2022 Florida to Panama

[G.Hirt]

Hello, My family and I are planning a trip on what will be a new Leopard 45 next year (2022), leaving Florida in March timeframe, island hopping, then to Panama. I am starting to develop some rough plans of which islands we would like to visit, how long we would stay, what to expect at each new port of entry, etc. I am sure many of the people in this forum have made this trip in recent years—any recommendations on an island sequence, where to avoid, dangers to avoid. We may spend up to 1 month from Florida to the Pacific side of the Panama Canal. Thanks in advance.

[belizesailor]

Wow, up to 1 whole month! Best not tarry too long anywhere. It can easily take a week or more just to prepare for and make a Canal transit. So that only leaves you 3 weeks to get there.

With such little time you can take the express route. From Florida come down thru the Bahamas to just N of the Windward Passage, pick an island (from Acklins to Great Inagua) to wait for a window, then jump thru the Windward Passage. From there you can sail straight to the Atlantic Approaches to the Panama Canal. Even if you make no stops between Florida and Panama that's about 10 days of sailing. That leaves you about 13 days to stop somewhere (not including any time needed to wait for weather windows, stop for repairs, etc...). So, lets say you've got a week to wander. I would spend that week working your way down thru the Bahamas.

Shame to just skip all those great cruising stops along the way. Some people spend years just cruising the Bahamas (about 5,400 square miles, thousands of islands, and some of the most spectacular water colors on the planet).

If you decide you want to take more time then you can take the scenic route...work your way thru the Bahamas then to the E Carib...make your way down the entire E Carib chain to Grenada, or further S, then its an easy down wind sail W all the way to Colombia (which is an awesome stop too). The weather gets a little sketchy off Colombia so you will likely spend some time there enjoying Colombia and waiting for a weather window to hop to Panama. Hop to the incredible San Blas islands of Panama then make your way over to the Canal to schedule a transit.

A big advantage of this route is that the entire leg from the SE Carib to Panama can be sailed in Summer months because hurricane risk is very low at this latitude. In fact, Summer months are the most settled time to run some of this route (like Colombia to Panama).

However, my primary suggestion is SLOW DOWN...where are you in such a rush to get to?

[G.Hirt]

Belizesailor - Thank you so much for this information. I wasn't sure about Columbia, it's good to hear that you would recommend it. I agree 1-month is not enough time. We take delivery of our boat in Florida and we live in San Diego. We own and operate a company and have 3 kids all still in school. unfortunately, even 1-month is kind of pushing it for how long we can reasonably be away. That is until we are empty nesters one day then we will go back and do it the right way.

My goal is to get as much as possible out of this opportunity with the time we have. One option we haven't considered yet is breaking the trip into pieces and spending the next year taking off every couple of months to meet back up with our boat and move on to the next place. This option would be especially beneficial with regards to CA sales tax on my vessel. I could avoid it. But I really have no idea how I could leave a boat somewhere in the Caribbean for a period of time and expect it to be safe.

[belizesailor]

Breaking the trip into legs is an excellent idea, and is very common. This allows you to enjoy a lot more of the route over time. Most cruisers are not full time cruisers. They cruise part of the year and then stow the boat somewhere until they can return. Typically they stow at least for hurricane season.

There are loads of boat storage options throughout the entire Caribbean Basin...including Colombia. There are many marinas who specialize in boat storage. Members here can recommend specific marinas/individuals for storage anywhere in the Carib (in the broad sense of the word...from the E Carib to the W Carib and everywhere in between).

Note that the country is spelled "Colombia". "Columbia", as in "District Of"...is a much less desirable place to visit! Research Santa Marta and Cartegena...both popular stops with cruisers and both great places to visit.

See noonsite.com for specific current information on countries frequented by cruisers.

Alternatively, consider chartering until you have more time. Then you can chose from any venue in the world without the hassles of boat ownership. It is substantially cheaper than owning a 45 cat that you rarely get to use.

[ohdrinkboy]

Sometimes, getting more out of trip is slowing down. I changed my chartering plans years ago. Instead of being on the move every day, it is now at most every other day. My family enjoys it much more.

I would suggest hiring a captain to do some of the delivery. Slow down, and spend your month in the Bahamas. It is an ideal sailing venue for the family, and March is a prime month.

[Amada]

Just read your post. We are making a similar trip (we also live in San Diego - Oceanside). We lived in Orlando, FL and had to move our Lagoon 380 from Cape Canaveral to San Diego. We went to Key West and then departed to Isla Mujeres and then on to Rio Dulce, Guatemala. We hauled out at RAM Marina in Rio Dulce for hurricane season (super cheap - no haul out charge when you stay for six months @$250/month). We are getting some work done on our boat and then we will continue on our way. We plan to go next to Roatan, then on to Panama. We will probably take her up part of the way on the Pacific side. The trip up the Mexican coast can be arduous and many sail far offshore to avoid the rough seas. We may hire a yacht delivery captain for that leg of the journey.

[G.Hirt]

Hi Amada, thanks for your message. How was your passage from the keys to Isla Mujeres? Did you happen to stop at the Dry Tortugas? I sailed there with some family in March and it was fantastic! I was wondering how the longer passages went for you, did you come across anything noteworthy? Take care.

[BillKny]

Schedules are how sailboats get into trouble. "I had to be there on day X" is how an awful lot of disaster stories start.

I would suggest that you revisit your plans. A direct route from FLL to Panama is about 1300 miles, that will likely take 10 to 13 days straight through, in good weather with NO stops. The problem is, a lot of the "island hopping" that you are thinking of happens at the beginning of this passage, leaving you short on time without the opportunity to delay for a suitable weather window for the longest, roughest part of the passage.

An alternative plan... start with the long sail down to coastal Columbia or the San Blas islands. You can wait for good weather at the beginning of your trip without running over your total time allowed. From those places it is a short and easy hop to the canal, and schedule will be easier to deal with.

You should have some shakedown time in your schedule. Leaving on a long trip with a brand new boat is not likely to be trouble free...

It wasn't quite clear from your description, but I hope you are not expecting to have the boat all the way to San Diego in 30 days from FLL... that would fall in the category of fantasy.

[G.Hirt]

Hello, yeah, the 30 days was just for this side of the canal not the other. I have been looking at other options some based on previous replies. One option we are considering is drydocking somewhere the ins co will allow for Hurricane season, then spending the next year hoping back to the Caribbean for short vacations on the boat. Also, I understand about the shakedown cruise and the inevitable issues with the new boat. Luckily there are a lot of Leopard owners with youtube channels and I've been able to see what others are dealing with giving me some realistic expectations on delays and timing. I also need to learn more about the ports between Cancun and Panama to know what is safe and where to avoid it.

[Amada]

We chose to sail in May (April would have been better). By the time we were ready to go, we had little to know wind so we motor sailed the whole way to Isla Mujeres. Because of the lack of wind, the Gulf Stream and Yucatan streams were fairly calm (although my wife got sea sick for the whole 3 day passage). We chose this passage as our shake down cruise. We stopped in Isla for a week (it was wonderful) and waited for weather. We had little wind for the first day and motor sailed again (at about 5 kts on one engine). The second day we entered the channel to Belize City and we were getting around 7-9 kts SOG (counter current in channel helped alot). We made this leg in just over 2 days and it was quite comfortable. The trip up the Rio was amazing (as advertised).

We chose to break up the trip to allow for weather, explore along the way, and make the passages more bearable.

I agree with BillKny, don't plan to make it all in one go. Pick way points where you can leave the boat and return (especially when you have children).

Let us know your progress, always love to have company on a passage ;-)

[donradcliffe]

If you don't have the boat yet, plan on starting behind schedule, with time spent waiting for warranty repairs. Plan your trip on averaging 160 mile days at sea, and you will probably do a little better than that. Isla Mujeres is nice, as is Roatan, and you can make it across the bar which kept me from the Rio Dulce. Providencia is a nice 2 day stop, and the San Blas is great cruising if you have the time.

Safe places to store the boat would be the Rio Dulce and Shelter Bay. Cartagena was a great place to visit, but the storage facilities were a bit sketchy when I was there 20 years ago.

Places to avoid if possible and not linger: Mainland Honduras, the Vivorios Banks. and downtown Colon.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by BillKny

Schedules are how sailboats get into trouble. "I had to be there on day X" is how an awful lot of disaster stories start.


....

Yep, very true. When I am talking with potential guests/crew and they start with "have to" dates/destinations, I usually give them a pass. If you want to get to a specific place on a specific date/time then there are other modes of transportation better suited to that.

I wanted to be sure and avoid the schedule issue...so it took me 12 years to make it from Florida to Panama! [emoji6]

[Enfant Du Vent]

Ahoy belizesailor:


Your comment about taking 12 years to make it from Florida to Panama reminded me of a conversation I had with a fellow Canadian when we met in Florida one January. He asked me how long I'd been cruising and I proudly replied, "Three years." His response was, "I wouldn't have guessed that......you're still wearing a watch."


Or the local sailor in Bermuda who said the Chamber of Commerce once hosted a Mexican business man. During his address he used the word manana....and then asked--since they were British--if they used that word.
Someone from the back of the room replied, "No, we're never in that much of a hurry."

[Enfant Du Vent]

Ahoy G.Hurt:

Welcome to the crazy world of cruising sailors. People who believe that going slow and visiting new places is 90% of what it's all about.

I crewed on a sailboat that went directly from San Juan, Puerto Rico to the San Blas Islands and then spent a week there (the clearest water I've ever seen); before going on to Colon and taking 9-10 days to do "the paper chase" and wait for the day yachts were allowed to transit the canal.


Your last message said you might consider going back and forth from home multiple times so you could have "short vacations". You might save money by just hiring a tutor for your children on the boat and not have a lot of air fare bills. (Never did home schooling myself, but talked to a couple who had 2 children who did all their K-12 onboard....and were easily accepted in the universities of their choice.) The time spent cruising the Caribbean would give them a wonderful education about the real world.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Enfant Du Vent

Ahoy belizesailor:


Your comment about taking 12 years to make it from Florida to Panama reminded me of a conversation I had with a fellow Canadian when we met in Florida one January. He asked me how long I'd been cruising and I proudly replied, "Three years." His response was, "I wouldn't have guessed that......you're still wearing a watch."


Or the local sailor in Bermuda who said the Chamber of Commerce once hosted a Mexican business man. During his address he used the word manana....and then asked--since they were British--if they used that word.
Someone from the back of the room replied, "No, we're never in that much of a hurry."

Ha! Great response to "mañana"!

Of course "mañana" doesnt actually mean tomorrow, it just means "not today gringo!" [emoji6]