Miami to Norfolk VA.

[Lizzie_B]

Time has come for Spring Cruise, after which I have to take the boat to the Potomac.
So, how far is it from Miami to Norfolk VA and how long should it take in May.

 

[Salty John]

It is about 1100 miles. This can be an interesting trip. You have the Gulf Stream rushing northward at about 3 knots, faster where it squeezes between Florida and the Great Bahama Bank. The prevailing wind is east, more SE in summer, more NE in winter. In May it hasn't decided yet! You don't want to be in the stream in any wind with north in it, it's wind over tide on an oceanic scale, so watch the weather. My preferred route is Miami to Beaufort, NC and then "inside" to Norfolk. Going round Cape Hatteras requires a good weather outlook and I've never found a window long enough to get from Miami, round Hatteras and into the Bay in one shot. If you leave Miami with a settled weather pattern you could have a four day broad reach to Beaufort and then another four or five days on the ICW. You can also get calms, in which case you motor and it is still 4 days to Beaufort, or you get a gale from the north and dive in at one of the inlets and proceed up the ICW, in which case the journey could take two weeks.
Have fun!