# Where to Go



## sadie14 (Feb 5, 2003)

You leave FL 11/1/04, you have 1 year, and you need to return to the gulf/east coast at the end of that year. You have alread spent significant time in the Bahamas. 

Where would you go and why? Where would you return to and why?

You have a bluewater, capable boat and moderate cruising experience.


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## jack_patricia (May 20, 2001)

Sadie, you don''t tell us the critical variable: how much do you want to move and how often (and for how long) do you want to stop and sniff the roses.

A friend left Tampa, FL in the fall and returned the following April after having made it down to Trinidad and back. For most folks, that''s not the pace they would chose; he apparently likes to sail more than shop in the markets and actually ''see'' where he''s reached.

A second wrinkle is the back end of your timetable. If you really don''t need to be further N than Florida on 1 November, then you''ve face a dilemma: what do you choose to do during hurricane season? You could e.g. drop below most (not all) storm paths for the summer by visiting Trinidad (taking the route E then S as Bruce Vansant thoroughly covers in Passages South) -or- you could do the ''short circle'' via the Windward Passage, Jamaica, Caymans, Bay Is. and the summer up the Rio Dulce. We''ve done both and they each have their many attractions...but what do you do in October? The W Caribbean and Gulf get many of their storms late in the season, so pulling out of the Rio at that time is a risk...and the trip back from Trinidad is long, so altho'' you are enjoying lots of fair winds your window of exposure is lengthy.

Wherever you hope to reach in the Caribbean, I''d encourage you to extend the period by one to two months - a small period of time for a lot of safety insurance.

Jack


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## sadie14 (Feb 5, 2003)

We can extend or shorten the time - its about having the funds for approximately 1 year plus money set aside for returning.

There are so many scenarios that we could choose that I wondered if we''d missed any. Also wondered what we might get out of folks who have "been there done that".

The hurricane season is the biggest issue. An eastern Caribbean trip with a hurricane layover in Grenada (thereabouts), a western trip, or ....Mexico/Belize till march then back and up the East coast to Chesapeak.

If we do the eastern Caribbean trip, we will probably go east then south to the USVI so that we can experience a longer, off shore trip. 

We''d like time to visit every island until we''re tired, but that is unrealistic. If we do well budget-wise, we may be able to stay out longer.


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## jack_patricia (May 20, 2001)

Sadie, two quick follow-ups based on your comments:

"If we do the eastern Caribbean trip, we will probably go east then south to the USVI so that we can experience a longer, off shore trip."
That''s fine, and folks often make that choice when it''s this late in the season (Spring) and they need to transit quickly so they make Trinidad before storm season. The snag in your case will be that the longer you hold off on departing (11/1 is a little early given the hurricane cycle we''re in now) the closer you get to the Christmas Trades when leaving the Bahamas, which makes the offshore ''Hwy 65'' route more difficult to accomplish. So...plan on the offshore run being Plan A but expect that it may be necessary to bail out and end up island hopping, instead (so a few basic charts will come in handy). We cruised with a Swan 50 footer that couldn''t make it to PR for this reason (it was January, so a little later than what you might be able to arrange).

"We''d like time to visit every island until we''re tired, but that is unrealistic. If we do well budget-wise, we may be able to stay out longer."
Hearing that, I can imagine how the E Caribbean choice would leave open more options. After arriving in Grenada/Trini in June/July, you can stay S to avoid the tropical storm paths and continue westward, then coming back north in Fall to cruise the W Caribbean before returning to the States. If you did the Windward Passage & Central Caribbean initially, you''d have fewer places to enjoy the following fall, altho'' that would give you longer spells for visiting & inland travel while waiting out storm season up the Rio Dulce and then gunkholing in Belize, Mexico and the offshore Atolls.

Both sound like good choices, don''t they?!<g> Good luck on setting up a careful budget with a modest built-in cushion for a surprise or two. You can cruise very cheaply all over the Caribbean so long as you set out with that goal in mind.

Jack


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## sadie14 (Feb 5, 2003)

Jack, 

I appreciate your thoughtful input very much. I have one question from your last statement "You can cruise very cheaply all over the Caribbean....", can you define cheaply?


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## jack_patricia (May 20, 2001)

Sadie:

"I have one question from your last statement ''You can cruise very cheaply all over the Caribbean....'', can you define cheaply?"

Ahh, you want to know how many of those angels we can get to dance on the head of that pin, don''t you? <g> An honest answer is ''No'', I really can''t. There have been many threads on this topic on numerous BB''s (and some excellent detailed reporting done by Latitude 38 over some years now) and the answer always seems to be that cruising costs vary widely from one crew to the next and are often directly related to what''s in the wallet. (One corollary seems to be that fancier, more complex boats are sailed by crews who spend more, FWTW). To put this into positive terms, that means you really do have a great amount of control over spending...you just have to exercise it).

IME a careful look at what one CAN spend per month, and a willingness to put a little sweat equity into saving some money, can allow some crews to cruise on $800-1,000 USD/month in the Caribbean, but that excludes expenses back hoome, haul-outs, major repairs, insurance and equipment purchases (all of which are usually paid for before one shoves off). But that answer ignores a lot of pretty relevant variables, such as the material condition of your boat, how good a shopper you are, how full a tool box you carry (self-sufficiency), how simple/complex the boat''s gear is ($$), how well it sails to windward (fuel and engine maintenance = $$) and attitudinal issues, e.g. how much this will be a ''summer vacation'' kind of sabatical cruise vs. the real thing (where the longer you''re out, the more you count pennies) - it''s kinda amazing how much some crews think they are entitled to do/buy/consume and the lifestyle they are entitled to, even as the last few pennies are dribbling out of their pockets.

I know you were looking for hard data and not a philosophy lecture, but here are some data points you might find helpful in general terms:
1. Most island nations charge very little in the way of fees. The Bahamas and DR have both raised them significantly ($150/$300 as I recall, based on boat size, and now close to $100, respectively) but PR, USVI, St. Martin (French side), Jamaica, Haiti (Ile a Vache'', anyway), Grand Cayman and most of the Bay Is. levied no clearance fees when we visited. Trinidad and BVI''s were quite reasonable, as I recall -$40 USD each or thereabouts. As for the rest, you''ll find everyone weighs the convenience, the attractions, the protection of the harbors, and the cost of a stop, looks at their own imposed sked, and then makes up a somewhat unique itinerary based one what feels right. It is a norm to be able to stop in a protected anchorage or harbor to rest, not go ashore, and then carry on without any clearance formalities or charges.
2. We are talking ''tropical'' here, so there is usually abundant food and, after all, many islanders usually have little money for shopping so a willingness to scout out the local market will pay dependable returns. If the lettuce in the Georgetown, Great Exuma grocery store seems pricey, you''ll buy home grown cabbage and tomatoes from the ladies in the town square and mix up some dynamite cole slaw instead of having a tossed green salad...and that''s about how food purchases go everywhere. If you must have meat, meat, meat, there will be some expensive stops. If chicken and fish tickle the pallet, you''ll spend less. (Chicken in the Caribbean is typically fabulous when compared to the hormone/antibiotic-injected stuff at Publix).
3. Charts & guides can be expensive. OTOH there are LOTS of ''sabatical cruisers'' returning with relatively fresh charts/guides and a plan to sell the boat. Some digging should produce ample choices at reasonable prices without buying old stuff (ALWAYS ask their age). You might perch on www.ssca.org''s Chart Exchange BB and other places like that.
4. We''ve been enjoying an ongoing correspondence with friends who are doing the Thorny Path for the first time. In the last email, Mark described their l-o-n-g one day over-the-island trip from Luperon to DR''s capital city, Santo Domingo. It cost them $100 (a couple), they saw even less than they had time for (the guide was not reputable), and they returned in the dark, exhausted. In his words, it was a ''lesson learned''. When there, we took the local bus over the mountains (incredible scenery, BTW), stayed in a modest little hotel recommended by a local (clean but spartan) and toured in the Old City for 4 days, walked a lot, ate out carefully (easy to do in the DR) and took the luxury bus back (A/C!) and the whole 4-day trip cost us less than $100. I don''t think this was because we''re more clever but rather because we were stretching a budget more than Mark felt they needed to, and we were willing to do our own thing in a way we could afford. (And BTW we had a blast!)

Here''s my hunch: You ask good questions and you are working the ''cost'' issue with apparent care. Those are attributes of someone who can make it work and will stay in control of spending. My hunch is that it''s time to move onto the ''where & when'' and worry just a a bit less about the ''how much''. And I hope you too have a blast!

Jack


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## sadie14 (Feb 5, 2003)

Again, thanks, Jack.

We know what we have budgeted, I was just curious what your definition of "cheap" was. Seems everyone''s is different.

We still have time to buy our charts and books and make our final decision. We need a general starting path, then we''ll see what happens as we travel down it.

If you have any guides/books that you really liked, I''d love to know.


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## jack_patricia (May 20, 2001)

Sadie:

"If you have any guides/books that you really liked, I''d love to know."

VanSant''s Passages South, no matter what route you choose, is IMO a ''must''. His discussion on pulling down and using wx products alone justifies the purchase.

If cruising Jamaica, John Lethbridge''s Jamaica Cruising Guide (sold now by his wife, I hear), while dated, is still very useful. Good harbor/anchorage charts. Little has changed in Jamaica.

Find an old used copy of Wallace Stone''s Cruising Guide to the Caribbean; while researched and written 30-35 years ago, it covers some areas that have changed little (S coast of Hispaniola, Bay Is. are both examples) and the wx info and routing strategies haven''t changed a wit. Should only cost you a few bucks.

I happen to like Steve Pavlidis guides and recommend them, most especially the T&C and Puerto Rico guides. He''s a friend and perhaps that shapes my opinion some, but I find him sympathetic to the islander''s view of life and he works hard to offer credible history about each of these island nations, often using original sources. The chartlets of the anchorages in his books are excellent, altho'' I hear the electronic versions may not work well with some charting software.

Rauscher''s is the only viable guide for the W Caribbean, tho'' inevitably it is out of date due to storm damage...and her publisher is IMO too wary of offering GPS waypoints, which makes the charts of lessened utility.

Yachtie guides often seem to omit huge chunks of relevant landside info on history, culture, language, museums and transportation, when in fact that''s what yachties most need once they step ashore. We very much have benefited by Lonely Planet guides for the island nations we spent time visiting. Since you can''t buy them all, perhaps the one at the top of your list should be the LP (or similar) guide for Puerto Rico, if that''s in your future. It is our very own Commonwealth, and we their mother country, yet we Americans are ignorant of and treat her dysfunctionally. Maybe someday an American administration will wake up to the one part of the Caribbean - a proud part but also indulged in and spoiled - that is our very own, and makes up part of who we are...but in the meantime, we cruisers can start the process.

Finally, consider buying the SSCA CD that I always mention; it''s got 8 years of monthly bulletins written by cruising sailors, with a great deal of Caribbean content. It''s only about $20 (go to www.ssca.org, visit the store and select ''Pubs'') and offers more value per dollar than any other item I''ve listed except Stone''s guide. (And FWIW I wrote up a summary of our routing thru the Central Caribbean that has waypoints, anchorages, etc. and which may prove useful to you. Search under ''WHOOSH'').

Good luck!

Jack


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## sadie14 (Feb 5, 2003)

Thanks, Jack.

I''d love to find your post regarding the routes you took, but searching on your name is, unfortunately, not an option. It appears I can only search on keywords in the topic - any idea what they were?

I also reviewed your web site, but did not see that information listed.


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## jack_patricia (May 20, 2001)

Sadie:

No, the articles on John Stevenson''s website are geared solely to prepping a boat for the European infrastructure plus cruising issues related to Europe.

On my SSCA CD, you are offered a search on 4 categories, the last one being Contributor Index. That should produce a series of WHOOSH entries; is that not true for your CD?

If you''re having problems finding the article on the Central Caribbean route, feel free to email me and I''ll be glad to send it to you.

Jack
[email protected]


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## sadie14 (Feb 5, 2003)

Jack, I misunderstood you! I thought you meant you posted the information on Sailnet''s boards and to search there.

By the way, have you any experience with "Your First Atlantic Crossing" 2nd Edition, by Les Weatheritt?


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## jack_patricia (May 20, 2001)

Sadie:

''By the way, have you any experience with "Your First Atlantic Crossing"...?"

Nope. I''ve seen it on the shelves, only.

If you weed out from most guides the info on the destinations (e.g. Azores) and the ''How to prep your boat...'' content, which is available from many other sources, most of the important info which remains is about weather systems, routing strategies, and methods for pulling down wx info. Those are useful topics to have well nailed down for any planned passage, including the seveal scenarios you are currently considering. Give some good thought about how you plan to obtain useful wx f''cast data when in the Boonies (there are a number of alternatives, depending on what radio equip. you have on board), but the trick is to have a plan and to know how to use the info you get. (I continue to find it challenging to understand wx systems and so it remains a ''learn as I go'' effort on my part...but at least I know from where I''m trying to get what info!<g>)

Jack


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## staceyneil (Nov 4, 2000)

Jack and Sadie,
I have been reading this thread with great interest....Jack, I was going to email you directly for recommendations on cruising guides, but here it all is! Thanks!

As we get closer to our departure date (July!) I am starting to collect books. Our 1-2 year cruise does not have a planned itinerary yet. We''ll miss our window to do an Atlantic Crossing this year, so we''re thinking of heading "DownEast" this summer (leaving from Maine) and then south in the fall. Have not yet decided whether we''ll go coastal or offshore. If we''re far east (Nova Scotia) we might be tempted to hop to Bermuda and the Virgin Islands from there.... however our 7-yr-old has never been to Washington DC and that is a strong reason to do the coastal route, Christmas with the grandparents in FL, Bahamas, and then who knows..... 

I was very interested in your routing option opinions, Jack..... I may have to email you for advice come fall when we''re making decisions (my brain is just too full of "finish the boat" and "leave land life" lists right now to be able to think carefully about this now!).

i was also glad to hear your thoughts on costs in the Caribbean. We''ve always intended to cruise cheaply (indeed our lifestyle right now is so spartan what with saving for the trip... no movies out, only eat at cheap restaurants about once a month, no new clothes, etc, that it won''t be a big change!) We''re hoping to spend about $750/month (not including insurance, boat repair, etc) and are leaving on a boat with nearly everything new after this big refit. If we can actually stick to that budget we''ll be able to stay out 2 years, even with no additional income. 

One thing I''ve always assumed is that the Western Caribbean is MUCH cheaper to cruise. From your post is sounds as though this may not be true. Given that we intend to anchor out pretty much everywhere (have only $300/year budgeted for marinas) do you think that we could cruise as cheaply in the Eastern as Western Caribbean?

As usual, Jack, thanks for sharing your experience with the rest of us!

Stacey

www.sailnamaste.com


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## staceyneil (Nov 4, 2000)

More questions on cruising guides for WHOOSH!!!

How readily available are these books once you are in the Caribbean? For example, I was looking at the pavlidis guides on line, and I could spend $130-used or $185-new for his guides to everyplace we MIGHT visit..... That''s a lot of cash and a lot of shelf space on the boat. But if we''re already in the Caribbean, will we be able to find them to buy? 

On Van Sant''s "Passages South".... is it a book that we need an updated copy of? I have my parent''s, which is probably 20 years old......

Thanks!
STacey
www.sailnamaste.com


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## jack_patricia (May 20, 2001)

I''m thinking we maybe should take this off-line; others must be getting pretty bored with us.<g>

I used the very first edition of VanSant''s guide and it was (relatively speaking) horrible. We used the most current edition in 2000 (6th at the time, as I recall) and I''m not sure I would have sprung for a newer version...so it depends. If your parent''s copy has abundant waypoints referenced for all the anchorages and stops, subsequent improvements are probably in degrees, not orders of magnitude. (A 20 yr old copy sounds w-a-y too dated, tho'').

Re: guide availability in the Caribbean, they are generally hard to find. You''ll find two multi-island chandelries down island: Budget Marine and Island Waterworld (I think I have those right...) and they are both great, especially when you really need something and happen to be on an island where they''re located. There are other spots where yachtie stuff is available (like a West Marine on PR''s east coast). But with exceptions like those, guides and inter-island chart series are generally not available where you''ll be stopping because many of the stops (tho'' certainly not all) are not exclusively yachtie ports.

So...what to do? It''s quite common for folks to leave with the ''first batch'' in hand and wait on the rest. For an offshore run from the Bahamas to PR such as Sadie is considering, you would carry the PR guide (Hwy 65 is Plan A), plus the Pavlidis guide for T&C since the T&C might turn out to be Plan B and it includes the approaches to Luperon DR, which will likely follow if you stop in the T&C. Once in PR - the Land of 800#s and USPS service; don''t underestimate the value of either! - you can order in the next batch you can''t find locally, sucking up the postage cost and time delay because that''s the price of not buying more upfront.

When planning to head down island, you have many target boats coming the other way from whom you can hopefully buy relatively fresh charts and guides. Look for larger, newer yachts (''richer'' owners, ideally finishing up their ''sabatical cruise'') who don''t expect to get 50 cents on the dollar. Waiting until Ft. Lauderdale (where you can dink/walk to Blue Water Books) will give you a chance to hook up with those boats. (Don''t overlook using the Cruiseheimers Net on 8.104 USB while still coming down the East Coast, explaining you''re looking...).

If you are heading S in the Spring, you''ll find boats coming back at that same time, and so subsequent purchases for islands further S might be possible; going S in the Fall, that option is more limited.

Good luck on all this prep stuff; don''t forget you owe us all a Term Paper on how it all went once you get down there!

Jack


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## jack_patricia (May 20, 2001)

Oops, missed your first post when replying to your second one, Stacey.

Sorry if I misled you but in general folks spend much less in the W Caribbean than the Eastern, assuming we define ''Western'' to be between Isla Mujeres, Mexico at the NW corner and the Honduran Bay Islands at the S''n end. (No one goes to Swan Is. and to me Grand Cayman is far enough E and against the prevailing winds that it''s part of the Central Caribbean). No boat boys, few marinas or mooring fields, and just plain not much to spend money on.

There is just far less infrastructure of any kind there (with some exceptions, of course) and both Belize and the Bay Is. offer many anchorages. However, there are two exceptions re: spending money: Guatemala thinks fairly highly of their tiny coastline and, as I recall, we paid a bit over $100 USD for clearance before going up the Rio Dulce. Also, the Rio - and views differ on this - somewhat mandates a marina berth to maximize one''s physical security. Offsetting these two facts is the reality that the Rio (and the potential for cheap inland travel) is well worth the $100 ''excursion fare'' and marinas are very inexpensive there; some of them are also very nice. (We were very pleased with Tortugal, a dink ride away from town. We spent $130 or so USD in 2002 for 10 days of berthing with electricity, 3 nice meals at their restaurant overlooking the water, and 8 loads of laundry). The second exception, for which there are IMO less rewarding benefits, is Mexico''s port fees. Each Capitan de Puerto is responsible for his own area, checking in/out is mandatory as are the fees assessed, and the Mexican Navy was checking boats at anchor in Isla when we were there (4/2002) to verify compliance. Isla is a ''must stop'' for numerous reasons but I was unmotivated to clear in elsewhere along that coast; too much hassle and expense for too little benefit (tho'' that''s a personal view, I realize).

The main problem with the W Caribbean, as I see it, are the limits on what if offers beyond great water, diving and opportunities for inland travel...altho'' none of those are trifling. The Caribbean offers a huge, diverse collection of rewards (tho'' again IMO not a great many of them along the Eastern Island chain) and, when talking about 1 or 2 year chunks of time, it seems a shame to me to limit yourselves to just the W Caribbean when you can do a full circle in that same period. (E.g. I totally endorse you motoring up into the Tidal Pool anchorage, with the Jefferson Memorial off your bow, the Metro only a few blocks away and all of DC at your fingertips; now THAT''s cruising with a kid! But how can you then go to the Caribbean and not take your daughter to the first (and oldest) city in the entire New World, which today is a thriving, bustling and scenic (tho'' certainly not First World) city? And it''s only a $10 USD bus ride from Luperon''s protected anchorage if you take the local. (No chickens.<g>)

Jack


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## staceyneil (Nov 4, 2000)

Jack, You should write your own cruising guide, methinks!!!! You have a lot of great info. So, seems like you are favoring the central Caribbean, hmm? What do you consider "central Caribbean"?

Personally, I am most interested in exploring the more non-yachtie places. And Neil would like to surf a few times if possible. 

Last time I cruised was in the 80s with my folks and we did not see a whole lot of other boats outside the Virging Islands. Of course, we were in the Caribbean "off season" both times, on our way back from the Med and later en route to Panama for a South America circumnavigation. Those "off the beaten path" experiences are more what we''re after, perhaps the central Caribbean will offer more of those. 

Any thoughts on heading south to Brazil? It looks like a long slog but maybe more what we''re looking for? 

At this point I just want to get GOING and we''ll take it from there, but it''s nice to dream a little too. Especially after a frustrating day chasing leaks on the boat and finding that my new door handles do not fit and I didn''t have the right plumbing fittings to hook up the new vanity faucet. Argh. 

Stacey


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## jack_patricia (May 20, 2001)

Stacey, with your past experiences you''ll know well that different crews have differing capacities for hardship, so perhaps Brazil won''t be the challenge for you it represents for others...but while I''m very hopeful of visiting Brazil in the future, it will be from the Cape Verdes, I think. The run down from the E Caribbean looks like much effort for boats like ours, which after all weren''t set up for heavy windward work.

FWIW - all highly subjective, of course - here is what I''d offer up as the Caribbean''s cruising highlights if ''off the beaten track'', low expense, safety/security and variety were my criteria:
-- T&C (beyond Provo - gin clear waters, ''old Bahamas'' feel, good ''stepping stones'' S & E
-- DR (one coast or the other), altho'' I think Luperon has become greedy and corrupt enough (not re: safety, just trying to pinch the visitors) that a stop would probably irk me some
-- Puerto Rico, for many logistical and cruising reasons; our favorite stop bar none was to sit behind 3 reefs at La Parguera (SW corner) with the entire Caribbean Sea in front of us, no swell, good snorkeling, and find a friendly little town, nice grocery, etc. a short dink ride away; definitely not off the beaten track but inexpensive and the museums in Ponce'' and hsitorical sights in San Juan are wonderful
-- French Is. in E Caribbean chain; like being in sunny France and unique for that reason; don''t get hung up about clearance duties too much because obviously they don''t!
-- Trinidad (and Tobago for different reasons, tho'' we didn''t get there); pick up a mooring at TTSA which won''t be too expensive, avoid the Yachtie Ghetto next door in Chag Bay except for ''necessaries'' and marvel at such a rich ethnic mix and history while enjoying the nicest people I think we''ve ever met; visit the abandoned Leper Colony by boat - fascinating!
-- Basically all of the Central Caribbean, which I would define as including the S Coast of Hispaniola (don''t miss Ile a Vache''; yes, I know it''s in Haiti...), Jamaica (you, the fisherman, and few others), Grand Cayman (''the'' First World stop in the Caribbean, but North Sound is a wonderfully comfy stop, and your daughter can feed the rays at her feet), and the Honduran Bay Is. (each one different).
-- the Rio Dulce, tho'' again the check-in and marina costs need to be anticipated.
-- We did the Belize Boogie due to time pressure, but I think most folks would expect me to add Belize to the list; inexpensive, many anchorages, and remote offshore atolls that are unique in the Americas

A combo of charter fleets, much yachtie traffic these days up & down the Chain, some islands with only deep anchorages and therefore mooring fields - in fact, mooring fields in many places! - all left us underwhelmed by some of the Eastern Chain...but there were also exceptions that made island hopping painless.

Good luck with those leaks!

Jack


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## sadie14 (Feb 5, 2003)

Wonderful info - thanks so much, Jack. Please don''t take this off-line, I''m sure others are interested in the dreaming and scheming.


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## staceyneil (Nov 4, 2000)

Yes, thanks Jack!!! We had a nice Sunday morning poring over the Atlas (no charts here!). Plans are coming together......

Stacey
www.sailnamaste.com

PS Leaks found. Very simple and rewarding! Whew!


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## rakuqueen (Oct 31, 2002)

We plan to leave next week. We know everything will not be done, some of the unconpleted projects are stashed under our bed. We are traveling w/ a 16 year old girl who got her licience 2 weeks ago. I know, we should have left two weeks ago! This has been a dream of ours for many years, my husband took early retirement. If he had stayed we would have had more money, but who knows he might have been dead from the stress. He has an irregular heart beat that would occur when ever there was lots of stress, he has only one onset since retiring in December. 
Our depth sounder is shot, so we have ordered a new one, need to clean out our boat storage area. Most of that goes on the boat, store our car and we are off.
Wehave told our daughter we would come back for her senior year, so we will only be gone for 14 months, unless she changes her mind.
Love to read all the advise, and Stacey hope to see you next winter.
Jane


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## jack_patricia (May 20, 2001)

Jane, will you have a SSB aboard? I ask because, when cruising with our young teen son, we found it more difficult to locate other teenagers than we expected and I''d bet your daughter would appreciate a little ''coordinating help'' in tracking some down on occasion.

If you will, don''t overlook the Cruiseheimers Net (8.104 USB at I believe 0900 Eastern, a Marine SSB freq) and also the Waterway Net (7.268 LSB at 0745 Eastern) if you have a ham license aboard (or just want to listen in). You''ll hear both Nets working cruisers all up/down the coast plus the Bahamas, at the least. Good luck!

Jack


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## staceyneil (Nov 4, 2000)

Jane, 
Where are you leaving from and heading to? Perhaps we''ll see you. We''ll be travelling with our 7 yr old daughter (although she ACTS like she''s 16 sometimes, sheesh!)
Our boat is "namaste"...hope to see you!
Stacey
www.sailnamaste.com


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## rakuqueen (Oct 31, 2002)

Stacey,
We are leaving Houston and going down the icw around fl and heading up the east coast.
We hope to end up in Cape Cod for the summer and then back down the east coast to the Caribbean for the winter and then back to Houston for the summer and our daughter''s senior in high school. That is the plan, many people tell us we''ll be lucky to get to Washington D.C. That''s ok, we can always drive to Cape Cod for a few weeks. All our family is there and we have some weddings to go to this summer.
I wanted to get my ham license before going and it just didn''t work out. That is something I hope to do while traveling.
While we are in the US we have our cell phones and we have a verison wireless card for the laptop.
Stacey, somtimes my 16 year old acts as if she is seven. They should get along great on certain days only known to them!! 
Jane


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