On Feb 26, 1:53*pm, " wrote:
On Feb 26, 7:17 am, AGrigorof wrote:

I... used to be a deck officer in the merchant marine but...
How long
does it take for example from West Palm Beach (or from somewhere in
the area) to Freeport? 4-5 hours? ...

At some point in your Merchant Marine training they taught you that
Time = Distance / Speed. *NOAA should have a downloadable chart of the
area though I've lost the link. *Can anyone help with that?

Good luck,

-- Tom.

I'm not sure what is a typical cruising speed in this waters. On a
flat lake it would be easy to tell how long it takes to go from point
A to point B but crossing the Gulf Stream is different. In straight
line, from Freeport to West Palm Beach there are approx. 90 miles so
with a 30 mph cruising speed (I don't know why all the boat vendors
give the crusing speed in mph instead of knots... maybe because lots
of people don't know the difference between an international mile and
a nautical mile) it means that I can make it in approx. 3 hours. But
can I achieve that crusing speed in typical Gulf Stream waters with a
32-34 feet boat?

On Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:33:41 -0800 (PST), AdisonGrio
wrote:

I'm not sure what is a typical cruising speed in this waters. On a
flat lake it would be easy to tell how long it takes to go from point
A to point B but crossing the Gulf Stream is different. In straight
line, from Freeport to West Palm Beach there are approx. 90 miles so
with a 30 mph cruising speed (I don't know why all the boat vendors
give the crusing speed in mph instead of knots... maybe because lots
of people don't know the difference between an international mile and
a nautical mile) it means that I can make it in approx. 3 hours. But
can I achieve that crusing speed in typical Gulf Stream waters with a
32-34 feet boat?

Some days yes, many days no. Most people try to leave early in the
morning at sunrise to try and get a head start before the thermals
kick in.

On Feb 26, 9:33 am, AdisonGrio wrote:
... In straight
line, from Freeport to West Palm Beach there are approx. 90 miles so
with a 30 mph cruising speed...

Are you sure? I think it's more like 75 nautical miles.

I don't know why all the boat vendors
give the crusing speed in mph instead of knots...

'Cause they're shorter. Sometimes I think some vendors "confuse"
kilometers with miles too.

I don't have any local knowledge of the area. FWIW, the route is in
the area of variables so you ought to be able to find a chunk of light
wind to make the crossing if you are willing to wait a bit. If the
wind is blowing against the stream don't go. Generally thermal
breezes are lightest just before dawn, so an early start going and a
very early start returning might be worth considering.

-- Tom.