Can anybody provide any useful info on inlets south of Saint Lucie for
a 28' sailboat with 13 hp engine? What about Jupiter inlet? What
about Hillsboro inlet? If Hillsboro inlet is ok, it would be good to
use it to get to West End because it lies enough south of West End to
be able to use a SE wind AND the Gulf Stream current to good effect.
Sailing direct from Lake Worth Inlet which is what most people do
would involve fighting the Gulf Stream.

Frogwatch wrote:
Can anybody provide any useful info on inlets south of Saint Lucie for
a 28' sailboat with 13 hp engine? What about Jupiter inlet? What
about Hillsboro inlet? If Hillsboro inlet is ok, it would be good to
use it to get to West End because it lies enough south of West End to
be able to use a SE wind AND the Gulf Stream current to good effect.
Sailing direct from Lake Worth Inlet which is what most people do
would involve fighting the Gulf Stream.

Probably be faster to get down to a boater bar or marina and ask around.
Waiting for advice here could throw your schedule to hell.
And you can't get beer here.

Jim

On Apr 6, 7:57*pm, Jim wrote:
Frogwatch wrote:
Can anybody provide any useful info on inlets south of Saint Lucie for
a 28' sailboat with 13 hp engine? *What about Jupiter inlet? *What
about Hillsboro inlet? *If Hillsboro inlet is ok, it would be good to
use it to get to West End because it lies enough south of West End to
be able to use a SE wind AND the Gulf Stream current to good effect.
Sailing direct from Lake Worth Inlet which is what most people do
would involve fighting the Gulf Stream.

Probably be faster to get down to a boater bar or marina and ask around.
Waiting for advice here could throw your schedule to hell.
And you can't get beer here.

Jim

I will not be leaving for a week or so. Am home doing honey-do stuff
and reluctantly going to work, gotta make some money to pay patent
fees.
I never did buy that Porta-bote and am kicking myself for not doing so
because the nesting dinghy (the fading yellow one) keeps catching my
jib sheets and eventually it will be at a seriously inopportune time
(like in heavy seas). So, I just found an 8' porta-bote in Crystal
River I may go get.
Meanwhile, when I see to many bits of political BS here, I toss one in
too. Shouldn't, I agree but I succumb to temptation.

"Frogwatch" wrote in message
...
Can anybody provide any useful info on inlets south of Saint Lucie for
a 28' sailboat with 13 hp engine? What about Jupiter inlet? What
about Hillsboro inlet? If Hillsboro inlet is ok, it would be good to
use it to get to West End because it lies enough south of West End to
be able to use a SE wind AND the Gulf Stream current to good effect.
Sailing direct from Lake Worth Inlet which is what most people do
would involve fighting the Gulf Stream.


I hope someone is not going to claim you need "real time" information...

--
Nom=de=Plume

"Frogwatch" wrote in message
...

Can anybody provide any useful info on inlets south of Saint Lucie for
a 28' sailboat with 13 hp engine? What about Jupiter inlet? What
about Hillsboro inlet? If Hillsboro inlet is ok, it would be good to
use it to get to West End because it lies enough south of West End to
be able to use a SE wind AND the Gulf Stream current to good effect.
Sailing direct from Lake Worth Inlet which is what most people do
would involve fighting the Gulf Stream.



Jupiter Inlet can be tricky. It is unmarked and considered
"non-navigatable" according to the Coast Guard.

That said, many people use it daily and I've been through it several times
on a 52 footer. The approach shoals and changes depending on the season and
recent storms, so it is recommended to get current, local knowledge of where
the deep water is. I used to call SeaTow on the radio to get current local
knowledge. They were always very helpful and responsive.

If the seas are rough, I'd avoid it altogether. The area surrounding it is
shallow and the incoming tide builds into enormous waves sometimes. In
general, it's usually best to come down slightly south of the inlet before
turning in towards it. The first time I approached it I came in too far
north and was running in 5-6 feet of water for about 15 minutes.
Fortunately it was high tide, otherwise I would have been aground.

Several years ago a 60 foot Sportsfish piloted by an experienced captain
broached and flipped trying to exit the ICW to the ocean via Jupiter Inlet.
He decided the seas were too rough, tried to come about and the gigantic
waves produced by the shoals flipped the boat.

Eisboch

On 4/6/10 10:50 PM, Frogwatch wrote:
Can anybody provide any useful info on inlets south of Saint Lucie for
a 28' sailboat with 13 hp engine? What about Jupiter inlet? What
about Hillsboro inlet? If Hillsboro inlet is ok, it would be good to
use it to get to West End because it lies enough south of West End to
be able to use a SE wind AND the Gulf Stream current to good effect.
Sailing direct from Lake Worth Inlet which is what most people do
would involve fighting the Gulf Stream.


These seem to be the sorts of things one researches *before* leaving on
a voyage.


--
http://tinyurl.com/ykxp2ym

On Apr 7, 6:13*am, hk wrote:
On 4/6/10 10:50 PM, Frogwatch wrote:

Can anybody provide any useful info on inlets south of Saint Lucie for
a 28' sailboat with 13 hp engine? *What about Jupiter inlet? *What
about Hillsboro inlet? *If Hillsboro inlet is ok, it would be good to
use it to get to West End because it lies enough south of West End to
be able to use a SE wind AND the Gulf Stream current to good effect.
Sailing direct from Lake Worth Inlet which is what most people do
would involve fighting the Gulf Stream.

These seem to be the sorts of things one researches *before* leaving on
a voyage.

--http://tinyurl.com/ykxp2ym

On the southeast coast, conditions change very quickly. But I know,
your just trying to be a low life condescending asshole. Good job.

On Tue, 6 Apr 2010 19:50:46 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:

Can anybody provide any useful info on inlets south of Saint Lucie for
a 28' sailboat with 13 hp engine? What about Jupiter inlet? What
about Hillsboro inlet? If Hillsboro inlet is ok, it would be good to
use it to get to West End because it lies enough south of West End to
be able to use a SE wind AND the Gulf Stream current to good effect.
Sailing direct from Lake Worth Inlet which is what most people do
would involve fighting the Gulf Stream.

Unless you leave from the Florida Keys, which is what we usually do,
you will be "fighting the stream" to some extent regardless of your
point of departure. For what it's worth, no pun intended, most
sailboats leave from Lake Worth inlet at Palm Beach and check in at
West End. Throw in a 20 or 30 degree offset to the south as soon as
you leave the inlet and then make a mid-course correction about
halfway through the stream depending on how you've done so far. You
are over analyzing. The real problem is getting the right weather
window for the crossing so you don't get the stuffing beat out of you,
the crew, and the boat. People who get it wrong have *many* stories
to tell and none of them are good.

On Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:08:53 -0400, wrote:

The real problem is getting the right weather
window for the crossing so you don't get the stuffing beat out of you,
the crew, and the boat. People who get it wrong have *many* stories
to tell and none of them are good.


Most of them show un in Bermuda Triangle legends

Oh, I've met a few close to where we live and the wave height
estimates get higher with every telling.

We have run into some "interesting" current driven wave conditions
down here in the Caribbean between the islands. The wind mostly
blows strong out of the east every day so that is predictable, but the
current depends on the state of the tide, and exactly where you are in
the cut. Current can be with the wind at the beginning of the
passage and then reverse and swirl around only a short distance away.
Wave heights can be 2 or 3 feet with wind and current in the same
direction, and then within a mile be 6 to 10 feet and breaking. You
can see it up ahead and mentally brace youself. The good news is that
the islands are mostly within ten to twenty miles of each other.

On Apr 7, 9:51*pm, Wayne.B wrote:
On Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:08:53 -0400, wrote:
The real problem is getting the right weather
window for the crossing so you don't get the stuffing beat out of you,
the crew, and the boat. * People who get it wrong have *many* stories
to tell and none of them are good.

Most of them show un in Bermuda Triangle legends

Oh, I've met a few close to where we live and the wave height
estimates get higher with every telling.

We have run into some "interesting" current driven wave conditions
down here in the Caribbean between the islands. * The wind mostly
blows strong out of the east every day so that is predictable, but the
current depends on the state of the tide, and exactly where you are in
the cut. * Current can be with the wind at the beginning of the
passage and then reverse and swirl around only a short distance away.
Wave heights can be 2 or 3 feet with wind and current in the same
direction, and then within a mile be 6 to 10 feet and breaking. *You
can see it up ahead and mentally brace youself. *The good news is that
the islands are mostly within ten to twenty miles of each other.

Wayne: I regret not being able to take advantage of your offer of
dockage but I passed Cape Coral too early in the afternoon to stop.
"Over analyzing"? Well, isn't that what a physicist/engineer is
supposed to do, it is all fun. I'll probably do the conventional
thing and leave from Lake Worth inlet for West End although the Berry
Islands are still an option.