# Sailing Across the Gulf of Mexico



## chtaylor

Looking toward the future and retirement in four more years, I'm thinking of having my 1977 Ericson 32 trucked from California to either Texas or Louisiana and then sailing across the Gulf of Mexico to the port of Progreso on the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. My wife is from Merida and we plan on retiring there.

Has anyone here made such a trip? If so, what are your thoughts on leaving from Texas vs. Louisiana; how long should the trip take; and, what time of year is optimal? Also, what problems/obstacles would be encountered?

Thanks,
Charles


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## PBzeer

I would go from Texas. You have a few choices that way. You can start from the Beaumont area and take the ICW down to Brownsville, do coastal hops down from there, or just go offshore. Prevailing winds in warmer months are SE. Going from Louisiana means offshore the whole way, dodging all the oil rigs. You could also start from Clear Lake on Galveston Bay (lots of boatyards there), and do the same as from Beaumont.

As to how long, it could be done in a week, just depends on how much you want to push it, and whether you go offshore, sailing straight through. Lots of oil rigs and crew boats, as well as major commercial shipping, and shrimp boats.


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## Freesail99

A friend of mine crossed the gulf from Fl. to Mexico in a Ericson 32. But he also buddy boated with 2 other boats. They went off shore. He said he would not have done it, alone.


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## Rockter

Cht...

I did it once, in Aug 1992. At that time of year, once you are beyond the sea-breeze zone of the coast, the place is one great un-nerving calm with thunderstorms everywhere, and a very, very light breeze from 120 deg.... right on the nose. If so, virtually all your progress will be on the prop so budget for the entire distance on the prop, so that will mean a lot of fuel storage, and carry lots and lots of engine and gearbox oil!!! Been there, learned that!

Take your motor for a long, long run first and watch every oil seal and temperature guage.

I cannot speak for any other time of year, but I understand that there is some wind in winter? I smile.

Be careful leaving Houston. There are many oil rigs about, and you will have to avoid them. We were blessed with good visibility until we were free of them, but it may not always be so easy to see.



Rockter.


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## PBzeer

They run the Harvest Moon Regetta in October, Galveston to Port Aransas, and generally have good wind for the race. By November, the norther's should start coming through. When I crossed west to east last April, we had good wind for heading south (since of course we wanted to go southeast, dead on our nose).


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## xort

I take it there isn't much in the way of harbor hopping on the Mexican coast S of Brownsville?


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## salty4568

*How about the other way??*

We plan to go east from Rockport (near Port Aransas) to the Keys and on to the Bahamas ..... don't really want to sail the "ditch" all the way. Is there a best time to go, with the usual trades? Hug the coast, or take the rhumbline straight across? We'd rather sail outside on the coast. Guess we could wait for a Norther .... ? Any thoughts or experiences?

Thanks,

Skip Luke
s/v Brigadoon


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## camaraderie

Skip...the "usual trades" blow against you in the Gulf and the northers during the winter can really make a passage across the open gulf dangerous. 
I would suggest waiting till spring if you can't do near coastal/ICW. 
Do a search here for pilot charts and you can evaluate the general differences by month.

Check the wind and waves annd wave period forecasts and animations on this site for an idea of what typical weather you might expect when heading offshore at this time of year.
http://magicseaweed.com/Gulf-Coast-MSW-Surf-Charts/9/wind/in/


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## salty4568

*Gulf eastbound*

Ok - thanks!

Skip


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## rcarr

There is a regatta from Galveston, TX to Vercruz, MX, Regatta de los Amigos, every even year. It is scheduled for the end May 2008. Go to veracruzregatta.com for details.

Rodger


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## gonesailin40

Have spent my entire life on the gulf coast and having worked offshore on the oil rigs gives me a little insight. After the first real cold front comes through the Gulf can become a very nasty and scary place to be. I have on several occasions been on a 175 foot crew boat and been concerned for my safety. I would not go out on any extended voyage until spring time. In between cold fronts does make for some great day/overnight sailing chances.


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## TSOJOURNER

Hey salty, Have you left yet, if not let me know as I am headed the same way I think. I think we have met but not sure. Let me know something.

Richard


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## rfcanon

*Made the trip in 2006.*

My wife and I sailed our Caliber 40 LRC from Rockport, Texas to Isla Mujeres in May of 2006. We were headed to the NW Caribbean and are still here in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala getting the boat ready for another cruising season and will be returning to Texas this June. We are considering returning via the Eastern coast of Mexico but as you know, not much is written about that. There is a cruising guide by Rains that covers the Mexican Gulf coast and includes information on Progresso.

We chose to go straight across in late May. Our reasoning was that we could avoid the cold fronts, the summer thunder storms were not geared up yet and the pilot charts indicated relatively calm winds and seas at that time of the year. Our crossing was relatively uneventful from a weather perspective. We do know of boats that have gone into Progresso instead of Isla Mujeres and had no problems. The pilot charts will show you that the prevailing wind is from the SE so be prepared to motor sail. Seas at that time are generally calmer that in early spring. Based on anecdotes from others, we would definitely not go across in the winter.

We had engine problems and were delayed but we made the crossing in 8 days and would have been finished in 6-7 without the problems. Oil wells are not much of a problem past approximately 100 miles out from South Texas. Some cruisers do take the option of going to Florida and crossing from Key West. We did not have the time to do that and have not regretted our decision. I'm sure you have heard this several times but it is worth repeating...for a Gulf crossing pick you weather window carefully. Hope this information is helpful.

Roy Canon
s/v Lyric


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## olegunny

Crossing the Gulf in winter means you will encounter some so called "northers." Usually effect you for perhaps a couple of days. Sea will be moderate but nothing to concern a well founded yacht.


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## Yucatancruiser

For anyone interested in going from Texas to the Yucatan, I have some very good information on the ports of Progreso and also some others for you to look at yucatancruising.com


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## Yucatancruiser

The page i have made for information on where to go and ports to visit in the northern Yucatan is www.yucatancruisng.com and is meant for any one that wants to visit the area on a boat, to have the basic information on how to get there, what ports to visit, charts of the harbors and location of services as well as useful information of safety and precautions. I encourage sailors to visit and give me feed back on the page or even recommendations on what else to put and how to imprueve the information. Thank you all!!


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## mdi

Yucatan Cruising

This link worked better for me. Maybe because I am using Mozilla, don't know.

Thanks for the post


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## Yucatancruiser

*Did you do the crossing?*



chtaylor said:


> Looking toward the future and retirement in four more years, I'm thinking of having my 1977 Ericson 32 trucked from California to either Texas or Louisiana and then sailing across the Gulf of Mexico to the port of Progreso on the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. My wife is from Merida and we plan on retiring there.
> 
> Has anyone here made such a trip? If so, what are your thoughts on leaving from Texas vs. Louisiana; how long should the trip take; and, what time of year is optimal? Also, what problems/obstacles would be encountered?
> 
> Thanks,
> Charles


Hello Charles! I was wondering if you made the crossing from Texas to Progreso back then? I would be interested in meeting you sometime to exchange experience and see what useful info I can add to my page.


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## vitalspark

I would take the boat down the length of the baja peninsula and into the sea of cortez. Incredible cruising grounds there. Literally thousands of anchorages throughout.  BEAUTIFUL


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## aeventyr60

vitalspark said:


> I would take the boat down the length of the baja peninsula and into the sea of cortez. Incredible cruising grounds there. Literally thousands of anchorages throughout.  BEAUTIFUL


Might want to check you geography skills as the OP was talking about the "Gulf of Mexico".


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## vitalspark

aeventyr60 said:


> vitalspark said:
> 
> 
> 
> I would take the boat down the length of the baja peninsula and into the sea of cortez. Incredible cruising grounds there. Literally thousands of anchorages throughout.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEAUTIFUL
> 
> 
> 
> Might want to check you geography skills as the OP was talking about the "Gulf of Mexico".
Click to expand...

Considering that the boat is ALREADY in California my suggestion is to skip the trailering and head down the coast from there. You might want to check your people skills.


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