# Cruising Caribbean Single-handed



## sv sea bird (Oct 22, 2012)

Hello, I am preparing to get a sailboat and single-hand cruise the Caribbean in about 4 months.

I have single-handed sailed my last boat, a Sea Wolf 40, but in the protected waters of Puget Sound and Salish sea. I have bought many books and researched weather and sea conditions best I can, but personal experience of others would be the best source.

I would very much appreciate corresponding (here or email) with anyone/everyone experienced in single-handed sailing in the Caribbean.

Thank you,

Sea Bird


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## Zanshin (Aug 27, 2006)

I've been singlehanding the Caribbean islands for a couple of years now in various boats.
There are few places I can think of offhand that are easier to sail. Most destinations in the Windwards and Leewards are within sight of each other and are easily reachable within a day's sail. Even the long trip from the BVI to St. Martin at over 70nm is still a mere puddle-jump.

With a well-found boat and a friendly autopilot for assistance it is not a problem at all.


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## Barquito (Dec 5, 2007)

You aren't making the passage from the PNW to the Caribbean, are you?


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## sv sea bird (Oct 22, 2012)

Thank you for your reply Zanshin. My only concern is sail handling, reefing ect., single handed in sudden squalls I've read can come up quickly. And, with significant more seas than these protected waters, there is the added rolling and pitching of the boat while handling sails. Have you had such experiences? Of course, always keeping one hand to the boat and maybe using a harness attached to the boat would seem wise. As you say, a good autopilot would be vital. Have you used wind vanes?

Thanks again,


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## sv sea bird (Oct 22, 2012)

Barquito, no I would get the boat in the area; Caribbean, Texas to Florida or maybe east coast. Sailing down the ICW seems doable single handed.


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## Zanshin (Aug 27, 2006)

Sure - squalls on passage are an issue; they can appear quite quickly and, particularly at night, not be noticed until they are almost upon you.

This subject touches upon another one that is currently active here - the maximum size of boat that a short-handed (or single-handed) crew can handle. There are lots of opinions on that matter but luckily the distances involved in Caribbean sailing are quite short so many of the potential pitfalls discussed there can be avoided.

You need an autopilot for the longer passages. A radar is nice-to-have for night sailing in order to detect those nasty squalls when the moon is down or hidden. Harness & Jacklines are necessary for night sails and recommended for daytime passages - but that would depend upon the size and configuration of the boat. I have in-mast furling which makes for very easy and quick reefing from the cockpit and I tend to sail under-canvassed even during the since I'm not in a great hurry to get anywhere and prefer safety over speed; I'll always put 2 reefs in sails during night passages.

The waves take a bit of getting used to, but most of the sailing down is with the wind around the beam so the sails will tend to settle the boat rather than make it pitch a lot. I've got the advantage that I started with a biggish boat (43 feet) and went even bigger (now 57 feet), so the boat weighs enough to make for easy and comfortable passages.

I'd love a wind vane, but my sailboats all had sugar scoops which makes for difficult windvane installations - I opt for 2 autopilot systems instead of losing my bathing/diving area off the back. I'd immediately go for a windvane if I had a boat configuration that allowed it.

The passage from the to St Martin is the longest one at 16-24+ hours, after that all the St. Martin sails are daysails. To get from St. Martin to Ile Fourchue is a couple of hours, from there to the main port in St. Barths is even less. From St. Barths to Statia is a long day's sail, but doable in daylight. From there to St. Kitts Basseterre is a couple of hours, from there to Nevis is a couple of hours. From Nevis to Antigua is a longer sail, but can be done in daylight....
You can see that one can traverse the islands in hops of 20-40nm between anchorages/ports - good distances for a singlehander to deal with even if stuff were to go wrong (the autopilot dies, sail issues, etc.) and all the ports are well documented in the maps and generally even pretty well lit for night entry/exit. I can't think of another sailing area of that size with so many options and such great weather and water conditions.


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## sv sea bird (Oct 22, 2012)

That's great information, thanks. I've had some of those debates over boat size and experienced it myself in my 40 foot ketch. It was much easier to manage than my previous 30 foot sloop. But, dividing the sails was probably the main difference. Mainsail furling would be great, no doubt. Almost every boat has furling head sails. I would like a cutter rig best and if I went with a 40+ footer I would not get a sloop unless I was lucky enough to find one with main furling, either boom or mast. I'm not sure what cost or difficulty in switch from hanked on boom to roller furling boom. But, alternative would be as you said, to shorten sail for nights, or I would unless absolutely no sign of weather.

Thanks again,


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## TQA (Apr 4, 2009)

I have to point out that YES once you get to the St Maarten the sailing is as easy is quoted above BUT assuming you leave from Florida and island hop down to Elizabeth harbor in the Bahamas which is pretty easy you do then have some hard sailing in front of you as you bash your way upwind and up current to St Maarten. Yes if you are prepared to wait for the weather windows AND follow the guidance in Bruce Van Sants book Passages South it is doable for a single hander but you are likely to have some testing days and nights on passage. The Mona passage being the one I would treat with the most care. Not for nothing is this often called the Thorny Path.

However once you are out to the Windwards and Leewards life is good. 

Why not buy in Trini or the USVI or Martinique.


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## Barquito (Dec 5, 2007)

> ...maybe using a harness...


You can fall over day or night. Unless you are within swimming distance of shore, you are probably dead. Everyone needs to weigh the risks themselves.

Personally, I would wear the harness almost all the time when single handed.


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## sv sea bird (Oct 22, 2012)

Thanks TQA.

Yes, buying in lower Caribbean would be an ideal choice if I can find the right boat there. 

By the way, why is it no one ever seems to skip Mona passage and continue east of Puerto Rico and then go west to Virgin Islands? With the seas and currents constantly disturbed by water flowing over drop off just west of Mona passage if there is a good weather window for the extended passage I would think it a better choice. I can't find anyone writing about it yet.


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## Zanshin (Aug 27, 2006)

I'm not sure I understand the post, sea_bird. The Mona Passage is between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. From west to east you have Hispaniola - Puerto-Rico - BVI - St. Martin so I don't catch how one could go west from PR and get to the BVI.


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## sv sea bird (Oct 22, 2012)

Yes, I keep picturing the eastern Caribbean as all lying north and south.

So, to restate; instead of turning south through Mona passage why doesn't anyone (that I've read) continue east past Puerto Rico and then turn south to BVI ect. I realize it would require a much larger weather window and some sea room off the PR north shore, but the many difficulties I've read about Mona passage would seem worth considering.


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## speciald (Mar 27, 2007)

You can see St Thomas from the East Coast of Puerto Rico. It is not a long passage and can easily be done in Daylight. We usually leave early and get to Souper's Hole on Tortola by late afternoon. there are great marinas and a West Marine in Fajardo if ypu need to re-equip.


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## sv sea bird (Oct 22, 2012)

Thanks SPECIALD. So, you don't go through Mona's passage. How is crossing PR's north shore? What is best anchorage on that shore or do you sail past PR?


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## TQA (Apr 4, 2009)

sv sea bird said:


> Thanks SPECIALD. So, you don't go through Mona's passage. How is crossing PR's north shore? What is best anchorage on that shore or do you sail past PR?


The Mona passage is the passage between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Most cruisers will arrive in the DR at Luperon which has excellent shelter and when ready to cross to PR move to Samana and leave from there. Typically a 30 ft sail boat will take 2 nights and a day to make that passage.

This is not a passage to take lightly and many people have had a real beating on it esp. if they get clobbered by the thunderstorms that are generated by PR in the afternoon and them rumble all night across the passage.

Getting well clear of the islands seems at first sight to be a good option but for a 30 footer it is not a viable one. The further offshore you are the stronger the head wind will be, the stronger the current will be and the bigger the waves will be.

Bruce Van Sants stategy involves using the night lee periods which gives reduced head winds and keeping close in to minimise the current to make passage along the coasts and only going across the open passages when the winds fall light.

The usual strategy to get to St Maarten offshore involves sailing out into the Atlantic North of the Bahamas and South of Bermuda untill you reach Longitude 65 [ I65 ] then turning south. 2 -3 weeks hard beating to windward in a 30 footer.


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## sv sea bird (Oct 22, 2012)

Thank you TQA. That is definitive information. The offshore route makes a day or so of Mona passage look much easier now.


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## sailfin32 (Nov 1, 2012)

sv sea bird said:


> Hello, I am preparing to get a sailboat and single-hand cruise the Caribbean in about 4 months.
> 
> I have single-handed sailed my last boat, a Sea Wolf 40, but in the protected waters of Puget Sound and Salish sea. I have bought many books and researched weather and sea conditions best I can, but personal experience of others would be the best source.
> 
> ...


This sounds like a great plan if all your ducks are in row. Like money and mail..single handing in the Caribbean is so doable especially if your are not in a rush. Sail down to Guyana. You will meet a nice Lady there that likes boats and you will no longer be single-handing. Better scrap that plan. You want to single hand so only sail into ports with large cruise ships. Navigation and weather is predictable. Buy a wind vane and SSB with pastor. You can get some info as you go.. good luck Mate!


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

Sailing the eastern Caribbean alone is pretty easy, but if I were you (I did single hand this boat until I met my girlfriend) I would take at least one crew for any passage from the US to the Carib unless you leave Key West for Cuba, 90 miles, as the ocean passages are long and very tiring.
The north side of all the islands east of Cuba is a terrible and hard windward sail. Better to come into the Virgins, though there are a few who do the south coasts of those islands in tiny hops and love the trip.
Virgins to St. Martin is directly into the trades with a lot of current going north. After St. Martin, as stated above you can day sail to Grenada or Trinidad, but it not running, rather close reaching or beating unless you have a really fortunate weather window.
To give you some idea of the realities of eastern Carib sailing; almost everyone here sails with at least one reef (every day) in the main and more in the Christmas winds. Every channel funnels the wind and changes it's direction so that we seem to be beating more often than not, but the seas are manageable for a boat 40+ feet and more on the beam. Don't forget a good dodger and bimini; real comfort necessities down here.
We love the in mast furling for the main; it gives an infinite variety of sail sizes and does not require someone feeding the sail onto the mast track as I believe in boom furling does.
Good luck and I hope we can raise a few together when you get here.


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## sv sea bird (Oct 22, 2012)

That's good information, capta. I've wondered about going west from Florida. Some of the western Caribbean ports look interesting, but it seems everywhere is uphill, against the wind and/or current. And, that way has some long passages. So, starting from Florida and the Bahamas as with most people it seems the best course is to prepare to beat upwind until St Martin. 

Single-handed doesn't seem to be too difficult, in the right weather for one long night, but I doubt I could manage more than 30 hrs without good sleep. Rough seas can be tiring, and hard on autopilots, but again good preparation and good equipment should make the difference.

How reliable are radar proximity alarms? Is ship traffic much of a problem from Bahamas, through Mona passage and the route from VI to St Martin. 

With autopilot set to follow the wind I could use GPS alarm if there is a wind change. But, of course, using autopilot would require lots of battery power and re-charging capabilities. A wind speed alarm would not give you advanced warning of a squal, but still it would be a help. Also, as you say, keep minimal sail set - keep one reef in the main - or, better yet, get mast furling and buy a new main sail. There never seems to be enough money to do it all...


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## Zanshin (Aug 27, 2006)

Even though I don't often see them, my AIS shows how busy the St. Martin - BVI passage is with commercial shipping. This is a main passage from the north Atlantic to the Panama Canal and back and is quite busy. But the passage is 70nm wide (unlike the Channel) so ships can spread out a bit. In addition to this roughly north-south heavy metal traffic doing 20+ knots there are numerous cruise ships plying the east-west route between the islands and often they are idling along at 8knots (so they remain in international waters and can keep their casins open). Before I had AIS I had a couple of very uncomfortable trips in rainy weather and low visibility sharing the same sea space with big cruise ships.

The better the weather the better Radar works. In heavy rain and winds, where your boat is heeled over deeply and rolling around, radar doesn't work quite as well and you might lose targets in all the clutter and mush. But for the Caribbean and when not on a fixed schedule you can choose your passage weather with a very high degree of accuracy (since no passage is going to be longer than 24H) and not have to worry about really nasty weather.

http://www.seaweb.org/otherfiles/GlobalShippingImpactsHalpernetal..jpeg


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## sv sea bird (Oct 22, 2012)

So when you lose your radar reception you still have the AIS data on your chart plotter? I can see where AIS would be important, particularly with those tankers and freighters that carry them. But, from what I've read and seen on sites like marintraffic.com not that many yachts carry AIS. The speed of the big ships makes them the most dangerous. So, I definitely will be getting an AIS transponder.

But, you're not using radar proximity alarm? Since most of the trips between islands south of St Martin are one day trips you don't see much need for alarms.


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