[Mkfcdl]

I realize this is against conventional thought, but here goes . . .

We (my wife, 4 year old, and myself) will be leaving the western Gulf of Mexico coast in late May with plans to ultimately end up in Panama. Our boat is essentially ready with probably the only last major project being SSB installation. I''m happy with the boat, I think our sailing skills are ready for the trip, and best of all now is the time to go.

However, therein lies the issue--the timing of starting the trip. Because of things beyond our control, our window is the three months of June, July, and August for at least part of this trip. We would like to start at Isla Mujeres and hop down the Central American coast to Panama; however, I realize it''s quite humid, rainy, and sometimes far between decent ports. However, this route would likely allow us to be far enough south by July that any early season hurricanes would be more avoidable since these are most likely to originate from the Atlantic versus late season bloomers from the Caribbean itself.

A second route is to go down the windwards and simply plan to pull the boat out of the water for the hurricane season probably in Puerto Rico. After hurricane season, then we would fly back to P.R. and take the boat the rest of the way to Panama. I think the advantages of this route might be better summertime weather with more anchorage/port options with the downside of course being the risks of an early season hurricane.

I have planned both routes and would like the opinions of others. I realize cruising this late is not necessarily advisable but neither is not cruising, IMO. And despite the risk-taking this approach implies, we are actually quite careful and conservative in our sailing. Unfortunately, we have only a certain time window for cruising and thus our dilemma.

I welcome your suggestions and thoughts,
Marcus