Florida

Florida is where much of the American charter fleet winters and where many Bahamas charters begin. The Keys run south-west from Miami in a hundred-mile arc of shallow water and reef, with Key West at the end; the east coast’s Intracoastal Waterway links Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and the yards and marinas that keep the fleet running.

Draught matters everywhere here, and so does air draught on the waterway’s bridges. The Gulf coast from Naples to Tampa is a different, calmer cruise, and the Bahamas are the natural extension from either side of the peninsula.