Explore Lake Travis on a 37' Beneteau sailboat
We have the Spot tracker working, you can follow us here:
https://maps.findmespot.com/s/P4T2
We expect to leave Titusville sometime Wednesday, arriving in Fort Lauderdale Friday or Saturday. We will be picking up the captain for the Gulf crossing to Galveston Bay in Fort Lauderdale.
It’s time to start the next Sail Ripple adventure! This time I’m crewing on a vessel delivery from Titusville, on the east coast of Florida, around the Keys, then across the Gulf of Mexico to Kemah, TX on Galveston Bay. I’m flying out of Houston tomorrow so that my vehicle will be near our intended destination.
Sun Suite is a 1995-ish Beneteau Oceanis 40, she has had a recent survey and the engine has been thoroughly inspected for the trip.
Our tentative itinerary is roughly listed below, the final decision is in the hands of the Captain:
Wednesday, June 30 – Board Sun Suite and cast off the lines.
Head south close (1-2 miles offshore) to the eastern Florida coastline to stay out of the northbound Gulf Stream current.
Friday-Saturday, July 2-3ish – Port call in the Keys (Key Largo, Key West, or Dry Tortugas), top off tanks, and reprovision as needed. Cast off the lines again for the Gulf crossing.
Sail
Sail
Avoid oil rigs
Sail
Thursday-Sunday, July 8-10 – Arrive Waterford Harbor Yacht Club, Kemah, Galveston, Texas.
Yes, we will be sailing 24 hours a day, 1 or 2 people will be on watch at all times. I’m thinking 1 person during the daylight hours, and 2 people in overnight watches.
We will be keeping a close eye on the weather before our departure and during our journey.
I’ll post our satellite tracking link as soon as I receive it.
It’s time to get ready for this trip. I’m trying to fit everything that I’ll need for an open water trip into one bag, life preserver/harness, foul weather gear, safety equipment, lights, clothes, bedding…
We’re still watching the weather closely. There’s now a disturbance off of the coast of Africa that could become an issue in 7-10 days. The earlier and closer disturbance has degenerated into a trough and should no longer be a concern.
Here’s the NOAA Atlantic 5-Day Graphical Tropical Weather Outlook if you want to keep an eye on the weather.
Apparently I didn’t get enough sailing while I was in the BVI the last two weeks, so I have signed on as a crew for a sailboat delivery from Titusville on the East coast of Florida to Kemah on Galveston Bay, Texas.
If my calculations are correct, our course should be around 1400nm (nautical miles = 1.15 regular miles) and at 7.5kts this should take us about 7 days of sailing to complete the journey. It should be tight quarters on a Beneteau Oceanis 40 from the mid 1990’s.
Hopefully, we’ll be departing Titusville on June 30 and arriving in Kemah somewhere around the 6th to the 8th of July.
Living my dream – Gone sailing, will return whenever…