Forcast for 4/8 - 4/13 Tampa to Destin

[Cahoots]

I'm scheduled to run a boat from Ft. Lauderdale to the MS coast right after Easter. I know forcast this far out are dubious at best but anyone want to hazard a guess? I'm most interested in wind forcast since I'll be on the water and then most interested in the area above since that is the most open water part of the trip. My meger weather skills are no where near what it takes to intrepret models and what not in order to have any idea of to expect so I appeal to those on the board smarter than I for any opinions.

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to offer a forcast.
Reed

[Joe-Nathan]

Are you taking the ICWW or running across the GOM?

In the spring things are calm except w/ frontal passage. That is when things get rough. Man it is a crap shot. Obviously the closer you get to the trip the better idea we will have on the weather. Could be slick as owl sh$t to 15 footers w/ a gale.

It is really cool to come into LA waters at night. Especially watching some one, who has never been before, react to all the O&G platforms popping up on the long range radar.

[Cahoots]

We're taking the Okeechobee across and are planning to jump from St. Pete to Panama City Beach. We may revisit and cross from Tarpon Springs to Apalachicola depending on conditions. The weather pattern this past winter has me most concerned, with all the lows crossing the GOM right along the beach. I'm seriously hoping that pattern will have changed before I jump off the west coast of Florida.

We're in a 47' boat and don't really have the range to run all the way into MS from Florida. If the weather lined up perfectly we might could do it at 8 knots the whole way but that's a long time between ports of call in a 47 footer.

Thanks.