Deeper Draft for Bahamas?

[Roniszoro]

Hi;

I am thinking about looking at a wonderful new (to me) boat that draws 6'6". I know I will be constrained in some areas of the Bahamas. But I've sailed there without incident a few years ago with a boat with 6'1" draft. Will I be "tempting the devil" with 6'6" of draft?

Your thought/input is requested and appreciated.

Thank you.

[sailorboy1]

I have been 4 times with a 6.3' draft. The difference between that and 6.5' is more about courage.

[Roniszoro]

Hi Sailorboy1;

Thank you for your response. Did you feel constrained by your draft and did you have to avoid many areas?

[Kettlewell]

Sure, you can take almost any draft to the Bahamas. I know some folks who cruised a lot there with a 7-foot draft. But, you really do limit yourselves quite a bit, and even if you can technically get into a place it will be more difficult and nerve wracking. That deep a draft will also be a problem in a lot of places in Florida, including the Keys. Personally, I wouldn't even consider a boat that drew more than 6 feet for the entire East Coast of the USA. This summer I spent quite a bit of time watching people aground trying to get into Cuttyhunk near low tide. The channel has shoaled to less than 6 feet.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Roniszoro

Hi Sailorboy1;

Thank you for your response. Did you feel constrained by your draft and did you have to avoid many areas?

Wasn't much on a problem. Yes can not get into some places, but can get close enough just fine. The difference between 6' and a 5' would mostly be nothing. Now if you have a power boat etc. with 3.5' that starts being a different story.

So don't let a 6.5 draft stop you going. you are going to be able to go most places

[Ded reckoner]

Our draft is about 6ft 5in when fully loaded and provisioned. Our experience is we could go almost anywhere we wanted, but we had to be careful deciding among choices.

We crossed from Miami Beach to North Bimini, then to the bottom of the Berry Islands off Bird Cay, then to the Exumas to Highbourne, Hawksbill, Big Majors Spot adjacent to Staniel Cay, Big Galliot Cay, Darby Island, Monument Beach on Stocking Island, then to the Southern Islands at Crooked Beach on Crooked Island (a must stop for Wilhelmina's Gibson's Restaurant at Landrail Point Settlement), and Attwood Harbor on Acklins Island.

Charts will show recommended routes in many areas. These are highly recommended unless you have local knowledge. But, don't just set waypoints, turn on the autopilot, and duck below. A lot of cruisers use these routes, which means they're on your route.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Roniszoro

Hi Sailorboy1;

Thank you for your response. Did you feel constrained by your draft and did you have to avoid many areas?

I did it with 6-5 draft. Yes we felt a bit constrained and it was dicey at times.
It was doable but a bit nerve wracking at times.
Coming from Nassau, we had to use one of the more northern "cuts" as the other more south cuts had shallow spots we were unsure of.. I think we used Farmer's Cay Cut rather than Rudder Cut.

Entering the bay to Georgetown it was a bit of a visual entry and we picked our way through visually a few times. Still, we didnt run aground and noted the route that worked on the gps. But at times the depth meter was reading 0.
We banged hard getting into a couple of places and it was late in the day after getting there, so we would have had little choice of where to anchor had we not banged our way in. One was the anchorage at Hog Cay IIRC.

If we had run aground hard like we did in Florida I dont know what we would have done....
Incidentally, we ran aground twice in Florida and once were glad we had towing insurance. It was a hard grounding and we had to be dragged off with lines to the masthead and bow and stern laying the boat over, not a simple tow.

[Hobiehobie]

We have been to the Abacos and Exuma with 7.5. Not a problem if you have good ground tackle as you might be a bit further out than some. We did touch bottom a couple of times leaving Staniel Cay but it’s all sand.

[SailingHarmonie]

I have a secret for you. Careless people with boat with a 4'5" draft run aground in the Bahamas all the time. Just like careless people with 6'6" drafts.

We have cruised the Bahamas for 6 years with a 6'7" draft, and we still have not gone all the places we can go.

The thing about most of the shallower places in the Bahamas is they are FLAT. You avoid hitting coral heads with your eyeballs, and you can sail for hours in water 7'-8' deep. It takes a bit of recalibration of your pucker factor, depending on where you normally sail. You'd have many more options for sailing around the Bahamas than you would in say, the Florida Keys.

[smallFry]

There was an article in the Near Bahamas Explorer Charts by the captain of a 10’ draft luxury charter sailing vessel. He said you just need to pick your destinations.

Some chartplotters come with a CHIRP transponder. They can display bottom contours in front of you. That might be useful when picking your way through a shallow cut.