that trip was fantastic, but as Mary said, the wind was not in our favor.

It wasn't that there wasn't any wind, it was just that the wind was always on our nose, and we had to maintain a schedule. (College kids have to show up for class at the end of Spring Break, unfortunately)

There was a large chunk of open water to cross. Primarily on the second day when we were between Fort Jefferson and the Marquesas (sp?) Keys. However we did make a detour that day, because one of the girls on the boat said that she had never swam in 100 foot deep water, so we left the quicksands (quickest route, but shallower) and headed out for the ocean and took a dip. That probably added 2 hours to that leg. We averaged 6.5 knots both days getting to fort jefferson. We reached the anchorage in FJ at about 3pm IIRC. It was truely an experience that everyone should enjoy. Its really beautiful.

Now, as for a beachcat. You'd have to pick your weather really I think. Staying over the quicksands would be the best bet (plus you'd keep awake by dodging crab pots) since if you got in trouble, there would always be a fisherman boat nearby to help out in the most dire of circumstances. Thats one thing that I found unique.... while we were on the open water for long periods of time, I think I was always able to see another vessel. Perhaps it was the time of year we went, who knows.

This is a trip that I told myself that I wanted to do with my new tornado. I'd definitely get a chase boat to carry provisions and so forth. The total trip is about 90 miles, not sure you could do it in a day, maybe in a blow you could.

Sorry that this was off-the-cuff... I was forced to come into work on a saturday and I'm still not with it