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Old 04-21-2009, 03:10 PM   #1
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I'm Max. I'm in the process of completing the purchase of a Bristol 27 in Tampa and will be sailing her back across the Gulf to her new home in Corpus Christi. I have limited experience and am looking for any words of wisdom about a westward transit of the Gulf.

Hope to learn a lot from the site and start contributing the lessons I'm to learn.
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Old 04-21-2009, 03:41 PM   #2
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G'Day Max,

I cant help with advice on this one but can welcome you to the site and say congratulations on the new yacht.

Enjoy.

JOHN
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Old 04-21-2009, 04:10 PM   #3
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Let me also echo "Swagman's" welcome. Make yourself at home.

I'm sure that someone will be along shortly to assist you with your query.
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Old 04-25-2009, 03:34 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Swagman View Post
G'Day Max,

I cant help with advice on this one but can welcome you to the site and say congratulations on the new yacht.

Enjoy.

JOHN
Thank you, good sir.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lighthouse View Post


Let me also echo "Swagman's" welcome. Make yourself at home.

I'm sure that someone will be along shortly to assist you with your query.
Thank you also.

Everyone out there pray for these SW winds with their long fetch shift to NE between now and May 5th!

Max
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Old 04-25-2009, 04:41 AM   #5
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Depending on the boat's condition - sea worthiness, engine and crew -- 780 nm almost due west of Tampa :- 10 >> 15 kts of ESE wind the whole way across today - plus the current coming from the same direction = equals good sailing conditions.

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Presume you will have an autopilot rigged for the tiller ?

Guess the biggest problem is that there are lots of obstacles in the Gulf !! Take care.

Richard
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Old 04-25-2009, 12:46 PM   #6
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As Richard mentions, lots of obstacles in the Gulf. *The other problem is that the shallow waters can make the going very uncomfortable even when winds are not particularly fierce. *Direction of the wind is important. *The Gulf can be pretty uncomfortable in 25 knots regardless of its direction.

Are you familiar with GRIB files? *For getting a handle on weather, these visual files are an excellent adjunct to the weather forecasts you can obtain from Weather Underground or NOAA. *I heartily endorse downloading GRIB files before setting out, they will provide you with a visual reference to the forecasts you hear on your VHF weather channel, and will cover a greater area than your local weather reports.

You can read more about them, and download the Ugrib program HERE

I recommend that if you are not familiar with it that you download it every day for a week or so before you expect to leave so you can compare what you see with what you are getting in terms of weather and weather reports. *The very slow departure of winter from where we are now had me downloading GRIB files, as well as checking Weather Underground, on a daily basis, and the daily changes in 3-day and 5-day forecasts was surprising. *No wonder everybody was so unhappy with the televised weather reports.

Peter and I have had to go with sometimes one- or two-day weather windows. *With our nimble power cat that we can sometimes push to 16 knots, yet we like to have "bail out" options along the way. *You can't do that when crossing large bodies of water, and then you need to look at the overall pattern of weather to give yourself the best possible conditions. *For us in a sailboat, that meant the very best weather window possible until we were well offshore and away from those things that go "bump". *Destinations aren't so critical since it's not so terrible to just heave to offshore until the weather calms enough to make landfall. *Try to remember that nothing is so critical that you have to risk damage or injury in order to get in "on time."

Remember to ask as many questions as you need to feel comfortable with the answers. *There are no stupid questions.

Fair winds,

Jeanne
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Old 04-26-2009, 01:39 AM   #7
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Yes, a tiller pilot is part of the equipment. There also is a wind gen to keep the batts charged w/o running the engine.

Crew of two, so watch sitting will be a factor. I definitely wasn't going to make my first Gulf passage singlehanded.

NE and SE both will be better than the SW with a long fetch.

Thanks for the info. Just the kind of thing I'm looking for.

Max
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Old 04-26-2009, 02:07 AM   #8
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BTW, I have been a pilot for 20 years. Many of those in hot air balloons. Weather for sailing is unique vs flying because of the longer range forecasting needed for long passages. At the same time as compared to the micro weather we use for ballooning, low level weather yields the greatest value in sailing.

Those obstacles were the primary reason for not single handing. I do want to be moving 24 hours and the last thing I wanted was to be thrown out of the berth at 3AM because of hitting the odd oil platform or, worse, cargo ship! LOL!!!

Again, just the info I'm looking for. Much thanks

Max
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