Draft in Biscayne Bay and the Keys

[loritzlorena01]

Hello, We're planning on buying a sailing boat here in Miami. I used to have one in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Length around 34', it doesn't matter the build year, and our budget is around $25.000. Our plans are to start sailing to the Keys, but after a while going all around the Caribe up to the Guyanas. My question: what is the ideal draft for this navigations? What is the ideal draft for the Biscayne Bay? Many thanks on your advice.

[s/v Moondancer]

6 ft will meet all criteria, you just have to be careful in the Bay and the Keys.

[Captain Bill]

Much of Biscayne bay is deep enough for some good sailing with anything under 6 feet, though less than 5 will open up additional areas. If you plan on bay side keys travel i would suggest 4 feet of draft though you might get away with 5 feet there will be places where you will have to be very careful at the bottom half of the tide. I draw 4ft and there are several places where I get nervous between Key Largo and the bottom of Lower Matecumbe key at low tide.

[carlosproa]

Originally Posted by loritzlorena01

Hello, We're planning on buying a sailing boat here in Miami. I used to have one in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Length around 34', it doesn't matter the build year, and our budget is around $25.000. Our plans are to start sailing to the Keys, but after a while going all around the Caribe up to the Guyanas. My question: what is the ideal draft for this navigations? What is the ideal draft for the Biscayne Bay? Many thanks on your advice.

If you are in the process of looking to buy a boat, you want to consider a model that has a fixed keel at 4 ft with a swing centerboard to extend to say 7 ft.

Maybe some of the members here can tell you brands. There are lots of boats for sale in Miami. Your biggest issue is find it where to moor or dock the boat.

I had a Charlie Morgan 30 (do not confuse it with a Morgan out island) which gave me that flexibility. These are 1970’s boat and built like a tank and pointed very well. I sold it a long time ago to a French guy living in Yucatán, he sold it, then the buyer brought it back to the Fl Keys, and sold it. By pure coincidence I know the current owner in Miami and he may just give it away for next to nothing. I have not see the shape of it, have not seen the boat in 20 years. If interested just message me and I will put the two of you in contact.

You should be able a similar model to fetch one in great shape well below $20,000 and use the rest of the money to get upgrades it may need.


Here is one in Maine so you can see what i am talking about
https://www.sailboatlistings.com/view/95944

[loritzlorena01]

Hi Carlos, thanks for your reply. I definetally let you know if I'm interested in the contact. I'm not sure on having a boat with "orza", sorry I don't know the english word for that. It's something else you have to care about.
Thanks for your advice

[carlosproa]

Originally Posted by loritzlorena01

Hi Carlos, thanks for your reply. I definetally let you know if I'm interested in the contact. I'm not sure on having a boat with "orza", sorry I don't know the english word for that. It's something else you have to care about.
Thanks for your advice

La orza te da 3 pies más pero el velero no la necesita a menos que quieras mejorar el ángulo de ataque con el viento. Es encapsulada y un cable la mueve desde el timón

[Shanachie]

No, no, no to six feet of draft in the Keys.



If you want to see anything in the Keys, you have to go on the bay side. And you have to have 4 1/2 feet or less of draft, unless you want to be slave to the tide tables and do 5 feet.


I keep seeing posters claim they sailed the Keys with six feet of draft, but I wonder where. Hawk Channel?


Certainly not the bay side of the Keys, where I have occasionally touched bottom on the ICW with 4 feet, 3 inches after storms pushed the sand around a bit.



You won't get through the smaller passes below Biscayne Bay before Marathon. You won't get into Boca Chita Key. You won't be able to anchor at Jewfish Creek. You'll run aground off Islamorada in the ICW. You won't get into Lorelei.


Certainly you won't get through Spanish Channel, if you want to take the protected route to Key West due to strong easterlies.


The best suggestion, given your budget, is an older keel-centerboard sailboat.

[Scrimshaw4]

I recommend getting some charts of the areas your interested in and checking the depths. An easy way to do that is to go online to the Waterway Guide and use their Explorer to check areas. Remember the tides in Florida are not very big. I think the suggestion of a shallow draft boat with a centerboard makes great sense for the Florida waters you mentioned. You'll probably want a different boat for your Caribbean cruising. JMHO

[flightlead404]

Yeah, 5' on the back side of the keys is a pita and in most places you'll be so far offshore its not worth it. On the East side it can still be a bit of a problem.

5' will even be too much in places like the Dinner Key mooring field during a neap tide.

[HopCar]

I’ve spent my life boating in Biscayne Bay and the keys. I wouldn’t want to do it with more than a 4 foot draft. My lobster boat drew 3 feet and I touched bottom frequently. Of course I liked to poke around shallow water.

[KingRichard]

This is a great thread, I'm mostly posting to follow it as I'm both trying to learn Spanish and looking for a keel/centerboard boat with about the same budget in Florida.

[s/v Moondancer]

I live on Biscayne Bay and have sailed there for 40 years and while the inner Keys are cute, the water is murky, and there are lots of mosquitos. Outside of the Keys, the water is clear, the mosquitos are far fewer and there is the Caribbean to sail.

We sailed the Caribbean full-time for 6 years and 20,000 nm with a boat that drew 7ft 9 inches. Gunk holers are good for getting close to shore but when you are sailing to windward, in bad weather, crossing the Caribbean, or going offshore down-island you need a boat with a keel.

We have always looked outward to the blue water and not inward to places like Boca Chita which is crowded, noisy, and mosquito-infested.

[theBigKahuna]

Yep, the sailing we did in Biscayne was some of my favorite (vs Gulf, Bahamas, etc). Sheltered Bay, beutiful schenerie, solid breezes and (when we were there) a ton of international sailors in training regattas!

Our 4.5" Leopard did just fine pretty much everywhere, the post of anything 6'j or under is very accurate. Have fun out there!

jBrad
sv Fuzzy Logic
Leopard 40

[PineyWoodsPete]

Originally Posted by Shanachie

No, no, no to six feet of draft in the Keys.



If you want to see anything in the Keys, you have to go on the bay side. And you have to have 4 1/2 feet or less of draft, unless you want to be slave to the tide tables and do 5 feet.


I keep seeing posters claim they sailed the Keys with six feet of draft, but I wonder where. Hawk Channel?


Certainly not the bay side of the Keys, where I have occasionally touched bottom on the ICW with 4 feet, 3 inches after storms pushed the sand around a bit.



You won't get through the smaller passes below Biscayne Bay before Marathon. You won't get into Boca Chita Key. You won't be able to anchor at Jewfish Creek. You'll run aground off Islamorada in the ICW. You won't get into Lorelei.


Certainly you won't get through Spanish Channel, if you want to take the protected route to Key West due to strong easterlies.


The best suggestion, given your budget, is an older keel-centerboard sailboat.

Amen to the above! We've cruised the Bahamas, Keys and Dry Tortugas with a 3.5' draft in both an Endeavour 32-CB in the late 70's, and a FP Antigua 37 cat mid-90's, and sometimes wished for less.

One memorable time in '79 with our 11 and 14 year old daughters, was returning to Key West after being weathered-in in the lee of Ft. Jefferson, Dry Tortugas for 6 days, running low of palatable food, and water. As we were entering a harbor in Key West (memory of the specific one fails me), we ran hard aground in the entrance as night was falling, tortured by the flicking-out of fast food joint lights! Fortunately tide was rising and we shook ourselves loose and got ashore before the last one closed.

[Seabeau]

A keel/centerboarder, regardless of their draft, will put you in the same precarious position, if you're aground, on a falling tide. What you really need is a true centerboarder with no external keel. A vessel that will sit upright on the bottom. Like a Carter, Seguin, or Hobie. Or like my Presto 36, designed in 1884 by Floridian Ralph Middleton Munroe.