Hiya folks.

Anybody done this trip? Any recommendations, cautions, stories? I'm
wanting to take a sailboat with a crewmate from Florida to BVI via
Abacos, along the islands.

Any input appreciated.

Cheers

BeeRich wrote in news:602a69dc-7306-4afd-b4ec-
:

Hiya folks.

Anybody done this trip? Any recommendations, cautions, stories? I'm
wanting to take a sailboat with a crewmate from Florida to BVI via
Abacos, along the islands.

Any input appreciated.

Cheers

Get Bruce Van Sant's "A Gentleman's Guide to Passages South" and read it.


-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

BeeRich wrote in news:602a69dc-7306-4afd-b4ec-
:

Hiya folks.

Anybody done this trip? Any recommendations, cautions, stories? I'm
wanting to take a sailboat with a crewmate from Florida to BVI via
Abacos, along the islands.

Any input appreciated.

Cheers

After I responsed, I realized that I should have asked an obvious (at least
to me) question. Are you planning on doing this soon? Most people are
thinking about getting their boats out of the hurricane box by this time of
the season. You're talking about heading into it. Where are you going to
leave it for hurricane season?

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

"BeeRich" wrote in message
...
Hiya folks.

Anybody done this trip? Any recommendations, cautions, stories? I'm
wanting to take a sailboat with a crewmate from Florida to BVI via
Abacos, along the islands.

Any input appreciated.

Cheers

You won't get any valid input here. This group consists of pretenders and
wannabes mostly of the small motor boat type. Few, if any, have been out of
sight of land.

No real sailor even attempts to do the route you've described. Why? Because
it's all against the prevailing winds and currents. It can be done in a
motorboat if you don't mind pounding day after day, week after week into
wind and wave but a sailboat can't do it comfortably or at all. Somebody
suggested reading "The Thorny Path." Don't bother! That book is a joke.
It's all about waiting for periods of no wind and then using an engine to
coastwise hop from port to port. Cuba plays a significant part in the route.
Big engines an even greater part.

No, forget about sailing from Miami to the BVIs via the Bahamas. It's
unworkable. It's too long a slog to weather even for a well-found yacht such
as my Swan 68. You might find yourself making good only fifty or so miles a
day.

What you need to do is take the "I-65 route." That is depart out of Miami
and head northeast to east as the prevailing SE winds allow. Proceed on your
course north of the Abacos chain (the Gulf Stream will assist your northerly
progress) and keep going until you arrive at longitude 65w. (You will be
close to Bermuda so if you wish to rest you might consider stopping there.)
Then come about and turn south on a port tack and close haul or reach down
to the BVIs. This should take you two to three weeks. Don't do it during
hurricane season. Middle of May to middle of June is the time to go. Be sure
you have a place to hide in the BVIs during hurricane season.

Wilbur Hubbard
Swan 68

On May 5, 12:39*pm, Geoff Schultz wrote:

After I responsed, I realized that I should have asked an obvious (at least
to me) question. *Are you planning on doing this soon? *Most people are
thinking about getting their boats out of the hurricane box by this time of
the season. *You're talking about heading into it. *Where are you going to
leave it for hurricane season?

Hi there. We are thinking of going down sometime between August and
October.

"BeeRich" wrote in message
...

Hi there. We are thinking of going down sometime between August and
October.

What? Are you daft? That's a stupid thing to do. You're talking about the
busiest part of the Atlantic hurricane season. You obviously haven't a
clue. Stay home or take a cruise ship. You obviously aren't qualified to be
out there sailing a small boat.

--
Gregory Hall

On May 5, 1:11*pm, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:

Then how do you explain all the American boats I saw out of mainland
USA when we were both in the Abacos and the Virgin Islands?

What you need to do is take the "I-65 route." That is depart out of Miami
and head northeast to east as the prevailing SE winds allow. Proceed on your
course north of the Abacos chain (the Gulf Stream will assist your northerly
progress) and keep going until you arrive at longitude 65w. *(You will be
close to Bermuda so if you wish to rest you might consider stopping there.)
Then come about and turn south on a port tack and close haul or reach down
to the BVIs. This should take you two to three weeks. Don't do it during
hurricane season. Middle of May to middle of June is the time to go. Be sure
you have a place to hide in the BVIs during hurricane season.

Wilbur Hubbard
Swan 68

That is the route I am planning on taking. Abacos, along the top edge
of the Bahamas, down Southeast towards Turks & Caicos, then bypassing
DR and PR totally, right into USVI then BVI. You sure I can't stick
close to the islands? Hitting Bermuda for the sake of a single tack,
is a bit much.

"BeeRich" wrote in message
...

Then how do you explain all the American boats I saw out of mainland
USA when we were both in the Abacos and the Virgin Islands?

There is more than one way to get someplace other than the direct route as
seen on a chart or map.
There are many many yachts of US registry in the Bahamas and in the Virgins.
That doesn't mean they all sailed there directly. Some of the motor boats
maybe but sailboats - few, if any are foolish enough to attempt such a long
slog against wind and current. Since you don't seem to realize this FACT it
tells me you are totally unqualified to try such a thing. Forget it.


That is the route I am planning on taking. Abacos, along the top edge
of the Bahamas, down Southeast towards Turks & Caicos, then bypassing
DR and PR totally, right into USVI then BVI. You sure I can't stick
close to the islands? Hitting Bermuda for the sake of a single tack,
is a bit much.

You'd better CHANGE your stupid plans or you're going to end up dead. You
are acting totally irrationally. You are acting like some stupid twit. You
don't try what you are talking about in a sailboat even in the off-season
and you are going to attempt it at the height of the hurricane season. You
are an idiot! Typical of the fool who thinks sailing is something to do by
brute force, without knowing the first thing about it, relying upon chance
and good luck. Well, your brute force ain't squat compared to Mother
Nature's brute force. And you're good luck will run out. You will probably
die. WAKE UP!

Wilbur Hubbard

BeeRich wrote in
:

On May 5, 12:39*pm, Geoff Schultz wrote:

After I responsed, I realized that I should have asked an obvious (at
least
to me) question. *Are you planning on doing this soon? *Most people
are
thinking about getting their boats out of the hurricane box by this
time of
the season. *You're talking about heading into it. *Where are you
going to leave it for hurricane season?

Hi there. We are thinking of going down sometime between August and
October.

As several other people have commented, you're nuts if you want to leave
from FL and go to the BVIs at that time of the year. You're dead center in
the middle of hurricane season. What would happen of you got caught in
one? Where you would go? Are you prepared to lose your boat and/or life?

Most people are departing those waters for safer locations. If you said
that you were thinking of leaving at the end of October, then I'd say that
it's a reasonable trip. However, Aug-Oct is crazy.

I know several people who have made this trip in sailboats, and while it
isn't fun, it's doable. The Van Sant book that I mentioned earier is a
very good guide.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

BeeRich wrote in
:

Note that I've done the reverse (down-wind) version of this trip. Please
see my web site for info. I must admit that wasn't writing logs at that
point in time, so the info is sketchy.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org