Florida trip planning help for a west coast guy?

For info on hurricane probability by geographic area, see this link:
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/climo/#cp100


Also, for maps of storm paths by year: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/one-hundred-years-of-hurricanes/?noredirect=on


As a long-time Palm Beach, FL resident and boat owner, here are my thoughts:
** The peak of hurricane risk in Southeast Florida is September 20 (charts listing September 10 include the Gulf Coast al the way to Texas), I seem to recall, although surprisingly few hit in August and a big one hit in October. The most famous in recent years in Andrew (9/24/1992), but it hit Miami and Palm Beach was not much affected. The worst hurricanes we have had in Palm Beach County in recent years have all been in September (Frances 9/5/2004, Jeanne 9/26/2004, Wilma 10/24/2005). If I could postpone buying a boat from early September to October, I would; then the hurricane risk is the seller's risk. Of course, the seller knows this, so he/she is not likely to yield on sale date; I'd discuss with my broker how to achieve this.
** As a Floridian, I think of summer, not winter, as the Bahamas-cruising season, although many cruisers (mostly sailboaters) spend summer in the Northeast U.S. and winter in Florida or the Bahamas (look at Georgetown, Great Exuma in Bahamas for this). The reason we don't like the Bahamas in the winter is that in winter the wind blows harder and from the northeast more frequently. A 15-knot (or greater) wind from the NE makes crossing the Gulf Stream to or from the Bahamas unpleasant and maybe perilous, depending on the boat and the wind. The water temperature in the Bahamas is in the 70's (degrees F) in winter vs. low 80's in summer. Call me spoiled, but I don't swim in water below 80 degrees, and the attractions of the Bahamas are primarily ones that involve being in the water. Did I say I am a terrible fisherman and so don't do it? For deep-sea fisherman, winter is the season, and worst fishing is August to October. If you like fishing, consider the Chub Cay Club as a Bahamas stop, at southern end of Berry Islands.
** We hurricane-zone boaters know the local hurricane holes and make prior arrangements to dock in one or to be hauled out in the event of a hurricane. The best big-boat yard that is a hurricane hole is probably the Bradford Marine, in Ft. Lauderdale, up the new River (surprisingly far from the sea); don't know their rates or availability. Another choice, the one I use, is The Bluffs marina in Jupiter (or maybe Juno Beach), FL.
**What's the draft of your new boat. The ICW is great for boats drawing 5 feet or less, but more of a challenge for boats drawing more. In theory, the controlling depth is 10 feet everywhere , but in practice, it shoals to as little as 5 or six feet in some places, especially near inlets, and the Corps of Engineers sometimes takes years to dredge a given shoal back to proper depth. Google "ICW depth" and you'll get plenty of websites crowd-sourcing latest info on shoals and other obstacles (missing or misplaced navigational markers, broken drawbridges, locks being repaired, etc.). A trip up the ICW has a lot to offer (many towns and cities along the coast, some historical and some picturesque), and you can dock the boat and fly home from many airports. I plan to do it myself when my next boat (Bruckmann 47 under construction) arrives in fall of 2019.
** I second the idea that you might consider leaving the boat in Florida for a year. The you could do the ICM in the windy, winter season, do the Bahamas in the summer, and ship her westward at the end of August, before their is big hurricane risk.

guy with a boat said:

Wifey (may I call you wifey?), what parts of the trip did you like best? Did you do the entire trip or just segments? Any parts that you would rather have skipped?

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Wifey B: Ok, we came from Washington to Fort Lauderdale. I loved so many places I'd never been. San Francisco. Los Angeles. San Diego. Then Mexico, from Ensenada to Cabo to La Paz and then Mazatlan and Vallarta. Acapulco is a place we'd never stop today but was ok when we were there. We enjoyed Quetzal, Guatemala and Costa Del Sol, El Salvador but the real surprise to us was Chinandega, Nicaragua and the Puesta Del Sol resort. Nicaragua is so sad the way so many of the people live but the treatment we received from them was beyond all expectations. We gained a true appreciation.

We made four stops in Costa Rica and it was everything we'd been led to believe. We enjoyed Liberia, Punteneras and Quepos. We also enjoyed Golfito but it's a very busy industrial port.

We hit Panama City in time for Carnival and that was amazing. At the time I had never been to Mardi Gras or anything similar. The canal is amazing especially when you study the story and history. The new section was under construction. Then our fave stop of all, so nice we returned there. Isla Bastimentos just next to Bocas del Toro. What beauty and fun.

Now we made a detour to Cayman and Jamaica. Cayman is nice, but we loved Jamaica as we went to Port Antonio, a lesser visited area.

Belize and Puerto Aventuras ok but not sensational. The brings us to Cancun. It's changed so much since we were there in 2015. We enjoyed it. We went on a sailing charter one day and fishing another, but the violence in the city would scare me today so wouldn't explore the city as much as we did then.

We went straight across to Key West since we can cruise the gulf of Mexico anytime.

Understand that every place we went between Washington and Key West was my first time ever going there. All new and so exciting. Incredible experience. Definitely want to return sometime.

We also did the PNW from Portland to Seward prior to the trip down and home.

Nothing I would have skipped at the time, but would Acapulco today and would use Cancun more as just a quick stop.

A lot of people here say it's not about the destination. Well, to us it's about the boating and the destination, both. Some here perhaps traveled a lot before they got their boats. We didn't. Our vacation to South Florida right before we moved was our first real vacation trip other than one time on the TN River and Myrtle Beach and the lake we lived on in NC. Hubby had traveled some on business and I'd joined him in NY a couple of times. He'd flown through the LA Airport and business only to Portland but we'd never visited any of these places. He'd been to Jamaica on business but just Kingston. I admit to being just like a kid in all the places we visited, so excited about it all.

And the areas we cruised so beautiful. The entire world looks different from the water. So beautiful and natural. At it's best. Things look perfect as you observe them from off the shore. Closer you get you find out reality. Nicaragua the most extreme case as looked so beautiful and the resort great and then we had a guide drive us through a couple of towns and we saw where some of the resort workers and their families lived and then those not as fortunate as them.

I can't express fully how happy I am we brought the boat home from Washington on the water and didn't ship it. Now, we do have the time. Still we cruised six weeks at a time and took three weeks to fly home in between cruising throughout. We look at things like better do it while we're here and can cause might not get another chance.

Regarding draft in the AICW, you may need to do some planning with regard to tides. There is no part of the AICW South of Charleston that can't be done with a 7' draft. A buddy of mine did it with his sailboat without even getting close. Now, if you plan to cruise that section without regard to low tide, you can run aground with less than a 4' draft. Fear mongering is unnecessary; proper planning is required.

Ted

Wow. Great input and suggestions by many. Thanks so much for helping out with this. This thread is not only a huge help to me as a visiting boater, but is turning into a great resource for anyone considering cruising the area. All of the info about weather, routing, water depth, insurance, taxes etc. is important and helpful.

There are a lot of moving parts to the purchase, trip planning, and transport, so it will take some time to firm anything up. I do have a rough plan taking shape in my head, and will see if the details work out.

We will initially do day trips locally to shake down and learn the boat. I will have arrangements in place to protect the boat if a hurricane threatens. That gets us to mid or late October. Then, weather permitting, we head outside and beeline (following the stream as appropriate) to Charleston. Spend a few days there, then meander south on the ICW at a comfortable pace. That will put us at the farthest north spot for the late hurricane season and working south as the weather is getting colder. I’ll take a captain along on the run to Charleston to help me learn the boat and provide local knowledge.

Sometime after Dec 1, we may take the boat to the BVI. We have visited both the Bahamas (Exumas) and BVI on a friend’s boat, and really preferred BVI for a variety of reasons. Plenty of water depth and warm water in winter are 2 big reasons that it is appealing. For that passage I will also bring a captain and have enough experienced crew that night watches are well covered. The halfway point is Turks & Caicos where I would stop for a break and a couple snorkeling days.

The boat would stay in BVI until time to transport it to Vancouver. There are some options we’ll look at to make that happen, but I want it to be in BC in early April. That give me a month to catch our breath before heading north up the inside passage in May.

This might be a bit ambitious but it seems doable and sounds like a ton of fun. It gives us a look at the ICW run and a little local Florida flavor. It gives us some BVI time on our own boat. We give up the Bahamas option, but between the winter wind, cooler water temps, and lots of skinny water, I might be okay with that.

Reality might get in the way when I start filling in calendar days, but I like the concept if I can make it work. Comments?

Wifey B: Does the inside passage have to be this year? Rather than hurry, why not a relaxed pace and be fresh and relaxed when you do it in 2020?

Wifey, thanks for all the great detail about destinations and reasons. Some of those reasons apply in our case and others not so much. We haven’t entirely ruled out doing at least part of the trip, and you make some good points. For now I’m focused on the more immediate things that we have to commit to sooner. We will continue to explore how to make the most of the Florida/BC transport problem/opportunity. I don’t expect to do it twice so not overlooking the opportunity.

BandB said:

Wifey B: Does the inside passage have to be this year? Rather than hurry, why not a relaxed pace and be fresh and relaxed when you do it in 2020?

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With all due respect to the wonderful state of Florida, I would much rather spend next July and August in Alaska than in Florida.

guy with a boat said:

Wifey, thanks for all the great detail about destinations and reasons. Some of those reasons apply in our case and others not so much. We haven’t entirely ruled out doing at least part of the trip, and you make some good points. For now I’m focused on the more immediate things that we have to commit to sooner. We will continue to explore how to make the most of the Florida/BC transport problem/opportunity. I don’t expect to do it twice so not overlooking the opportunity.

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Wifey B: Yes, if you wanted to skip the West Coast since you'll be returning there, you could do Golfito to Vancouver or Victoria or something like that. If you go to the BVI, could sneak around to Jamaica and straight across to Panama.

Thought I would update this thread in case it might be helpful to someone else in a similar situation.


We closed on the boat mid-September and have spent several weeks on it so far, learning it and sorting out all the new-to-us-boat issues. Of course all of that consumed more time than expected and we aren't finished, but we are finished enough to enjoy to the boat.


We took the boat down to Palm Beach and spent a night at Palm Harbor Marina. Not cheap but is very nice and easy walk to restaurants and markets. Then back outside and down to Fort Lauderdale where we had a slip available during FLIBS. Being in FL during the show is its own topic, but certainly entertaining. After the show, we headed back up to Stuart (88 miles dock to dock) in one long day. The forecast was wrong and we headed into 18 kt wind from the north all day. Not the conditions we would have liked but nice to know the new rig handles it well.


So far I have learned that I'm not a huge fan of traveling the ICW in a 7' draft boat. We haven't had any issues (knock on wood), but its not very relaxing to know there is rarely much water under the boat, and if you wander out of the channel you will likely be high and dry. I would much rather bash through wind waves outside than tiptoe along inside for hours at a time.


Florida is terrific. The more time we spend in Stuart, the more we learn its a great town and location. Still planning what to do for the next 3 or so months. We have been looking into taking it to BVI but between the scope of the trip and the fact that we haven't been able to finish some wanted upgrades yet, I'm not sure its in the cards. We are revisiting the Bahamas, for which I will likely start another thread. Still planning to ship it west in March/April.



Thanks for the great input and suggestions. I've read every word and its all been very helpful.

I agree, Stuart is a fantastic area and I am afraid this success will be its ruination.
Enjoy it while it is still the quaint Stuart.
Gotta love those turnabouts LOL

My complaint with Stuart is the water, my strainers have to be cleaned every three weeks. PIA

Bigsfish said:

My complaint with Stuart is the water, my strainers have to be cleaned every three weeks. PIA

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Ah but the mom and pop restaurants are fantastic. Plus you are at the mouth of the cross FL canal.

I was told the Stuart cut was a bit dangerous but, I never found it the least bit of concern. Just like any cut, common sense and caution are the 2 key words.

You want to have fun, do the Bakers Haul Over cut between Miami and Aventura. It is narrow, remember the delta and the rocks on shore. Stay close to the shore but keep an eye on your depth. LOL I dont care what the rules might say..... If you are outbound, drive past it before you make your escape to the sea so you can check the inbound 'traffic'.

If you're still in Stuart, and you like really good beer, get yourself to Side Door Brewing, out on US 1. The best Porter I have ever had, anywhere! (And I've had a lot, everywhere!)

Old Dan

I agree that Haulover can be dicey, just have enough power and don’t bury the bow. I’ve seen Port Lucie tricky at times too.

Bigsfish said:

Old Dan

I agree that Haulover can be dicey, just have enough power and don’t bury the bow. I’ve seen Port Lucie tricky at times too.

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I have heard that about Port St Lucie/Stuart cut. My experience is limited but if one watches the wave and tide and wind (standard for any cut) it will pose no problem. Riding the waves can be fun.