Sabbatical cruise

T

TJBurkett

.
Jun 2, 2004
128
Hello All,

With a bit of luck I may have the opportunity to take a one year
sabbatical starting next September. I'm looking for ideas,
resources, advice - whatever you have about cruising routes,
weather, places to see, places to avoid etc in the Caribbean. I'm in
the Chesapeake so my (very vague) plan at this point is a fall
departure (Oct - Nov)for points south with a return the following
June. One idea I had was an offshoe route to Bermuda then to the
leewards and a clockwise route to Belize / Yucatan and back to the
states, or down through the intercoastal to the Bahamas. I have lots
of experience cruising on the Chesapeake, but this would be my first
long distance cruise, so I don't really have a feeling for what is
doable.

My Vega is almost ready - I've spent the last two years upgrading
her systems and taking care of general neglect from the previous
owners. Major upgrades still to be done are standing rigging, sails,
and figuring out what to do about the ice box and regrigeration.

Any advice you may have about books, resources, routes, and
preparing in general would be greatly appreciated.

Tom
 
P

pjacobs55

.
Oct 30, 2019
1,459
I am generally not a huge believer in how-to books, believing that an overnight cruise is worth more than a lot of reading, but Griffith's "Blue Water" is an exception. His style (keep it simple, but be comfortable) seems to suit the Vega. I highly recommend it for your preparations, and it a great read a a lot of levels. (I think he'd say skip the refrigeration, btw . . . . )Nicholas Walsh
Nicholas H. Walsh P.A.
111 Commercial Street
Portland Maine 04101
Tel. 207/772-2191
fax 207/774-3940

This email was sent from the law firm of Nicholas H. Walsh P.A. It may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If you suspect that you were not intended to receive this email, please delete it and notify us as soon as possible. Thank you.
 
B

brave_element

.
Oct 30, 2019
12
I've done myself some extended cruising with my Vega. I left Mystic River in CT to go to El Salvador, going through the Panama Canal, in about 8 months and 3500 miles of single handed sailing.

One thing I can say is that the Vega was the perfect boat for my type of cruising.

Let me know "off-group" if you have questions.

Patrick Garceau
Regional Sales Manager
Orthosoft
Cell: 661-310-8757

________________________________

From: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com on behalf of TJBurkett
Sent: Sun 9/10/2006 10:18 AM
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [AlbinVega] Sabbatical cruise
Hello All,

With a bit of luck I may have the opportunity to take a one year
sabbatical starting next September. I'm looking for ideas,
resources, advice - whatever you have about cruising routes,
weather, places to see, places to avoid etc in the Caribbean. I'm in
the Chesapeake so my (very vague) plan at this point is a fall
departure (Oct - Nov)for points south with a return the following
June. One idea I had was an offshoe route to Bermuda then to the
leewards and a clockwise route to Belize / Yucatan and back to the
states, or down through the intercoastal to the Bahamas. I have lots
of experience cruising on the Chesapeake, but this would be my first
long distance cruise, so I don't really have a feeling for what is
doable.

My Vega is almost ready - I've spent the last two years upgrading
her systems and taking care of general neglect from the previous
owners. Major upgrades still to be done are standing rigging, sails,
and figuring out what to do about the ice box and regrigeration.

Any advice you may have about books, resources, routes, and
preparing in general would be greatly appreciated.

Tom
 
B

brave_element

.
Oct 30, 2019
12
Your best friend for those long single-handed offshore passages (my longest was 12 days, 1300 miles) is a windvane. It is a must, and I dont think I could have made the 9 months without it...it almost became a survival gear!!!

Another big must is sun protection: I really under-estimated it when I left with my Vega and once in the tropic, I was terribly looking for shade...it is almost impossible to stay out in the cockpit during day if you don't have a good dodger or bimini or those removable tarp with battens.

I was on a limitted budget so I did not have fridge nor any fancy equipment. The most expensive gears were my liferaft, the windvane and my EPIRB...some really basic and necessary equipment!

If your budget allows it and depending on the places/time you want to drop the anchor, I suggest to install a watermaker...it allows you to bring less water with you and be lighter therefore faster...and you have more freedom and can stay longer in those remote places.

I had also 2 x 80w solar panel, which allowed me to never run the engine to recharge the batteries (2 starting in the bilge and 2 houses in the STBD lazarette.

One more thing, Vegas are really strong boats: I took two knock downs and hit 3 time corals head and came out of this without a glitch...else than some bottom paint left in 3 feet of water in DR, San Blas and Costa Rica...

Good luck with your trip....this cruising life is so great that I'm doing all I can to get back to it as quickly as posssible...

If you decide to go in El Salvador, there is a great place to stop (Bahia Del Sol)...and once you 've pass the sandbar, about 1/2 mile inside the estuary, you will see Vesper, my Vega, waiting for me to take her on new adventures (or for a buyer to take her...)

Patrick Garceau
Regional Sales Manager
Orthosoft
Cell: 661-310-8757

________________________________

From: michael beebe [mailto:michaellindabeebe@...]
Sent: Wed 9/13/2006 8:09 AM
To: Patrick Garceau
Subject: Re: Sabbatical cruise
Hello Patrick, I saw your post on the site about your
singlehanded trip to central amer., sounds nice. I,
also, have a Albin Vega, are are hoping to trailer to
San Carlos, Mex. in about a month, what did you do
about long hours on the tiller, any other ideas?
Thanks for your post,Mike

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