20ft boat in the Atlantic ocean?

[proaudioguy]

The boat is 20ft V hull. What will it handle comfortably? Been staying inland so far. I grew up on the Gulf side of FL. On a bad day on the West coast, the seas aren't much worse than a calm day on the Atlantic side and we never went out on a bad day. Once the boat issues are all taken care of (we are very close), we'd like to be able to head out of Ponce inlet to open water and play out there, maybe anchor near the Canaveral seashore, and play on the beach. This was something we did all the time on the Gulf side when I was growing up near Clearwater, Caladesi and Honeymoon islands. Just assume average boat driving skill for the sake of discussion. How high can the seas be and still be OK on a 20ft V hull? Does the Atlantic get calmer as you go deeper? If the engine fails will a 35 pound trolling motor limp us in or are the Atlantic seas just too rough? If not, would a small kicker motor do any better? Does a Coast Guard boating course cover these topics? Rest assured we would not attempt any distance in open water without having a tow service agreement.

What about driving the boat to the Bahamas from South FL? The tank holds 80 gallons of gas. Is 55 or so miles just too far? Seems to me we would only be less than 30 miles from land at the half way point. Is that too far for a boat this size in the Atlantic?

It's all about the waves, wind, and weather I suppose. We experienced rough seas in Mosquito lagoon that would rival what we had in the Gulf of Mexico and it was a relatively nice day, just a bit windy.

 

[MountainManMyke]

Re: 20ft boat in the Atlantic ocean?

You won't know until you try lol

 

[robert graham]

Re: 20ft boat in the Atlantic ocean?

You can do it on a perfect day with perfect weather, early start, maintain communication with folks that can and will rescue you, if that one motor quits or any other emergency. Take a good GPS, or a couple of them. You'd really be a lot better with a twin motor set-up. I have a friend that did that trip and he said fuel in Nassau is expensive and may contain water or contaminates, so have your fuel/water separator ready with a spare canister or two. He did it in a 29' Sailfish Center console with twin 150 Yamaha 4 strokes, twin GPS's. Double check the weather. Go for it, and good luck!

 

[rodbolt]

Re: 20ft boat in the Atlantic ocean?

it just depends.
would I try that run in a 20ft boat, aint no way no how anymore.
at 20 yrs old I would have.
what it depends on is sea conditions, say swells from a hurricane 300 miles away may make your day all bad.
but if you pick the right conditions and your rig is a well maintained one and you have sufficient fuel capacity, try it, file a flaot plan first.
carry an EPIRB.

 

[cookbayou]

Re: 20ft boat in the Atlantic ocean?

I go 20 miles out with my buddies on a 17ft center console all the time. But 5ft seas gets a little wet. Better get you some seatow if you do go.

 

[sasto]

Re: 20ft boat in the Atlantic ocean?

What about driving the boat to the Bahamas from South FL? The tank holds 80 gallons of gas. Is 55 or so miles just too far? Seems to me we would only be less than 30 miles from land at the half way point. Is that too far for a boat this size in the Atlantic?

We went from St Lucie Inlet to West End, Grand Bahama in an 18foot CC, but I can't recommend it, we did have a good time. We used to go fishing in the Atlantic frequently in that boat.The Gulf is shallower than the Aatlantic and the seas can build fast compaired to the Atlantic......ask the guys in the Great Lakes, that's what I compare it to.

 

[CharlieB]

Re: 20ft boat in the Atlantic ocean?

Hope you have a quality marine radio (VHF), I wouldn't count on a cell phone.

 

[proaudioguy]

Re: 20ft boat in the Atlantic ocean?

Well the Bahamas thing isn't the focus of the post. I'd like to take it out of the inlet and even 2 or 3 miles off shore seems a bit hectic out here. I feel like going into 3ft of water and achoring then walking to the beach is probably out of the question too. Seems like it would be slamming the boat into the ground. BUT I haven't even tried so that's why I was looking for some pointers/ advice. I did take it out in the Keys and the seas weren't this rough.

 

[airdvr1227]

Re: 20ft boat in the Atlantic ocean?

See my post here.

You can get away with alot, until you don't.