Starting Cruise Around the World with Caribbean!

[GunRunner]

Is this a good idea or bad idea? I would like advice about sailing south as far as Brazil and then hopping off to hit the Azores and Africa.... Good plan with lots of room for deviation? My starting point in Ortega River Yacht Club in Jacksonville FL.

[osirissail]

I think you need a little more research on normal sailing directions. That route is, sort of, opposite the normal current and wind patterns. Generally, speaking RTW cruisers take a clockwise path through the Caribbean and end up at Panama then follow the Trade winds and current westward RTW.

If you want to simply do "western" countries" then from the eastern Caribbean the typical route is north riding the Atlantic currents and winds clockwise around the North Atlantic to Europe and Africa.

[KDH]

We started in the Caribbean and spent our first season living aboard the boat in the eastern Caribbean (BVI, St. Martin, Antigua, Guadeloupe, Dominica, and then back to St. Martin). My husband picked up an ICC in Antigua. Lots of people leave from St. Martin (as we did) and head via Bermuda to the Azores and then either explore the islands of the Atlantic (Madeira, Cape Verde, Azores) and head back across the Caribbean for the winter. Some go up into the Med (which was our intended target) and some up the coast.
While it was and is our intention to circumnavigate, we love Portugal so much that we are going to overwinter, at least partly in Morocco, and then head back to Portugal in the Spring. We didn't make it to the Med this season as we overestimated how quickly we would want to leave each port and underestimated how much time and effort it would take to fly home and purchase a house and move our son into it mid-summer. We're still resting in Lisbon!
My advice is to quit telling people you are going to circumnavigate until you are at least halfway around. When people ask what the plan is, we tell them we are long term cruising on no timeline. We go where we want without worrying too much about what other peoples expectations are. I suggest you pick up a copy of Jimmy Cornell's book "World Cruising Routes". It has been pretty helpful but local conditions and currents are affected by a lot of conditions. Spent a lot of time last winter discussing with other cruisers why the currents in that part of the Caribbean weren't the norm as listed in the book!

[Adelie]

Clock-wise it the better direction around the Atlantic.

Europe and the Azores first, then Africa and Brazil.

Check out Jimmy Cornell's 'World Cruising Routes'. Your local library may have it.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by GunRunner

Is this a good idea or bad idea? I would like advice about sailing south as far as Brazil and then hopping off to hit the Azores and Africa.... Good plan with lots of room for deviation? My starting point in Ortega River Yacht Club in Jacksonville FL.

I think you have the bones of a good idea - in practice I suspect that once you get to the Carribean that your desires and plans would change, so I would not greatly sweat where you go afterwards. Very likely (expecially given the size of your boat) that you will decide your intended route (Brazil then Africa) is not something you want to do. Or if it is still plan A you will know yourself how feasible and desirable it is - for you.

[svBeBe]

We used Jimmy Cornell's "World Cruising Routes" to plan our way round thus far (we also started in the Caribbean and doing typical west-about routes, now in eastern Med), but today I would recommend using Jimmy Cornell's newest book "World Voyage Planner" in conjunction with his new "Cornell's Ocean Atlas."

The Atlas has all new updated pilot charts. Wind patterns have changed due to climate warming. I would not use the older books and charts now that these new updated ones are available. Both are excellent.

Judy

[carstenb]

Going south to brazil against both wind and currents will take a hell of a lot of time. Better go north to bahamas then east to azores

Unless you like taking a beating

[barnakiel]

If you have no time constraints and if you like adventure, then this is a great route!

Otherwise sail to the Azores up first, then sail on to Africa, then on to Brasil and back to the West Indies/Florida. This is the easier route - designed for the meek and the huble.

BTW If you sail to Brasil from Florida and then on to the Azores, are you still sailing rtw or rather just messing around?

Cheers,
b.