Best route Jax FL to ST Thomas

Powerboat or sail and what size? Makes a difference.

Savannah to St, Augustine, FL, City dock at St. Aug. face dock fuel. It’s a short first run, good for seeing how the boat runs and verify fuel burn.

St.Aug. to Ft. Lauderdale. If not enough fuel to get to Lauderdale nonstop, Ft. Pierce is a good stop just inside the inlet to the port side is the Pelican Yacht Club. It is a private club but they let you come in for fuel and an overnight, call ahead: docks,772-464-1734. Nice easy in and out to the ocean with a modest draft. Also their restaurant lets you in as a guest if you overnight. Their Wed. night buffet is one of the best I have ever experienced.

On to Ft. Lauderdale. Lauderdale Marina to the port side just inside the 17th street bridge is the quickest, face dock fuel.

Lauderdale to Nassau: From Lauderdale, pass just north of Bimini near north rock, then across the banks to northwest channel in to the tongue of the ocean then on to Nassau. If you need fuel it’s an easy stop in to Chub Cay but you’ll have to clear in to the Bahamas there, no biggie, just takes more time. At Nassau there are two fuel docks easy to use, between the bridges port side, and past the bridges, to starboard. Watch the shallows.

Nassau to Long Island. Go through to the deep sea at Highborne Cay. You can stop overnight at Highborne Cay marina if you want. It’s a nice little spot. Then on to Flying Fish marina on Long Island. http://www.flyingfish-marina.com/

Flying Fish Marina to Turtle Cove Marina at Provodenciales, Turks an Caicos : http://www.tcmarina.com . Call the marina when you are a ways outside and they will send a small boat out to guide you in, use it, they are happy to do it.

Provo to the Ocean World Marina, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, http://www.oceanworld.net/index.cfm?organization_id=107&section_id=1543

From Puerto Plata you have a few choices, north of Puerto Rico or south, Either way with a 40’ power boat I think your fuel might be somewhat limited. Because of that I’d go around the east coast of the D.R. to the Punta Cana Marina. http://www.puntacana.com/dining-recreation/the-marina/marina-services

Then get a reasonable weather window, (the Mona Passage can be sporty) and on to San Juan, about 145 miles over the north coast of PR. Then it’s a pretty easy run to St. Thomas. You might want to make a stop at the islands around Culebra just east of PR, its beautiful there.

Have a great trip!

Hi,

Great words there.

Maybe you should write a cruising guide while you are in between jobs!

No problem Capt. Boyd. If you ever need a boat moved that you can't do, let me know. I love doing those trips. Or even if you need an extra hand on a boat.

http://deliverycaptain.services.officelive.com/default.aspx

Nice post LadyCap.

Just be aware that once you get to Provo you can get stuck there for days because of weather out of or to the east. Even if it's fairly calm in Provo.

Also be aware Ocean World can become unusable in northernly winds and swells.

You might even look at going on the south side of PR if there is weather from the north.

You also might want to take a look at "Gentleman's Guide to Passages South"
by Bruce Sant. While it's designed for sailboats and trawlers it has very good cruising advice and weather information in it.

+1

I agree

Along time ago I brought a 39' Hatteras S/F from NC to BVI. One bit of advice to add, is think about running at night from South Caicos to DR and again from DR to San Juan. We found that the winds were alot less at night and once the sun came up the winds would pick up. Our route was-
Ft. Lauderdale-Nassau-Long Island-Provo(Caicos Marina & Shipyard)-South Caicos-Samana DR-San Juan- Tortola

Good luck, Oh yeah the best way would be ship it on Dockwise

PS- I just read Caplady, and her advice is spot on, mine differs in Provo and DR. My thoughts on
Provo- the bank side is a bit more on a direct route and you will not get caught by wx inside the reef, although it is a little more isolated. We then made a short slow hop to South Caicos and left at midnight for DR (can't leave Turtle at night).

Samana- was a pretty rough stop with 3rd world customs and fuel by truck, we were stern to a commercial pier with a local guy as a guard, I think today stopping at Ocean World might be better, but Samana is closer to SJ.