Hi there.
There are many ways to cross an ocean I learned. I am curious to hear about your way you have done it. The reason is, we are planning to do it some time during end 2019 / beginning 2020 on a
catamaran.
What obviously comes in mind is joining the
ARC - and most people very likely chose this
route. I read a lot about it, the advantages of socializing upfront and get forced to equip the vessel to the standards set by the rally statutes, but also the possibly not ideal
weather windows, over-crowded marina and busy chandlers.
Arriving on the
Canaries shall be latest beginning of October because of the rough
weather from
Gibraltar to the islands.
Then I read about the NARC - people that may sail around this time window, but do not join the
ARC activities, so they use the advantage of a crowded ocean (ha ha ha) for peace of mind, save the
money - but also stick to the same weather - not ideal.
Other options would be to maybe find some like-minded yachts to do your own
passage and maybe even chose a more unusual / interesting
route at a different time - like sailing during the end of the summer from
Gibraltar to the
Canaries with nicer weather, doing earlier the
Maintenance at the Canaries (e.g. in September / October) and leave before it gets too crowded to the Cap Verde's, than maybe sail earlier more south and do a different landfall e.g to
Brazil, than stay there for a while and sail after the
hurricane and rain season - maybe in January - up north through the
Caribbean to
Florida,
Bahamas etc.
Than go back for the next
winter to
Panama and cross to the Pacific - this may become challenging with the Hurricanes.
I am reading the World
cruising guides and try to figure out, what would be the most pleasant weather window to make the longer legs using the trades and avoiding the squalls and Hurricanes, but also having a nice round-trip on the
Caribbean in 2020.
So here we go, ARC, NARC, individual crossing, what did you like most, what least - have you considered different land falls, is
Brazil / French Guiana worth the deviation etc.
South America is not a very frequently traveled sailing
destination. Is it worth it (and safe) to visit before going to the Pacific? (Maybe stay there / sail the Brazil / Uruguai coast down and up during the next
winter and do
Panama later during spring time - like a 1 year round-trip eastern America's coasts and islands?)