Crew Wanted: Oregon to Georgia in April - Via Panama Canal

[hi_im_nick]

I have recently acquired a beautiful Bruce Roberts Spray 36

All I know for sure at the moment is that I am departing when the weather is good in April, and arriving before hurricane season with my dog Rex.

I haven't sailed in a while and am not comfortable enduring bad weather in the Pacific Northwest without experienced assistance, so the current plan is to get down the U.S. West coast as fast as possible, weather permitting, motoring if necessary.

I don't care to see the U.S. West coast and would rather save the leisure for after the Panama Canal, minus a visit in Guanacaste, Costa Rica to visit some friends, surf Witches Rock and wait for the crossing.

I would like to schedule the crossing for the first week or so of May.

Only interested in stopping this time on the west coast of Mexico if there is ample time before the Panama crossing.

I am in the planning phase, and this post is for anyone who would like to volunteer for whole or part of the journey, ample time to prepare as I.

I will be ensuring the boat is ready beginning next month, outfitted as necessary to handle the voyage. I will have the most modern and advanced safety and emergency equipment.

I leaned to sail when I was in high school, joined the Navy when I was 17, and operated the nuclear reactor on a warship so I am very comfortable in any situation at sea and able to respond to emergencies and troubleshoot equipment. I can also cook, but I can't do everything at once so people with multiple skills are great.

I will accommodate the stops to pick or drop off any crew member along the way, schedule permitting.

I would be gracious to an experienced pacific sailor to help me down to and or through Panama. Any other members are along for the fun, but I will provision at sea with the occasional dinner and drink in port. The rest is on you. I would take 1-2 permanent and 1-2 hoppers at a time for a total of 3.

I'm very easygoing, polite am well traveled around this world, and always find a good time, make new friends when I go somewhere, and they always invite me to their home for the next time.

I'm determined and nothing can stop me from completing this trip.

Cheers!

[Don C L]

Welcome aboard Nick! As you may know, April is pretty early for coming down the coast, but you might get lucky. Check the “pacific coast sailors” social group. I posted a lot of threads on the subject that might be of help to you. Sorry, can’t link it right now. The Oregon coast and California coast can really be a serious challenge that time of year, as you have probably found in your research.

[hi_im_nick]

Thank you for the information.

My schedule is very flexible.

If your comment is about the trip and not your willingness as a crewmember, I have started a post about leaving here.

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...l#gmessage5065

[Zzmeyer]

He has a bit of dilemma. The hurricane season technically begins may 15. Most insurance, and common sense, would require you to be south as far as costa Rico NLT the end of June. That’s about 2500 miles southeast of San Diego.

[robmo]

Originally Posted by hi_im_nick

I have recently acquired a beautiful Bruce Roberts Spray 36

All I know for sure at the moment is that I am departing when the weather is good in April, and arriving before hurricane season with my dog Rex.

I haven't sailed in a while and am not comfortable enduring bad weather in the Pacific Northwest without experienced assistance, so the current plan is to get down the U.S. West coast as fast as possible, weather permitting, motoring if necessary.

I don't care to see the U.S. West coast and would rather save the leisure for after the Panama Canal, minus a visit in Guanacaste, Costa Rica to visit some friends, surf Witches Rock and wait for the crossing.

I would like to schedule the crossing for the first week or so of May.

Only interested in stopping this time on the west coast of Mexico if there is ample time before the Panama crossing.

I am in the planning phase, and this post is for anyone who would like to volunteer for whole or part of the journey, ample time to prepare as I.

I will be ensuring the boat is ready beginning next month, outfitted as necessary to handle the voyage. I will have the most modern and advanced safety and emergency equipment.

I leaned to sail when I was in high school, joined the Navy when I was 17, and operated the nuclear reactor on a warship so I am very comfortable in any situation at sea and able to respond to emergencies and troubleshoot equipment. I can also cook, but I can't do everything at once so people with multiple skills are great.

I will accommodate the stops to pick or drop off any crew member along the way, schedule permitting.

I would be gracious to an experienced pacific sailor to help me down to and or through Panama. Any other members are along for the fun, but I will provision at sea with the occasional dinner and drink in port. The rest is on you. I would take 1-2 permanent and 1-2 hoppers at a time for a total of 3.

I'm very easygoing, polite am well traveled around this world, and always find a good time, make new friends when I go somewhere, and they always invite me to their home for the next time.

I'm determined and nothing can stop me from completing this trip.

Cheers!

“.....nothing can stop me from completing this trip” said Captain William Bly just before the mutiny on HMS Bounty.
Great attitude, but quite unrealistic. Weather will be your greatest foe. Sailing down the West Coast in March is extremely challenging, but sailing across the Caribbean against the Trades in the spring will be even more so. Bucking head winds and head seas for 10 days will beat the crap out of you and your boat. Remember, the most dangerous thing on a sailboat is ......a schedule.

[Mackey6000]

I have an interest in assisting you with this trip. My experience is on the Great Lakes with the majority of the time on Lake Erie. I own a Tartan 3500 for the past three years and raced for 13 years on a Tartan 37 Hull No 001.
My plans were in may is to sail to Lake Superior however if something as interesting as this trip was to available i would be honored with the opportunity.
Thank you,
John V. Mackey
johnmackey@windstream.net

[DSIMMIE]

Looking to jump on for the panama Canal if possible

[Mackey6000]

i would only be interested in the complete voyage.
Thank You,
Mackey6000
johnmackey@windstream.net

[Davie J.]

Hi Nick,
I will be available at that time and am interested in helping you sail from Oregon to Georgia. You would have to fly me from Jacksonville, FL however. I am a 100 ton licensed captain for both sail and power. I most recently operated my 44' Sunfjord as a charter boat for salmon and halibut out of Seldovia, Alaska. Currently, I am living in Jacksonville and am planning a circumnavigation starting early next spring. I don't know how we contact each other outside of this forum.........I know we don't post phone numbers or emails.

[sailingchiro]

Have you thought about shipping on truck to Gulf of Mexico (Texas, Florida etc. or all the way to Georgia) to a place you would like to start your sail? Then you could avoid the bad weather of the west coast but enjoy the sail from Gulf to Georgia.
Getting the boat ready for a sail, provisions, repairs, and transition through canal will cost much more than truck shipping. IMHO

[CaverCop]

I have my 36' Catalina further up the Columbia than you and one thing that worries me about moving it up or down the coastline is the Columbia bar; have you looked into the difficulties in crossing the bar especially so early in the season?

[picklesandjesse]

Sorry to say that this but it will be an unbelievable challenge. Especially in that boat. You'll be motoring a lot. They are not that quick and make a LOT of leeway going to weather which you will encounter after Panama. I tried to talk a friend out of buying a Roberts Spray as he was a top surfer and hang glider.... enjoyed fast things etc. He sold it after 6 months and bought a 50ft cat.
I'm not trying to make you feel bad but you'll have to work with the seasons and ocean. You can make long passages in this boat safely but you'd be better in the tradewinds and have no schedule. My apologies for this, but these are facts.

[CarinaPDX]

Yes, the facts here are inconvenient. If it were possible to leave here (Oregon) at the first of April, then a non-stop passage would take a month to reach Panama, arriving early May. Assuming this is the first Panama Canal transit for this boat a week would be a minimum for registration, provisioning and transit. Then a minimum of a week for a non-stop passage to Florida, arriving at the beginning of the hurricane season. That is almost certainly not going to happen. The weather here in the spring may force delays possibly stretching to weeks. You will want to stop in San Diego for provisions and clearance (not so much for the US but for entry elsewhere). With the hurricane season breathing down your neck you are not going to have a leisurely stopover in Costa Rica and make it to Miami in time. And there is no allowance for anything going wrong, in a situation where the skipper is out of practice and the boat is new to him. Like it or not, in order to make it to Georgia this summer it will almost certainly be necessary to dodge hurricanes in the Caribbean - a really bad idea. Please come up with a more realistic plan that allows for something less than a perfect passage.

As for the boat, it will do very well travelling south to the canal. The wind at that time of year will be at the back and likely fairly strong. Sailing north from Panama would be hard and slow if the trades were blowing, but a more realistic estimate of the timing would land after the trades so between fronts there might be some motoring.

Greg

[Maclir]

I am interested and available to sail from Oregon to Panama. I have built boats and crossed the atlantic 8 times. Retired and able. Have you email address for exchange of information

[CarinaPDX]

Originally Posted by Zzmeyer

He has a bit of dilemma. The hurricane season technically begins may 15. Most insurance, and common sense, would require you to be south as far as costa Rico NLT the end of June. That’s about 2500 miles southeast of San Diego.

Actually, any cruiser should be in Costa Rica by the end of the third week in May - the beginning of the hurricane season. Later than that is taking a large risk. Many of the Pacific hurricanes form off of Nicaragua, or are Atlantic hurricanes that cross Central America at Nicaragua and become Pacific hurricanes. They travel NNW up the coast, usually going offshore between Acapulco and Cabo, or sometimes continuing up the Sea of Cortez. There are few places that could even generously be called hurricane holes, so if you are still north of Nicaragua when a hurricane forms you are in a very dangerous place, to say the least. Also, as the trade winds come down in May the thunderstorms start up and expand north with the heat. I made it into Costa Rica just at the start of the hurricane season, and had to endure several nights of thunderstorms on the way. That is not an experience I would willingly repeat.

Of course making it south just in time means crossing the Caribbean during hurricane season...

Consider leaving the boat in Panama and bring her north the following winter/spring.

Greg