Sailing from Miami to Bahamas...
- Thread starter jarecki
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Jareki, if you subscribe to Latitudes and Attitudes magazine there is an article in this months issue about a couple that cruise in a 21' LOA by 5' Beam sailboat. No motor or electrical system. So I would say if you are determined enough it can be done! Compared to this an H26 is a large cruiser.....:dance:
Its less than 200 miles, so it shouldnt be a problem, two or three day sail. Provided you get good weather it should be ok. The worst thing is, you have to cross the gulf stream, and after a strong northerly wind, that can take up to three days to settle down, so even when the weather becomes really good, and you have a window of several days, you have to wait at least three days, before sailing. If you are properly equiped, and have enough experience, it would be quite a routine sail. I wouldnt do it without a liferaft, an MF/HF radio, (or a sat phone, but radio is better) and EPIRB. Your VHF and mobile, will go out of range of the coast, at maybe 20 miles if you are lucky, and wont come back into range, until about the same distance from the Bahamas, so for about 120 miles, your only comms, will be MF/HF, or sat phone.
The winds there, can also be problamatic, you get the wind taking you off shore from florida in the evening, but out at sea, they tend to change direction, they go round in a circle, coming from all directions over time, so if you sail with a wind from the south, that wind may change to coming from the west, then move round to the north, and you dont want a north wind going to the bahamas. The gulf stream, will also push you north at a high rate, they say 4-5 knots, but then put a south wind behind that, and i found our drift north, was ten knots. When you are only making 4-5 knots, and your drift north is 10 knots, its adds a lot of time onto your passage.
The winds there, can also be problamatic, you get the wind taking you off shore from florida in the evening, but out at sea, they tend to change direction, they go round in a circle, coming from all directions over time, so if you sail with a wind from the south, that wind may change to coming from the west, then move round to the north, and you dont want a north wind going to the bahamas. The gulf stream, will also push you north at a high rate, they say 4-5 knots, but then put a south wind behind that, and i found our drift north, was ten knots. When you are only making 4-5 knots, and your drift north is 10 knots, its adds a lot of time onto your passage.
Yes, you just have to pick the right weather window, but it is very doable. Keep in mind that you need to pick the right weather window for both directions, so it you don't want to pick a date to cross over and a date to cross back. So give yourself some time. Many cruisers may wait 3 or 4 days for the right weather to cross.
It can be done but your boat is really not going to be built heavy enough to withstand much abuse in the Gulfstream. While other more substantial boats may find their weather window acceptable you may have to wait quite a while. Along with everything else, take a spare rudder as many of these have failed under the heavy cycling in choppy seas with all the additional weight of extra gear on-board. Because we do so many long weekends I carry a crude spare just to get us home in case of a failure.
I'm a confident and experienced offshore sailor with bigger boat experience but consider our little 260 a lightweight trailerable coastal cruiser and would be more inclined to charter a more substantial boat somewhere in the Exumas.
A good friend of ours, a former retired navy man with hundreds of thousands of ocean miles, who eventually did the great loop in their 260, lost a rudder on their 260 half way across to the Bahamas and had to pay for a tow back to Fl$$$$. The boat is virtually impossible to control with the OB alone if there is even the slightest wave action. 2yrs later, after thousands of wonderful miles doing the Loop in his 260 he bought a bigger boat and is now quite enjoyably doing the Carribbean. Every boat has it's limits.
I'm a confident and experienced offshore sailor with bigger boat experience but consider our little 260 a lightweight trailerable coastal cruiser and would be more inclined to charter a more substantial boat somewhere in the Exumas.
A good friend of ours, a former retired navy man with hundreds of thousands of ocean miles, who eventually did the great loop in their 260, lost a rudder on their 260 half way across to the Bahamas and had to pay for a tow back to Fl$$$$. The boat is virtually impossible to control with the OB alone if there is even the slightest wave action. 2yrs later, after thousands of wonderful miles doing the Loop in his 260 he bought a bigger boat and is now quite enjoyably doing the Carribbean. Every boat has it's limits.
Lot's of Similar Sized Boats Do it All the Time
I was talking with a friend who has taken his boat over many many times. He said what makes it an affordable way to go is the ability to bring all of your needs with you. The problem with my boat is the short period of time we would be able to be comfortable with what we brought with us.
The boat will make it fine that is not the issue. There are groups who form flotillas and go together. That may be somthing to look at.
I was talking with a friend who has taken his boat over many many times. He said what makes it an affordable way to go is the ability to bring all of your needs with you. The problem with my boat is the short period of time we would be able to be comfortable with what we brought with us.
The boat will make it fine that is not the issue. There are groups who form flotillas and go together. That may be somthing to look at.
It has been done and it is possible but safety comes in degrees. There is no 100% risk free crossing. Besides weather there is the risks of collision with fast moving traffic or submerged obstacles, mechanical or electric failures, taking on water, man overboard, sickness or others. The current which runs North varies in speed and extension and if the boat is unable to fight its way through it it will end somewhere in the North Atlantic. Sailboats are slow so they must take a course partially heading into the current to compensate for drift. The average crossing is from 10 to 14 hours. A lot can happen and change in that span of time. I'm not trying to discourage you but I do suggest you do your homework and consider an plan for any eventuality. A time and cost budget is equally essential. There are entry fees and cruising fees and it can get expensive waiting at a marine for a weather window.
I have done many gulf stream crossings and one person said it was less than 200 miles? From Miami to Bimini? That's more like 50 miles and the course is 090, but with the stream streaming north, you need to work your vectors and head more south and crab to Bimini. At any rate, a Hunter 260 is not an offshore boat, so beware. The Gulf stream can be very nasty and you can die. Sure, sometimes it is like a flat body of inland lake (usually in the summer), but sometimes it is not. Sometimes it is relentless and in a H260 in those conditions you wished you stayed home. Not kidding. I have seen it and been in it when it was very bad, so don't be foolish for the sake of adventure. If you decide to go, make sure the weather is on your side. That means probably closer to April than now. Certainly in March, but not so much January and February because of the unpredictable northerlies. Respect the ocean because it is bigger than you.
I had to look up Bimini i never even knew it existed, i was talking about the bahamas that most people think of as the bahama, Nassau grand bahama etc. My experience of the gulf stream, is limited in sailing out to Bermuda. I did also cross it on a 30,000 ton products tanker.
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