Mobile,Al to Key West
 

I am wanting to take the boat to Key West this year and thought I might as well go as much by water as possible. Has anyone done this? I have a 33ft Baja Outlaw. It will be my wife, 16yr old daughter and one of her friends and our Lab. Any pointers? Are there places to stay along the way and in Key West that are pet friendly? This will also be our first time in the gulf with the boat. I'm a veteran on fresh water but a rookie on the salt. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I've done all of the Gulf coast from Key West to New Orleans. I think you will find it pretty challenging in a 33' boat but if conditions are in your favour it can be done. There will be a mix of protected ICW and open water stretches of over 100 miles at a time including Apalachicola across to Cedar Key before heading down the FL west coast. You will find there may be several days at a time that you may not get to be on the water and sitting in a port. There will be no shortages of places to stay so that is not an issue. As long as you have about a 125 mile range with your fuel you will be alright. By the time it's over your wife daughter and dog will likely leave you. LOL ( joking ) I expect they are avid boaters and I admire you for wanting to do this. Buy a cruising guide that will give you a lot of info. All the time I have for now but can give you further info if needed. Good luck,
Bob

Last time i was in steinhatchee, fl they sold gas, not fancy but very friendly folks with a nice campground. This will be about 30 miles shorter than cedar key for fuel. Heck i plan on doing that trip in my 24' formula no concerns.

Don't forget to have "boatus" insurance!! Cheap price for the peace of mind for you and the family!!

My parents did it in their 42c Silverton. Went from Alabama to Port St Joe via the ditch "ICW", jump off shore and went from there to clear water, then from clear water to key west. Travel time was 3 days at 10 to 15 kts on the way down. They stayed for 2 weeks on the boat, traveled all around down there, camped out on the hook at the dry tortugas. had a blast so they say, on the way back they travel from key west to clear water in the worst seas ever, waves over the bow props out of the water, ruff shiiiit. so it can happen, when they left kw they got about 2 hours out and seas started building, and when you have a western fetch that un obstructed you can get some nasty weather fast.

I am pertly brave when trying things like that but think I would .try a few shorter runs off shore frist ,off shore is much different not always a sheltered bay right around every corner we ride jet ski from Baton Rouge to destin not to bad but I don't like to take my family out from destin pass to gulf shores inlet in the summer ,it's only about 50 miles .sure early in the morning it's smooth but later in the afternoon it pounds u and your boat to death I have a 34 super Hawaii same size as yours that we do that in, not a go feeling when u look around u and all u see is a wall of water 6t to 10 foot taller than your boat and we don't see many boats at all out there some times

I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO LOOK AT AMERICA'S GREAT LOOP CRUISERS' ASSOCIATION WEBSITE

http://www.greatloop.org/great-loop-...FQwaaQodJlEACQ

THIS SITE HAS A WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT ALL PARTS OF THE LOOP INCLUDING THE "BIG BEND". YOU MAY ALSO FIND SOME OTHER FOLKS HEADED THAT WAY AT THE SAME TIME. I KNOW THAT THIS IS NOT NECESSARLY A "GO FAST" ORIENTATED SITE BUT FULL OF GOOD INFO ABOUT THE PASSAGES, WHEN TO GO, WHERE TO STAY, ETC.
IT ALSO HAS LOT'S OF INFO ABOUT ALL OF THE RIVER AND GREAT LAKE PASSAGES WITH MULTIPLE RECENT SOURCES.
GOOD LUCK AND ENJOY YOUR VOYAGE.