​ ​​​​                             Sailing Fort Lauderdale 

South Florida and especially the Fort Lauderdale oceanfront is one of the primo sailing areas in all of Florida for a Private Sail Charter or Yacht Charter. What makes it so special?  among other things, our water is so clean, the air and water temperature most of the year is suitable for swimming or snorkeling, it has an almost constant supply of wind to drive the boats, it is within a day or two of many of the closer Bahamas Islands and most of the Florida Keys. Port Everglades is one of the biggest Cruise Ports in the world bringing in sailors and wannabe sailors from all over the globe who relish a ride on a wind driven vessel. We have many sailboats offering charters and bare boats to a waiting crowd of pleasure seekers.  Sailingdaffy Inc. is the official name of the sailboat DAFFY which offers half day and all day sailing cruises.

The waterways themselves lend a place for all the thousands of sailboats we have here.  Fort Lauderdale is referred to as the Venice of Americas and has become the home for as many sailboats as you would find in Annapolis, Newport, San Diego, Seattle, Chicago, or Galveston. With over 700 miles of navigable rivers, waterways, and canals, there is plenty of room for a fabulous number of wind powered craft.

Motoring up and down the New River, South and North Forks of the New River, and north and south on the Intracoastal Waterway, even a sailboat with a deeper draft and a mast or two can find plenty of places to go. Countless mega homes, restaurants, and backyards to spark the curiosity and awe of all of us on the water.

Making the way out the Cruise Inlet at Port Everglades, the sailing starts immediately. Venturing up the ocean past all the beaches, Fort Lauderdale , Beach Place,  Galt Ocean Mile, Lighthouse Point, and Pompano or going south past more beaches, Dania, Hollywood, Hallandale, Golden Isle, Sunny Isles, or Bal Harbour gives the thrill of watching bathers along our ocean front ooh and ahh you and take pictures as you sail by waving at them.  Most days the water is clear enough to see the bottom with corals and sea fans and maybe an occasional porpoise.  When the wind is more favorable, most of the year, a trip off shore to the incredibly beautiful water of the Gulfstream, and water so blue you’d think it was made of liquid sapphire and splashed with gold Sargasso Weed hiding the bait fish, mahi mahi, tuna, and even sailfish.  As the boat plows through the water, dozens of flying fish may erupt from the sea and take flight for a hundred yards.  Occasionally sea turtles, mammoth Leatherback turtles will poke their heads out of the water and stay on the surface just long enough for you to get a good look before they dive under.

One of the top Bucket List Adventures for most of our cruisers is to experience a boat under sail.  Enjoying the ride is really all about enjoying the ride. No engine, no fumes , no music ( unless you want it) , but just the sound of the waves slapping against the hull and an occasional rustle of the sails as we do a course change.  Maybe take a hand at the wheel steering the boat or sign up for a sailing lesson. The wind is there for the taking.  What a great way to reconnect with family members, friends, business associates, or just acquaintances.  

Wanna make it really special; celebrate an anniversary, birthday, graduation, promotion, or maybe a marriage proposal, and then MAYBE, get married on the DAFFY sailboat !  And - -  - don't forget the Sunset Cruise where some of the best end of day activity will let you be in in that moment of Peace  and Tranquility , Sailing around Fort Lauderdale.

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Sailing at Night

The DAFFY sailboat does 3 or 4 Sunset Cruises every week.  I make it a point that we will definitely see the sunset, but the Captain is not particularly fond of driving around in the dark and would prefer to be back at the dock before there is no light.  This statement applies more to close to the shore and in the waterways than off shore sailing/cruising.  Offshore (a few miles off the beach) is actually safer than closer to the beach.  Closer in to shore, obstacles include but not limited to fishing boats with no lights (fishermen don’t want to scare away the fish with lights), boaters adrift who played the Bluetooth Speakers all day and drained the boat batteries and now can’t start their engines, dangerous jetties that have no lights on them, and shoal areas that become confusing even to experienced mariners.

Offshore, typically, the only real obstacles are ships that become visible by their red and green navigation lights and white stern lights.  To the trained eye, the position and direction of these vessels becomes apparent but even these guys can be a hazard if there is inclement weather.  Of course, just like closer to shore, a pleasure boater or fisherman drifting on the high seas with no lights is just as dangerous as one near shore.  Stories of boats that hit containers that have fallen off ships is something that generally happens during a hurricane event and is halfway predictable.  Other obstacles are wooden pallets, large and smaller dock lines, crab trap lines,  and any other kind of debris that might be floating out there, mostly submerged and only apparent when is wraps around or bends the propeller, or even worse, punches a hole in the hull of the boat.

The most intense section of the US Coast Guard Captain’s license is Lights. A huge portion of the Instructor’s Guide deals with Aids to Navigation of which most of them involve a light: beacons, buoys, channel markers, lighthouses, range markers, safe water marks, danger water marks, etc. etc.  All these lights have a certain combination and color.  And then there are the lights on every kind of thing that floats, from my boat, to the commercial fishing boats, to the tugs, dredges, ships, emergency vessels, and even sea planes.  And, even the bridges!  Having good visibility to see these lights, particularly in inclement weather can be a challenge.

And now we get back to cruising the inlets to the ocean and the waterways themselves; big vessels under tow, kids with daddy’s boat and adults with little experience, bridges that fail to open because of car or railroad traffic, And, sometimes the worse obstacle is the tide and wind itself.  The Captain better have his vessel under control.  Driving on the water is not like driving on asphalt, on the water; the road is moving with the tide.  Again, driving around in the dark is challenging.  So - - - - - when the Captain says “we’re gonna be back by dark” he has reason to say so. Driving around in the dark is not impossible, it is just more intense!!   Sunset Cruises normally leave the dock by 3:30 pm and return by 8 pm in the summer; same cruise is back by 6:30 pm in winter       

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          Why Choose Sailingdaffy

1.            Captain Charlie loves his sailing but he loves the social aspect of every cruise; meeting new people, hearing their stories, telling you his.  It’s all about US out on the water.

2.            Your happiness, the joy you experience, maybe the first time ever on a boat is truly a golden moment and I wanna be there when it happens.

3.            I own the DAFFY sailboat and I have total control over the boat and the schedule; if you have some ideas of what you would really like to do from just lounging on the deck in the sun, or , checking out the Intracoastal.  Last year I had a couple who had been on the boat before and wanted to bring their parents as a gift to them; the father said, I don’t want to go out Oceanside, I want to look at real-estate; he had a list of the homes and we spent the next 4 hours going up every canal looking at houses.

4.         we do a Wedding Vows Cruise    I take the time to find out what you want the trip to look like; do you want to go in the ocean or just anchor in a quiet cove; I will decorate the boat if you like and prepare different nuptials to read at the ceremony; to me, this day is sacred and deserves to be celebrated as such.

5.       I care about the time you spend on the boat; it needs to be quality time; it needs to be safe and comfortable; whatever I can do to make that happen is what I want for you.

6.            Your lack of boating experience does not have to restrict you from coming aboard; take comfort that your Captain will be quite aware of your fears and reservations and will go out of his way to make the cruise a memorable experience for you.

7.            Sailingdaffy will always make sure that the price you paid for your cruise will be well managed; if inclement weather is a factor, we will reschedule and if necessary give you a full refund.

8.            Sailingdaffy is always looking for ways to give back to the community; Churches, schools, veterans,  civic organizations will always be acknowledged when possible.                                          

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