Caribbeans destination. First time Atlantic crossing

[hezi973]

Originally Posted by Zanshin

As you are essentially doing a transatlantic "shakedown cruise" you might want to consider St. Martin as your initial destination. This is because you will likely need to have some work done on the boat and commissioned items and St. Martin is by far and away the best place in the Caribbean to have this done. I am sure that FP has arrangements with several of the places here (I arrived in St. Martin 2 days ago from Grenada) for warranty work.
I've been to almost all of the windward and leeward islands; I cruise up and down the chain for 6 months a year. Each island has unique positive and negative points. I liked Grenada, but also kept my boat in St. Lucia. If you are a Francophone the French islands are hard to beat - with Martinique and Guadeloupe offering a lot of services and most likely also will do warranty work.

Thank you. Many recommended the French islands and this is where I am planning to initially land.

[dlj]

I just did this trip. I left from Pasito Blanco on the south coast of Gran Canary as the Arc had space occupied.

But if you want to be in a marina that might be better to make a reservation. I anchored out.

From there I had my sights on St. Martin but the wind patterns this year made me drop to St. Lucia - Rodney Bay. Given the Arc timing, I'd make a reservation. I'm in a monohull so it's a lot easier to find space.

Sr. Martin is definitely a good place to get work done or pick up parts. I took advantage of that.

With a Cat of that size I'd think you could be looking at maybe 15 days to cross, but if course wind will dictate.

Hope this helps a bit anyway

dj

[Ded reckoner]

I agree with Zanshin that it is likely you will need to do a lot of work on your boat after a transatlantic passage. This was a common view of several people I talked to in St Lucia who had participated in this year's ARC. That can be a tough shakedown passage.

I would recommend Le Marin in Martinique to you for boat work. As mentioned, St Martin/Sint Maarten also is very good. Our experience with some repair done in Jolly Harbor, Antigua was positive. Some friends of ours have put their boat on the hard there at Jolly Harbor Marina for the last couple of years. Previously, they kept their boat on the hard for a few years at Marina Puerta del Rey, Puerto Rico.

In the Bahamas, I would recommend Crooked Island Lodge Marina on Crooked Island. Be sure to stop at Wihelmina's restaurant for lunch and dinner. You will be glad you did. Otherwise, Staniel Cay's Happy People Marina is small and rustic. Chub Cay Resort and Marina and North Cat Cay's Cat Cay Yacht Club are both elegant. I would think your boat would do fine at any of these places if you had to leave for a while.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Ded reckoner

... Staniel Cay's Happy People Marina is small and rustic. Chub Cay Resort and Marina and North Cat Cay's Cat Cay Yacht Club are both elegant. I would think your boat would do fine at any of these places if you had to leave for a while.

AFIK, Happy People Marina/Restaurant has been closed since the passing of proprietors, Theasziel & Kenneth Rolle.

[Wandering1]

The sensible thing would be cruise around Europe for a season before doing the Transat. Its not uncommon to have numerous warranty issues with a new boat. Getting them sorted close to the factory is preferable to sailing the boat across the Atlantic and finding issues onroute.

[steve77]

First, I would recommend one of the Atlantic rallies. The ARC is the big one, but there was a french one "Ralleye des iles du Soleil" that we ran across in the Canaries. There are others. I think selecting one of these would be a good idea.

I would second Le Marin in Martinique as your landfall. The harbor is well protected and will have the parts and services you need for your repairs after the crossing. As a French boat, you will find everything that you need at one of the chandleries there.

Best of luck.

Steve

[rjwdoc]

My top choice for repairs in St Marten. It is also a great place to re provision. If you speak French any French island will do. If you don’t St Marten in multilingual.

[hezi973]

I can't thank you all enough for sharing your knowledge and experience. Thank you!

[bullislandken]

You might want to also consider a survey of your new boat. Or a very close inspection by your experienced crew.

[SV Coronado]

I did just this: I picked up my new Lagoon in La Rochelle, spent the summer sailing the Med, crossed the Atlantic, and made my way up to the east coast of the US. I don't recommend trying to plan out the whole trip now - it's impossible. The journey through the Caribbean alone is a long one. For reference, here's my track to date.

Rather than tell you where to go, I'll point you to some resources. I recommend downloading Navily and Noforeignland. Both apps are great for finding places to go. Navily is better in the Med. Noforeignland doesn't have as many reviews, but shows where to find things like dinghy dock, customs, and were to dump your trash.

[hezi973]

Originally Posted by bullislandken

You might want to also consider a survey of your new boat. Or a very close inspection by your experienced crew.

Yes, I am keeping my boat in La Rochelle for upgrades and post factory work. I hope to make the time to figure out most of the bugs and warranty items. I have people that all they do is these boats to walk me through this.

[hezi973]

Originally Posted by SV Coronado

I did just this: I picked up my new Lagoon in La Rochelle, spent the summer sailing the Med, crossed the Atlantic, and made my way up to the east coast of the US. I don't recommend trying to plan out the whole trip now - it's impossible. The journey through the Caribbean alone is a long one. For reference, here's my track to date.

Rather than tell you where to go, I'll point you to some resources. I recommend downloading Navily and Noforeignland. Both apps are great for finding places to go. Navily is better in the Med. Noforeignland doesn't have as many reviews, but shows where to find things like dinghy dock, customs, and were to dump your trash.

Thank you! My trip is a whole lot straight forward than yours. I needed a destination for the crossing. I found it. I needed a recommendation for Bahamas marina, I got a bunch. I still need to crunch the info but for now, I am just collecting it.

BTW, I hope to ultimately go full time cruising. If the world wouldn't loose its marbles, perhaps circumnavigate. What did you do about curtesy flags? Do you buy them in each port of entry? Or did you buy a set in advance?

https://yachtflags.com/courtesy-flags/

[SV Coronado]

Originally Posted by hezi973

What did you do about curtesy flags? Do you buy them in each port of entry? Or did you buy a set in advance?

https://yachtflags.com/courtesy-flags/

I bought a set(s) from YachtFlags.com. They're expensive, but decent quality and have held up well. The beautiful thing about cruising is that you can change your mind on a whim. When you do, and pull into an island/country, you usually already have the courtesy flag in your set.

[boatman61]

I was given handmade courtesy flags for the Caribe in Horta, Azores by a couple headed back to Europe after 2yrs cruising the islands.
She would stitch and embroider each flag before they left each island for the next.. a treasured collection.

[CAVOK]

I’ve missed whether your boat is new or new to you.
If it’s new, then all I can say is “New boats, new problems” Expect numerous items to be fixed and to head straight off for a trans Atlantic crossing could be a problem.
Get everything done in Europe before you leave. It’s very expensive to get parts and repairs done enroute.
I agree with others that being in one of the rallies could be an advantage, but once you leave port you’re on your own except in an emergency.
The main problems I’ve seen have been:
Power. Have enough battery storage & production for your needs. Try to have redundancy ie Solar, hydro generators, a portable geny etc. You don’t want to have to run your engine for hours every day.
Autopilot. If you can have a backup system or at least parts, manuals and an understanding of the system. You don’t want to handsteer for 18 days.
Medical. Have a very good medical kit and plenty of antibiotics & serious painkillers.
Starlink. We had it and saw how valuable it is. For weather, medical advice etc. Absolutely worth it.
Some fishing gear. It gets a bit boring at times.
Finally be conservative on your boat and it’ll thank you