s/v YOLO You Only Live Once Swab’s Log Blog
Posting Date: Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Day 296 Entry 067
Day 296 Entry 067
Boot Key Harbor and Marina Mooring #W10 http://www.ci.marathon.fl.us/government/departments/marina-and-ports/
We have been discussing the
weather and crossing the Gulf Stream with various other cruisers who have done
it multiple times. Marathon Marina had a
Bahama Bound Boat Buddy Board!
We signed
up and found that most cruisers wanted company crossing the Gulf Stream. 
Gulf Stream Path.
A
number of boats left around February 10th to sail overnight, but we felt that the weather window was
too tight for us. So we decided to wait
for at least a 3 day weather window to cross.
Our original plan was to
leave from Marathon head North East to Bimini.
This course would utilize the northerly direction of the Gulf Stream current,
therefore the wind and waves would be with us.
This route would take at least 20 hours and therefore require traveling
over night. We have sailed over night
before so this was not a problem for us.
Our contingency plan was to
go North along the Florida coast to Rodriguez Key and cross the Gulf Stream from
there. This route would require at least
4 days.
Rodriguez Key anchorage.
Rodriguez Key anchorage.
Historically a full moon
does not coincide with a good weather window to cross, so we would have to
navigate over a very shallow reef in the dark.
Island of Bimini looking South.
We would most probably have to motor most of the way across the Stream. But more importantly it would require very diligent course corrections because of the unpredictable force of the Gulf Stream. We heard stories of boats actually missing the island of Bimini entirely, or arriving after dark. We were warned by everyone to not even think about trying to attempt entering Bimini harbor at night for a multitude of reasons. The channel is very poorly marked and the buoys that are there do not have any lights; the channel was cut through a reef and is very narrow and has a very strong current. Individually they are daunting but all together insurmountable. So we would have to spend the night at sea traveling up and down the coast of Bimini. But on the positive side it would only take 12 hours to cross the Gulf Stream and we could do it during day light!
Island of Bimini looking South.
We would most probably have to motor most of the way across the Stream. But more importantly it would require very diligent course corrections because of the unpredictable force of the Gulf Stream. We heard stories of boats actually missing the island of Bimini entirely, or arriving after dark. We were warned by everyone to not even think about trying to attempt entering Bimini harbor at night for a multitude of reasons. The channel is very poorly marked and the buoys that are there do not have any lights; the channel was cut through a reef and is very narrow and has a very strong current. Individually they are daunting but all together insurmountable. So we would have to spend the night at sea traveling up and down the coast of Bimini. But on the positive side it would only take 12 hours to cross the Gulf Stream and we could do it during day light!
There is a third plan, a route
that continues North past Rodriguez Key to Miami and cross the Gulf Stream from there. This would require 5 days. This crossing would be difficult even in the most calm conditions because of the direction of the waves and wind.
As far as I was concerned our
fist route was our only option!
Sea u later! Bahama Bound Boat Buddies Part 2
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