How do I navigate from Miami, Florida to New York Harbor in small boat?

Question

If I make the voyage in November...

How long might it take?

What hazards might I face?

details, please....

Answer 1

Coast Guard maps and a GPS are very handy.  

How fast is your boat?  It is about 1300 miles.

Hazards: sharks, storms - November is not a good month for this trip - garbage, jelly fish,......

Answer 2

go straight north. who knows?? you might make it. But my bet is against you.

Answer 3

Intrecostal north> How fast? as motoring is most of the way>weather permiting> And dress warm as it's getting cool up north>

Answer 4

That's a hurricane month.  If you have not done it before, don't.  People get washout to the seas all the time.

Good Luck...

Answer 5

Buy a trailer. Take the interstate.

Answer 6

The distance is 949 nautical miles from Miami to NYC Harbor.  A "few" key factors you forgot to mention was the "type" of boat you have ie: sail or power... and you also failed to mention just how "small" it is...  An "in small boat" description means one thing to a boater that has a 80 footer, and another thing to a boater that has a 30 footer... (get my drift? - pun-intended).

It is possible to travel by boat along much of the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States without going "outside" into the Atlantic Ocean. How much of the trip one can make "inside" depends on one's boat.  If your's is indeed "small" - you should not have a problem with shallow drafts and low bridges.

A runabout can travel southward from Manasquan to Cape May behind the barrier islands along the New Jersey coast; the water is often less than three feet deep and there are many low bridges along this route.

Delaware Bay from Cape May to the Chesapeake and Delaware canal is deep in the main channel, shallow in many other areas, and lacks protected anchorages.  It is a bit rough on small boats whenever the wind is from the northwest or southeast and has six-foot tides and swift currents. While a few rivers off Delaware Bay are attractive, it is widely considered the worst body of water in the world for cruising, a reputation gained in part by its extreme roughness when wind and current oppose each other.

Chesapeake Bay from the C & D Canal to Norfolk is used by deep-draft ships and has hundreds of beautiful, sheltered anchorages and dozens of fascinating shore side towns. Cruisers agree that the prettiest anchorages on the Chesapeake are open to boats with less than six feet of draft. Overhead clearance is rarely a problem.

The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway extends from Norfolk to Miami. It is a protected route that allows vessels with less than about six feet of draft and up to 65 feet of vertical height to avoid going outside. Albemarle Sound, Pamlico Sound and the Neuse River in North Carolina can be rough; otherwise, the route consists of rivers, creeks and manmade cuts and is quite sheltered. Most of this page describes the Atlantic ICW.

The Florida Bay side of the Keys, south of Miami, is navigable (and beautiful) if your draft is less than five feet, although a three-foot draft is much better. This route runs along the edge of the Everglades.

Assuming you are going to cruise up the ICW (Intra-Coastal Waterway) in your "small boat" and not venture out into the ocean - then all you really have to do is stay between the markers until you see this huge statue of a woman holding a torch...

However, to be safe... and to enjoy the trip to its maximum...  and to avoid water hazards, sandbars, and to plan your stops at marinas for fuel, mooring, docking, fresh water and holding tank dump stops - you will need current USCG ICW maps.  If your boat is so small it has no head, refrigeration. fresh water, waste water holding tanks or porta potty... then, you really do need a current set of maps.  (The USCG will be up and on you before you can get your zipper zipped if you stand up and relieve your self in these waters... (they get over 9,000 calls from residents complaining about it - a year just in the area between Norfolk and Miami).

  

Two guys made this trip not long ago on jet-skis... but they "planned the trip" extremely well, so as they could stay in motels every night.  So the size of your vessel doesn't really mean much as long as you really know whats up ahead of you, and the limits of your self and your vessel.

As for how long it will take you, well, again, that depends somewhat on just how small your boat is, and what power options you have... but, it doesn't make a whole lot of difference as the speed limits you will encounter are mostly the entire way - 5 mph, 6 mph, 10, mph etc-etc...

So, you can figure on at least 100 hours minimum cruising time... so, if you don't have it onboard, you will need to add to that all your fuel, potty, rest stops, etc.

And last, but not least... you will encounter all the natural hazards any boater can face anywhere at almost any time... but the biggest single hazard will be other boaters...

Especially the ones that don't know where they are, which way they should go... or what they are doing - because they don't have maps or GPS.  

Happy & Safe Boating!