Bahamas maybe?

[jkiser]

When my skill meets my desire, I wonder if my cal 9.2 will be up to the challenge. Is she capable of making the trip or should I plan to upgrade by then?

[Minnewaska]

No reason it can't be done. On the small side for some, but pick your weather carefully and keep the hops short.

[TQA]

Plenty boat for the job.

Your only difficult passage is the one from Florida to the Bahamas after that it is easy sailing.

Just pick your time carefully and make sure you arrive in daylight.

[sawingknots]

to me,except for a few remote islands the bahamas and most of the carribean is way over rated,but like the others said you can do it easily just allow for the northward jet stream,aim for a point below where you want to land,watch your weater window and leave fla.before dawn

[sawingknots]

oh yeah,take plenty of fresh water,bathe and wash your clothes in salt water

[Lake Superior Sailor]

I have long term plans of taking my Cal to the Bahamas & more. I'm just practicing in Lake Superior it's just the nearest big water to me! And a good place to shake down both the boat & the Skipper. So far we are both changing.---Dale

[JonEisberg]

People have done it with far less than your Cal... Spotted this one in the Kroozer's KOA Kampground in Georgetown, they seemed like they were having the time of their lives...




Be forewarned, however - with a 30-footer, you will invariably be the smallest boat almost everywhere you go, usually by a considerable margin... it can be a sobering reminder, after a while, of how far those of us who cruise in such modest boats have become divorced from the mainstream today... (grin)

If you're susceptible to such feelings of "inadequacy", however, no worries... In the Bahamas, it usually doesn't take too much effort to get away from the crowd...

[Capt.aaron]

Definately, Leave out of Angelfish creek in North Key Largo at midnight, you'll be in Bimini by lunch with good light to enter. I did that trip in '78 with my grand father and have done it a dozen times since in my Soverel 28. Go to the End Of The World Bar and get a Conch and Lobster Pizza for me!!! You can go anywhere in a Cal 9.2. Even if you don't think your skill's are up to it, the boat is. She'll let you know if your do'in something wrong. Just fiddle with lines and till she calms down. maintain a S.E. heading at 5 knots, E.Z. P.Z. Last time I went over that way was in a Beneteau 27, shoal draft. and the time before that was in a Sparkman/Stephens Columbia 29'. Some say you should'nt do it in a norther, but that's my favorite time to do it. They get steep and stacked, But you can keep 'em on your quarter and kind of surf over there, especially in a Cal! Check out Staniel Cay, Exumas. Awsome bar, great anchorage.
People cruising on bigger boat's, often have'nt done a lot of under 30' class big crossing's, or short ones for that matter. Once you get out there, I mean really out there, and the sea's pick up, and your reef'd down and the boat is handling every thing just fine, you realize how well these smaller boat's are designed.
You really feel a part of what's going on around you. Being on a larger cruiser in an enclosed cockpit or "oxygen tent" as I call them, staring at a computer screen with the autohelm humm'n away, that's a different experience all together. It seperates you from the elements a bit. A lot of these Gadgets have allowed people access to the sea, who would'nt otherwise be out there. 'Course I feel that way about engines, never mind how many people started crusing after G.P.S came out. Your Cal 9.2 is all the boat you'll ever need. Unfortunately I married a Girl who hates to heel over so I see a big Cat with an Oxygen tent and a computer screen in my future.

[bjslife]

Just do it! Im in a 1973 Morgan O/I 33' on the Oregon coast and my plan is to be in the Bahamas soon, maybe next year.

[JimsCAL]

Keep in mind the 9.2 is a light (7000 lb) racer-cruiser that is essentially an IOR half-tonner. I owned one for 20 years so I know her strengths and weaknesses pretty well. She's a very good light air boat, but a bit tender, and pounds in choppy seas due to the flat sections. Storage is minimal and tanks are small (20 gallons water and 11 diesel). Certainly doable, but there are better choices.