Is it possible to sail entire Caribbean with no night sailing?

[The Salty One]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

Excellent advice!

[jimisbell]

LOL. when I read that title it occurred to me that you were trying to save on navigation light bulbs......

[The Salty One]

If you have good weather, night sailing is awesome. If it's bad weather it can be terrifying if you aren't competent. And sometimes terrifying if you are competent.

If you have your boat on the ICW, or a big bay or harbor, practice if you are knowledgeable with the area. You will soon realize that that which you are familiar with will not be as familiar at night. If you are dying to get your boat down there, hire a competent skipper to do night watches.

[hyperope]

Night sailing is my favorite kind. Quiet, cool, nice time to look at the stars and reflect how insignificant we are in the grand scheme of the universe. AIS and radar give you a little more peace of mind. Of course, night sailing in a blow with waves you can't see is a bit of a drag.

[flyingfin]

Go on-line and buy a copy of The Thornless Path by Bruce Van Sant and start reading!

[Riggerman]

If you are talking about the whole of the Caribbeans, east, west and west indies. Then the answers is equivalently NO. Isla Mujeres to Cuba requires night sailing. Sois Isla Mujeres to Grand Cayman, Grand Cayman to Jamaica, Utila to Belize, or Utila to Levingston. One could debate that following the coast might be an option. But I can tell you that in certain area you do not want to follow the coast if you value your life. Such as Venezuela at this time, some places la near LaCeiba Honduras and such needs to be given a wide berth. In those area, when I sail at night it is usually blind, no AIS, and no radar. I only put My lights on if I see commercial traffic. I use night vision and 100% watch. Yes some will say it is not the rule. But if you want to be boarded by pirates, go ahead and follow the rules.

[Laurie watson]

Originally Posted by travellerw

Awesome that you are asking and learning. I truly believe there is no dumb questions.

I hope you find your boat and have a fantastic time!

Good sensible reply, ignore the ones who say, in their superior tone, “have you got a boat “ etc. Keep asking and learning

[John A]

Each Island is a separate country with their own Custom and Immigration departments, and their own check-in and check-out rules. Don't try to leave the next day or check-in the next day.

Most of your travel between islands will involve a night sail giving yo time to arrive at your distanation during office hours.

[370Dancer]

I think you need to buy a jet

[sail4evr]

Hire a delivery crew and take a plane

[GPatron]

I lived in Puerto Rico for 40+years . Each summer we would sail down island and we found that,after an exhilarating 5 hour reach south from Tortola to beautiful Buck Island (St. Croix) we could lay a course of 74deg to Anguilla 85 miles away.

Wuth the trades blowing from 125 to 135 it only took one tack, very close on the wind (and with the engine loafing along) about 12-13 hours to make the trip. That means, leaving at 6am we could make land by 7 or 8PM.

That said, I wonder why you would not want to enjoy the beauty of a clear starry night's Caribbean sail betweens islands . Night time is when the wind and waves are down and the phosphoresce shines on the waves.

[mikeod]

I prefer to go at night. Even a 60 mile run that can be done in the day you have to keep up a certain speed to get in on time. If you leave just before sunset you can take your time. If I'm only making 4 knots at night it's fine I'll get in late morning. During the day I'll need to fire up the engine to get there. I have met people that will justify stupid decisions cause they don't sail at night. Crossing from Eleuthra to Abaco a few years ago trying to convince someone to go at night so he wouldn't arrive at the end of the day with the sun in his eyes entering the reef cut, also an outgoing tide against a 10ft swell. He said he would have better steerage with the current against him. Never mind that those swells could be nasty against that current. Crossing from the keys to Bimini I left from Marathon over the reef before dark where it's 30 ft deep arrive in Bimini late morning. The rest of the group sailed to Rodriguez key anchored and left at 4am over the reef where it's 8 to10ft deep in the middle of the night because they didn't want to sail at night. Makes sense right? They arrive at the same time as me. They motored across the stream I sailed with it pushing me an extra 2 knots. Best crossing I've had.
There be no dragons out there.

[boatingnewbie]

Originally Posted by GPatron

That said, I wonder why you would not want to enjoy the beauty of a clear starry night's Caribbean sail betweens islands . Night time is when the wind and waves are down and the phosphoresce shines on the waves.

I was just "thinking aloud" about how far away a lot of these islands are to each other; and the thought of possibly single-handed sailing to many of them I thought sailing during the day would be safer.

[John A]

Originally Posted by boatingnewbie

I was just "thinking aloud" about how far away a lot of these islands are to each other; and the thought of possibly single-handed sailing to many of them I thought sailing during the day would be safer.

It's a valid question. As a singlehanded cruiser who sailed to the Caribbean from SF and spent 7 years traveling from PR to Trinidad and back I can say that yes it's possible to sail from island to island as daysails.
But for a verity of reasons, you won't. Nor will you want to stop at every island.

[model 10]

[QUOTE=John A;2702133]It's a valid question. As a singlehanded cruiser who sailed to the Caribbean from SF..


You can come pretty close to anchoring almost every night all the way from SF to Florida.