Need Info on Sail from FLL to Jax

[fthurlow]

We are picking up our boat from Lauderdale Marine Center and sailing her up to Jacksonville, Fl in a couple of weeks. The “plan” is to sail by day and anchor/moor at night as crew (wife & son) is not ready for overnight passage yet. Weather permitting we will sail outside but duck into ICW if needed. Since this is our 1st trip up the coast I’d appreciate recommendations on best spots to stop each night. We’d prefer the hook but moorings are ok. Thanks for sharing

[Snore]

With a 40’ cat you likely have an air draft around 65’. If you are under 65, Port Everglades to Lake Worth Inlet, Lake Worth to Ft Pierce and up the ICW.

If you can’t take the ICW, I can’t give any guidance on inlets from Ft Pierce to St Augustine. On deliveries, I tend to stay either in or out on that leg of the coast.

A word of caution, many S Florida inlets have shifting sand bars or nasty breaks. Avoid taking any of the smaller inlets like Hillsboro or Boca, if you are new to handling larger boats, skip Jupiter.… Also be sure to rig jacklines....

[fthurlow]

Thanks for the info

[tkeithlu]

Do stay outside Ft. Lauderdale to Lake Worth (which has good anchorage); that stretch of the ICW has about 20+ bridges that you would have to wait to open. Titusville to the St. Johns River doesn't have much as anchorage. Check on the status of the bridge at Stuart; it cracked a few days ago and commercial traffic cannot go under it; they might ban recreational as well.

[ElJefe]

We have a Lagoon 450F and have done the trip up and back many times, always on the outside, like you we prefer to anchor, except in Saint Augustine where the current really rips we like to get a mooring Ball there.
We usually leave FLL (We keep our boat in Hollywood) early in the morning and motor sail to Fort Pierce, great place to drop the hook, we usually then head to Ponce Inlet and anchor there are some beautiful anchorages there!! We have stayed at the Cape Canaveral Yacht club its a great little place if the weather isn't cooperative for going around the cape... Not crazy expensive and they have a ton of fun people and a really nice little tiki bar!
Wait for a nice window and you will have a great trip! The hardest part is coming down the New River!

[captmikem]

Days are long and you should get a couple of extra knots from the stream so if you leave early you could pull into Coco beach for the night, maybe two, then up to JAX. Both entrances are easy and well marked. Or if you are not up to long days you could break it into 4 days. FLL to Ft Pierce, to Coco, to St Augustine, to JAX. Nice easy legs. St Augustine inlet is a little dicey at night if you have never entered it but easy in the daytime. Give Seatow a call outside and they can give you good guidance about the entrance.

Have a good trip!

M

[SVHarmonie]

Originally Posted by fthurlow

We are picking up our boat from Lauderdale Marine Center and sailing her up to Jacksonville, Fl in a couple of weeks. The “plan” is to sail by day and anchor/moor at night as crew (wife & son) is not ready for overnight passage yet. Weather permitting we will sail outside but duck into ICW if needed. Since this is our 1st trip up the coast I’d appreciate recommendations on best spots to stop each night. We’d prefer the hook but moorings are ok. Thanks for sharing

The hardest part of your trip will be The 10 miles from LMC down the New River. Narrow, tight and CROWDED with big boat traffic. If you are new to large cats, and have not done this trip before this is definitely worth having a local with you, hired if need be. Seriously.

[Tom and Maje]

We have a 40'cat and prefer the outside. There are good anchorages in West Palm Beach and Ft. Pierce, get a ball in St. Augustine.

Maje

[Snore]

Originally Posted by SVHarmonie

The hardest part of your trip will be The 10 miles from LMC down the New River. Narrow, tight and CROWDED with big boat traffic. If you are new to large cats, and have not done this trip before this is definitely worth having a local with you, hired if need be. Seriously.

+500! There are two securite calls that need to be made. The locals call them the “s’s” (seaward of Davie) and by the “old school” (seaward of last draw bridge).

Especially in a cat it get tight. If you are just learning to handle a wide boat- this is NOT the spot to learn!

[dennismenace111]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

Do stay outside Ft. Lauderdale to Lake Worth (which has good anchorage); that stretch of the ICW has about 20+ bridges that you would have to wait to open. Titusville to the St. Johns River doesn't have much as anchorage. Check on the status of the bridge at Stuart; it cracked a few days ago and commercial traffic cannot go under it; they might ban recreational as well.

The Stuart bridge should not be a problem unless you intend to go across to Lake Okeechobee... all the bridges northbound are ok.

[dennismenace111]

Originally Posted by ElJefe

We have a Lagoon 450F and have done the trip up and back many times, always on the outside, like you we prefer to anchor, except in Saint Augustine where the current really rips we like to get a mooring Ball there.
We usually leave FLL (We keep our boat in Hollywood) early in the morning and motor sail to Fort Pierce, great place to drop the hook, we usually then head to Ponce Inlet and anchor there are some beautiful anchorages there!! We have stayed at the Cape Canaveral Yacht club its a great little place if the weather isn't cooperative for going around the cape... Not crazy expensive and they have a ton of fun people and a really nice little tiki bar!
Wait for a nice window and you will have a great trip! The hardest part is coming down the New River!

If youre starting off in Hollywood, you wont be anywhere near the New River.. You know youre nautical when you can run your boat all the way up the New River on a Sunday afternoon, and running the 5 drawbridges in traffic and strong current. I keep my boat up towards the 441 bridge of the New River. By the time I get to Port Everglades, Im ready for a cocktail or two.

[sailing_gal]

Lots of good ideas. I strongly recommend that you DO NOT transit the Port St. Lucie inlet as a novice.

[Dave22q]

You are looking at a 5-6 day run. It all depends on your food and water consumption. Anytime resupply not needed head inshore to 20-30 feet depth and anchor fore and aft. If you need a midway stop be cautious on your inlet selection and timing tides. Should be a nice week.

[gkunkle999]

I did this about 12 yrs ago as a leg of a trip from Key West to CT (wow time flys)Just my wife and I ( she was legally Blind) So really single handing for me.
Had a Morgan Out Island 41ft with a 60ft mast and shole draft. No problems and great trip. Would run outside as much as possible then duck back in at night and anchor. No problems with inlets, bridges or ICW except for occasional inconsiderate power boat idiots.

By far the best publication for the trip was Skipper Bob's. Good luck and have a safe trip.

Gailard and Annette
S/V Red Pepper

[SVHarmonie]

Originally Posted by Snore

+500! There are two securite calls that need to be made. The locals call them the “s’s” (seaward of Davie) and by the “old school” (seaward of last draw bridge).

Especially in a cat it get tight. If you are just learning to handle a wide boat- this is NOT the spot to learn!

Snore,

You have it KIND of right.

There are a LOT more than two securite’ calls that need to be made for a large or wide boat transiting the New River, and it’s not the “old school” it’s actually the “Girl’s School”, and other securite’ calls should be made from the Wiggles, Little Florida, the Arts Center, Tarpon Bend, and the Tunnel, among others. Just to add to the confusion, the bridge names don’t always match the road names.

The problem for an outsider is that very few of these locations are called out on any chart, and every one is a narrow spot or blind corner where passing a 180’ super yacht would require careful coordination. If you think meeting up with a yacht that size is an unusual occurrence, you do not know the New River!

I don’t think I have ever been on a piece of water that was more difficult to navigate safely—anywhere.