North from Colon, Panama

[psedman]

Hi,

I left the UK in 2009 in my 32" cutter rigged Vancouver.

It's now time to start to think about heading home to the UK. The boat is currently in Shelter Bay Marina, Colon, Panama and the plan is to leave March/April.

Here's the question..

I'm considering two routes and would be great to hear from anyone who has experience of the routes. I'll be single handed for the latter part of the journey, but will have a crew member for the first part.

The objective is to be in a position for an West to East Atlantic crossing via the Azores to start in May/June.

Option 1:
East to Cartagena, Colombia and then North to Jamaica then through the Windward Passage toward the Turks & Caicos.

Option 2:
North from Panama along Central America to Cuba then Florida.

I'm leaning towards option 2 in terms of getting there quicker, also think it might be a more comfortable passage. However, option 1 offers some interesting cruising grounds including Isla de San Andres, Honduras and Belize.

Anyway, would be good to hear your experience.

Many thanks,
Peter

s/v Gabriola
Vancouver 32
Bristol, UK

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Peter.

Some previous "similar" discussions (Panama to)
http://www.google.com/cse?siteurl=ww...0to&gsc.page=1

[Jane.Joy]

I am in Cartagena now, and my understanding, from others who are traveling east in this area, is that Option 1 would be BAD sailing - big waves, wind on the nose. Option 2, much better. I recommend this book:
A Thinking Man's Guide To Voyages South: The Many Facets of Caribbean Cruising: Frank Virgintino: Amazon.com: Kindle Store