St. Thomas to St. Augustine, FL

[batezippi]

I'm planning a trip from BVI to Florida in about 2 weeks.
We will be 3 people. I'm the captain and 2 friends.
I'm quite experienced as a captain.. However, most of my experience is around Europe (nowhere close the US)..
Please, everybody who has gone through this route.. Give me tips and feedback.. (Anything super important that I need to know) Thanks!
I'll be in a Bavaria 50 Vision.

[Jentine]

It is a simple trip. It is all down wind. I assume you are going straight through with no stops. If you have a weather window, that is the way to go. However, weather windows are fleeting. You may want to stay in close proximity to the Turks & Caicos and the Bahamas in case you need to duck in for a day or two.
Fair winds and following seas.

[ebaugh]

Luperon, Dominican Republic is the only place to hide from significant tropical weather. And it's not exactly on the route. Pick your weather carefully and have someway to get updates enroute,

[SkipHardin]

Hi, I posted a similar request for info today in the Navigation Forum on this site. "St. Thomas north"
and got some nice responses. We are planning on leaving St. Thomas for the east coast, destination Charleston SC. Hope to leave around July 4th.

[KestrelBuck]

The entrance to St Augustine is not easy. Narrow channel and lots of shoaling. It would be made more difficult if the crew is tired from the passage. In short, pick another Florida inlet.

[xsboats]

Originally Posted by KestrelBuck

The entrance to St Augustine is not easy. Narrow channel and lots of shoaling. It would be made more difficult if the crew is tired from the passage. In short, pick another Florida inlet.

The entrance to Philadelphia is not easy either. Narrow channel and lots of ships. In short, pick another , ohh, what do I know about the Delaware Bay .

[batezippi]

Thank you, guys! Keep them coming!

[jmackay]

The inlet a St. Augustine has recently been dredged. Shoaling occurs on the southern side so favor the red and start at the sea bouy. Don't do it at night, stand off and wait. Once inside you will need to go left or right and the bouys change, North and red is on the left, South and red is on the right. The entrance is NOT charted but is quite clear, haven't done it since May but was through it many times this winter.

[batezippi]

What's the best website to look for warnings and overall weather..?

[ebaugh]

Your safest bet is to hire Chris Parker, or one of the other weather routers to discuss weather before you go and by SSB or Sat Phone enroute.

My favorite two weather sites on the net are wunderground.com for graphic weather depiction of the various computer models and the nhc.noaa.gov for the official tropical and offshore waters forecasts.