Best way to get a new boat from eastern Florida to the western side?

[smj]

Originally Posted by Snore

I have moved boats both ways, many times.



A 44ds will barely squeak under a 65’ bridge…. If the VHF is stainless. The safer move is to take her around Key West.



Ft Pierce is nice. But depending on the marina, could have a wicked current.



Option 1) leave it in Ft Pierce and sail out of there.



Option 2) have it moved to Punta Gordy and sail the protected waters of Charlotte. BUT there are some skinny channels in Punta Gorda, so research access.



Option 3) you move it to Punta.



You are pretty much out of hurricane season, so that is not a factor.



IMHO the issues are —- Cost? Will you have crew if you sail out of FtPierce?

What is the current in Ft Pierce?

We just came down the east coast and I believe one bridge from Fernandina to W Palm had a clearance of 65’+, the average was slightly over 63’.

[bmz]

Originally Posted by capn_billl

....

I decided not to risk the bridge as the power line can sag to below 65 feet.

How do you know?

[Snore]

Originally Posted by smj

We just came down the east coast and I believe one bridge from Fernandina to W Palm had a clearance of 65’+, the average was slightly over 63’.

The OP has one bridge to worry about, getting from the Atlantic to the GOM-down in the Keys

[smj]

Originally Posted by Snore

The OP has one bridge to worry about, getting from the Atlantic to the GOM-down in the Keys

Depending where he is in Ft Pierce he may not have to worry about any fixed bridges. But the one you are thinking of was 63’+.
Not to take away from your post but I think it’s important to let people know that if your relying on the Fl bridges to be 65’ at high tide? Good luck.
On edit: that bridge may have been 64’, but definitely not 65’

[boatman1]

From Ft Pierce south to the keys and then west and north up to Punta Gorda is one of the most pleasant and the easiest trips a sailor can undertake. It can be done in daylight hour segments in warm weather in relatively protected waters. Just get on a plane south and do it. You can pick up crew as needed.

[CF32907]

You did not mention if you were standard draft (7') or shoal draft. Check, I took a motor yacht to the west side of the lake with 5.5' draft, had to go back to Ft.Meyers, not enough water. So it's dicey for you with shoal draft, and standard you could never do it. You definitely have to go the open water side of the keys. Hope this gives you some insight. Capt. Vince Rakstis, Ret.MS

[dougmealing]

Draft is 5.33’ according to the owner

[Rocinante33]

Hi

This is not a bad trip but I believe that you will have some constraints imposed upon you by your vessel in your route planning.

That Jeanneau 44 is a great cruiser, but I believe your first two constraints are going to be an air draft of 65’ (right?) and a draft of just over 6’ 6 feet (right?) below you.

This is going to restrict what you can do somewhat.

Assuming that you will reject stepping the mast or trucking your boat (which have their own risks)

1. The Julia Tuttle Causeway in Miami is 56’ (not 65). That’s not a typo, its an annoyance, but that will compel you to go outside from (at a minimum) Ft Lauderdale to Government Cut (Miami.)

2. There are two fixed bridges between Ft Pierce and Ft Lauderdale which are both 65’. One of those is in Ft Pierce so I imagine the PO of the boat knows if you can clear and under what circumstances. If so, you can run the ICW all the way to Lauderdale. This is an easy trip and would be a great chance for you to shake down your boat.

If you are compelled to go out, then the Ft Pierce entry can be rough and choppy but at high tide and under fairly calm sea conditions it is easily passable. You can get back in at Lake Worth (Palm Beach) and anchor in very well protected waters

3. You can come in at Govt Cut and drop a hook at No Name.

4. From there south you face constraints again. You can go south across Biscayne Bay but there are two more bridges that are rated 65’. Depending upon tides, you might get another foot or so. You can go out at Angelfish Creek in theory and avoid them. My boat draws 5.5 and I have never seen less than 6’ on my depth sounder but I have felt the bottom brush. I think you would probably have issues with 6 foot plus, but probably would get through at high tide.

5. You will face the same issue on draft again between mid tides at Snake Creek, but this time on the outside. I believe that you will have to go out at Snake Creek at the latest because although the charts show the ICW dredged to 8’ (in theory) there seems to. Been very minimal work SW of Islamorada and I don’t think you will get a 6’+ draft through. That also precludes making the run directly from Islamorada around Cape Sable. The power line is actually a cable TV line and I watched a catamaran snag it a few years ago and pull it like a bowstring. It snapped back into place with quite a twing, and cleared the masthead of the cat. He yelled at the coastguard for a few minutes about the charts and then sailed off.

6. If you are clearing 65’ bridges you can come back in at Channel 5 and sail straight north for Naples from there. There is a whole lot of water in there between 6 and 7 feet so you will spend a lot of time nervously staring at your depth sounder but you will probably make it if you time your tides.

7. I would suggest that you take the outside in what is called the Hawk Channel. You will consistently be in 15-25’ of wAter, probably see dolphins and turtles, There are mooring buoys all the way down to Key West and there are a number of places to put in and drop an anchor all the way to Key West.


North from Key West you are going to face your biggest challenge of the trip. That is a 80-110 nm run to either Naples or Ft Myers. With your boat, a decent east wind, and absence of thunderstorms that should be, conservatively, a 24 hour run. Leave early morning, arrive early morning and you will have lots of light and a healthy margin for error. It’s about 120 nm all the way to the entrance of Port Charlotte and conceivable that you could make the entire run in one swoop. You would have plenty of opportunities to change course along the way.

North to Port Charlotte you will face that same choice of picking your way down a narrow ICW with a couple of feet under you, or jumping outside and running the last day with more water under you

As a SoFlo sailor, this is going to become the world that you live in and the only way around it is to buy a cat with a 3’ draft. Congrats on the Jenneau, its a great cruiser and the restraints will just make you a better sailor (after all, why did the good lord invent the dinghy??)

Fair winds. I sent a pm with my contact info.

[smj]

There are 3 fixed bridges between Ft Pierce and Ft Lauderdale that are 65’ clearance, quite frequently less. There’s also a temporary lift bridge at West Palm that has a clearance of 65’ at LOW tide. There are also no batter boards on this bridge so who knows?
In my opinion the only way to go would be on the outside around Key West. You could possibly hit channel 5 or Moser channel at a lowish tide, but with a mast height of 65’ + all the added bs on top of the mast?

[Cheechako]

If you must go to the Gulf side , just hire someone reputable to deliver it. Trucking can be a real hassle and often ends with minor damage to the mast or hull etc. The hauling, preparing and recommissioning it once it's there will take as long as a sailing trip around.

If it's staying in FL you will have to register it there even if you previously registered it in PA. At least that's my understanding....

I'm not sure about the "current in Ft Pierce" comment. There is some in the Ft Pierce City Marina for sure. But many locations I just haven't anything unusual. I have anchored in and around Ft Pierce a lot. Been in 3 marinas there too.

Another thing is to maybe store it on the hard and launch when you intend to use it... at least if you may lay up 6 months or so.

Moorage near Canaveral/Merritt Island is cheapish, very protected. Like Harbortown Marina. But it is a ways from anywhere other than the ICW.