2 years in Caribbean....where to start?

[mpomerance]

Originally Posted by s/v Moondancer

We live in Miami and spent 6 years doing what you plan. Depending on the weather ' The Thorny Path' can be hard, it was harder sailing than crossing the Pacific. It is much easier to load up with extra fuel and go due east from Miami to 67-65 W and then south on the trades.

There is significant crime, we know 5 boats that were robbed/attacked at gun or machete point. We have bars in our hatches, lock the companionway at night and avoid remote anchorages. Dinghy theft is a real problem, we lift and lock each night with a 3/8 stainless chain and a serious stainless lock. We have a bar lock on the engine. Many of our US friends carry guns but you cannot take a gun into Mexico.

The first time around we visited every island, the second and third times around we avoided the high crime islands and the Islands with officious immigration people like Antigua. The French and Dutch Islands are our favorites but we will never go back to Trinidad or Venezuela.

Hurricane season is a very significant 4-5 month interruption. Granada/Trinidad is an option but as we are scuba divers we preferred Bonaire.

Getting back to Miami is easily done through the Old Bahama Channel but our preferred route was Aruba-Cartagena-San Blas-Grand Cayman-Cancun (Puerto Morales near Cancun is lovely) and then to Key West. That route is an adventure in itself.

Keeping the boat fixed is a challenge as there are some seriously bad boat repair people out there. You need to carry a good spare/filter inventory.

While my post sounds negative we plan to return from the South Pacific and sail the Caribbean until I am 80 years old. The sailing is marvelous and spending hurricane season scuba diving every day in Bonaire is the best adventure we have had in 9 years on the boat.

Repatriation insurance is important, in 6 years I helped organize 3 medical evacuations and a close friend was airvac'ed out for a serious injury.

Enjoy!

Thank you very much!

[mpomerance]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

I can't believe all 3 replies are negative! One even telling you not to go at all!

Frigging Hell! Its the best cruising ground in the WORLD! Its just a strong mans spit from Florida and has supermarkets VASTLY SUPERIOR to anything in the USA.

How to get there: do not, I repeat, do not read Thorny Path or similar books. They really are advocating the most horrendously difficult method to get south.

Go to the Bahamas, have fun. Fuel up in Georgetown and wait till a norther or NE and motor west to 65w then turn south to the BVIs. You are at sea for a week. (Thorny path is a year). Then slowly go down the chain and spend hurricane season in Grenada. Repeat BVIs to Grenada till you die.

Remember: we have supermarkets.
Yes we have coffee, Grenada even grows it!
Yes we have chocolate, Grenada grows it.
Yes we have toilet paper.
Yes we have rum ... premium top shelf 1 itre for $10. Try to find that in the USA.
Good French Bordeaux $5 per bottle.
Beer at waterfront bar $2

Many thanks! Live the can do attitude! But also appreciate other folks who are trying to give me an honest opinion! Fair winds to you and yours!

[mpomerance]

Originally Posted by zstine

If you're planning to leave in 18mo and haven't done some real serious boat shopping, I think you better get on that! "we plan to be in a 40-50 ft Cat as it feels like it will be more livable" Do you have experience single handling a 50ft Cat? If not, you ought to try it before you buy it. And I personally would not want to buy a boat one month and shove off for long off destinations the next. It take a bit of time to learn a boat. If you buy like-new, there will be significant upgrades to make it live-a-board friendly and that will take time (solar/wind, aux gen, watermaker, charger and battery upgrades, sail plan upgrades, etc.). If you buy used and something already outfitted for live aboard (my recommendation) you will likely want to 1) make changes to suite your specific needs, 2) spend some time shaking it down to find any issues like aging lines, equipment, etc.. In short, I'd want to be under-contract on a boat in the next 6mo if I were you and it could take longer than that to find the right boat for long term cruising if you are somewhat picky or uncertain what options you want... I guess a big budget can mitigate some of this if you're okay throwing money at it.
Best of luck!

Thanks so much for your thoughts! Yes...we need to get busy looking!

[mpomerance]

Originally Posted by wcapital

Re: Cruising Guides



Get and read them all - including the old ones from Don Street and the free ones from Frank Virgintino (FreeCruisingGuides) and the really popular ones from Chris Doyle ....and don't rely upon any of them to be 100% accurate or anywhere near comprehensive! And of course go thru back issues of Caribbean Compass and other publications, available online, for area-specific and passagemaking articles.



I also suggest trying to make contact directly with Frank & Chris - both are most knowledgeable, helpful and friendly.....you'll probably cross paths along the way.





Re: Thorny Path



Read Virgintino's Thinking Man's Guide to Voyaging South - and strongly consider the "long way" - south thru the Windward Passage and east along the southern coasts of Haiti, the DR and PR. I did Georgetown to the VI in a couple of weeks (in February), including several brief but relaxing stopovers, with little brain damage or hard sailing. My only regret was not having much more time to explore the southern Bahamas, Ile a Vache in Haiti, and elsewhere along the way. But, with the time you have, not only can you spend as much time as you want these beautiful and interesting areas off the beaten path, but also have the luxury of timing the weather - cold fronts and the diurnal winds along the mountainous south coast of Hispaniola & PR - to make for a pleasant and easy trip east with a lot of great sailing. [Despite little flexibility but with a certain amount of close attention to weather and some luck added on, our passage via this route had the spinnaker or screacher flying much of the time, a lot of close reaching and only light headwinds and seas the rest of it - for an average VMG close to 6 knots in a 44' cat.]



Fair winds and happy exploring!

Many thanks!

[Hearts Content]

I'd suggest you bring a treaty to negotiate peace with the bad guys. Then the 'silly' Yanks will, of course, save your butt again.

Speak softly and carry an M4 with a holographic sight. . Updated it for today!!!

In all seriousness, I believe the odds of having trouble are extremely low for the standard cruiser.. Though, A nice 45-50 catarmaran would be a much more tempting target than a 32 Westsail.

The more you have the more you have to worry.

[mpomerance]

Originally Posted by Hearts Content

I'd suggest you bring a treaty to negotiate peace with the bad guys. Then the 'silly' Yanks will, of course, save your butt again.



Speak softly and carry an M4 with a holographic sight. . Updated it for today!!!



In all seriousness, I believe the odds of having trouble are extremely low for the standard cruiser.. Though, A nice 45-50 catarmaran would be a much more tempting target than a 32 Westsail.



The more you have the more you have to worry.

Simple, but so true! Appreciate the humor also!

[YesIsail]

I have been sailing for years all over the Caribbean and can say that its a fact that the vast majority of boats that get into problems on the anchorages in the Caribbean have owners who think they are back where they came from and dont adapt to the new circumstances, they show arrogance or do not collaborate with the locals and their community, plus they come to the Caribbean already afraid, paranoid and too stubborn to get the message.

Be respectful to the locals and show gratitude for being in their beautiful land and sea, this way you will mot likely not get into any problems, of course there are some hot areas and crazy people, but in your country is the same.

[ALAIN97133]

Originally Posted by travellerw

18 months.. Not sure thats last minute!
Advice #1... Bring coffee.. Its stupid expensive down here..
Advice #2... Don't underestimate the Thorny Path. You will almost burn a whole season getting through it. Have fun.. Hope to see you out here!

Get a 12 volts coffee grinder/maker... Coffee beans are dirt cheap in the Caribbean ! The best coffee I drink down here (Sint Maarten), it's the one at Princess Casino work out center: they have a grinder/coffee maker that can brew your cup of coffee fresh and aromatic every time If you want to check it, you can tie up at their marina & walk to the work out center. Cheers !

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by ALAIN97133

Get a 12 volts coffee grinder/maker... Coffee beans are dirt cheap in the Caribbean ! The best coffee I drink down here (Sint Maarten), it's the one at Princess Casino work out center: they have a grinder/coffee maker that can brew your cup of coffee fresh and aromatic every time If you want to check it, you can tie up at their marina & walk to the work out center. Cheers !

Cheers I will definately head over there... We have a hand grinder on board.

Now be carefull about sayin "Beans are dirt cheap in the Caribbean".. Yes beans are fairly cheap (wouldn't say dirt cheap compared to Canada) in Sint Maarten. I have not found ANY other islands where they are cheap. Antigua, Grenada, SVG, St Lucia, Martinique... Every one of those islands had very expensive coffee beans. Example, in Grenada 750 grams of beans ran between $30-40EC. That price is pretty comparable to the other islands I mentioned. With 2 heavy coffee drinkers aboard, coffee became a much bigger expense than I thought it would.

Anyway... Back to the OP. There is a nice Island Spirit here in St. Martin that is priced very well. On that same train of thought, there are tons of boats around the VIs. Buying one down here would save you the Thorny path which obviously some people find harder than others. Buying one down here, cruising the islands and then taking it back up would be a pretty good option. Going back up is easy and pleasant. Just some food for thought.

Mark's suggestion of I65 is a something to consider, as well as the "Thinking Path". However we have met cruisers that have done both of those and claimed to have had a rough go. However what is rough to one sailor, may not be rough to another.

Thats another suggestion I will make. Everyone has different tolerances and abilities. We know cruisers that have no problem going out in 8-10ft seas and others that will not go unless its under 4ft (they wait a long time for windows). Find what works for you and stick to it. Don't let others pressure or shame you for your level of comfort. Its your boat, your crew and your call. Just know it pretty easy to get all comfy in a snuggly anchorage and never go!

[1000 islands]

Originally Posted by travellerw

18 months.. Not sure thats last minute!

Advice #1... Bring coffee.. Its stupid expensive down here..
Advice #2... Don't underestimate the Thorny Path. You will almost burn a whole season getting through it.

Have fun.. Hope to see you out here!

Ah.....what is the Thorny Path.

Sounds to me like a large rose bush.........LOL

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by ALAIN97133

The best coffee I drink down here (Sint Maarten), it's the one at Princess Casino work out center: they have a grinder/coffee maker that can brew your cup of coffee fresh and aromatic every time If you want to check it, you can tie up at their marina & walk to the work out center. Cheers !

That's where I work out
Good gym.
Haven't tried the coffee.

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by 1000 islands

Ah.....what is the Thorny Path.

Sounds to me like a large rose bush.........LOL

Its one path that sailors have taken for 100s of years from Florida to the islands in the Carribean. Its called the thorny path as there are many areas that are painful. Going east is into the wind, waves and current most of the way. Its just like walking along a thorny path with the occasional poke and scrape! This blog has a good quick overview of it.

The Thorny Path to Windward | Where The Coconuts Grow

Its funny because new sailors with limited experince underestimate it, but old salts think its nothing.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by mpomerance

My wife and I are contemplating a 2 year voyage in 18 months from now from Miami through the Caribbean and back again. We have read extensively about budgets, etc. we plan to be in a 40-50 ft Cat as it feels like it will be more livable. We have downloaded several cruising guides to get a feel for the islands, but just seeing if there is any last minute advice or tips we should review about anything to just make certain that we have not missed anything.

Thanks all!

It's all about the weather! You need to be flexible and think 3 days ahead for the weather for when it chamges(it will). There's people who live here, do there are stores !

[chuckr]

[QUOTE=MarkJ;2326997]I can't believe all 3 replies are negative! One even telling you not to go at all!

We are not at all negative MarkJ -- we simply try to raise issues that you have to deal with that you may not have thought of -- and we provided an alternative -

Two years is not a very long time in fact it is quite short in cruising terms - and if you are staying in the eastern carribbean there are things you have to deal with - just like we are now in the Med - patience and understanding of the weather go a long way to making a successful two years.

In fact we enjoyed the western carib more than the eastern carib -

[robert sailor]

From a cruising perspective it's hard not to like the Western Caribbean over the Eastern Caribbean. On average the sailing is better or less challenging in the Eastern Caribbean but the costs are much higher and to our view it's not anywhere as interesting as the Western Caribbean. The food or choice of high quality fruits and vegetables at low prices are much better/cheaper in the West. There is very extensive and interesting land travel in the west and less cruisers. Diving is on average much better and the people are wonderful.