Planning New Adventure

[rfrance0718]

I'm starting to collect info for winter cruise in the Oday. My idea is to start from Sarasota area on the West Coast, sail down to the keys, over to the Bahamas, back to Stuart Fl, through the Okeechobee canal over to Fort Myers, and back up to Sarasota.

I'm thinking of spending about 3 weeks in the Bahamas and another week for the rest of the tri. I'll probably do some of it alone but have crew for some parts as well. I'm thinking that Tami can fly in and cruise for a week or so in the islands. I've had a friend show some interest in the crossing, and maybe 1st part of the Islands. I wouldn't be adverse to making the crossing alone. I'm looking at new Chart Plotters with AIS. 

I'm just starting my research and would love to have advise from small boat veterans. I started with this write up.I did sail in the Bahamas once, but even further back than my 1st Flathead trip, 1979, and I was crew.

file:///C:/Users/rfran/Documents/sailing/Bahamas/download.htm

[Harry]

Sounds like a pretty ambitious (but fun) trip. My only concerns would be 1. Going solo 2. Barge traffic and locks on the canal 3.The treacherous inlets on the Florida's east coast. I'm sure you will be scoping these out. Plenty of info has been posted on crossing to the Bahamas. Keep us posted.

[Travis Chapman]

I did two trips with solo components: a Tartan 37 in the Western Pacific, all open ocean, with a good autopilot - easy, and a week on the ICW with my liveaboard Cal28 - hard. After starting the trip from Baltimore with two friends we had to stop for repairs near Cape Fear, NC and they headed home. I did the rest down to Charleston, my first duty station, solo. The Cal had no autopilot, so it was hand steering the whole way on a chartbook. Not impossible, but challenging to manage yourself, the boat, and the water at the same time. Unlike a roadtrip, you can't always just pull over!

That said, more experience makes me think I could do it easier on the Windrose. Chartplotter reduces mental fatigue on navigation (where's that next buoy?). Autopilot helps with multitasking. And I'm more comfortable anchoring from the cockpit for a short break. Heck, I'd probably just put the portapotty in the cockpit!
Plus I like my Tohatsu outboard much more than that ole Atomic 4.

The Canal brought that memory to mind. The rest of your destinations sound wonderful and a great plan for cruising that season. Dry Tortugas have always been on my heart. My inlaws were from Stuart so I'm hankering for Harry and the Natives (restaurant) once again!

[Captain Kidd]

I did two trips with solo components: a Tartan 37 in the Western Pacific, all open ocean, with a good autopilot - easy, and a week on the ICW with my liveaboard Cal28 - hard. After starting the trip from Baltimore with two friends we had to stop for repairs near Cape Fear, NC and they headed home. I did the rest down to Charleston, my first duty station, solo. The Cal had no autopilot, so it was hand steering the whole way on a chartbook. Not impossible, but challenging to manage yourself, the boat, and the water at the same time. Unlike a roadtrip, you can't always just pull over!

That said, more experience makes me think I could do it easier on the Windrose. Chartplotter reduces mental fatigue on navigation (where's that next buoy?). Autopilot helps with multitasking. And I'm more comfortable anchoring from the cockpit for a short break. Heck, I'd probably just put the portapotty in the cockpit!
Plus I like my Tohatsu outboard much more than that ole Atomic 4.

The Canal brought that memory to mind. The rest of your destinations sound wonderful and a great plan for cruising that season. Dry Tortugas have always been on my heart. My inlaws were from Stuart so I'm hankering for Harry and the Natives (restaurant) once again!

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but how did you guys do in the storm the other day? We use to live in Westminster and one of our friends posted the following pic. That's 140 looking north at the intersection with Rt 97.

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[rfrance0718]

You've touched on one of my questions. I'm wondering where I go in the keys, and where to depart from for my crossing. Looks like Biscayne Bay is the most popular southern departure, heading for Bimini. I would think that I would want to hit the most northern destination in the Keys. It looks like there is a channel from the Everglades that ends at Long key. And then a well marked passage up the inside of the keys to Biscayne Bay. It looks like a shallow drafter could cut that corner some. You cannot view this attachment.You cannot view this attachment.You cannot view this attachment.You cannot view this attachment.    I would pass inside of Plantation Key and Key Largo. Maybe 50 miles after I make that turn. So 300 mi from Bradenton around to Biscayne Bay. I have a couple of Thistle sailor friends who did the trip in there Nonsuch. I'll ask them about their route.

[rfrance0718]

Wow, where was that storm damage? As far as the Ochachachobee (sp) canal, I'm thinking just pleasure boat traffic? But being wrong is entirely possible. I do have the chart plotter and the auto helm. I think I'll have crew from west coast to the Bahamas. Maybe have someone for the way back. I'll have Tami in the Bahamas.

[Charles Brennan]

rfrance, A consideration I noticed, is the approximate time frame you described.  For some of the sailing down here, the time of year affects the weather and the weather affects your success or failure.

In the winter months we get prevailing Northwest winds when a cold front comes down and then it blows a lot of water out of Florida Bay and leaves the sea grass looking like a badly maintained lawn.  We also occasionally get "Northers" which are winds from the Northeast and since they are partially shadowed by the land mass of the peninsula, they don't blow the water out, they just churn the water up, like a washboard.
Leaving from Sarasota, I assume you'd either be hugging just off-shore or using the ICW, everywhere you could.
No problems there, until you get to the south end of the state.  Then you'd be well advised to use the channel markers, instead of trusting to what depth the Bay happens to be that day.

Everybody thinks Florida Bay looks like this:
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And it DOES!   
In July. 

December and January, the water looks very different.
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This was in January, after a front had come through and kicked up all the silt, turning those pretty jade waters into a yucky brown.
Obviously, we'd waited for the waters to calm down a little, before we went out.
 
If it was me leaving Sarasota, I'd head south, then duck under the 7-mile bridge and head east on the ocean side to hedge my bets.
If it's kicked up, you can hug closer to the land mass of the islands to get out of the wind-driven wave violence; and if it's calm, you can drift off-shore a little and get better winds, clear of land mass turbulence.
I like having choices.

About those Northeasters:  They are merely annoying in Florida Bay, but they're very nearly worth your life when crossing over to the Bahamas.  The Gulfstream going North, collides with Northerly winds pushing the water South  and the waves stand straight up.  Be prepared to wait for Northers to blow through and then take advantage of the prevailing South-easterlies to cross over.  BTW, Key Largo is a popular crossing over point.  You start out far enough South that the Northward direction of the Gulfstream gives you a little breathing room for leeway. 

A common "newbie" mistake:  Sailors see Gun Cay Lighthouse near south Bimini and start heading for it, not immediately realizing that the Gulfstream is going to sweep them well North of it, by the time that they get close.  Keep a sharp eye on the GPS, My Man.
The one and only time I took Urchin over, I was using a wet compass and an RDF and guesstimating my drift vector, by how much the RDF heading changed. 
You need to have a continuous mind-set, that you are getting pushed north at all times, something that sometimes, surprises Great Lakes sailors.
Heading back to Florida is not a problem; (with the right weather) it's a Big Coast, hardly anybody ever misses it! 

As far as the Okeechobee Canal, I can't help you, as I've never been there, other than driving over it on the Turnpike.

Hope this helps,
Charles Brennan

[rfrance0718]

Great help, thanks. Where exactly is the 7 mile bridge? I'm aware of the northerly's that blow through, usually sitting on shore during Thistle Midwinters, until they pass. I understand the issue with the north wind confronting the Gulf Stream and the need to wait that out. Your info about Florida bay drainage is new info for me. Also intrigued with idea of leaving from Key Largo. That would solve some issues.


Thanks again Charles. More dumb questions to follow.

[Charles Brennan]

rfrance, I guess first, we need to define what they call stuff in the Keys.  "Marathon" is actually just a single city on one of a series of keys and although the different keys have different names, they are generally just all clumped together as "Marathon". Marathon (all those clumps of keys) is generally considered to be "the middle Keys", much like Key Largo is considered to be in "the upper Keys". 

The 7-Mile bridge is at the west end of Marathon and it is 7 miles long and separates the "middle Keys" from the "lower Keys".  7-Mile bridge is how you get to Key West by land.  It is generally due south of your course from Sarasota, and has a nice high bridge to get under to reach the Atlantic ocean side from the Florida Bay side.  Pretty much only the newer bridges in the keys have big clearances so getting from Bay side to ocean side is sometimes a bit of a slog. 
For example, Long Key Viaduct bridge on the east end of Marathon only has about 23 feet of clearance and Urchin's mast will not clear it.  When I was MUCH younger, I used to drop the mast on the water.  I remember one memorable weekend, when I was zigging and zagging back and forth for lobster and dropped and raised the mast 4 times.  Slept really good, that night. 

Your original path "inside" to get to Key Largo is certainly doable in the Spring and Summer months (i.e. after rainy season, when the water's up) but highly dependent on winds/weather in the Winter months, when the water table is a little lower.  I guess once you were south of Cape Sable, you could make your decision as to whether to proceed inside or outside, through the Keys.

Another thought I had after my post last night, is that a common jumping-off point for returning sailors touring the Bahamas, is West End on Eleuthera Island.  They generally head due west to West Palm Beach, but in your case, you could now take advantage of that 2½ - 4 knot north Gulfstream current and come across, ending up in Stuart.

Hope this informs,
Charles Brennan

[rfrance0718]

Big help, thanks!

[Norm L.]

The Okeechobee Waterway (official name) can be used by commercial traffic but with a draft limit at the locks of 10'. But with an allowable width of 50' and total length of 250' you can fit small tows, like 140' x 35 or 140' x 50'barges with a 50'ish tug.

But it's mainly yacht traffic. Draft varies greatly with the rainfall, but you would have no trouble. You can buy a used copy of the Okeechobee Waterway Guide for under $30 at used book stores.

I found this:  Maptech Embassy Guides: Florida: Waterways of the East Coast, West Coast, Keys and Okeechobee on Alibris for $16. It's the First Edition so I don't know how old it is. But for $16 you can do a lot of planning with such an aid.

[rfrance0718]

Thanks!