# Gulf of Mexico in May-June



## AndreasNYC (Sep 6, 2010)

Hello Everyone

I am thinking of taking my 1984 Swan 46 Mark 1 to the gulf of mexico this May/June. 

We will be sailing up the west coast of Florida and then have the option to either sail to the very northern end of FL or taking the boat across the Gulf to St Padre island. 

Has anyone sailed these waters at that time? Are there a lot of cruisers around there? I was hoping the Gulf would have decent winds but few waves due to being enclosed. 

any ideas where I would find this info?

thanks for any info

Andreas


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## Group9 (Oct 3, 2010)

It's a wonderful time to be here. I've been sailing here for many years and the weather is perfect here then.

The one caveat is to watch the hurricane reports (officially I think the hurricane season starts June 1), and to always have a plan on where you will go if one hits the gulf. We usually don't see the bad ones until August, but there are no guarantees.

Worrying about one sure wouldn't stop me from coming here and enjoying the sailing.

As far as being enclosed, it's a big gulf. I've been in the middle of it when it looked like a mill pond, and when it looked like a giant washing machine.

Check some of the floating weather buoys to see.

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/

Here's what one station says.

Station 42003
NDBC
Location: 26.044N 85.612W
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2014 14:50:00 UTC
Winds: NW (310°) at 21.4 kt gusting to 25.3 kt
Significant Wave Height: 10.2 ft
Dominant Wave Period: 8 sec
Mean Wave Direction: WNW (288°)
Atmospheric Pressure: 29.96 in and rising
Air Temperature: 63.3 F


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## ccriders (Jul 8, 2006)

Look closely before heading for South Padre. Inshore sailing is very restricted and transit time from anchorage/marina to the gulf is fairly long. Port Aransas/Corpus Christi offers much better bay sailing and easy gulf access. The sailing communities are fairly small. In CC I'm sure the Bay Yacht Club would welcome you to join them, it's a cruiser oriented club but sponsors the Wednesday night races. The CC and Port A marinas are city operated and are a good value. Port A is usually pretty full, so advanced booking is recommended. CC marina normally has plenty of slips for a boat of your size.
May can be a wonderful time for sailing here. June starts getting pretty warm. But you can count on good wind, normally southeast at 15-25 kts.
I'm not a weatherman, but it seems to me there are more early storms in the western side of the gulf and then they originate more easterly as the season goes on until the fall when most originate in the Atlantic. But it is all a guess anyway. You pays your money and takes your chances.
Let me know if you get to CC, I'll take you a loaf of bread (homemade of course).
John


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## zeehag (Nov 16, 2008)

sailing gom is like sailing a norge washer in full wash cycle on occasion. can be very busy. i loved it.


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## SailRedemption (Jun 29, 2013)

I work 6 months of the year in the Gulf on a OSV. May and June are wonderful months! Most of the last cold fronts have already stopped coming down so it's not nasty. It's already in the 90s and good breeze. 

Only thing I can tell you about the Gulf is that it can get crappy real fast. A good squall can turn calm seas into 8+ footers in a matter of less than an hour. But luckily they usually only happen during the day and the seas will calm down fast too after it passes. June to Aug/Sept are nice for me because it gets so calm that the Gulf turns to glass. So that wouldn't be so good for sailing as there is literally no wind. But you'll be fine in may and June! Maybe if you pass close enough I'll hail you on the radio from the bridge! 

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk


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