Crazy or just a differant approach

[wizoc]

The trip-
Annapolis to Fort Pierce then on to Lake Worth for Bahamas crossing
Some ICW some outside. Tentatively leave Oct.1.

The boat-
Catalina 425, shoal draft

The issue-
Should the trip be done in one push however long it takes or should/can it be broken up into two cruises the second between Thanksgiving and Christmas?
I figure one push would be about 6 weeks and still be in hurricane season. Stopping and leaving the boat in say Charleston northern Fl. potentially means cold and questionable conditions.
Has anyone done the second option and what do the experienced cruisers think?
TIA
Terry

[Peeew]

I usually wait until close to Nov 1 and go straight from the Chesapeake Bay to the Bahamas in about 5 days. I bet either of your plans would work fine and probably have similar arrival date. It might just depend on what you want to see along the way. I enjoyed the series of stops along the way when I tried the “down the coast then cross over route” but just took way too long for me. Either way you are basically on your own for a while if something goes wrong out at sea. Good preparation and planning is important. Weather updates can help a lot to decide along the way if you want to stop somewhere. If you trust something like 2-3 day forecast to be pretty accurate and get updates along the way it helps.

[JebLostInSpace]

My only experience has been the hopping down the coast method. I took the ICW to get past Hatteras, and was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable that was. It's such a small waterway that you inevitably make friends with other boats taking the same route, and you get to stop every night and visit small towns you would otherwise never see. It is however a much slower way to go.

Then, once you reach Beaufort, NC, you can choose to take short-ish hops outside and stay inside the gulf stream, moving coastwise down to Florida. This is lovely for many of the same reasons that the ICW was lovely.

Then from Lake worth, it's one long day to West End, or one overnight to other destinations in the Bahamas. This is great because it's easier on the crew, and you can do the crossing well within the window of accurate weather forecasting.

The downside is the whole trip from Annapolis to West End is probably several weeks this way, vs. something like 5 days to go direct offshore.

If you want to split the trip down the coast into two sections, I think that is easily doable. You can make some southing early in the season before it gets cold in Annapolis, and then stage in Florida or Georgia or SC until hurricane season ends and then head to the Bahamas. The nice part about the inshore route is you don't need such favorable weather conditions to make progress. You can motor down the ICW through a cold headwind, and just anchor whenever it gets too cold or when it gets dark. Or you can take a one or two day weather window, and use it to hop down a hundred miles or so on the outside. You don't need a 5-day weather window to make progress.

For context, I did the trip from Maine to the Bahamas last year. I waited until early November to leave Maine. I made it to the Chesapeake in mid-November, and essentially started your trip then. I was very glad not to be offshore for the Annapolis-Beaufort leg, because it was awfully cold at night. I would not recommend starting your trip that late, but it can be done.

If you leave mid-October and then stage the boat anywhere between Charleston and Fort Worth, you'll be in good shape to head over to the Bahamas as soon as hurricane season ends. (I assume you are waiting for the "official" end of hurricane season for insurance reasons)