Rio Dulce to Panama

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by ErBrown

How about making the run from the Cancun/Isla Mujeres area? Seems like it would improve the angle to the Vivarillos area, but not sure it’s enough with the current.

Or catch a frontal shift over to the Caymans and then down to Providencia...

[model 10]

If you are in the Rio and want to go south, you wait for winter and then you get a day or 2 of good sailing almost every week. That's how you get to Panama. The shift from SE to NE only lasts a couple of days at best and you sometimes get a couple of days of NE. Often the lows don't even reach Honduras in the winter.

[ErBrown]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Or catch a frontal shift over to the Caymans and then down to Providencia...

So does this imply that Nov is the time for a trip like this?


We're liking the idea of an H-season in Rio Dulce. Followed by a cruise up through Belize and Mexico and then heading down to Panama for the next H-season. Looking at pilot charts it seems like April/Early May could be doable either to Swan Islands and down around or as you mentioned via the Caymans. That 300'sh mile bash to Cayman looks like it could be nasty but with the right weather...

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by ErBrown

So does this imply that Nov is the time for a trip like this?


We're liking the idea of an H-season in Rio Dulce. Followed by a cruise up through Belize and Mexico and then heading down to Panama for the next H-season. Looking at pilot charts it seems like April/Early May could be doable either to Swan Islands and down around or as you mentioned via the Caymans. That 300'sh mile bash to Cayman looks like it could be nasty but with the right weather...

Cold Fronts often run into March in the region...so any month you can get cold fronts would be viable to get from Cancun to Caymans. But, be aware that a strong N wind against the Yucantan current can set up some nasty seas...so choose your weather strategy wisely.

A shorter hop option would be the S coast of Cuba...work your way E in the lee of Cuba then head S. Its only about 120nm from the Yucatan to the W tip of Cuba, but you are crossing the most compressed section of the Yucatan current there...similar to crossing the Gulf Stream between FL and Bahamas.

There are also seasonal variations in prevailing trade winds direction. Most of the year the trades blow NE-E, but in summer months SE shifts become more likely. This seasonal shift is more pronounced in the NW Carib than SW. So summer months can be more favorable for N bound runs...like from Panama to Providencia.

[hpeer]

Lurking this thread with interest as we have similar situation as OP.