[Rhodes22-list] SAILING BISCAYNE BAY

[Robert Quinn]

Richard:  You have made the right choice in boats.  With the "skinny water" 
in your chosen area the R22 will suit the waters very well owing to the 20" 
draft board up and only 4' board down.  Depending on how and where you plan 
to use the boat, a GPS with chart plotter ( the Garmin 276C or something 
along the lines of the182C with built in antenna) would be a nice to have 
item, again because of the shallow waters, reefs, and skinny cuts.  Charts 
of course are always advised.  There are several good cruising guides for 
the area as well.  I like Frank Papy's Cruising Guide to the Florida Keys 
for fun and entertainment.  Clairborne Young also has a much more detailed 
guide.  A good VHF radio is also a must.  Carrying a cell phone is also 
recommended and all recommended safety gear that the Coast Guard recommends. 
If you plan to anchor out, good ground tackle is a must.

The Hawk Channel (Atlantic side) can get mean so you need to watch the 
weather very carefully - when it is nice, it is wonderful.  Biscayne Bay and 
Florida Bay can kick up but should prove manageable most of the time for a 
R22.  If you chose to use the Hawk Channel, make sure you know all of the 
cuts to get into Florida Bay so you can cut and run when you need to, which 
should not be too often.

We spent a month last year out of Key West (sailed from Punta Gorda to Key 
West via Naples, Marco Island, Shark River, and Marathon).  We then sailed 
back to Marathon but as the weather was not great, we cut under the seven 
mile bridge into Florida Bay to Matacumbe and Pumpkin Key before jumping out 
into Biscayne Bay for a great sail up to Cape Florida. (Sailing on Biscayne 
Bay is truly a must do!)  We then jumped out and headed up to Ft. Lauderdale 
and Lake Worth before getting back to our home port in Stuart.  Now realize 
we were not on a R22 but a larger cruising boat with a permanent 4'5" draft, 
The GPS and charts were mandatory. We sailed our R22 out of Stuart for 10 
years and we have sailed boats of similar size in the Keys over the years. 
As the man said: "just do it!"

Bob and Kathy on the "NoKaOi"



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Frank" <barfrank at hollywoodbytheseafl.com>
To: <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Friday, June 03, 2005 5:16 PM
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] SAILING BISCAYNE BAY


> I AM PLANNING ON A PURCHASE OF A RHODES 22 FOR USE ON BISCAYNE BAY AND 
> KEYS
> AREA.  ANY COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT I SHOULD
> CONSIDER WOULD BE HELPFUL.  THANKS, RICHARD
>
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