Curacao to Panama - inshore or offshore route?

[wingssail]

I am not sure of the security situation. Quite a number of small cargo vessels have been travelling to and from Venezuela and Curacao, so there is some boat traffic. There is less obvious traffic to and from Aruba.

But since there is very little distance lost by going north of Aruba, that seems like a good choice.

Also, for passage planning it is smart to head for an offshore waypoint off of Punta Gallinas, around Lat 13 degrees North, and then turn to the SW towards Santa Marta. This makes the distance difference between routes even less. The current and wind (and waves, Big wind, Big waves) all along this passage will be behind you. We felt it better to sail a broad reach on starboard jibe rather than dead downwind, for easier handling, then gybe to port for the second half.

Between Aruba and the waypoint we averaged 7+ knots through the water and high 8's over the ground, sailing with a double reefed main and a 85% headsail.

Once we hit our waypoint we gybed onto port for a broad reach towards Santa Marta. On this leg the wind and current gradually abated somewhat and while our boat speeds stayed high, the SOG dropped 1-2 knots. We actually put away the jib and finished this leg under mainsail alone, still hitting sixes and sevens, in order to time our arrival in Santa Marta in the daylight.

This leg, from Aruba to Santa Marta, was one of our best passages sailing 285mi in 40 hours at an average speed of 7.1. We never pushed it. The monitor steered the whole way.

Now, this just gets you to Cartagena, Colombia. If your are interested in anything other than just "getting around as fast as you can" you must stop in Cartagena and also spend some time in the San Blas Islands rather than going straight to Colon. And there is quite a lot of interesting cruising in Colombia and Panama, and Cartagena is one of the world's most fascinating and beautiful cities.

The trip from Cartagena to the San Blas is pretty easy.

[sy_gilana]

Our Route
San Blas re-re-visited