Florida and Bahamas in July?

[darrenj]

Due to having kids in grade school and living in Vancouver Canada our window of opportunity for doing a trip to Florida with our boat is pretty small. It will have to be in July or August. If the weather was ideal we would even like to try for Bimini.

My main concern is that many people talk about daily rain showers that can often be accompanied by thunder and lightning in July. The rain is no problem but the lightning makes me wonder, how do locals deal with that? Do they just stay in the cabin. From what I have read attempting to properly protect a boat from a lightning strike is no easy task and usually it is done incorrectly and makes things worse. Given the expense of doing it correctly I doubt most Macs would bother? Should this be a big concern if I plan the trip in July?

My second concern is that July is the beginning of Hurricane season but it seems like the risk is relatively small in July and there would be lots of notification if there was a hurricane or major storm on the way so we would have time to get out of there in plenty of time. We would monitor the weather on our drive to Florida and if things looked iffy we could divert to another location for our sailing vacation.

Are we crazy to even think about doing this in July?

[Kittiwake]

I suspect many of us in this general area (BC) will be interested to hear how your plans develop. I would certainly like to 'do' the Everglades in our 26M; and have devoured the available threads related to Florida sailing. Being retired, we have leeway surrounding timing. I have been left with two doubts:
1) How well would we handle the multi-1000-mile road trip involved?
2) What time of year would minimize mosquitoes and high wind/rain?

Another (pipe) dream is the Gulf of California.
Kittiwake

[robbarnes1965]

I found this which doesn't answer your questions but may help for trip planning. http://www.schoolofsailing.net/currents.html

This one has interesting hints - particularly that summer is the calmest time to do it. ALL sources indicate not to venture out if a north wind is blowing as it collides with the current making for bad conditions. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/store ... subcatID=0

DaveB has good local knowledge and has posted on this. There are several thread on the subject as many macs have done it.

Rob

[darrenj]

Ya, I have been reading as much info as I can. The ideal conditions for doing a crossing to Bimini are well documented. If the conditions don't work out for a crossing to Bimini we plan on skipping the Bimini part of the trip and just hanging out in Florida, possibly the Florida Keys. If there are Hurricanes around we will divert to another location completely.

Most of the information I have read talk about doing Florida and the Bahamas between Dec and June, primarily because of the Hurricate\Storm season it seems and that makes sense. Sounds like July is mostly afternoon downpours rather than big nasty storms though and I was hoping some locals might confirm that. I realize it is a bit of a gamble, but are my chances decent of having good weather?

I had not factored in mosquitoes (we will have mosquito netting for the hatches etc) but it would be nice to know if they are bad in July.

Here are the main reasons that July is not prime time based on what I have read.
1) Hurricane season
2) afternoon\evening rain that is sometimes accompanied by thunder and lightning.
3) Too hot for some people? The wife likes it hot and we all hope to do lots of swimming so this hopefully won't be a problem for us.
4) Other things? What am I missing?

Thanks.

[robbarnes1965]

Ya, I have been reading as much info as I can. The ideal conditions for doing a crossing to Bimini are well documented. If the conditions don't work out for a crossing to Bimini we plan on skipping the Bimini part of the trip and just hanging out in Florida, possibly the Florida Keys. If there are Hurricanes around we will divert to another location completely.

Most of the information I have read talk about doing Florida and the Bahamas between Dec and June, primarily because of the Hurricate\Storm season it seems and that makes sense. Sounds like July is mostly afternoon downpours rather than big nasty storms though and I was hoping some locals might confirm that. I realize it is a bit of a gamble, but are my chances decent of having good weather?

I had not factored in mosquitoes (we will have mosquito netting for the hatches etc) but it would be nice to know if they are bad in July.

Here are the main reasons that July is not prime time based on what I have read.
1) Hurricane season
2) afternoon\evening rain that is sometimes accompanied by thunder and lightning.
3) Too hot for some people? The wife likes it hot and we all hope to do lots of swimming so this hopefully won't be a problem for us.
4) Other things? What am I missing?

Thanks.

From a visitor standpoint I like Florida in the summer. It's a treat to have the warm water. I did some sailing around Key Largo and can confirm that it's perfect Macgregor sailing grounds and would assume most of the keys are.

[March]

When we sailed to the Bahamas last summer, we talked to a bunch of people who had been "doing them" for the past ten years. The general consensus is, July is still safe. The trade winds (south-east) prevail and the weather is not exceedingly hot. The waters and the weather turn unpleasantly lukewarm by August. This is no guarantee, of course; bad weather can catch up with you anytime. Chances, however, are pretty slim.
The same with the mosquitoes. Two years ago, people said that the mosquito situation was dreadful all around. Past summer was much better--for one reason or another. We noticed that mosquitoes might abound on one island, but be absent on the next one.
You might want to check out a full report at:
http://haihuitobahamas.wordpress.com
Hope that helps

[DaveB]

I have done a few trips to the Keys in July and you will need Air Condition and No-seems screens or reg. screens you spray deet on.
We stay at Pennikamp at their Marina and paid $30 a day with Launch ramp, AC hookup and water. The snorkling and very clear water on the reefs maybe the best in all the keys excellent. (very close to the Bahamas conditions)
Hurricane season starts down here June 1st and runs thru Nov. In July expect afternoon showers and possible thunderstorm with lighting.
I wouldn't be concern with lighting but some of these squalls can pack winds over 40 knots for a short period. Try to avoid them if out on the water and be prepaired to lower all sails well before the squall hits.
Turn off all elect. equipment and best to unplug these during lighting.
If you are on a tight Budget than South Dade Marina would be a good place to launch at $5 at day but you will need to anchor out far from Islands as Mosquitos will eat you alive even at the Marina.
Homestead Marina is another great Launch site at $15 a day.
Dave

Due to having kids in grade school and living in Vancouver Canada our window of opportunity for doing a trip to Florida with our boat is pretty small. It will have to be in July or August. If the weather was ideal we would even like to try for Bimini.

My main concern is that many people talk about daily rain showers that can often be accompanied by thunder and lightning in July. The rain is no problem but the lightning makes me wonder, how do locals deal with that? Do they just stay in the cabin. From what I have read attempting to properly protect a boat from a lightning strike is no easy task and usually it is done incorrectly and makes things worse. Given the expense of doing it correctly I doubt most Macs would bother? Should this be a big concern if I plan the trip in July?

My second concern is that July is the beginning of Hurricane season but it seems like the risk is relatively small in July and there would be lots of notification if there was a hurricane or major storm on the way so we would have time to get out of there in plenty of time. We would monitor the weather on our drive to Florida and if things looked iffy we could divert to another location for our sailing vacation.

Are we crazy to even think about doing this in July?

[darrenj]

Thanks for all the great info.
We are hoping to anchor out most of the time so did not plan on having airconditioning. We do have a couple of portable air conditioners though so I will rig up a holder etc for one and bring it along just incase.

Sounds like July is worth a try!

[Ixneigh]

I live in key largo.
Bugs yes there are some. Easily avoided on a boat. Have good fans in case you have to park near mangroves. Some years are worse then others

Hurricanes. Bimini is close enough to the mainland to return. The storms usually offer days of warning.
May June and part of July are generally quiet.

Lighting. Scary on any boat. I stay inside away from metal if I can. Tie the helm off if underway.

Squalls. It's hardly rain every day in the keys at that time of year. Mainland perhaps. Not in the Bahamas either.
Yes you can get bad squalls any time of year. Tropical lows bring most of our summer rain. Stay put for a few days.

Ixneigh

[fishstalker7]

Hi All,

I live in Jensen Beach, FL. I have made multiple crossings to the Bahamas in 28' to 45' sailboats (though no MacGregors) and am shopping for the right 26m (not great dealers down here, wish we had a BWY local). July is generally an interesting month. Ususally the huricanes don't start in earnest until SEP-OCT (main season) and this is the high risk season. Occasionally, every month sooner, you should anticipate the wild-card event. Thunderstorms form every afternoon around 1-2 EST over Central Florida and move east from April-June thru the summer months. Lightning strikes of 1k plus are common, but Florida university sailboat defense studies of these occurences on sailboats are very mixed. There seems to be no common consensus on the best defense against non-keel (or even keel boats) defenses. Generally though, with good cell phone radar (or computer in the Bahamas) these thunderstorms can be dodged. If you are considering this time of year and the Bahamas, I suggest you also consider looking into the "36th Annual Racing Into The Abacos" race week. Many boats make the crossing together at the end of June together and enjoy great Bahamas racing and cruising experiences thru mid-July. Generally, the earlier the better from September back to April. I'm happy to talk to anyone interested as we have some of the best sailing/waters in the world here (though each venue is blessed with unique characteristics...I'm favorable to the Pacific NW due to the seasons/tides).

Standing by to help and learn more from any MacGregor owner (hope to be one soon...Tarton 37 owner currently).

Respectfully,

David

[robbarnes1965]

Hi All,

I live in Jensen Beach, FL. I have made multiple crossings to the Bahamas in 28' to 45' sailboats (though no MacGregors) and am shopping for the right 26m (not great dealers down here, wish we had a BWY local). July is generally an interesting month. Ususally the huricanes don't start in earnest until SEP-OCT (main season) and this is the high risk season. Occasionally, every month sooner, you should anticipate the wild-card event. Thunderstorms form every afternoon around 1-2 EST over Central Florida and move east from April-June thru the summer months. Lightning strikes of 1k plus are common, but Florida university sailboat defense studies of these occurences on sailboats are very mixed. There seems to be no common consensus on the best defense against non-keel (or even keel boats) defenses. Generally though, with good cell phone radar (or computer in the Bahamas) these thunderstorms can be dodged. If you are considering this time of year and the Bahamas, I suggest you also consider looking into the "36th Annual Racing Into The Abacos" race week. Many boats make the crossing together at the end of June together and enjoy great Bahamas racing and cruising experiences thru mid-July. Generally, the earlier the better from September back to April. I'm happy to talk to anyone interested as we have some of the best sailing/waters in the world here (though each venue is blessed with unique characteristics...I'm favorable to the Pacific NW due to the seasons/tides).

Standing by to help and learn more from any MacGregor owner (hope to be one soon...Tarton 37 owner currently).

Respectfully,

David

Tartan 37, nice boat. Trading down to be able to trailer or a second boat?

[darrenj]

Generally though, with good cell phone radar (or computer in the Bahamas) these thunderstorms can be dodged.

Sorry if the meaning of the statement above should be obvious, rather than me making guesses that make me look sillier than I am, could you explain it?

I will google '36th Annual Racing Into The Abacos'

Thanks

[fishstalker7]

Rob...I am interested in the simplification of the lifestyle/boat. I've skippered racing boats for decades so I understand the Mac is not the best sailing boat. I also have owned several "in the water" cruising boats from 28'-45' and understand in/out of the water maintenance and storm preparation is a necessity (which I won't miss with the Mac). I like the abilities of the Mac for a young family (8-3 yr olds) from the perspective of pulling the kids on various toys, the driveway maintenance, and the occassional (albeit slow) sail of the Mac when; the kids are too tired to ride or the winds are great/right direction or "I'm so relaxed on my boat I don't care when we get there" moments. I've also experienced and observed from many sailors that keel boats really only sail 25-45% of the time when cruising (and I'm being liberal in my upper percentages), so the Mac offers the trailer speed to many new destinations and the water speed of the 90 hp I plan to install when the winds or family conditions aren't right for sailing.

Because of the above...probably a primary boat when I find the right one.


Darren...in the summer there are many thunderstorms that appear almost every afternoon. The storms are predictable...in the sense you can almost set your watch in my area around when they will form over Lake Okeechobee...but where they will go east gets less predictable. If you have radar capability though, you can plan your day (especially with a Mac's speed) around their movement (a lot of time it's a choice of going north or south down the coast). Any "smart" cell phone can grab accurate rader out to 6 miles offshore here. In the Bahamas you either need local cell coverage (expensive and unpredictable) or a Single Side Band (SSB) High Frequency (HF) setup. If you have SSB you can get good weather/radar forecasts and plan your trip pretty accurately each day. Every once in a while you just have to hunker down, but in most cases a slight change of destination/directions will spare you the worst storms.

All: Below is a University of Florida study on lightning strikes against sailboats. I'll let you draw your own conclusions as the science is mixed, but as you will see there is no perfect solution. Generally, dodging the storms in my opinion is the best strategy as any boat (grounded keel boats can experience arcing in the cabin/non-grounded boats can have catastrophic strikes but very rare) can be hit but it's rare. What is noteworthy is that 1k plus storms in the summer are common here...radar (not boat installed/meteorologist equipment) gives you anywhere from a 30 minute (if the storm forms right on top of you) to a 2 hour advanced window of visibility (I also kayak fish up to 5 miles offshore...limit of distance I can cover in two hours to safe area). Plan/react to what you see and avoidance is the best option in my opinion/experience.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/sg071

Respectfully,

David

[bahama bound]

we have a 7 and 10 year old maybe we could meet up with our x ,we live in charleston sc ??we want to do either keys or island trip around the same time ?

[mastreb]

Would be simple to ground a Mac. Laminate a 2" strip of copper tape to the daggerboard and solder that to a 5' long grounding strap with an eye connector at the end. Put that eye connector through the mast-foot bolt when you step the mast to complete the grounding.

In a strike it's possible that the dagger-board would sustain damage, but it's easily replaced. Would be simpler to run the grounding copper along the inside of the daggerboard trunk because that doesn't move, but if that explodes it'll damage the hull.

Apparently the science is out on the question of whether grounding will attract lighting. If it does, it's not by any statistically significant increased probability. Also, apparently the odds of a sailboat in Florida being struck by lightning in it's lifetime is 1:1 (i.e. on average, every boat is hit at least once). This would strongly argue for grounding if you live in Florida.