Puerto Rico to Georgetown delivery route

[ack]

Hi, I'm route planning for a mid-March trip from Fajardo, Puerto Rico to Georgetown, Bahamas. We'll be a crew of four on a Sabre 38 equipped for ocean sailing. If all goes well we'll do this delivery style nonstop but the route appears to offer several bailout options along the way. My question is whether there is any reason not to simply sail more or less the rhumbline, skirting north-east of Turks and Caicos, then north-east of Mayaguana to the north tip of Long Island, SW to Georgetown? Predictwind routing suggests 4.5-5 days in typical conditions. Any advantages in terms of current/seas in going a more southerly route? I think my 6.5' draft will require me to go north of Long Island to get to Great Exuma in any case.



Thanks, Andy

[billknny]

Originally Posted by ack

Hi, I'm route planning for a mid-March trip from Fajardo, Puerto Rico to Georgetown, Bahamas. We'll be a crew of four on a Sabre 38 equipped for ocean sailing. If all goes well we'll do this delivery style nonstop but the route appears to offer several bailout options along the way. My question is whether there is any reason not to simply sail more or less the rhumbline, skirting north-east of Turks and Caicos, then north-east of Mayaguana to the north tip of Long Island, SW to Georgetown? Predictwind routing suggests 4.5-5 days in typical conditions. Any advantages in terms of current/seas in going a more southerly route? I think my 6.5' draft will require me to go north of Long Island to get to Great Exuma in any case.



Thanks, Andy

Your general thinking on routing is right. It will be a fast reach the entire way if you pick a good weather window and avoid a frontal passage. The only real dangers along the way are the Navidad and Silver banks off DR. Stay well north of them.

I wonder if a Sabre 38 can do almost 700 miles in 4.5 days... maybe... but that seems a bit optimistic of an average for that length of time even in tradewind sailing. Are you sure you have accurate polar data entered into your Predictwind account?

[ack]

Thanks. The 4.5 days may well be optimistic. That's only to the north end of Long Island, 640 miles, so a bit under 6 knots average. I've played around with adjusting my polar settings but never sure how accurate they are esp given variable sea state. We'll see!

Originally Posted by billknny

Your general thinking on routing is right. It will be a fast reach the entire way if you pick a good weather window and avoid a frontal passage. The only real dangers along the way are the Navidad and Silver banks off DR. Stay well north of them.

I wonder if a Sabre 38 can do almost 700 miles in 4.5 days... maybe... but that seems a bit optimistic of an average for that length of time even in tradewind sailing. Are you sure you have accurate polar data entered into your Predictwind account?