On Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:36:06 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:44:06 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

There's been some discussion on what size boat is "right" for
traveling to the Bahamas from Florida.
Looks to be about 10' for this guy.
http://www.boattest.com/Resources/vi...px?NewsID=3472


If you can pick your day and weather with 100% certainty, almost
anything will do. We crossed the Gulf Stream last week in weather so
calm that the clouds were perfectly reflected in the water.
Unfortunately that's not always the case, and the stream breeds little
pop up thunder squalls that can go from 0 to 60 in no time at all. If
the wind is out of the north opposing the stream, steep breaking waves
are created that can easily capsize a 24 footer and make life
miserable for bigger boats.

Cruise ships cruise in the neighborhood of 20, A reasonable speed for
my 22 foot sterndrive. You run half a mile alongside a ship, and if
need be, let it serve as a breakwater.

Casady

On Sat, 20 Jun 2009 09:20:51 -0500, Richard Casady
wrote:

Cruise ships cruise in the neighborhood of 20, A reasonable speed for
my 22 foot sterndrive. You run half a mile alongside a ship, and if
need be, let it serve as a breakwater.

That tactic may work OK on small lakes in Iowa but I eagerly await
your test results in the Gulf Stream. You may be trying to make a
joke of course but I'm always concerned about someone reading advice
like that and taking it seriously. There are one or two boats per
month lost on the east coast of Florida because they are out there on
the wrong day and/or the wrong boat, not very funny if it happens to
you or someone you know.