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walter langer · 06-12-2010, 18:46

Hey I'm leaving miami next december to sail the caribbean. I wanna spend a month or so checking out cuba, domin rep, and jamaica. and then make my way across to bocas del toro in panama. I'm in search for waves for surfing and was wondering what route to take? What size boat would be good? are there big dangers I should be aware of in sailing these areas, or any more suggestions?? I was thinking about getting about a 30' sail boat.

denverd0n · 07-12-2010, 05:42

If you are a U.S. citizen you should probably be aware that there are many restrictions on visiting Cuba, and it doesn't look like that's going to change anytime too soon.

walter langer · 07-12-2010, 15:47

well I'm a Canuck

Zanshin · 07-12-2010, 16:36

The good news is just about any Category "A" rated sailboat will be good for the Caribbean, but there are a lot of ages, models and sizes to choose from. I'd start by stating your budget and if you prefer bigger (and older) or smaller (and newer).

trevordean · 07-12-2010, 18:59

A category A rated sailboat? A blue water cruiser?

Brob2 · 07-12-2010, 19:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by walter langer

well I'm a Canuck

snerk

Welcome to the forum, fellow Canuckian! Lots of info on here. Some of the folks on here have enough boat knowledge to write a book (and more than one has)!

zeehag · 07-12-2010, 19:22

welcome our northern canuckistaian neighbor.. soon to be southern to caribean nneighbor... have fun and smooth sailing.

Zanshin · 08-12-2010, 05:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by trevordean

A category A rated sailboat? A blue water cruiser?

Not completely - the Cat A rating implies that the basic seaworthiness for ocean conditions is designed into the boat, but not necessarily that the boat is a real blue-water cruiser. The weather and conditions in the Caribbean are benign most of the time, except when caught in a hurricane's vicinity and a true blue-water boat is not needed; but the wind and swells can get up a bit at times and thus a CE "A" rating guarantees that the boat, as designed, will not have any problems unless it is either mishandled or has technical difficulties.
While Class "B" is labelled as "offshore", most mass-produced production boats at the cruising end of the spectrum have an "A" rating once they get above a certain size (Hunter, Catalina, Beneteau, Bavaria, Jeanneau, etc.).