In and out each season

[Troy Cooper]

Hello
I'm approaching retirement at 55. My wife and I are going to take up sailing. We live near Vancouver, Canada. We are going to explore The Bahamas and the Caribbean exclusively.

Our concern is what would be the best way to sail the boat in and out each season ? In my complete naivety, I first thought sailing down the west coast, though the canal and back each year was what people did. With many more hours on the internet, I see a great many people make the passage off the east coast and take the "I-65" route down, and work their way back up and home again.

I know as a complete noob I'm getting way ahead of myself here, but we are taking these last few years to get all of this sorted.

Has anyone heard of people sailing from the Canadian Maritimes (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, etc..) down and back each season ?

Or, is our boat like the Hotel California song.... we can check out but it will never leave ?

Thank You Everyone
We sure appretiate your time and thoughts

Troy and Pam

[RaymondR]

Get yourself a set of pilot charts for the North Atlantic and the North Pacific and study the wind patterns and wave for both coasts. Then as many cruising guides as you can get your hands on for anchorages. You will become your own expert in no time.

[laika]

Hi Troy, there are a number of strategies and it depends where your destination is and whether you're full or part timing it. A lot of folks simply go up and down the US east coast each year, often taking the ICW and making hops in and out along the coast for stretches. Others will do the same and make the jump over to the bahamas. Some will jump over to the Bahamas from FL for the season and then come back and haul out each year in FL and return home for the summer.

If going to the eastern caribbean, some take the I-65. Some take the "thorny path" SE thru the islands (see also "thornless path"). Once in the eastern caribe, some opt the gamble of keeping their boat in harms way for the hurricane season, some will hop back up north, and some will keep moving south and out of the hurricane zone (say to Grenada or Trinidad or points W of there).

Depending on how fast you feel ready to undertake major passages in remote areas, you may or may not opt to start small and work your way up and down the ICW, over to the Bahamas and then down to the caribbean. Or you could just jump on a boat and make it happen, learning and making all the requisite mistakes on the way.

There are a million ways to do it, and you'll never meet two boats that do it exactly the same! That's the beauty..there are no roads, only general routes travelling to and from cruising grounds based on wx patterns such as RaymondR describes.

Hope that helps
Ryan

[rbk]

For simplicity and to start early you could find your boat in bc, sail the west coast for a bit then head down the west coast ending up in the Caribbean but wouldn’t plan coming back up the west coast. The east does tend to have a larger better selection of boats and you could avoid the B.C. taxes.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Troy & Pam.

FREE - The "Pilot Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean" (Pub. #106) covering an area from 68° N southward to 5° N and from 100° W eastward to 33° E. Approximately from the East Coast of North America, Central America, and the northern portions of South America eastward to the West Coast of Europe and Africa including the Mediterranean and North Seas.

Monthly ➥ https://msi.nga.mil/NGAPortal/MSI.po...ubConstant=APC

Synopsis ➥ https://msi.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/S...6/106synop.pdf

Reading Pilot Charts ➥ https://www.riggingdoctor.com/life-a...3/pilot-charts

[stormalong]

From BC you might consider cruising to the South Pacific. I have been to both the Caribbean and the South Pacific multiple times and prefer the South Pacific.

The downside is longer passages. The upside is less crowded and friendlier people. What most cruisers do is make their way down to New Zealand for the typhoon season. NZ is a great place to visit.

Getting back from the Caribbean to BC is a challenge. To go back to the Pacific and get north to BC is against the prevailing wind. A detour to Hawaii is needed to get sailable conditions. You won't be able to get to and from the Caribbean in one season practically. Depending on your boat your average speed is only around 6 knots and you are talking a lot of miles.

The same is true for the South Pacific. Most cruising is downwind. Nobody goes to weather like Air Canada.

Get a copy of Jimmy Cornell's world cruising routes before you make your plans.

[zeehag]

try renting aka chartering a boat of your dreams on east coast, flying there and heading out in that mode for a bit..then make your mind.
otherwise, from west coast, folks generally make it to mazatlan or puerto vallarta or other mexican port then either let boat go to broker or sail further south or sail up sea of cortez..across pacific or thru canal... so much to do so little time after 55.....

[Troy Cooper]

Thank you all for taking the time to help us out.

It's so awesome, we've got so much great information to check out, discuss and think about.

Troy and Pam

[Greg Mason]

I had a guy in my departure group that left it too late. He trucked the boat to San Diego and did his boat prep there. Florida may be not that much more. There is also the ship that could deliver the boat. Check the costs against what you will incur sailing, and the time element to sail down and return to determine whether it's even a thought.

[DreaminFred]

Originally Posted by Troy Cooper

Thank you all for taking the time to help us out.

It's so awesome, we've got so much great information to check out, discuss and think about.

Troy and Pam

Troy-

I live in Arizona and you can't sail there from here! I used to live in Tacoma and bought my first sloop and sailed for many happy years there. Sold it when I moved to AZ.

Three years ago the sailing bug bit again and I started looking for a boat "near" here, but ended up buying a Pearson 365 in FL (Admiral wanted a separate shower). Have sailed there during vacations, etc. and return to a safe marina (Indiantown) and put it on the hard during hurricane season. I can sail down to the keys or over to the Bahamas in any two-week to two-month vacation I have. Maintenance is a pain, but I can generally be sailing in three or four days. I strip the sails and interior after every trip, put them in a U-Store nearby. Ends up costing me about $350/mo when in storage. Insurance about $600/yr.

If the dream grows, I would probably sell this forty-year old boat and buy something newer. I regard this boat as sufficient but also fairly "disposable." I won't lose a huge amount of money, and don't feel guilty if I choose to go to the mountains for vacations instead.

There are lots of ways to start the dream and being in FL anytime from Oct-Apr is delightful. Other times are buggy, humid and HOT. That said, the next trip to the Bahamas is May-mid-July!

Dreamin'

[Troy Cooper]

Another great suggestion DreaminFred. Also, putting things in a nearby u-store is so quick and handy. I love it.

Thank you

And thanks again to everyone

[belizesailor]

Thats a lot of back and forth. Many seasonal cruises just leave their boat somewhere and return next season. In fact, most seasonal cruisers I know do this...including me! [emoji16]