a date because it depends on weather. How fast and far can you go ?
NJ outside is not going to be fun past Thanksgiving

I believe it is a 7 knot cruise speed with 200 gallons of fuel. I'm not positive on the gph but have been told 2 - 2.5.

psneeld said:

You can do it all winter but some weather delays could be measured in weeks instead of days.

Finding fuel isn't all that hard, but water and electric at many places north of North Carolina may be shut off.

I have left as late as Dec 15th in a 6 knot boat and it wasn't too bad.

By January, it almost becomes a survival trip till south of Hatteras.

I wouldn't do it unless the boat was a pretty special craft, outfitted to the teeth....and I endured USCG icebreaker duty.

Click to expand...

I did it in early December 2013 from Providence, RI to Florida.
The boat will be cold, even if the air temperature isn't so bad.

If I had to do it again, I'd think the no-go dates are early November to early April.

I know a couple who do that run from Stamford, Ct just before thanksgiving.
But they are in a 42 ft Fl coaster with a nice heated pilot house area.

Lots of issues raised here after Mid-November. Up north closed marinas with drained water systems. No pump-out stations available. Floating docks pulled at some spots. But with planning you should be able to get fuel.

One thing not mentioned is available back-up if you get into a tight spot and need help. Though no fault of yours you may be in a spot that requires assistance. A small inconvenience in the summer can be a fatal flaw in the winter. It’s not could you do a late season run, it’s should you do a late season run.

Stay safe, if you can’t leave in the next week or so, trailer.

Let's not get carried away.

It can be done just less comfortably and less convenient.

Some years even a December departure isn't all that bad, 3 years ago I was in a T shirt from Jersey to Wilmington, NC and Christmas dinner there needed air conditioning.

This year even getting south in late October was tough with wind speeds and chilly nights. But hardly dangerous....which I suspect November won't be much different.

But all in all, it's the boat and gear and systems that make a huge difference...

We came down one Jan NYC -MIA but the vessel had Dickinson oil heat and was quite comfortable.

Biggest hassle was ,,,before cell phones,,, having bridge tenders realize there was a South bound vessel.

Some bridges took a call to the coasties on 16 to ask them to wake up the bridge tender with the land line..

Except for bumping some ice at times no hassles.

Plenty of anchorages , usually fuel every couple of days from a commercial working dock.

If you have time an electric 12v sheet will allow fine sleeping.


12 Volts Bunk Warmers | Electro Warmth


https://electrowarmth.com › 12 Volts Bunk Warmers
12 volt bunk warming pad goes “on the mattress” under you (heat rises). Plugs into the lighter socket. Pre-warms bunk and gets rid of dampness. Heat soothes ...Missing: sheet ‎| ‎Must include: ‎sheet


Depending on the boats layout , a good set of ear plugs and a noise cancelling head set might allow cruising with the engine hatch open.

In Alaska a big problem was lack of daylight hours. Couldn’t get very far at 6 knots and in the Juneau area three hours or so was all the daylight you get. And w big tides there were stronger tidal currents.

Basically otherwise a good seaworthy boat w dependable heat is fine.

Nomad Willy said:

In Alaska a big problem was lack of daylight hours. Couldn’t get very far at 6 knots and in the Juneau area three hours or so was all the daylight you get. And w big tides there were stronger tidal currents.

Basically otherwise a good seaworthy boat w dependable heat is fine.

Click to expand...

We have 8 hours of daylight here in the winter, which made for long nights in a tent while sea kayaking. Don't have a winter storm anchor for Badger yet so only do day trips in the winter, but a good heater does make all the difference!

Those daylight issues aren't a big problem back where this guy is travelling....shorter days, but long enough to make miles.

I need Heat

This boat has Reverse cycle Air Conditioning and heat system and Bus" type heater at the helm...runs off main engine but No fuel type heater. It also has a yanmar powered generator, not sure of the KW size.

Greetings,
Mr. CR. You should be OK while under way as long as the generator can run the reverse cycle AC/heat AND the water is not too cold (reverse cycle only works to a certain water temp). The "bus" heater is a nice touch. Your title is MOST apt. You DO need heat.



Just wondering if a "Gumby" type survival suit is overkill? Perhaps you can rent one for the trip. Better minds than mine can provide more appropriate comment.

Being from the warm state of Florida, I may want to wear it during the whole trip.

Springtime is a better time

The plans have changed, the boat will stay on the hard and all wrapped up until spring. We will fly or drive up to Connecticut and then bring her down on hopefully a little more enjoyable 1400+ mile trip. All you Northerners will be going the other direction at that time of year, maybe we will meet up with some of you on your trek back to your summer homes.

See you on the flip side. We will be heading north April/May 2019.

"We will fly or drive up to Connecticut and then bring her down on hopefully a little more enjoyable 1400+ mile trip."


The water is really cold in the spring , you will need comfort heat more than heading south in the warm water fall.

Irrelevant now that you've changed your mind but can be done anytime with planning, although I wouldn't personally try between December 1 and February 15 or so. Have a friend who just ran a trawler to Long Island and then ran and 50' cruiser from Annapolis to FL. Biggest challenges were windows to run outside were less frequent and some facilities not open or open for much shorter hours. Also, the shorter day makes more difference than one thinks as because you still have the same start of day tasks and end of day tasks, the cruising time is cut by a larger percentage. With the weather system currently sweeping through keeping warm would be quite a challenge. Other times it would be easy. A lot more calling ahead and planning required as you can't afford to take chances that the marina will be open and no one decided just to call it a day early. I knew a captain who tried to call and got no answer so went on to a marina anyway. No one there at 4:30 so he just used his generator. Morning comes and no one and then another boater tells him "She normally shows up this time of year around 10:00." Unfortunately, he needed fuel so had to wait.

There are enough major ports along the route that planning ahead you will find fuel and dockage as needed.

New Jersey is perhaps the biggest challenge as there was only one day in a ten day period where it was fit to run outside from Atlantic City to NYC. Further south there were extended periods he couldn't run outside, but all areas had reasonably navigable ICW.