Mid-Atlantic - Bermuda - PR

[mrybas]

Hey everyone,
I'm planning on sailing my boat from NJ or the Chesapeake to Bermuda then Puerto Rico at the end of October. I was curious if anyone here had similar plans this fall? I have done the trip before as crew on a delivery, but would be interested in hearing other peoples experience on this route. There will likely 4 capable people on board for the passage.

[S/V Antares]

I have done this trip several times. It is a nice way to break up a long trip into two legs. Watch for late storms forming in the south east. It can also easier to enter the easterly winds leaving from Bermuda to PR rather than rumb lining it from Chesapeake, Tip a few at the White Horse Tavern for me.

[speciald@ocens.]

The Caribbean 1500 fleet and the Salty Dog Rally will leave Hampton on about November 2nd. They will not stop in Bermuda but there will be about 70 boats out there.

[nial]

By the end of October it would be nicer to leave from Beaufort/Moorehead City.
Straight shot to Bermuda in warmer weather. If you need another crew let me know, I'm also in Phila. PA

[S/V Alchemy]

Depending on your stamina, provisions and desire to stop at Bermuda, if you get a big, slowly rotating low to the north out of NJ behind you, you might find the sailing good enough to head straight to PR past Bermuda. You could find yourself not changing the sail set so much as just curving the heading more and more to the south.

You could do worse than to leave (weather permitting) ahead of the Carib 1500 and to "piggyback" on their race as SpecialD suggests. An SSB listening to Herb's weather and to the report of Carib 1500 boats in a 100 NM circle around you (even if you never see them) is a great "herd" technique by which you can refine your own routing. We used this to find 25 knots of wind instead of 35-40 knots, because our objective was "fast, safe passage", as opposed to "grab a pennant". So being a cruiser in a widely dispersed fleet of racers in blowy weather, along with possessing the means to monitor their progress and met reports, I found invaluable. So did our skipper, who broke a number of his boat's 24 hour distance records thanks to finding the Goldilocks zone in terms of wind and sea state when all about was fairly agitated.

Bring spares, and plenty of 'em.