Daniel,
I am wondering is this a delivery trip--that you are taking with a
professional crew, or is it going to be a family cruise?  The reason I ask, is
that you seem to be making some long passages, rather than kicking back and
enjoying the people and cultures etc--beaches are often over-rated. What
experience do you and your family have, if they are the crew,  voyaging?  I
see a lot on your site on some of the technical sides of how you are preparing
the boat.  But for a successful cruise, the the "crew" part of the equation is
most important; often more important than the boat.  The reason I mentioned
various places to visit along the way--especially in the Western Caribbean, is
that there are some very interesting places.  Actually the same is true of
down Island Bahamas, which are less visited.  They are different than what you
may find in the S. Pacific or where ever else you may voyage.  Yes, the San
Blas Islands are interesting--as are the Kuna Indians of the Kuna Yala Nation.
But it is not a one or two day stop, if you want to experience the area in
depth.  Unfortunately this area has changed thru the years that we have been
visiting it--with the inroads of cruise liners and more exposure to tourism.
The plus side is that the Kuna are an extremely independent group, and realize
the dangers of loss of their culture.

Part of the joy of voyaging is the homework which is necessary to find the
most interesting places to visit.  All of this becomes easier with the
internet.  However there is still a lot of written literature which is almost
essential to consume to have the richest experience from a cruise.  For
example a good read before going to the San Blas, would be "The Art Of Being
Kuna".  We have always spent a number of hours reading and researching on
every port of call we have made.  Our children were with us for many of the
voyages, and even in the days of separate tape decks, battery packs and heavy
recorders, made videos of the cultures they encountered.

We have done a lot of long distance cruising.  The only  long passages are
crossing oceans or if we are in a hurry on a delivery type of voyaging to get
back home in a weather window.  There are just too many joys along the way not
to be missed.  Remember that a tight schedule has probably been the unmaking
of more voyages than any one other factor.  We all wish you the very best of
voyaging.

Bob Austin

Hi Daniel

Bob has hit the nail on the head- no timetable.  No one explained that part
of cruising to me until we reached Belize after leaving Florida. It could
have been a case of not wanting to hear.  Having just given up working full
time the mindset of working to a schedule was still entrenched. I was trying
to make the Canal for a Pacific crossing in the one year - big mistake.
I injured myself while in Belize and during the recovery ran into a couple
of US ex pats living there.  They wanted to know why I was in a hurry.  I
could not give them an answer so from there on we took our time.  It took
two years to get to Australia and I should have taken three.
On the route east or west - we had friends in the Caymans so went to the
west between Cuba and Jamaica.  It can get rough down there especially near
the Rosaria Banks.
I would never go past Cuba again without calling in - information we had was
out of date and plain wrong.  The Rio Dulce River was one of the most
amazing places I have been.  If you get there live there for the season -
don't fly home.  From there you can visit the Honduran Bay Islands during
the hurricane season with safety.

Just some thoughts on what a relative amateur found out.  Treat your
wife/crew with the respect they deserve as it cannot be done safely on your
own.

Best wishes
George Nason
Venture
Nordhavn 43#15