I have a steel Van de Stadt 39.. but not sailing her as I've ripped out half her inside to redo the V berth and heads.. wish I had not started now.. ahahahhaaa

Thanks for the info, will be dipping my toe in the Gulf for a week of sailing next month. What do you sail now?

I bought it in St Martin, Caribe and it was very basic.. and tiller steering. All I had was a tiller pilot and I bought a spare battery and a 40W solar panel to keep it charged.. this was dedicated to the tiller pilot. My escape boat was an old Avon roll up inflatable I kept half inflated on the fore deck. Apart from speed and depth log and the boats compass that was it.. oh..!! and an early Magellan hand held GPS.
Pick the best time of the year and you should be fine.. its a downhill run with wind and current behind.. only hard bit will be the windless zone before Panama so load up with spare jerry cans to extend your motoring range. Another tough bit will be beating N to the Bahama's. Hope this helps, feel free to ask more if needed..
Best wishes,
Phil

You listed that you sailed a Beneteau 321 in a Atlantic crossing. I have a 311 which is very close in spec to the 321. Just looking for what you thoughts are of the seaworthiness of the 321, also what equipment did you have on it? I'm looking to take my 311 to east coast, Bahamas, but question the size. I have sailed a 30' off the west coast before an was fine but it was nice weather.