Miami to Bahamas in March/April

[bertsev]

Hello, not looking for a step by step guide, just wondering three things:  Is March/April recommended for a 4 week cruise in the Bahamas, what is your recommended guidebook, and, if the answer to the first is no, where would you go if you were trailering your 28' Precision from Vermont, and had 6 weeks total (March 2011)?  thanks in advance for your help!

[Auspicious]

1. Get Explorer chart books - they have guides and area information in addition to chart information.

2. Waterway Guide has a new Bahamas only book. Many of the marinas down here offer up the old Florida/Bahamas edition for reference.

3. Pavlidis Exuma guide is really good.

I'm sure there is other good stuff out there, but that's what I know from personal experience.

sail fast and eat well, dave
S/V Auspicious
lying Marsh Harbour Abacos Bahamas

[s/v Faith]

What happens after week 4?

Do you have any leeway in case of poor wx / no wx window when you are planning to return?

[bertsev]

Let's call it a 3 week cruise, with 3 weeks allotted for travel, wx, and very cool places that are hard to leave...

[Captain Smollett]

Let's call it a 3 week cruise, with 3 weeks allotted for travel, wx, and very cool places that are hard to leave...

Sailing on a schedule gets a lot of folks in trouble.  It pushes a lot of people to force a bad position or make imprudent decisions.  Just something to think about when planning.

The others can comment further on this, but I've read about people waiting for crossing windows for a week or more.  I may be remembering wrong, but I think Connie (Pixie Dust) waited 3 weeks for her crossing window from the Florida Keys to Bimini.

Would I try a trip that allowed only four weeks for two crossings and cruising?  Absolutely.  But I personally would be VERY conservative in how much I planned to do while there.  I would probably view each 'nice' day, especially into the latter two weeks, as "I wonder if I should head back now while the heading back is good."

The other question is "what are the consequences if you miss your return window?"  Would you lose a job (or something equally significant) or merely inconvenience some people? That would flavor the whole thing, too...just how "tight" does the four weeks have to be?

[Captain Smollett]

Sorry, I missed the last question.

Trailering down from Vermont?  TONS of possibilities, so that changes the 'flavor' a bit.

Okay, you could plan a trip to the Islands, then if you don't get a wx window right away, fall back to one of many backup plans.

(A) Cruise the keys, including a trip out to the Dry Tortugas.

(B) The coasts of NC, SC and GA are absolutely full of ripe cruising grounds that don't require the 'commitment' that crossing to the islands might entail.  You could, for example, go to Georgetown, SC and spend your full four weeks in that general area.  Or Charleston.  Or...well, I'll stop.

One cool trip that we did was to leave from Georgetown, sail offshore to Charleston, spend a week-ish, then go back up the ICW.  We did it in 9 days, but you could easily slow down more and stretch into 2-3 weeks.  Then take a week to explore the Waccamaw River (ICW) North of Georgetown to round it out.  One idea of many for that area.

(C) East Coast of Florida - LOTS to do - 10,000 Islands, Tampa, etc.

(D) The Florida Panhandle area, Mobile Bay, Mississippi Sound all have great cruising opportunities.  One of the largest trailer sailing get-togethers (upwards of 80 boats), the Backwater Environmental Escape Rendezvous (BEER) is held every year in the Pensacola area (but it's in June). The Barrier Islands of MS are but a couple of hours from the mainland by sailboat.

Are these the kinds of ideas you were seeking?

[bertsev]

Exactly - thanks a bunch - the 28' Precision does allow lots of possibilities with the factory trailer, although it needs to be hauled/launched, and weighs 7,000 lbs on the trailer - thanks for your answer !