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I am going to start planning my next cruise and I decided I'd ask the group for your thoughts on where I should go.
The set up: I have 8 weeks off, so I am going to use 5 weeks for a cruise (that way I can afford to wait out weather, etc). Because of work, these 5 weeks have to be in late June and early July. Not ideal due to hurricane season, but those are the constraints I have to work with.
The boat: Thrilled to say I closed on my new 2002 Beneteau 393 today!!! So I'll be taking that. (5' draft).
I'll be sailing from Bradenton, FL. I know that with 5 weeks I could get as far as the Caribbean and back but I wherever I go I want to make sure I have time to enjoy it. I will be sailing with my wife, but mostly single handing for all intents and purposes.
I was toying with the idea of a stop at Key West, followed by the Dry Tortugas and on to Cancun, but am open to any and all suggestions. What do you think?
Jamaica would be cool. I'd love to dive offshore around Port Royal with a metal detector so see what I could find. I'll have to take a look at routing to see if it's doable. If only I could get them to move Cuba out of the way.
Wow - beautiful boat! If I had the time and the boat you've got I'd probably spend it all behind the wheel chasing horizon!
On my boat with that kind of time I'd take my time getting from Bradenton to the Keys, stopping off for some good food and fun at Captiva or Sanibel, exploring the Harney River with the dinghy, etc. then head for Long Key and the Channel 5 cut to look at the weather and make the decision to head west to Key West, the Tortugas and beyond, or head east and north up the Keys and over to the Bahamas. If you're a diver there's a solid month's worth of great diving up and down the Keys and it's just a short hop over to the Bahamas.
Good luck with the trip and keep the group posted with tales of your adventures!
Wow - beautiful boat! If I had the time and the boat you've got I'd probably spend it all behind the wheel chasing horizon!
On my boat with that kind of time I'd take my time getting from Bradenton to the Keys, stopping off for some good food and fun at Captiva or Sanibel, exploring the Harney River with the dinghy, etc. then head for Long Key and the Channel 5 cut to look at the weather and make the decision to head west to Key West, the Tortugas and beyond, or head east and north up the Keys and over to the Bahamas. If you're a diver there's a solid month's worth of great diving up and down the Keys and it's just a short hop over to the Bahamas.
Good luck with the trip and keep the group posted with tales of your adventures!
Wow, that's a great itinerary, thanks for the suggestion! The Bahamas are the most likely destination based on the fact that it seems like a series of easy coastal hops to get there and back. I love the diving over there too (pretty excited about the using that open transom for diving too).
I think I am going to hit activecaptain.com pretty hard over the next few days and see what's doable, and what's stretching it. Not sure how seasonal weather is going to impact us, but once I've narrowed it down a bit I can look at that a bit more in depth.
I agree single handing to Cancun may be a bit ambitious. Even though I do most of my sailing, including longer passages than the Cancun run singlehanded, I think it may turn this trip into more of an effort than I'd like it to be.
I wish I could go to Cuba, but that's not a possibility for me. Having said that, I will be among the first in line if they ever open it up!
I'd take the 5 weeks and do SW Florida (Clearwater, Charlotte Harbor, Gasparilla, Cayo Costa, Sanibel, Captiva, Naples/Marco) and the Keys they way the sailing gods intended...at a nice slow pace. Take it slow, get to know the boat, get know your "home" waters.
Great minds think alike. I did that trip last month. I took about 2 weeks and sailed down to Key West then took my time coast hopping/ ICW motoring back up. There are some really great inland waters on the west coast of Florida, and a lot of "old Florida" still to be found.
Now it's time to go farther afield! I figure with 5 weeks I should have plenty of time to go somewhere a bit more unfamiliar.
I think I'm getting a rough iteinerary together. I am going to head out from Tampa Bay and stop over at Captiva then on to Key West. From there we will island hop up the Keys to Marathon where I will make the jump to the Abacos Islands. Any thoughts or feedback on that routing, and suggestions on what to see while there would be greatly appreciated!!
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