Crew Wanted: Crew needed Chesapeake to Fla in January

[sjm823]

PatrickBarbary, what time of year did you do the route to Melbourne in the PDQ?

[vlathom]

We drive a trawler and taking the Cut was less "cluttered" and faster than the Swamp. Overall , I can't imagine traveling down the Ditch this time of year.

[sjm823]

Ok, we decided to stay in the Chesapeake, winterize and wait for April.

Thanks for your help everybody.

[lyndsaymayer]

Hi guys! We’re not available to join you, unfortunately, but would love to meet up on your way down if you stop in Hampton Roads! Maybe meet up for dinner or we’d love to host you if you need a night off the boat 😁 Shoot me a text if you’re keen - would love to see your boat, too!! PS just returned from St. Augustine, my parents live there on Anastasia Island!

Lyndsay
757-508-1619

[dougweibel]

Don't give up too soon. Yes, it will be cold. Yes, you may loose some days where you just hunker down and let weather pass. The big factor is the daylight is short this time of year. Short days and days wasted for weather may stretch it out, but you will get there. I have made the trip a few times in November (including this year). January will be tougher, but if you are patient it is very doable.

My two pieces of advice would be:

1) Think well in advance about where you will anchor each night. Have a backup that you can reach in the daylight. There are some long stretches of the ICW with poor anchoring options, some stretches of 20-30 miles with really no options. The good news is that you will be competing with few others for a good spot to anchor.

2) Don't look a gift horse in the mouth with regards to weather and offshore passages. You can run from Beaufort, NC to Winyah Bay or Cape Fear to Charleston in a single overnight run and be well inside the gulf stream the whole way. You can also run Charleston to St. Mary's or St. Johns in a single overnight passage. You are only looking at a 36 hour weather window so can have some confidence in the forecast. If it happens to be good weather don't waste it. Offshore jumps can save you a lot of time, especially when daylight is short. My wife and I got lucky this year - even though we usually do a good portion of the trip inside the weather was suitable (though not always nice) and we went outside from Hampton VA to St. Johns FL in a single passage. That sped up the trip by about a week.

I'd crew for you if it fit my schedule. Sadly, no.