Planning to winter in SE Florida

A year from now, I might sign on for that if you could use an extra hand.

By then I may be sick of the green jungle and need a change of scenery for a bit. :-)
 
I have a plan that I like (so far) but still looking at options. The trip is Portsmouth, RI to Savannah, Ga. I chose Hatteras after entering through Oregon Inlet because of the multiple facilities. I know I won't be going 22kts inside the whole way bu

navigation -------------------------------- day --- miles speed - in/out - dep/arrival - total time
Portsmouth => Delaware Indian River Inlet - day 1 - 250nm - 22 - outside - 4:00 to 3:30 - 11.5hrs
Delaware => Hatteras via oregon inlet ----- day 2 - 210nm - 22 - outside/inside - 7:00 to 4:34 - 9.5hrs
Hatteras => Cape Fear ------------------- day 3 - 179nm - 22 - Inside/outside - 7:00 to 3:10 - 8.1hrs
Cape Fear => Savannah -------------------day 4 - 179nm - 22 - outside - 7:00 to 3:10 - 8.1hrs

Look pretty good? I've heard the recommendations to take more time but that will simply have to wait until the return trip or another time. I will wait for ideal conditions to set out on day 1 and do the same for the rest of the trip. I fully expect that I can do this trip in 4-7 days unless I get hammered by weather.

Tim
 
Here is something to consider. The Gulf Stream runs very close to shore down in the Miami area with causes a big difference in winter temperatures. When I was living in Vero Beach winter temps would be as much as 15 degs colder then at my boat in South Beach. I to really like south Miami for its boating and land based destinations.
I have never made the run down from as far north as you are contemplating but I think it makes more sense to take your time, slow down, enjoy the ride, you are paying BIG bucks for it. Also as you slow down you will cut your fuel bill by more than half.

Cor
 
Don't like that first leg myself. I'd look at cutting those first three days up into four or five. say Cape May the first day with AC as a fall back. Then Rudee Inlet with OC as the fall back. Then Morehead City with Manteo, Hatteras, Ocracoke, or Oriental (most direct) as bailouts. And so on.

Definitely try to do Ocean City instead of Indian River given the choice. Fuel stop somewhere in NJ. The facilities for transients are much better in Manteo than Hatteras, which is also more out of the way. Nicer town too. As others have said, it's a shame you don't have time to stop and smell the roses.
 
Hey George,
I'm going to look at stretching out, nice to have options and more fallbacks. How are you suggesting you travel from Rudee Inlet...outside or ICW 0 down through Manteo (versus Hatteras)? Coming in Oregon Inlet and proceeding south Hatteras didn't seem out of the way to me.

Maybe split the first leg into two ending up at Ocean City via long island, NY might be a good option.

I'm also thinking about going down as far south as I can without getting into Florida. If I found a slip in St Mary's, GA for a couple of months I could find a ride to the Jacksonvile, Fl airport without too much trouble. I kinda like the idea of getting as far south as possible. What do you think of St Mary's?
 
St. Mary's? Nope. Keep moving I say. We stopped in to look at the Sub museum when we drove South to check on the boat in Aug.. Not much happening there but it is a pleasant enough place/town. The marinas are quiet enough from what we saw. The up stream most marina had a sign posted regarding live aboards. It's not legal.
There were some derelict boats in the water there as well. Sunk and staying that way.

IMHO, not a worthwhile stop.

There is always a place around Savanna like Isle of Hope. We stopped there and the facilities were pleasant and good staff. We know folks that stayed there quite a while as well.
 
We anchored off of St. Mary's and had a nice time for a couple of days. Pretty town. But for layover purposes, Brunswick GA is a much better choice. We like Brunswick Landing because it is a nice facility and right in town, which is charming and has some excellent restaurants. Ocean Petroleum right down the creek from there has some of the best fuel prices on the ICW and it is high quality due to being a high turnover commercial dock. Others like Golden Isles, I guess because it is not in town and also a very nice facility and a close car ride to St. Simons.

As for the inside outside issue, it is all about weather. If the seas are bad and the ICW was the right choice I'd turn into Norfolk/Portsmouth, not Rudee Inlet, or even on down to Great Bridge if the timing is right, with some great facilities and some of the very cheapest fuel on the east coast. The ICW is kind of pain from Norfolk through Great Bridge, what with bridge closures and schedules and the locks. From there on to Morehead City it is easy cruising if the Albemarle Sound and the Pamlico River are behaving themselves. A lot of people choose this route because distance wise it is the shortest.
 
SO, it sounds like St Mary's isn't the greatest stop but I'm considering as a place to leave the boat for 2-3 months (Oct-Dec) so I don't care what kind of things there are to do but I DO CARE if it's a safe, responsible place to leave my boat as I won't be able to check up on it until I come back down in late December. I picked it cause it's close to the Jacksonville airport. Savannah works as well but not as far south

George, makes sense on inside/outside. I'll have to look up "Great Brigdge", not sure where that is. Personally, I'd prefer not to deal with bridges, shallow water and other boat traffic if I'm making time. I do think slowing the pace down a little is worthwhile though, you've all talked me into it. That said, I think the trip still needs to be 5-6 days traveling time as this is more a chore than a vacation. Thanks for all the info. I need to get a waterway's guide for the delaware/Jersey area to look closer at those stops.
 
St. Mary's isn't all that protected as we recall. If you are going that far why not something in between there and Jacksonville?

Edit:

The Amelia Island Yacht Basin might be what you are looking for. Completely protected, and while you might want tide going in (we did not need it with 3.5 foot draft) it probably has what you are looking for. It's also close to Fernandina Beach which appears to be a neat hang for a while. We've enjoyed a couple of stays there.
 
I think he wants to stay out of Florida, Dan. I think Brunswick is ideal, facility wise, and a short drive to Jax or Savannah. The marinas in St. Mary's definitely do not fit the bill. Tim, have a dinner at Cargo Portside Grill in Brunswick sometime and you may revise your valuation of things to do. One year, we skipped Brunswick when bringing the boat north. When we flew back to FL to get the cars, we made sure to stop off there on the way back.
 
I can believe that. I was gambing that Jacksonville might be the insurance company's 'rate line'.

By the way, if you have paid sales tax (oops R.I. does not?) then you don't have to worry. Fl will allow you to stay.
 
Jacksonville is the insurance line but its less about insurance. I don't want to mess with the 180 cumulative day tax law in Florida. We will enter Florida waters in late december and leave around May. I need to keep the boat in Georgia until December....plus Insurance is more, though, I'm going to check into other policy providers cause I understand BoatUS is expensive especially for year round coverage.

I'll have to look up the distance to the Jacksonsville airport from Brunswick -- there is an airport there but I think it's just small, local air. I'll look up marinas in Brunswick and see what there is for inexpensive places to stay. Thanks!
 
It is about an hour to JAX from Brunswick and maybe 90 minutes to SAV. You really have two marina choices: Golden Isles and Brunswick Landing, both very good facilities. Of course you could go a little north and stay at one of Dan's (boatbum) favorite places Two Way Fish Camp. I have heard good things about it but have no direct experience. We anchored out on the South Altahama just down stream from there. Looked pretty good both from the Whaler by water and Highway 17 by land. Probably your cheapest option. BL and GI do a fairly business in the "hurricane" months leading up to the insurance cut off dates, so rates are not discounted,as they are the closest class A marinas north of the state line or as many policies prescribe, north of "the south of Cumberland Island".
 
Tim, we have made the trip a few times from the Chesapeake to So Fl in a boat with similar speed to yours. If you run on the outside a lot your fuel mileage will likely not be as good as predicted as you will probably hit weather or at least enough swell that may not slow you that much but will affect your mileage. Also, from NC south on the outside my mileage is probably 5 to 10% worse heading south than north due to the gulf stream. Although you wont be directly in the gulf stream for a lot of the trip my experience is that you will be running in a 1 to 1.5 knot head current much of the way.

George makes good recommendations for marinas in So Fl. We have our boat in Ft Lauderdale this winter and have looked around at several marinas. We like Ft Lauderdale and the Hollywood area. For us Ft Lauderdale seems to center around yachting with lots of nice restaurants while Miami is more of a hot spot with lots of night life etc. Fun to visit but a little too fast paced for us.

When we do the trip we usually plan long days and shorter days so we can arrive early some days and enjoy really great cities like Norfolk, Charleston, or St Augustine. Last time we took four days to go from Baltimore to Myrtle Beach and left the boat in Myrtle Beach for three weeks. The kids like Myrtle Beach so we went down a few weekends and then finished the trip south in four days with a short leg the day arriving in St Augustine.

We tend to be in a bit of a rush as we are on our way to or from the Bahamas, so every day spent on the trip is less time in the Bahamas. The thing is that the trip up or down is very enjoyable. Whether you run on the outside a lot and duck into your favorite sea towns or run some of the beautiful sections of the ICW near Jacksonville or in NC and SC, just an extra day or two or breaking the trip in half we have found makes it a very enjoyable journey, something we look forward to and try to balance time spent on the journey versus at the destination.

-Rick

Viking Sport Cruiser 50 FY
"Silver Lining"
 
Geo LMAO. I have to admit that in spite of it all, we got a free dinner complete with wine. I'd love to see you bring Incentive to the fuel dock there. Wait, maybe not. Could be quite a bit of carnage.
 
Why Dan? I'd think my redneck anchor polishing technique would be popular there. Or if you want to go deep into the banjo music, there is always Kilkenny Creek.
 
Geo I think next time we meet up I'm not bringing white wine. Probably something stronger if the girls will let us.
Goes good with the outback.
 
First.  Your very optimistic to think you can make it in 4 days running on the outside in a 22 knt boat with your range headed south that time of yr.  
I'm almost at Miami , 
we left Saturday mid day from CT
We went inside at Oregon inlet and cut off the outside thru there which is normal in the conditions we had.   We where lucky to make it in actually.  Some of these inlets are very dangerous so start to learn the do's and don'ts.  If your going to run the outside you have to know where and when you can go inside if the weather turns on you  you will have many miles of getting beat up from mother nature if you choose to be outside on the wrong day. Current wind and tide are a big factor going thru some of the inlets and you won't have as many choices as you might think the only capt I would hire is someone who runs the outside frequently , many Captians are just going for a pay day. Screw that. You want the best knowledge at the helm of your boat. ?

  Typing on iPhone and bouncing around gives you a headache fast out here

Btw.  If you have extra money  get a sat phone is a good idea.  Why wouldn't you have every tool in the bag??????  Use the guys who run the inside for inside knowledge   If you run from cape fear south on the outside you'll be outside cell range.   I turn my phone off at the beging of the day in some areas cause ain't no cell towers out here !

Sat weather will be a big help also.   We can check real time wave height and direction 24/7 qlong with any other resource weather related.  OH, someone said you can use your cell phone   My point is it's nice to have all the toys if your going to play out here and cell phone coverage isn't an option often enough 

Bring lots of towels....  Your going to get wet. Salt will invade your boat anywhere it can ! 

Make sure to keep your electronics dry when it gets sloppy. 

3 people min would be my advise.   

Try to stay at the fuel dock at the end of the day so your not moving around alot    Your going to fuel , rinse, eat and crash for the night then be ready to leave at first light. Get the app daylight if you have a smart phone.  You can't waste any time in The morning if your tring to break a record getting south

Someone mentioned that your eta will not be accurate because of wave height and wind if you just calculate distance and speed.     They're right on.  You will burn more fuel also 

Make sure you take turns getting some rest during the day , not as important if seas are flat. Good luck on that one however last year it was a pond from cape fear to Miami  

If you piss off the cockpit hold onto a rope in bad weather.  To many people fall over board with there zipper down according to CC statistics

What manufacture is you boat ?

Keep a good ear to your radio channel. 

I'll try to think of some BS tips that might help you 

Keep your mind open to being stuck inside more than you would like so you stay safe and don't make a bad call going out when you should be in.  

Angles are key on the outside when conditions are less than perfect.  That's why you need to know what ports are available to you when you start the day. A few degrees means pounding or better ride for 12 hours.  You'll need to weigh those choices and consider the next days weather also or you'll be stuck inside 

I can't emphasis how important your choice of the captain ahould be. You don't need a nice guy or a guy who's done the intercoastal year after year. You want OUTSIDE knowledge

Play with you radio alot next year. Us it often and in adverse conditions so you can train your ear to understand what people are saying. It's amaZing how difficult it can be to understand what people are saying.  AND you might need it more than you think out there.  There's one government agency that talks to fast on the VhF in my opinion 

Just passing cape cav.  And a welcome turn a few degrees to smooth out the ride.   Winds from the north are welcome this time of yr if it's blowing out here

Time to give my eyes a break !   I'm getting to old for a smart phone because the eyes aren't what they used to be.
 
Make sure you have small lines and string to tight down things that break or won't close anymore when someone forgets to use a latch properly or leaves a door open in rough seas.
 
Tim
Pascal , George and others are right on about ICW.   Take advantage of their knowledge.  Cape may and OC are better inlets as George stated.  We went in and out of rudee's inlet   George is right again. You don't want that feeling of "what did I get myself into " when you can take it easy like 
others have suggested.  we entered Oregon inlet but you might not have a choice when you arrive there.  Pascal's advice is a better way through that area.  

As much as you'd like to run the putside i think you'd be better to tAke the suggestions of these experienced capts  and only take the outside as an option   You really don't have the range and speed to make it worth while to be on the outside the whole way

Limited visibility because of rough seas entering a nasty inlet going into the sun isn't fun
 
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