On Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:26:10 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

The big risk in the summer is getting hit with an afternoon thunder
squall in the Gulf Stream. *Every year a number of 20 footers are lost
that way. *Pick your weather very carefully, leave at sunrise and plan
to be off the water by noon time.

For what it's worth, I think the Tolman is too small to be a
comfortable cruiser for any length of time.



Do they lose a lot of boats, are most folks in flotillas and such,
therefore saved? Are there any stats on lost ships or souls by year?

Most small boats (under 30 ft or so) make the crossing with one or
more buddy boats. Sometimes they both get in trouble.

Florida boating fatalities have been averaging about 70 per year
recently. Approximately 25% are in offshore waters.

There's a lot of information he

http://myfwc.com/law/boating/2007stats/fatality.pdf

and more he

http://www.floridaconservation.org/l...0COUNTYSUM.pdf