To go or Not

[Franklin]

I've been thinking of undoing the lines and heading to St. Petes and then Key West either Sunday or Monday or Tuesday. Winds are forecasted up to 25 knots for Sunday and Tuesday with up to 20 knots the rest of the week. Seas up to 10' on Tuesday. The route is a bearing of 122 to 142 degrees for 150 miles and then east (89 degrees) all the way to St. Petes. Things I don't like are: 25 knots of wind, beating against the wind the last 400 miles (if I leave on Tuesday).What I do like is that I have the time and the first few days (until Wednesday) the wind is from the North or Northeast.Boat: H376. Opinions?

 

[CharlieH]

Go.

If ya don't you'll regret it.CharlieH

 

[sailortonyb]

Franklin.....Do It

I havent looked at the weather forecast yet, but they are traditionally wrong.Since thats all we got, go with it. In open water, your boat should handle 25K with no porblem. Might require some reefing, but not much. THe beating part is definately not the fun part in the Gulf. Winter fronts are poorly predicted in the gulf as to timing and magnitude. If you wait til Thurs nite or Fri Morn, you could drop me off in Biloxi. , LOLAnyway, have you considered trying to make it to Pennsacola or Panama City area for a lay-over. If looks like weather is changing for the better, head further south to your destination. Have a blast. .

 

[KorculaChris]

We only regret that which we did not do...

Not what we didn't. Having said that, remember, Gentlemen don't beat to weather!Now that I've completely muddled it, have fun, go, keep us posted.

 

[Kevin3447]

Place to stay

Sounds like fun!Make sure you have a place to stay - Ft. Lauderdale to Key West Race is Jan 9-12, and Key West Race Week is Jan. 15-19. Is that why you're thinking of going?K

 

[Jerry Clark H356 SV Persistence]

Plenty of Places to duck into

Franklin - See the wave link below for the forecast waves and direction I have found it useful in the past. Close to the coast, they look great for the first two days, then could get a little dicey if you are too far away from the coast. There are good places to duck into - Panama City, Clearwater, Tampa Bay, Charlotte Harbor, then down the ICW to Sanibel if necessary. Good anchorages along the way and especially at Key West. Watch out for Highs in the mid-section of the country that dip down toward the Gulf Coast with cold temps. These are called "Northers" and usually have stong northerly winds and large waves in the Gulf. Been in one two years ago for several days and everywhere I wanted to go, wind was on the nose with 8 to 10 foot waves. Give yourself some time latitude and you should have a good trip!Good luck and have a good trip!

 

[Franklin]

not near shore

I've been advised to not stay near the shore but to get out into deep water to get away from the rigs and better wave action (rolling verses steep choppy near shore). Plus, it's much warmer in the middle of the gulf. As long as the wind forecast is not under-rated, the waves should be rolling out there.Not going for the races although some here are (by plane) (b, I'm just going for the experience.Thanks all. I'm pretty sure I'm going now, just have to figure the departure time and day. I think I'm going to hold off until Tuesday morning to leave so I can run with that 25 knots, making A. wind of 20 instead of beating into it making the A. wind 30 knots.

 

[Jerry Clark H356 SV Persistence]

Near Shore to me means 20 to 25 miles

Franklin, my definition of near shore is 20 to 25 miles offshore. If you take a more direct route, that will still keep you out of the forecast large waves if the forecast holds (72 Hours). Once you get past south of New Orleans, you will certainly be much further than that offshore, but if you go southwest and then east it looks like you will be in the vicinity of a developing low in 72 hours that will give you some large waves and more unsettled weather to contend with. You are the Captain, so make your own choice! Have a great trip.

 

[Chuck]

Wave forecast link

Am I missing something, or is that link from Jerry not for forecasts from Nov 06?

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

FRANKLIN: Not Near Shore

In your particular plan, near shore/offshore shouldnt make too much of a difference. If you scribe a line 100nm from the shores of Tx and La. u will avoid most if not all of the oilfield structures. Once you ure south of MS and Al. you wont se any that far out. I wont make that trip again (thru Tx and La.) without radar. If you could make it on moonlight nights, it wont be bad. Dont plan on much sleep because of the rigs and platforms.Dont worry too much about oilfield boats, they are pretty good at giving a wide berth to pleasure craft. If they do approach closely, its only to check you out. Sailboats are extremely rare out there.Keep in mind that the oil fields run North and south following the pipelines.When you get to a field, it will take approx 1 hour to get through it and then maybe 4 hours till the next one. Bring a timer/clock with a loud alarm so as to get some sleep. I never solo'd thru the oilfields, but they are thick at times.Normally when i solo, i sleep with an egg timer on my chest , in the cockpit and set it for 30 mins. When it dings, look up and around for lightning, objects in your way ,etc, and then go back to sleep for another 30 mins. You can do this for several days when you have to and still be awake most of the time.One more thing, if you hail an oilfield boat with yours or his Lat and Long. he wont answer you on the radio because he wont know where the heck he is and doesnt pay much attention to it. They go by oilfield block no's. Other than go to a dock and get on a crew boat and ask for a chart, im not sure where you can get what are called OIL FIELD OVERLAY CHARTS. they show the block number. When you hail a boat you will say.." to that crew boat or supply boat in the East Cameron 62 block" or whatever the appropriate location is. Then they will respond.If you have any questions about the Gulf, e-mail me, sailortonyb@yahoo.com. At my present location, i have high speed internet (satellite) in my office. I can use the phone line if i want as long as it is not abused. It too is satellite. Our current contract gives us unlimited internet so i check my e-mail regularly.I know u will have a great trip. Tony B

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

ONE MORE THING...

Seems at my age, there is always "one more thing", LOL. Cant keep a thought very long if not sex related. Anyway, remember that Gulf Loop Current i was tellin you about. I still havent found a free site for the Loop Current predictions. It runs about 5K most of the time it seems. Something to strongly consider on a trip this far. look up some stuff on the internet and get the basic idea of it and its general route. It could be your friend in both directions of travel.  Bon Voyage Tony BAlso, if you need to get in somewhere out of the weather and have to get back toward shore, dont pay too much atention to all the hype that you hear about how the closer to land the worse it gets BS. Yes it does get choppyer, and it does feel rougher for a while, but its still not as bad as being way out there with much higher winds and waves.  I am soooooooooo jealous. Tony B

 

[Ahansom]

Weather models

Some of the weather sites I like to use are Sailflow and Buoyweather they both have very good graphics and charts. Tell us a little more about your trip I am not that familiar with the gulf. How far will you travel? Are you going solo or with crew?

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

Ahansom.....

The Gulf of Mexico has a strong loop current that runs in a clockwise direction.It is an extension of the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic. It is an extremely strong and fast current moving at about 5Kts. It constantly changes its position and speed as does the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic and the Jet Stream in our atmosphere.It is somewhat predictable, about as accurate as the weather forecasts, for whatever that might be worth. LOLAnyway, being that this current is almost as fast as a lot of sailboats in a fair breeze, it could mean the difference between tooling along standing still. Ask me how i know.....about the standing still part, that is.

 

[Rick Webb]

Look us Up if You Get in Around Here

I'll keep the beer cold

 

[Franklin]

The trip

So far I've decided to leave either Monday night or Tuesday morning. I like the idea of leaving Monday night so by the time I get to 20 miles out in the gulf, it will be daylight (I have learned it's rough on the mind to just reach the waves at night, especially if it's cloudy and can't see anything). What I don't like about it is that until I get out deep (this is another reason to go deep), it's going to be cold at night so that first night will be pretty chilli But, once the sun comes up, that should be the last of the cold until I come back, I hope.Yes, I am going alone so far. I do have radar that I use a lot when out sailing in the gulf at night. I love the alarm on it that goes off when things get close.The Gulf is a crazy place because it's so shallow along the northern shore. You have to go out 150 miles to get into real deep water where the waves roll more and the water is warmer. The route is planned to be 650 nm but will have to tack a lot once the wind turns east. I may get out there and find that it's just easier to go straight to Key West and then hit St. Petersburg on the way back. I hope I can find a place to drop the hook at Key West with the race going on. First choice is Sigsbee Park area.Right now I'm printing charts and watching football. Already stocked up for 2 weeks of food. That should get me to Florida Unlike the other guy, I plan on trying to catch some fish. Tomorrow I'm doing a full check on the boat (didn't do that two months ago).

 

[Franklin]

Rick

Shoot me an emailFranklinGray@Gmail.com

 

[Rick Webb]

Done

I have made the trip from here to Tarpon Springs and to Venice. Been through the ditch via Apalachicola and straight across.

 

[droopy]

You'll never go!

I don't think you really have it in you. I know I don't, anymore....It gets rough out there!

 

[Franklin]

droppy...I hope you are wrong. I'm definately leaving...at 2 am Tuesday morning (waiting until the tide current settles). I tried this trip two months ago and had to turn around because my alternator wasn't charging the batteries and the generator wasn't running but those have been fixed and I'm ready. It is much harder by one's self.

 

[RG]

Envy

I am a land locked lake sailor that dreams of one day hitting the big blue waters and going when ever where ever.What type boat will you be leaving in?