Best winter anchorages near Key West or Bahamas

[seaman-lew]

vero beach

[tdh1849]

There is another Sailing Club in Ft.Lauderdale, Sailing Singles of South Florida, has a website and a member lives nearby on a Lagoon 42....fyi

[Cat White House]

In the winter, most northern blows don't make it much below Nassau. I've been in the Abacos when the temperature can drop below 50 F and once reaching 35 F. The weather in the northern Bahamas is more like Jacksonville even though farther south. There is nothing to slow a northern blow in the Atlantic. In Florida, most cruisers stay below the "King Palm Line" which is somewhere just north of Palm Beach. King Palms just don't like cold weather and are rarely found north of that line in the winter. Below Miami is even better. The Keys do not have many places to hide without moving the hook for particular weather. Marathon is a good choice.

Your best bet is the lower Exumas. And in the Exumas I suggest George Town / Elizabeth Harbour, Great Exuma Island, Exumas for the reasons in the Bahamas Cruisers Guide.

see: www.bahamascruisersguide.com/page75/page43/page43.html]George Town

The Cruising Community in George Town is so organized that there group-social activities all day long from volleyball to bridge to lessons and seminars on some pretty good subjects.

Have Fun

[Elie]

Naturally there always is the No Name Harbour south of Key Biscane... If there is space...
In the Bahamas, the safest places are in tha Abaccos. Hope Town has a lagoon impervious to anything. And Turtle Cay in the northen portion of Abaccos is perfect. There are also other places in this area of the Bahamas. The thing is that too much draft is a limiting factor ...

[UNCIVILIZED]

A couple of important questions come to mind. Do you have a car, & are you planning on using it for driving back & forth to MD to see the family? If not, how important is it to you to be close to a major airfield, such as one's with direct filghts to the DC/MD area? Or are you okay with taking a couple of short flights to get to a bit airport with such flights?
Also, if you do have a car, obviously places to park it, both long & short term are important.

[Fearnow]

We plan to send a car to florida, if we decide to stay there. Fly back to see the kids, but no car if we go to Bahamas.

Exuma is great, especially Georgetown for kite surfing Grand Isle, but Hopetown is to secluded and somewhat boring. Going to look into the suggested areas in Florida.

[tomfl]

[QUOTE=travellerw;2401590]

Originally Posted by Guy

Technically true (not really adheared to by quite a few)...

SNIP

Not sure what your experience in BKH has been but not using the City Marina for wet storage is more than a technicality and those who don't adhere to it do get in trouble. It is possible to anchor in the harbor but more and more there have been thefts on unattended boats. While there is a real sense of community in the harbor and folks will look after your boat things get very crowded in the season and you can generate ill will by seeming to abandon your boat.

A big issue is that there is a sizable number of folks who work in Marathon or other places in the Keys and use living on a boat as a cheap rent situation. That number has been growing and as more folks do that there is less room in the harbor for snow birds who only want to winter there. If the locals think they are being squeezed out by snow birds it generates ill will.

Not saying BKH is not a great place to stay; just that using it for wet storage for any length of time can cause a problem.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by Fearnow

Being near places to kite would be icing on the cake!

I will look into St. Augustine and Stuart. I have been to both places, but not by boat.

Looking at Active Capt. too.



Thanks for all the input!

The St. Augustine mooring field is fantastic. Great facilities and well kept balls. Affordable. There is still a little exposure and it's gets bloody hot in the summer (we spent a summer on the ball there). There is a parking garage for long term parking nearby. There is also access to a publix by dinghy with free dinghy access. A Home Depot, Walmart, lowes, and lots of shopping all within walking distance.

Also, there is kite surfing within dinghy range just off Villano beach.

I would add that we have a great cruisers net there at well but it's slow or non existent in the summer months.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by tdh1849

There are two sailing clubs in the Ft.Lauderdale/Pompano area that I would suggest you contact for good info:

Hilsboro Inlet Sailing Club.
#2 South Florida Sailors and Boaters.

Both have websites.

Lastly, in Ft.Lauderdale on the ICW, is the " Los Solas" marina which has a mooring field that can take a Cat, good restaurants, transpiration, and 5 minutes to the ocean.
( check the spelling, either Las or Los).

Lauderdale and Miami airports are close by, rail transportation gets you there, northern Bahamas, Abacos and Bimini are very close and easy to sail to.

Las Olas is beginning a huge renovation. They have already started. Soon they will be kicking everyone off their docks so they can rebuild them.

They are ripping up some of the parking and putting in a lot more slips.

[wannacat]

Go to Fishers Bay, Guana Cay, Abacos and anchor in close with your shallow draft, just got to watch for a few old mooring blocks. Go up the hill to Nippers and get into the rum punches, then roll down the hill and have a few more at Grabbers and watch the sunset. Dingy back out and pass out. Next day repeat, however when you get up to Nippers one day and see the surf out in front just right, then enjoy the kiting! Just stay and party there unless a cold front with clocking winds threatens, then you can jump over to Treasure for pizza night and stroll the beach or run through the Whale to Green Turtle and get hammered with all the other cruiser's on Friday night at Davids Liquor Store, or go swim with the pigs at Munjack. Once the front is through, go back to Fishers and Nippers. Repeat the process until the Barefoot Man plays there and you party all weekend with all the cruisers who have come back up from Georgetown after dodging fronts like you did all winter. At least you didn't have to jump from one side of Elizabeth Harbour to the other as fronts went through and wonder all night who didn't set their anchor right and might drag down on top of you. Repeat the Nippers process until you think it's time to head north with all the others. Enjoy!!!

[Fearnow]

Originally Posted by wannacat

Go to Fishers Bay, Guana Cay, Abacos and anchor in close with your shallow draft, just got to watch for a few old mooring blocks. Go up the hill to Nippers and get into the rum punches, then roll down the hill and have a few more at Grabbers and watch the sunset. Dingy back out and pass out. Next day repeat, however when you get up to Nippers one day and see the surf out in front just right, then enjoy the kiting! Just stay and party there unless a cold front with clocking winds threatens, then you can jump over to Treasure for pizza night and stroll the beach or run through the Whale to Green Turtle and get hammered with all the other cruiser's on Friday night at Davids Liquor Store, or go swim with the pigs at Munjack. Once the front is through, go back to Fishers and Nippers. Repeat the process until the Barefoot Man plays there and you party all weekend with all the cruisers who have come back up from Georgetown after dodging fronts like you did all winter. At least you didn't have to jump from one side of Elizabeth Harbour to the other as fronts went through and wonder all night who didn't set their anchor right and might drag down on top of you. Repeat the Nippers process until you think it's time to head north with all the others. Enjoy!!!

Hahaaaa!!