Marathon to Miami?

[b-rad]

Change of plans, due to some confuison about my slip...............Being that I dont have the one I had thought I had...... I have a short term slip in islamorada. Well at least when I go to move it for real it will be that much closer. Thanks for the advice guys.

[pete33458]

Originally Posted by Sunset

I do not think the additional Gulf Stream push is worth the additional mileage to get out there and then back in. Also it is smoother water due to the reef. If there is much of a sea running the ICW route is probably actually a little shorter although it winds in places

There is no black and white, but having made this trip many times, I don't agree. If you angle NE out of Port Largo you hit the edge without much additional distance, and if you drop your sails and check SOG on your GPS you'll find you're doing 2 knots just drifting. As I said, I've made it to Miami several times in 9 hours, which is > 7kts average. Also, the area W of Carysfort Light in Hawkes Channel is very tricky, you can get yourself into an area where you're tacking every couple of minutes to stay off the reefs, and can end up sailing backwards if you get a windshift. Then there are the other advantages to being offshore, like the sight looking down at a spotted eagle ray in crystal clear water, or having a couple of huge dolphin come in for a visit, or having your depth meter go out of range (my favorite)...

[S/V Janis II]

B-rad, sounds like you are trying to deal with a city of Miami marina.

[b-rad]

Yea it is a city marina.....dinner key. The boat is now in a slip islamorada. It was a long trip yesterday, had some afwul weather . Hopefully when I find a slip here in miami the trip here is less eventfull.
Thanks for all the advice guys, It made a huge diffrence inour trip yesterday.

[S/V Janis II]

If you do end up at Dinner Key (expensive and an example of how big is not better) I'm on Pier 2. Actually, as we speak the boat is in St. Augustine, but should be in her home port by the 27th of this month.

[b-rad]

So now im planing the second leg of the trip. Key largo to miami.
Is there any where along the way that a boat with 5.5 draft can stop over or dodge in if the weather goes south?

[pete33458]

You might get in at Ocean Reef club (never been there, call the marina for controlling depth). You SHOULD be able to duck in at Angelfish Creek, but at 5.5 you'd be strafing the bottom at low tide... After that, nothing until Biscayne Channel. However, I think you might be worrying unnecessarily; you're talking about a 9-12 hour trip, and the weather doesn't change that fast around here except for the afternoon squalls, which don't really change the surface conditions that much, so just reef (or douse) if you see it coming (you WILL see it coming) and wait till it's over.

[robw_fl]

Depends on where you're at in Largo. If you're down S. towards Rodriguez, then sure, you could get in Ocean Reef. Channel is good. Angelfish creek, yep, make sure it's close to high tide not only for depth reasons, but the tide rips through there pretty fast when it's running so slack water is your friend. Just be careful not to get swept out of the channel - it's a little curvy, and it's shallow and unforgiving right outside the marks.

Not much of anything N. of Angelfish to duck into. Just make sure you're weather window is decent and you'll be fine. Next thing you know you'll be ducking in at Biscayne or at Gov't cut

Hell, I just looked at the date of your last post. Maybe you're there already!

Have a good ride.

Rob

[b-rad]

nope not there yet, Boat's on the hard in largo, hope to be fixed and back in the water next weekend, then its miami bound from there.

[b-rad]

Boat is floating, and in miami trip went well about 10 hours, (with 2 hours being from biscyane channel to dinner key) right up hawk channel motor sailing easy. Thanks guys.