Central America to Galapagos Return Loop

[matrix]

Wondering if anyone has any info on doing a round-trip visit to the Galapagos departing from Central America (Southern Costa Rica, Northern Panama) and returning either to any Central American port or Ecuador/Peru, however if seems obvious enough that a return trip aimed towards Ecuador or Peru would have me somewhat at odds with the prevailing winds and current. In that sense, returning to Panama or any point north from the Galapagos seems easier, although Ecuador and Peru have off-the-beaten track appeal. I'm more interested in advice on the return portion of the trip, but any experiences sailing from Costa/Panama to the Galapagos are appreciated. Motoring not a problem as I realize this would be a prevailing theme of this passage.

I plan to do a 45 or 60 day visit to the islands via an Autografo, which is a whole other topic with plenty of good threads dealing with the subject, all of which have been helpful, along with the articles on Noonsite and the (free) Ecuador Cruisers Guide.

If anyone has done that route, or has any tips or advice, it would be much appreciated. Likely to do this trip Mar-Apr-May range.

Jimmy Cornell provides some optimistic, but vague, advice here: Noonsite: Panama-Galapagos-Ecuador

[mellowsammy]

Hi Matrix,

Did you ever get a reply to this post? Did you ever do the trip? We are considering a similar trip in spring 2014 - any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by mellowsammy

Hi Matrix,

Did you ever get a reply to this post? Did you ever do the trip? We are considering a similar trip in spring 2014 - any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Welcome to CF. It doesn't look like there were any responses last time, which is unusual, but maybe you'll get some now.
We're about to transit the Canal but will bypass Galapagos and head straight for French Polynesia.

Vic

[barnakiel]

A friend of ours sailed from Galapagos to Ecuador and back carrying charter guests. He just sailed to and fro. No special tricks there. (May to July).

b.

[Dave852]

I sailed from Panama to Galapagos mid March and it was a pleasure with northerly winds at first and then no wind as we neared the Galapagos.
I also sailed the same route at the end of May with southwesterly winds and lots of squally weather. Some other boats doing the later trip said it was the worst passage of their circumnavigation. So perhaps sail over in March and back in May.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, mellowsammy.