Bahamas for Christmas

[Chopper Pilot]

My wife brought up the idea of going to the Bahamas, with the kids (two boys 7/9) during the Christmas break while school is out plus a couple of extra days. We will have about 18'ish days to drive from northern Virginia to Florida, wait for a window (Unknown about December weather), and go as far as we can there and back to Virginia. I do not know if this will be to short of a time period. What do you guys think? I do not want to hang out in Nassau or Freeport. I want to get to Compass and Staniel Cay. Can it be done? I plan on using the motor as much as required, but i want it to only cruise at about 10 Knots, not for the gas milage, but for longevity of the motor.

If we do go, i intend to heavily document it with video and narration.

[bahama bound]

We have been down in the keys with our girls now for 3 weeks ,and were contemplating a run to staniel cay ! I have learned alot after a week or so on the boat .

[Chopper Pilot]

Maybe we should just go to the Keys due to the short amount of time

[bahama bound]

I posted before ,we got a slip at hawks cay for 900.00 monthly and that includes all resort amenities,and we use it as a base ,Bahia Honda is a easy day sail ,22 miles ,pennecamp is 48 miles and key west is 55 miles .

[kadet]

10 knots is the worst possible speed for an stuck on the edge of the hole and too fast for hull speed. If you do go, go at hull speed or get it up on the plane, though at planing speed you fuel economy is going to be cr@p so you are back to hull speed for any long distance cruising, so you are going to have to base your calculation on 6 knots not 10.

[81venture]

So it's possible to get to Bahamas by motor without having to drive fast?

I'm just getting into the research phase of this kinda trip, which is a long way off....

[March]

Yes, it is entirely doable... like stated above, 5-6 KTS is the optimal speed. As long as you don't have nose winds, or S E winds that would push you away from your target, along with the GulfStream, you can do the leap to Bimini in 12 hours (leave at 4:00 in the morning and rwach Bimini early afternoon) and enough fuel to spare. Same thing if you want to continue into the heart of the Bahamas. If you are lucky and get favorable winds, and not too much of a chop, you can shorten the time even more.
The Mac will handle it just fine

[DaveB]

I agree, Biscayne bay and outer Islands will easy eat up 2 weeks of your cruise or much more.
Launching at South Dade Marina will cost you $10 a day for launch and storage of truck/trailer.
Pennicamp State park another launch, Homestead another.
These areas in Biscayne Bay are crystal clear waters in a calm and close to famous reefs in Hawk Channel.
Dave

Maybe we should just go to the Keys due to the short amount of time

[kadet]

So it's possible to get to Bahamas by motor without having to drive fast?

I'm just getting into the research phase of this kinda trip, which is a long way off....

Every other sail boat other than an or or similar knock offs have no choice but to go at hull speed under power

[C Buchs]

Chinook took their 2002 to the Exumas. It's been a while since I read Mike’s write-up, but I remember a good description of all the factors to consider when crossing. Look here http://chinook.cecka.us/

Sumner also has great write-ups doing the same crossing in his 26S. Look here http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... index.html

I’ve been reading about their adventures and dreaming for several years now.

Jeff

[bahama bound]

I burn twice as much fuel @ 2k rpm as I do @ 1500 rpm ,1500 rpm is around 6.5 mph .staniel cay I believe is around 217 miles from here . I have a etec 90 ,but I did just mount a sail pro on a drop bracket that gets me 5.7 mph @ 1/4 Gallon a hour for those long crossings .

[Gazmn]

Maybe we should just go to the Keys due to the short amount of time

That's probably a safer idea or a great alternate.


Hey Bahama
-How's Hawks Cay working out. I like your strategy. I may consider it for February, if available.

[bahama bound]

It's great ,5 pools ,free Starbucks coffee in the a.m ,gym ,all resort amenities,hard to beat ,secure truck and trailer parking ,pump out works .

[Chopper Pilot]

Hey guys, Thanks for the replies. I told my wife that if we get down there and have to wait longer than two days for a weather window, we will just cruise the Keys. We are wanting to try out a little bit of the cruising life because we want to buy a Lagoon 380-450 in the next couple of years to cruise the world.

My priority is to get to the more southerly islands. I will carry extra gas cans if i need to. Once i get south, it will be all sails until time to leave.

[kasmith21]

We did the Bahamas/Abacos for 4 weeks in May/June this year. We had a great time but ideally I would have liked another couple of weeks to really explore the area and not feel rushed. To get to Staniel Cay and back from Miami in 3 weeks around Christmas is going to be a tough order to fill. If the weather lines up perfectly you can do it...but that time of year it is pretty rare to get frequent good weather windows for crossing. The Spring and early summer typically offer much better opportunities for crossing the gulf stream. Dave's advice about sailing the Keys is probably your best bet and weather will likely make that your only option. We have been to the keys the last 2 years over Thanksgiving and early Dec and experienced frequent small craft warnings during that time.
My suggestion is to consider the Abacos when school is out in May or June...easy crossing from Lake Worth...more amenities and marinas for your first crossing if something goes wrong...much more doable in 3 week time frame...and still very beautiful and exotic for the boys to snorkel, explore and fish. This is what Chinook suggested for our first big trip and it was good advice.
In a few years I think I would like to do the Exumas but I anticipate I would need a minimum of 6 weeks to do that trip and not feel rushed.
Regardless of what you do...have a great time....The Macs are great boats for shallow water gunkholing.
Cheers
Kevin