St Thomas to Key West in March 2015

Terryair

Hello,

I will be on a 43' Sailcat leaving St Thomas in the middle of next month and I was trying to get some comments on the trip.

I will be staying close to shore as much as I can but there will be a lot of open ocean later in the trip.

I have limited sailing experience and none in open water. There will 4 of us

Any thoughts?

Terryair

Scubacat

Terry, Welcome! I understand that you will be sailing a Norseman 430. It looks a very nice boat. 

I am sure that you will have probably made sure that all the gear is functional and you will have appropriate safety equipment, but one thing that Cathy and I find every year is that we need a week or so to get used to the boat and its motion. We also usually make the mistake of going out in too strong winds early on in any trip, just because we want to get to somewhere new. After week or so, the waves always seem smaller, and the wind lighter.

A couple of initial questions I would like to ask would be: How are you planning on getting weather forecasts during your trip? and how experienced at planning based on the weather do you think you are?

Many years ago, I spent weeks planning for my first trip on our first 22ft cruising cat, delivering it from Poole to Hayling Island. I took a good friend with dingy sailing experience and waited a week and a half before the wind was what I thought was "ok"- and got is wrong.. we actually had a coastguard helicopter circle us at one point as we were heading into danger on some shoals- but that is another story. Now I would do the same trip almost without thinking, but I have much more confidence in my sailing and the boat, and some natty weather forecasting apps on my Ipad!.    

. 

Think_Again

Hi Terry, sounds like a good trip and I hope it's a trip that you can take your time and enjoy, not a quick delivery job. Like Dagnal said weather plays a big part in a trip like this also there are a lot of Islands rather than one land mass. So plenty of planning of main route but also of escape routes, places you can shelter if you need to. Ocean sailing can be very enjoyable its not always rough seas out there, so have fun & enjoy..Bob

[Deleted User]

Leaving St. Thomas, bound for where?    Are you chartering and sailing locally in the BVI and USVI, or do you have a destination in mind?   

Terryair

I have done a lot of coastal crusing but nothing in open water. I have been watching the weather there in the BVI and it has been running about 15 to 20 knots of wind and 7 to 10 foot waves off shore. Closer in it is about 5 to 7 foot waves.

We will get a 10 day forcast when we leave and try to get the latest weather on a SSB receiver we have.

I think we will stay within 10 miles of shore until we leave PR. I want to stay further out when we go past DR and Haiti.

If weather is too bad we will have to get closer. We will get close to the Turks and spend a couple of days at Inauga Island then off to Cay Sal then to Key West

Thanks for the tips

Terryair

I just got word that the boat failed the survey so the trip is off. I think it would have been a good learning experience.

Thanks for all the tips and help

Terry

Scubacat

Sorry to hear that, is it a delay or does that mean you will be going for a different boat?
Dagnall

Terryair

He will go for a different boat so it may be awhile

Terryair

Hi Pat,

Did you have any problems?

Terry

Terryair

He may still end up with the boat...they are in negotiations...the seller wants to move the boat fast because he bought a new one...51' cat and is in a bind

We shall see....

Terryair

The Trip is back on!

I will keep you posted

I will have a website that you can track our progress

Scubacat

Excellent news!
Looking forward to following your adventure.

Terryair

Here is the website to track me

https://share.delorme.com/DanSmith2

We leave to go down on the 18th of May

Terryair

Dan Smith is the owner of the Cat

Terryair

We just got into Mobile Bay from the BVI

Great Trip

Thanks for your help

Terry Gerber

Terryair

21 days of hard sailing, lots of fun. Great adventure

Scubacat

Well done! Glad the forum was some help!
Love the track website! Gives a really good view of your trip.
Dagnall

Terryair

Yes it was a great trip

Thanks for your website. it helped

Total miles was about 1900

Scubacat

Thanks,
Very interested in the tracking site that Dan used, is it subscription, and how did you upload the track?

Terryair

It is a satellite link from a handheld device. It has unlimited text for $69 per month. It includes the map share which is what you saw. It also has a SOS function in case things go bad

it has coverage anywhere in the world. It gave us great peace of mind

www.explore.delorme.com

The unit is called inReach

Scubacat

Many thanks, I'm sure our longer range cruising friends will be impressed, and may find this very useful.