Just back tonight from two weeks in September (4th-18th). I'd like to add my thoughts for anyone contemplating going this time of year.

The temperature was cooler than I would have expected. Mid to upper 70's at night, upper 80 to low 90's most days. I was surprised since once in October it was very hot and humid our entire 10 days.

Although not crowed by any means I was surprised at the number of boats that were out-and-about along with us.

We only saw a few of the "moon jellys" the whole time although were told jellys had been fairly common in the Baths while we were there. They seem to be most common in the summer months but when and where you will encounter them is quite unpredictable.

TS Jeanne passed through the last few days of our trip and behind it a huge "tail" of clouds and rain. We spent 2 days in Cane Garden Bay waiting for the weather to improve. We missed Jost and exploring Brewers bay because of this.

We saw lightening in the distance most nights but rarely heard thunder and luckily never had an electrical storm pass over.

There were several closings but we were always able to find places open for provisions, fuel, air fills and such at most places.

Diving and snorkeling most days was fair at best due to lower visibility. Hurricane Francis had passed to the north just before we arrived and Ivan passed to the south while we were there so this may have stirred things up a bit. We did have nice dives at Carrot Shoals and at Dead Chest North but the rest were iffy. Combining sailing with scuba makes you choose between sailing, what most of us want to do, and motoring to get to a dive site. I'm not sure I would do it again too often either with onboard gear or rendezvous diving. As a side note we sailed right past the invisibles and there was no mooring buoy to be found.

We had air conditioning this time, which was not really needed but was nice to get some extra sleep without having to wake up to close the hatches for brief showers and when it rained for two straight days during TS Jeanne.

All-in-all I got what I expected. We had to keep an eye on the weather but we were lucky. We had a great time and on balance it worked out well for us. We really needed a long get-a-way and the price was right (two weeks for the price of one off-season week). If you aren't married to the crowds and life ashore and prefer solitude and relaxing on board I don't think you should avoid a September vacation if you are willing to keep an eye on the weather and are willing to take the risk of the possibility of a two or three day interruption in your vacation plans.