Below is the following route with calculated fuel burn at 16knots which is the best high speed cruise for the Sirena 68 +/- 35 GPH of Fuel Burn.
1. FTL to Havana - 275 Miles
2. Havana to Cancun - 307 Miles - is it safe to leave it here for 2 weeks
3. Cancun to Belize City - 311 Miles
4. Belize City to Roatan - 116 Miles
5. Roatan to San Andres, Colombia (territory) - 480 Miles
6. San Andres to Bocas Del Toro - 228 Miles - where can i leave in this area/
7. Bocas Del Toro to Colon (town before Panama Canal) - 185 Miles
8. Colon to Punta Farfan (Other side of Canal) - 50 Miles
9. Punta Farfan to Golfito, Costa Rica - 430 Miles
The Yacht can then be shipped North from Golfito to Ensenada, Mexico or California directly. Usually it is more economical to ship to Ensenada then fly in and drive it ourselves to California.
Totals:
Miles - 2382
Fuel +/- 5210 Gallons at 16 knots
my plan is to leave the boat for 2 weeks at time at safe marina - do 1 or 2 weeks sails.
the above was suggested by my crew.
what are your thoughts..
I thought the trip would be a good experience. Thank you for recommendationsIt would be a good idea to price the shipping options if you haven’t already done so. I shipped a boat from FLL to VIC (Victoria, BC, Canada). We originally planned to run the boat to somewhere near the canal and ship it uphill from there. I priced the shipping options and learned that the shipping cost was close to the same as it would be from FLL.
I looked hard at the options and ultimately put it on a ship in FLL and offloaded VIC 3 or so weeks later. One of the factors for us was that left us the whole summer season to cruise our desired area in BC rather than in transit. Running the boat on its own bottom takes a lot of engine hours, crew dollars, and fuel gallons. IMO, only do it that way if you want to do the trip.
I will look into other routes .. thanks for the heads up on the captainsI'm not familiar with the specific boat but Google filled in some details. She carries almost 1400g of diesel and is powered by a pair of Volvo 1000hp engines so has a top speed of 28kts. A glossy magazine review showed range at 16kts to be 400 nms. Not much.
Often, going a bit slower is faster. I once played cat and mouse with a 65 ft Azimut that would do 25 kts, well in excess of the 9-1/2 kts the boat I was delivering would do.
He passed me three times because he stopped for fuel.
For this boat, if you throttle back to 9.25 it's, you still get +200nm days and have the range to run over 1000nms. May is the best month to run the Caribbean, but it can still be a bit rough, though better going southerly direction.
Assuming you mean Ft Lauderdale (FLL is the common abbreviation -; the IATA code), you might want to look at running east in the Grand Bahama straight north of Cuba to Port Antonio Jamaica and top off fuel there. From there, you could visit Grand Cayment or take a straight shot to Colon, Panama. I'm not crazy about the Roatan to Providencia leg because it brings you into Nicaraguan waters. These have had on/off issues with piracy, but it's been quiet for a few years.
From Golfito, you're really only a 2-3 weeks to SoCal. Given the boat, you might as well keep going on her own bottom, though you may have insurance limits due to hurricane season restrictions. Shipping her sounds easy, but the logistics are daunting when you get to the details of finding a marina, getting it from the marina to the ship (schedules are approximate and can vary by weeks), then the reverse on the receiving end.
Please be careful if you're looking at delivery captains. There are active threads about a guy - Ray McCormack - who looks fantastic on paper, as long as he has first pass st editing the paper. The route your crew suggests isn't great in my opinion. No way I'd run your boat at 16 kts simply because finding fuel would be a huge hassle and expensive. Seriously, checking in/out of Cuba is not piece of cake -
Good luck. Looks like a nice boat.
Peter
(Ex delivery skipper)
thank you for your replies.I'm not familiar with the specific boat but Google filled in some details. She carries almost 1400g of diesel and is powered by a pair of Volvo 1000hp engines so has a top speed of 28kts. A glossy magazine review showed range at 16kts to be 400 nms. Not much.
Often, going a bit slower is faster. I once played cat and mouse with a 65 ft Azimut that would do 25 kts, well in excess of the 9-1/2 kts the boat I was delivering would do.
He passed me three times because he stopped for fuel.
For this boat, if you throttle back to 9.25 it's, you still get +200nm days and have the range to run over 1000nms. May is the best month to run the Caribbean, but it can still be a bit rough, though better going southerly direction.
Assuming you mean Ft Lauderdale (FLL is the common abbreviation -; the IATA code), you might want to look at running east in the Grand Bahama straight north of Cuba to Port Antonio Jamaica and top off fuel there. From there, you could visit Grand Cayment or take a straight shot to Colon, Panama. I'm not crazy about the Roatan to Providencia leg because it brings you into Nicaraguan waters. These have had on/off issues with piracy, but it's been quiet for a few years.
From Golfito, you're really only a 2-3 weeks to SoCal. Given the boat, you might as well keep going on her own bottom, though you may have insurance limits due to hurricane season restrictions. Shipping her sounds easy, but the logistics are daunting when you get to the details of finding a marina, getting it from the marina to the ship (schedules are approximate and can vary by weeks), then the reverse on the receiving end.
Please be careful if you're looking at delivery captains. There are active threads about a guy - Ray McCormack - who looks fantastic on paper, as long as he has first pass st editing the paper. The route your crew suggests isn't great in my opinion. No way I'd run your boat at 16 kts simply because finding fuel would be a huge hassle and expensive. Seriously, checking in/out of Cuba is not piece of cake -
Good luck. Looks like a nice boat.
Peter
(Ex delivery skipper)
I do want to smell some roses as we sail across. Any safe and good spots to see the rosesUnless you are going to "stop and smell the roses", just running hard to get there may not be worth the trip on your own bottom. That's sorta like taking a cruise ship, stopping at a port from 8am-6pm and saying you saw such and such country! That trip easily should take 6 months as a minimum to get the flavor of the trip. The Pacific side will be the easiest part of the trip until you get to Baja going north depending on time of year. Also, plan on something breaking if on your own bottom. It's a lot easier now getting parts but still can be an issue if you have to rebuild an engine or tranny or??? I am not discouraging the trip, just trying to find the real motive for it. There is so much to experience on that trip. Just blasting along at 16 kts to get there seams such a shame if you can take advantage of a trip of a life time.
I do want to smell some roses as we sail across. Any safe and good spots to see the roses
Sam
Hello folks,
i am new to the site, i have a 68' Serina in FLL. I am looking to sail to CA this May. i will be asking you all for your experiences to plan my way.
thanks
Sam