Caribbean back to U.S.

[scottraywelty]

My boat is currently in Grenada and I'm thinking of sailing her back to the U.S. Wondering about best times of the year, jumping off point (St. Maartin?) and where to head for along the U.S. coast - North Carolina? Chesapeake? Would like to NOT be in Florida.

[Zanshin]

What kind of a boat is it (seaworthy enough for offshore, with enough tankage and storage)? Getting to the US from the Caribbean is easier than going the other way as you will be going with wind and weather. If starting in St. Martin or the BVI/USVI you can pretty much choose your destination along the east coast and head straight for it, keeping such hard objects such as the Bahamas and Bermuda as well as the Gulf Stream in mind. I'd certainly island-hop up the chain until at least St. Martin.

The time of year to do this would be out of the hurricane season (July-November) and why go to cold USA in the winter when the sailing is much nicer in the Caribbean basin? This narrows your time to sail up to the east coast somewhere after March and before July.

[Yorksailor]

Zanshin has it right!

I usually island hop the Bahamas or go straight up the Old Bahama Channel staying to the Bahama side.

In March it is easier to work your way up the coast from Florida than it is to cross the Gulf Stream off Hatteras while there is still a high chance of Spring lows coming through but that all depends on the boat and your experience.

Phil

[sck5]

Last May I went direct from St. Maarten to Marsh Harbour in the Abacos. Took a little less than a week and was a great sail - favorable current and wind (at least until it died). From there it was 4 days direct to Beaufort NC (pretty nearly due North of Marsh Harbour). Stopping in the Bahamas was nice to break the trip up a bit, get some sleep, reprovision, etc. Would be a good stop for any destination south of Hatteras. You could still do chesapeake bay from there but any further north and it starts making less sense to stop in the Bahamas.

However, one big advantage to stopping there is you can wait for a good weather forecast - I wanted to know what the weather was going to be when I closed the coast/cross the Gulf Stream and the 4 day forecast I needed from the Abacos is more reliable than the 9-10 day forecast you would need if going direct to chesapeake bay.

[scottraywelty]

Thanks for the quick comments. My boat is a 1983 Endeavour 40 center cockpit. We bought it in Long Island in 05 and sailed her to the Caribbean via the intracoastal and thorny path. 75 gallon diesel using between 2/3 and 1 gal/hour at ~2000 rpm. Main, jib and 150% genny.

[TQA]

St Maarten to Great Salt Cay.

Great Salt Cay to Provo.

Provo to Elizabeth Harbour.

Elizabeth Harbour to Nassau.

Nassau to ?? Well I guess anywhere on the East coast south of Cape Hatteras should be an easy sail given a wind direction that is not Northerly.

That is how I did it some years ago. [With a few more stops.]

[killarney_sailor]

You also good go directly to Bermuda (one of my favorite places in the world) and then from there to Chesapeake, NYC, east end of Long Island Sound, etc. Depends on what kind of experience you are looking to have.

[busyengineer]

I also love Bermuda but it's quite an undertaking sailing there and back. Maybe when I retire....LOL

[mjdavid]

I am sailing my Beneteau 343 from BVI to Canada (Lake Ontario) My plan is to short hop up the islands to the Bahamas then north entering the ICW at NY. A couple questions, Where can I get some free charts to use for overall trip planning. (they don't have to be up to date) What islands should I skip and which ones are a must see? Can I get from NYC to Lake Ontario without droping my mast? Any other advise or suggetions? Thanks for your input.