has anyone ever left florida and done then virgin islands

[NiceAft]

If you read the post I attached in my post above, you will see him mentioning a week at sea, and somthing about 250 miles. I have not gone back and reread it, so I am going by memory.

Ray

[jimmy alonso]

Maybe the best way to do this is ship the boat and trailer to Puerto Rico and start from here. Most island passages are 20 to 80 nautical miles. Sailing back west is easier than fighting your way east.

Anyway I am getting ready for another BVI trip April 27. New mods include a Raymarine tiller pilot , 60 more watts solar panel and a Airhead composting head. Also will be using a Delorme Inreach....
Can't wait

[NiceAft]

Jimmy,

Thanks for coming out of the shadows

Be sure to keep us informed of future sails. I for one found your posting on the trip I brought out of the morgue, of great interest. That's why it came to mind when the question of sailing to V.I. came up.

Ray

[dlandersson]

Way I see it - if the hop from Florida to the Bahamas is doable, then the rest is simply more of the same - less long.

Maybe the best way to do this is ship the boat and trailer to Puerto Rico and start from here. Most island passages are 20 to 80 nautical miles. Sailing back west is easier than fighting your way east.

Anyway I am getting ready for another BVI trip April 27. New mods include a Raymarine tiller pilot , 60 more watts solar panel and a Airhead composting head. Also will be using a Delorme Inreach....
Can't wait

[Ixneigh]

The hop from fl requires good weather. As sumner is no doubt finding out, subsequent hops get progressively harder for small boats, requireing either a lot of time, or a lot of use of the engine, that is expensive. Gas stops are fewer between also. The hop from let's say Long Island or mayagusna, or someplace on Cat island , to anywhere further south is not more of the same. It's a deep ocean passage for boats that can srsly sail. Upwind with strong Tradeswinds. Gas stops ? Haiti? Yea right. The DR ? Maybe.
I wouldn't touch that trip in a Mac with a 491/2 foot pole.
If you just had to do it to prove your manhood to the SA trolls or something, it would probably take a full year, because you would have to wait for just the right weather. Not too windy, not too calm. You could use all that time to become an expert weather fore aster since you life would depend on it.
Ix

[Sumner]

The hop from fl requires good weather. As sumner is no doubt finding out, subsequent hops get progressively harder for small boats, requireing either a lot of time, or a lot of use of the engine, that is expensive. Gas stops are fewer between also. The hop from let's say Long Island or mayagusna, or someplace on Cat island , to anywhere further south is not more of the same. It's a deep ocean passage for boats that can srsly sail. Upwind with strong Tradeswinds. Gas stops ? Haiti? Yea right. The DR ? Maybe.
I wouldn't touch that trip in a Mac with a 491/2 foot pole.
If you just had to do it to prove your manhood to the SA trolls or something, it would probably take a full year, because you would have to wait for just the right weather. Not too windy, not too calm. You could use all that time to become an expert weather fore aster since you life would depend on it.
Ix

To add to Ix's comments above I also think unless you are a very brave person and have that year to do it the Mac is not going to make the trip. I listen to Chris Parker's weather report daily and come in at the end of the Caribbean report and even big boats wait a week or more to be able to move east down there because of the constant trades blowing from the east and they are usually talking big seas on top of that and these are big boats.

A lot of people that need to get there sooner take the trades out to Bermuda and then start heading south and into the lower trade winds so that they are on their beam and not on the nose.

When I've move into the wind and the waves I drop from running 5 kts on part throttle to 3 to 3 1/2 on a lot of throttle and they you run into one of the larger sets of waves and they kill your forward motion to about 2 1/2 and the boat has to accelerate up again. Long slow going, eating up a lot of gas, and just not comfortable at all.

One thing you need to keep in mind is not just your ability to handle the situation but also someone that is with you. You don't want the trip to be a marriage or friend killer. If Ruth would of still been with me I'm not sure I would of even tried this trip in the Mac although we talked about it with the Endeavour and that would of worked fine. If you try and move on days that some of the larger boats are moving it is going to be hull but you will make it, most likely ,

Sumner

Our MacGregor 26-S

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[dlandersson]

Nice reinforcement - our boats are lake/coastal cruisers.

Would you touch it with a 20 foot Lithuanian?

The hop from fl requires good weather. As sumner is no doubt finding out, subsequent hops get progressively harder for small boats, requireing either a lot of time, or a lot of use of the engine, that is expensive. Gas stops are fewer between also. The hop from let's say Long Island or mayagusna, or someplace on Cat island , to anywhere further south is not more of the same. It's a deep ocean passage for boats that can srsly sail. Upwind with strong Tradeswinds. Gas stops ? Haiti? Yea right. The DR ? Maybe.
I wouldn't touch that trip in a Mac with a 491/2 foot pole.
If you just had to do it to prove your manhood to the SA trolls or something, it would probably take a full year, because you would have to wait for just the right weather. Not too windy, not too calm. You could use all that time to become an expert weather fore aster since you life would depend on it.
Ix

[Tomfoolery]

Would you touch it with a 20 foot Lithuanian?

I'm a 6-foot Lithuanian. But I don't think I can reach as far as a 20-foot Lithuanian. Not sure I'd want to touch it anyway.

[Ixneigh]

Maybe a 20 year old Lithuanian...

Yea when you are chatting with the owners of big seriously well equipped boats and they are waiting for weather, you know you are out of your league.
When I left chub with the venture the conditions were like glass. After waiting for ten days.
Hither too, I had been ensconced in a lovely shallow cut while all those guys complained about the exposed anchorage.
Note that one of my trips was on a heavy solid keelboat that did exactly what sumners boat was doing. It wasn't going to fall apart but it was still uncomfortable.
Now that I am more familiar with the M, I will sail those long shallow stretches over night with the board full up, and a main and small jib. The boats white comfortable like that.
Also , I had to keep the venture really light for her to sail well in Bahamian conditions, with the loading positioned correctly. I had no extra windage like awnings arches solar panels dodgers Ect. While those may not make much difference in moderate conditions, when your facing 70 miles of windy conditions they do.

[Sumner]

.. I had no extra windage like awnings arches solar panels dodgers Ect. While those may not make much difference in moderate conditions, when your facing 70 miles of windy conditions they do.

I did keep the pop-top down one night in high wind to lower the frontal area into the wind to ease the load on the anchor and rode. The panels look like a lot viewed from below or above but all my panels together only add about 1 1/2 square feet of frontal area and that isn't that much considering the frontal area of the whole boat which is probably about 30-36 sq. ft.. I study this stuff all the time as it is of prime concern to us land speed racers.

One thing is work on your anchor gear and is why all of what I have is sized for a boat that is in the low 30 foot range,

Sumner

============================
2015 To the Bahamas and back -- I hope

Our MacGregor 26-S

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[Blowboater1]

all the way to South America. Read Passages South ( The Thorny Path)and follow the guide lines. You will have the time of your boating life. Make sure your vessel is equipped & Designed for offshore work.
Be Blessed
Ed

[Ixneigh]

Let's see, what kind of equipment I might need for my Mac...
Nuclear powered outboard, 100,000 miles between fueling, check.
InstaWave Smoother, delux model, check.
Wind nullification pills, 200 cnt, check.
Amazon Ultra prime account, with drone delivery of food beer and ice anywhere in the world, check.
Ok, I'm ready!!
Ix