Crew Wanted: 35’ trawler -Port Charlotte~ to Mexico

[Scotland73]

Hiya, a 35’ trawler in Port Charlotte is being touched up, then needs to to go to Mexico asap.
It’s a 1985 CHP 35’ twin engine , 200 gallon of fuel tanks. Yes we know hurricane season has begun.
Need experienced crew or captain ? Tight to NO budget. Adventure

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by Scotland73

Hiya, a 35’ trawler in Port Charlotte is being touched up, then needs to to go to Mexico asap.
It’s a 1985 CHP 35’ twin engine , 200 gallon of fuel tanks. Yes we know hurricane season has begun.
Need experienced crew or captain ? Tight to NO budget. Adventure

You may want to ping TrawlerForum (sister site) for crew. Mexico is a pretty big country so a bit more specificity would be helpful

It's about 400 nms to Isla Mujeres/Cancun from Port Charlotte, and there is a significant oxbow in the Gulf stream into GoM to contend with. If it were me, given you only carry 200-gals, I'd ask your assumptions for fuel management and weather routing (beyond hurricanes - it's a non-trivial crossing even in non-hurricane season)

Good luck.

[Scotland73]

Ideally would like to go; Port Charlotte, Key West, Hemingway Marina, then along north coast west to Isla Mujeres, then drop down to Puerto Adventuras.

[mvweebles]

See attached picture of the Gulfstream - it's running about 2-1/4 kts and sweeps the northern coast of Cuba. The northbound current also sweeps along the Yucatan at close to 1-kt against (see current preduction picture). Any winds against this current will be pretty uncomfortable and slow so you really have to combine the information and make adjustments - a 35-foot trawler is pretty small to be out in more than about 4-foot chop.

You probably want a captain who is familiar with this area or at least open water passage planning. There are some weather-related nuances that are not readily visible on Windy and such. Data is there, but you have to find it and understand what it means when you do. There is an active thread about a sailboat on the beach near Pensacola who had departed from Key West and abandoned ship. A good guess is he didn't properly understand the weather he would encounter.