Upgrades to cross to the Caribbean

Mar 21, 2022
130
Bristol Corsair Tampa
Sounds like a fun adventure you're planning. My two cents of what I would take, if I did this trip, which I have not (hope no one has mentioned these yet, and please correct me if I'm wrong): Lifesling and hauling tackle, re-arming kits for self-inflating PFDs, extra line, duct tape, sea anchor, floating VHF handheld radio, Covid tests, sunscreen, antacids, eyedrops, wool hat, wool socks, synthetic clothes, (I'd leave most cotton clothing home, as even in the tropics hypothermia can happen), replace all nav lights, courtesy flags for countries you're entering, quarantine flag, distress flag, Farady cage for electronics during lightning storms (or use microwave if you have it), pens, pencils, erasers, paper charts as well as electronic ones, fishing tackle. Re-do nonskid on deck. Watch YouTube videos about emergencies at sea. Check the wind frequently beforehand on something like Windy.com so you can learn the wind patterns.

Do a visualization exercise where you ask yourself what you'd do if certain parts on the boat broke. Drill for emergencies. Practice MOB. Trail a polypropylene line behind the boat, maybe with a small float tied to it, in the open ocean in case you fall overboard, if you're solo. Make sure your liferaft certification is current. Add bilge high-water alarms if you need to. Keep boat hull plugs right where you might need them, in compartments, not stored in the back of a locker. Operate with a big safety margin for error. Know what to do if you lose steering. Know where your thru-hulls are and consider replacing them. Consider making a Hudson's Bay start, where you leave in the afternoon, so you can return easily in the morning if you forget anything. Take reading material to take your mind off sailing for a few minutes a day! Have fun.
AWESOME RESPONSE
 
Mar 21, 2022
130
Bristol Corsair Tampa
You need a good, recently swung compass, a good set of binoculars (stabilized are best) some charts, the knowledge to plot your course on a chart and an inexpensive GPS. You will also need an adequate amount of water for a trip at least twice the length you might expect to be at sea. You should have a VHF plus an automatic and manual bilge pump, reef points as mentioned above, the best anchor and rode you can afford.
Cooking a hot meal aboard is always nice, but a bunch of cans would do. Oh, don't forget a couple of can openers, if you go that route, lol.
The trip from Florida to the Bahamas can be very difficult and dangerous so learn about the Gulfstream and weather. You can island hop through the Bahamas and set off from the T&C for the Dominican Republic and you would have just a few days at sea.
All the rest of the things mentioned above are nice to have, but none are absolutely necessary. Safety equipment is as you wish, but man has been sailing for thousands of years without that stuff, and if you are confident that you and your boat are capable of the voyage.....
I would suggest you learn your boat really well before you set off, going out sailing in the very worst weather once in a while to see if you and your boat can take it. But, most of all you must have a lot of common sense.
AWESOME answer also
 

CarlN

.
Jan 4, 2009
603
Ketch 55 Bristol, RI
Spend the first year of so in the Bahamas. Many cruisers like the Bahamas better than the Eastern Caribbean. As long as you wait for a good weather window to cross the Gulf Stream, getting there is safe and easy. Little is needed for your boat that you wouldn't already have for coastal cruising. Once you tire of the Bahamas (many never do), then you can take the much longer and harder trip to the more distant parts of the Caribbean.