# Corpus Christie to The Bahamas!



## Miss Informed (Feb 23, 2013)

Hey y'all!

We are a couple guys who bought a Hunter 340 In Corpus Christie, TX about 4 weeks ago with the intention of sailing to the Bahamas, and, with any luck, down through the Virgin Islands. At the time, we had very little sailing experience, but we are quickly learning the ropes. 

So far we've made it to Fourchon, Louisiana. Tomorrow we leave to make a big jump to Panama City Beach (hopefully landing with plenty of time to make Spring Break!).

Anyway, if y'all are interested, we've started a blog. You can check it at stillfloatin dot com.

Also, if anyone has done the trip and has any advice, we'd love to hear from you!

The blog is setup, out of convenience, on a little online shop that we run that sells marine parts, but we are by no means attempting to hock anything to you fine folks... Just to quell any suspicions ahead of time.

Hope y'all can check out our progress!

Cheers,

Brian and Brian

www stillfloatin dot com


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## fallard (Nov 30, 2009)

It looks like your mast height might keep you from taking the Okeechobee Waterway unless you unstep your mast to clear at least one fixed bridge with a lower height than your mast. If you are thinking of taking this "shortcut" to the Atlantic, you might check with the Indiantown Marina about clearances and where you might need to unstep your mast and how much it might cost.


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## Miss Informed (Feb 23, 2013)

Hey Fallard!

Thanks for the tip. We are excited about sailing down to the Keys, so no worries on the Okeechobee. 

The plan is to round the entirety of western Florida, hit up the Keys for a little while, then sail on to the Bahamas from there. 

Thanks again for the advice though! I think at one point we were discussing cutting through, but I've never been to the Keys, and we are in no rush.

Can't wait to see the Bahamas though!

Good Sailing!

Bri


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## fallard (Nov 30, 2009)

I've done the Okeechobee shortcut and it is rather boring. If you have the time and inclination, rounding the tip of Florida and checking out the Keys sounds like a lot more fun. Also, by starting your Bahamas crossing further south, you can actually make the Gulf Stream work in your favor.


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## Miss Informed (Feb 23, 2013)

Totally! Shooting up the Gulf Stream seems like it could be a good time! Yeah, we've been avoiding waterways as much as possible. Nothing against the ICW, but we are a bit more inclined to the openness of the sea. So, yeah, avoiding the Okeechobee sounds like a good call all around.

Cheers,

Bri


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

I just read through your blog. Great job you guys! Keep the stories coming. I've wondered what it was like sailing through that area. We've always gone west from Galveston (Port A, South Padre, etc.) so it's good to see what's along the coast going east.

BTW - I think that "sunken rig" you saw was actually a sunken shrimp boat. That looks like a net boom sticking up.

It's great to see you guys out doing it. Booyah!

(PS - Unless I just missed it on the blg, it would be great to hear more about how you guys decided to do this, what the boat purchase was like, etc.)


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## Silvio (Nov 10, 2010)

Congratulations on your boat and trip.
I just made the trip as you have described it except I left from Destin Florida. I was bringing our boat from Destin to the Chesapeake and arrived in Solomons Maryland last August.

I mad a few stops inside as I was mostly single handing and I took advantage of inside stop overs.

I went outside from Panama City (nice municipal marina there) to St Joseph Bay and then I holed up in the ICW at the free White City dock for a few days while waiting for weather. I decided to make the easy run inside to Apalachicola and waited another two days for weather before jumping across the Gulf to Tarpon Springs. From there it is easy to jump outside and back inside for anchorages all the way down to Port Charlotte. 

I went directly from Port Charlotte to Key West. Anchoring in Key West sucks but there are a lot of moorings available for cheap. I recommend grabbing a mooring and not trying to get an anchor set. From key West it is beautiful sailing either inside the Hawke Channel or outside to Miami if that will be your jump off to the Bahamas. Personally I was in Miami to pick up a guest so I hung out at No Name Harbor for a few days before heading to Bimini and checking in. Last July Bimini was awful for entering as they were scraping the entrance and had removed ALL of the buoys. At least the bar in front of the entrance is sand and not coral  

Well, That is way more of my own story than I intended to share on your posting, sorry for the hijack. Just wanted to say good luck and fair winds, and I am looking forward to reading your blog.


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## Miss Informed (Feb 23, 2013)

Hey Y'all!

Glad to hear you are all on board with this adventure! We've just pulled into Gulf Port Marina after a hairy night!

Silvio, Glad to hear you enjoyed the trip. Thanks for sharing! good to get another perspective! I think we may shoot up from the Keys straight to Bimini, riding the Gulf stream. It'll be interesting to ride the Gulf Stream!

Smackdaddy, we would love to do a little thing on how we came to buy the boat, and what got us interested in doing the trip! Definitely on my list of things to do! 

We just had a heck of a ride last night. lost our sails, thunderstorms, the works. 

We'll be updating the blog soon.

Cheers y'all!


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## Silvio (Nov 10, 2010)

Good luck to you guys. Just read your blog. You might want to re-evaluate anchoring out in the Gulf. If you can't get inside a harbor or inlet to anchor for the night you are probably better off harnessing in and sailing through with reduced sail. Consider 2-3 hour shifts over night, it really isn't bad with two and I have made the jumps you are now making single handed. It is tiring but the Gulf will beat you up pretty good at anchor, even when it starts out calm. 

Glad you are safe and posting. You might consider pasting your blog posts here as well, there is a wealth of info on this site.


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## MokaKat (Feb 22, 2012)

Miss-Informed,
Just saw your post so I will go out and read your blog! I had trouble linking to it, but found it at Blog - Still Floatin' Blog - Navigate the Sea. Good luck with your trip and we will follow your progress!


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## Rocken (Feb 26, 2013)

Not a sailor, just a wanttobe. If you sailed through the weather that came thru the last 2 nights, I don't think it will get much worst. I work the docks near New Orleans the last 2 nights, and that was some very heavy weather as the front tried to push thru and stalled. 1 thunderstorm after another, traing across the region. Tornado and waterspout warnings for 48 hours. We had 3.5" hail out of the storm 2 nights ago. Good luck and fair winds.


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## Miss Informed (Feb 23, 2013)

Hey Rocken!

Yeah, that was the storm we attempted to avoid. But man... Like you said, one after another. Storms sprouted up everywhere!!!

Crazy stuff. Hopefully that is the worst weather we see, cause man that was a ride!

Moka! Thanks for checkin out the blog! More updates on the crazy storms coming soon!

Cheers,

Bri


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