Panama to Florida passage??

[dakno]

Knowing what I know, if I bought a boat in central America it would sail it NNE to Houston, Kemah , Galveston Bay. There is a multitude of lifts, contractors, latin workers , and in every case in every example you can get work done more competently , cheaper, faster. There are so many marine contractors its like going to a cafeteria where everything is plentiful and looks good. Getting a Florida contractor to work even for nose bleed prices they have to like you first. Getting your boat washed stem to sterm for 2$ ft, its a boaters paradise.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by dakno

Knowing what I know, if I bought a boat in central America it would sail it NNE to Houston, Kemah , Galveston Bay. There is a multitude of lifts, contractors, latin workers , and in every case in every example you can get work done more competently , cheaper, faster. There are so many marine contractors its like going to a cafeteria where everything is plentiful and looks good. Getting a Florida contractor to work even for nose bleed prices they have to like you first. Getting your boat washed stem to sterm for 2$ ft, its a boaters paradise.

Yeah, Ive lived in Florida, Texas, and a few Central American countries. I agree that Kemah area would be better than most FL venues and I prefer Central American venues over Florida.

[Flying Monkey]

Excellent info, domment and opinion. Thanks so much.
Re the boat that started it all: remains to be seen if it is a deal or steal, but I am very skeptical at the monent. The same guy selling this POS, “because he got sick” now has another, big pilot house ketch listed for sale in Panama.
It might be a good deal, for somebody, but not this body 😀

Re the Passage. I love all this info. It’s a thinking sailor’s passage for sure.
I am looking at the longer way around, east, then north, then west back to Florida. Seems like it would be easier to “pop” back down south if a storm blew up, rather than being holed in the western Caribbean.
Thoughts?

SV Sailfish. I appreciate the “tough” love of reality. Glad you shared.

[Paul L]

I don't know what you mean by go east first, but if it is east to the Windward Isands then in my opinion you would be crazy to go from Panama to say Grenada. Just totally painful and an unecessary beating.

[belizesailor]

Re eastbound route: take a look at pilot charts...its a challenging option to say the least which is chosen by few, very few. The few Ive talked with who've done it said "never again". A friend of mind set off eastbound last year and never even made it to Santa Marta after several attempts.

[waterman46]

Politics, pirates and weather make it near impossible to saii east to Trinidad from Panama.