Chartering Florida Keys in mid December

gardeningal · #1 (**permalink**) 07-29-2010

We are considering chartering in the Florida Keys mid December with 4 kids age 18-25. Questions? Is this a good place to go, is the water warm enough. Have heard that must anchor, not many places to even dinghy up to. Don't mind anchoring but would like to be able to come ashore as well. The beaches aren't that nice etc. I haven't heard that the oil has reached the Keys, is that true? Would love to get a real picture of what the area is like and if anyone can suggest a reliable charter company? Thanks.

joeybkcmo · #2 (**permalink**) 07-30-2010

What size of boat will you be looking to charter?

gardeningal · #3 (**permalink**) 07-31-2010

40 ft. catamaran

svHyLyte · #4 (**permalink**) 07-31-2010

If you are looking for a "Tropical Vacation", you may find that the Keys in December are a disappointment, particularly if this December is a repeat of last year. You might find that the Bahamas are preferable. If the Keys are cold, the Behamas will be cool as well but the water will tend to be warmer.

FWIW...

Marieduffy · #5 (**permalink**) 08-09-2010

I would like to get some information on provisioning a boat for charter and what are the pre=requesits of crew etc. The boat is a lagoon 440 Catarmaran

sailor50 · #6 (**permalink**) 08-09-2010

I'm not following your ask.

Provisions are going to be your shopping list, time and travel to the store. What crew are you taking on?

sailingdog · #7 (**permalink**) 08-10-2010

MarieDuffy—

You really should start your own thread rather than hijacking gardeningal's.

US27inKS · #8 (**permalink**) 08-10-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by gardeningal

We are considering chartering in the Florida Keys mid December with 4 kids age 18-25. Questions? Is this a good place to go, is the water warm enough. Have heard that must anchor, not many places to even dinghy up to. Don't mind anchoring but would like to be able to come ashore as well. The beaches aren't that nice etc. I haven't heard that the oil has reached the Keys, is that true? Would love to get a real picture of what the area is like and if anyone can suggest a reliable charter company? Thanks.

I chartered with Fun In The Sun Yachts and Charters, New and Pre-owned Yacht Charters and Sales they have a couple of Lagoon 440s as well as a FP 40 that's not yet on their web site. Scott is the manager (owner?) and is a bit picky about who takes his boats out. We had to hire a captain to take us to Bimini the first time, but once on the island the captain was satisfied that we would bring the boat home in one piece and got on a plane.

We did our trip in late december (actually between Christmas and New Year) and the water in Bimini was warm enough to swim in as long as the sun was shining. It was more of an air temp problem than water temp, but this year was unusually cold in Fla and Bimini.

We're going again in mid October. If you're not stuck on going to the Keys, I would definitely look at Bimini. Plus it gives you a little "open ocean" feel without being out of sight of land for more than a couple of hours.

We uploaded about half of our pics on photobucket, and in no particular order.
Bimini trip 2009 pictures by US27inKS - Photobucket