Southbound, we did Charleson to Jacksonville last winter, and Cape Fear to
Fort Pierce with a fuel stop at Mayport, last week A mix of good sailing,
a lot of motor sailing and some windward work the last leg from Cape
Canaveral to Ft.Pierce. Be careful and conservative in picking a good
weather window and be prepared for it to take longer than you think it will,
if the wind is light or goes around to the south. Carry enough fuel to motor
if the wind is unfavorable . It's pretty out there at night and lots of
dolphins to watch during the day. It saves about three ICWdays for every day
offshore.

Scott

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
"beaufortnc" wrote:

What is the prevailing wisdom about going offshore in the Winter/Spring

Talking mainly about Southeast US coastal hops.

What areas can be dangerous? How are weather patterns different than
other times of the year.

Any specific advice about the hop from Charleston to St. Augustine in
late January?

As long as you pick your weather window, you shouldn't have a problem
whatever the time of year. We've done it once in each direction from
Charleston to the St. Mary's River (Nov 21, 2003), and once from the
St. Mary's River to Charleston (April 10, 2004). We don't like the
harbor entrance in St. Augustine (I've seen a line of breakers
completely across the inlet several times), so we go in to the St.
Mary's River instead. That is a class A Inlet which is probably
maintained for the Kings Bay Sub Base. You could also come into the
St. John's River, but there's more traffic there.

grandma Rosalie