Need Advice- Marathon to Carib

[sentientcj]

The lady friend and I will be setting sail in January from Marathon FL going (eventually) to the Panama Canal. We've plotted a rough route through the leewards and windwards, but not really sure what the best way to get that far is?

The main concern is that the longest we've ever been on passage was 24 hours, so we're trying to avoid longer passages until we get a few shorter ones under our belts.

So if you were going from Marathon to the Bahamas to the DR in short trips, how would you do it?

[Jane.Joy]

I don't think you'll get better advice than this, for the kind of cruising you want to do:

The Gentleman's Guide to Passages South: The Thornless Path to Windward (Volume 10): Mr. Bruce Van Sant: 9781470146962: Amazon.com: Books

On s/v More Joy Everywhere, we left Marathon in June and arrived in Santa Marta, Colombia in August. Now we're in Cartagena, heading to Panama next. Our route required a few longer passages (three or four days each) so any advice I might offer would probably not be relevant. But if you're interested in how JOY did it, you can check out the map on our website.

Good luck escaping the Marathon Vortex. Probably the most fraught part of your trip will be STARTING it.

[belizesailor]

The "Gentlemen's Guide..." as referenced is a good one. Particularly if you want to go south via the Eastern Carib. Alternatively, you could take a more Western route. A couple of options below.

Via Jamaica. In 2005, we sailed to Belize via the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Bay Islands Honduras. We jumped off from Acklins (southern Bahamas) to Port Antonio, Jamaica and then to the island of Guanaja in Bay Islands Honduras (departing from Negril). (In my case I then spent about 7 years in Belize/Guatemala before completing the southern leg of this route just last year.) From Guanaja you can then work your way "around the corner" to Providencia, Colombia (actually off the eastern coast of Nicaragua, but a Colombia possession) and onto to Panama from there. I made this run last year from Rio Dulce, Guatemala, to the Bay Islands, Honduras, Providencia, San Andreas, Albuquerque Cays, and ended in Bocas del Toro. Will return to Bocas and work our way east across Panama in a few months.

Via Mexico. Many boats come into the Western Carib via the Florida, Mexico, Belize route and then continue on via the route above. Often after spending hurricane season in Rio Dulce, Guatemala.

[tbodine88]

Lots of people have said this, but to go east of the route SV Joy took, you'll be beating to the weather.

I met a couple who had sat in Cat Island for two weeks waiting for a west wind to ease the trip east, it didn't come while I was there.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by tbodine88

....
I met a couple who had sat in Cat Island for two weeks waiting for a west wind to ease the trip east, it didn't come while I was there.

Also contributes to the Marathon Vortex. I got stuck there for about 2 months once with strong E-N winds that just would not let up.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by sentientcj

The lady friend and I will be setting sail in January from Marathon FL going (eventually) to the Panama Canal. We've plotted a rough route through the leewards and windwards, but not really sure what the best way to get that far is?

The main concern is that the longest we've ever been on passage was 24 hours, so we're trying to avoid longer passages until we get a few shorter ones under our belts.

So if you were going from Marathon to the Bahamas to the DR in short trips, how would you do it?

Yep