Advice on crossing to the Bahamas

[Richard Kollmann]

Crossing to West end with a Macgregor 26x with a 50hp outboard assuming an average speed of 5 Mph you should allow for at least a 25 mile drift to the North and greater with 2 to 4 foot seas normal in winter.

Having crossed more than ten times I recommend going to Ft Lauderdale and waiting with others in Lake Silvia for weather window. With that boat's size and your slow speed I would leave before daylight and head due East by compass do not follow the GPS guidance. Steering East will get you across the stream the fasted and a latitude 25 miles North of your starting point. Once across most of the stream set GPS at a mile west of West End.

Small boats with outboards crossing from Palm Beach inlet either run out of fuel or drift too far North where the stream moves them into the far East North of West End.

[Trialsbikeadam]

That’s great navigation advice! I haven’t been getting much love for the macgregor on the Facebook site. Should this crossing be attempted in this boat? Thanks again Adam

[jibstay]

Originally Posted by Richard Kollmann

Crossing to West end with a Macgregor 26x with a 50hp outboard assuming an average speed of 5 Mph you should allow for at least a 25 mile drift to the North and greater with 2 to 4 foot seas

A Macgregor 26 with a 50hp outboard will do over 20 mph in smooth seas.

[cottonsail]

Weather is God! Especially in a Mac 26. We've done crossings. One from Angelfish Creek and the other was from No Name Harbor. Angelfish was faster even though it was a longer distance. Both were fine.

[SV Elizabeth]

Re: weather for crossing and in the Bahamas, subscribe to Chris Parker. If you don't have a SSB, buy a package of his custom emailed forecasts and request one when you need one. We did this for our recent 9000-mile cruise from Oregon to Virginia, and he nailed it every time. Worth every penny (and not, actually very many of those).

[GeneM]

The best way is to wait for the wind to shift from SE to S just before a front comes through so you have about a day of S, SW, W, then NW wind. But, be careful of very strong fronts that move fast. A cold front that is almost in a N and S line could be strong.

[Richard Kollmann]

Originally Posted by Trialsbikeadam

That’s great navigation advice! I haven’t been getting much love for the macgregor on the Facebook site. Should this crossing be attempted in this boat? Thanks again Adam

Adam, The answer to your question is only if you understand and respect all the problems of this open water crossing and plan accordingly.

In the winter there are maybe only 5 days that you might be able to use your 50HP outboard to exceed 6 Mph water speed because the Gulf Stream is rarely flat. Even in 1 to 2 foot seas the pounding of a 26 ft shallow displacement hull for many hours is going to result in problems.

Planning the time of day to make the crossing is important because arrival to and interring of Bahamas bank over the reefs is best done in daylight. Experiencing the trash in the stream crossing I avoid all night stream crossings.

Weather window mornings are somewhat predictable for crossing the Gulf Stream. Sometimes boats planning a crossing in winter wait three weeks for a crossing window in Ft Lauderdale’s Lake Silvia or Miami No Name Harbor. Heaver larger draft boats that cruise at speeds above 8 Mph wait at Palm Beach inlet for reasonable weather. From April to mid July is the main crossing for the smaller boats generally in groups. Weather fronts moving every two weeks from Florida move east with wind changing in a clockwise rotation from west to north and so on to east and south. Wind with a north component and Gulf streams four knot speed to north cause short distance high wave heights in the stream that should be avoided by pleasure boaters

[Trialsbikeadam]

Thanks! Again great advice and tips! I’ve had some recommendations to try Bimini but it looks like I’d still have to cross the Gulf Stream. Is that still in the same cstagory as a Bahamas crossing?

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Trialsbikeadam

That’s great navigation advice! I haven’t been getting much love for the macgregor on the Facebook site. Should this crossing be attempted in this boat? Thanks again Adam

An M26 would not be my first choice, but It all depends on the day...specifically the weather that day. The waters between FL and the Bahamas can be almost flat calm or horrendous. On a calm day almost anything would make it across.

[laika]

Originally Posted by Trialsbikeadam

Thanks! Again great advice and tips! I’ve had some recommendations to try Bimini but it looks like I’d still have to cross the Gulf Stream. Is that still in the same cstagory as a Bahamas crossing?

Bimini is a bit closer to FL than other points, but that does not diminish your exposure to the gulf stream. Be mindful of your crossing angle. A more favorable angle will have you starting more south in FL and arriving more north in the Bahamas. You do not want any southerly component to your heading, which would have you bucking against the stream and slowing you down considerably. So if you were starting in Miami, for example, enroute to Bimini, which is basically a course due east, you will be forcing yourself to hold a southerly heading as the stream pushes you north, or else plan to overshoot to the north and make up that northerly drift after you exit the stream. If you started at a point in the Keys enroute to Bimini, that would be a much better plan.

The bottom line though is that whatever departure and landfall points you choose, you really need to watch your wx and find a really really good window! Don't lose patience and don't keep a schedule

[Trialsbikeadam]

Thanks!! I think we’ve decided to go with sailing through the keys. What are your favorite destinations through the keys? Where’s a good place to start for 9 day trip?

[a64pilot]

Look up the dry Tortugas, however understand that they are called dry, cause there is not a drop of water to be had, so you carry what you need, and it’s a no discharge zone.
I wouldn’t discount the Bahamas, however if you can’t spend more than a month or two, maybe that’s not long enough to make the trip, cause you may wait more than a week for a weather window, each way. Usually coming back is easier cause predominate wind is from the East, but you can’t count on that.
In my opinion leave at night, planning on an arrival before lunch, that way if it takes longer than it should, you still have plenty of Daylight to make it.

I would discount the advice on ignoring the GPS though, in my opinion it’s very important, if you have a course line that is for example 093 degrees, hold whatever heading is required to maintain that 093 degree course, or maybe a little right of that cause it’s easy to give up, but hard to get back.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Trialsbikeadam

Thanks! Again great advice and tips! I’ve had some recommendations to try Bimini but it looks like I’d still have to cross the Gulf Stream. Is that still in the same cstagory as a Bahamas crossing?

You do know Bimini is in the Bahamas right? You cant get to the Bahamas from Florida without crossing the Gulf Stream.

[skipgundlach]

Originally Posted by Trialsbikeadam

Thanks!! I think we’ve decided to go with sailing through the keys. What are your favorite destinations through the keys? Where’s a good place to start for 9 day trip?

Although you likely could do the Bahamas just fine, having 9 days only is a recipe for disaster or stranding.

Weather windows are just too unforgiving.

But the reason for this note isn't to discourage you from going to the Bahamas in your boat. Just to say, in addition to the above, the take-away being you need a pretty open-ended time period to make it safe, that you should start a new thread, titled about like the last two sentences of yours above!

Safe travels, and enjoy the heck out of them!

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Trialsbikeadam

Thanks!! I think we’ve decided to go with sailing through the keys. What are your favorite destinations through the keys? Where’s a good place to start for 9 day trip?

A good decision I think, especially if you've only got 9 days. The most dangerous thing on a boat is a schedule and it could have pushed to make bad decisions...as you would have needed 2 weather windows to get there and back.

Its hard to go wrong in the Keys...just about anywhere there would be a good adventure for you. With only 9 days I suggest shooting for somewhere close like Key Largo. With your shoal draft, Pennekamp Park's mooring field could be an option for you. We waited for weather there years ago to cross the Stream and quite enjoyed it (...just be sure you know and follow the regulations re fishing, motor prohibited areas, etc...enforcement is vigilant and fines are steep).