[WHOOSH]

Stacey, with your past experiences you''ll know well that different crews have differing capacities for hardship, so perhaps Brazil won''t be the challenge for you it represents for others...but while I''m very hopeful of visiting Brazil in the future, it will be from the Cape Verdes, I think. The run down from the E Caribbean looks like much effort for boats like ours, which after all weren''t set up for heavy windward work.

FWIW - all highly subjective, of course - here is what I''d offer up as the Caribbean''s cruising highlights if ''off the beaten track'', low expense, safety/security and variety were my criteria:
-- T&C (beyond Provo - gin clear waters, ''old Bahamas'' feel, good ''stepping stones'' S & E
-- DR (one coast or the other), altho'' I think Luperon has become greedy and corrupt enough (not re: safety, just trying to pinch the visitors) that a stop would probably irk me some
-- Puerto Rico, for many logistical and cruising reasons; our favorite stop bar none was to sit behind 3 reefs at La Parguera (SW corner) with the entire Caribbean Sea in front of us, no swell, good snorkeling, and find a friendly little town, nice grocery, etc. a short dink ride away; definitely not off the beaten track but inexpensive and the museums in Ponce'' and hsitorical sights in San Juan are wonderful
-- French Is. in E Caribbean chain; like being in sunny France and unique for that reason; don''t get hung up about clearance duties too much because obviously they don''t!
-- Trinidad (and Tobago for different reasons, tho'' we didn''t get there); pick up a mooring at TTSA which won''t be too expensive, avoid the Yachtie Ghetto next door in Chag Bay except for ''necessaries'' and marvel at such a rich ethnic mix and history while enjoying the nicest people I think we''ve ever met; visit the abandoned Leper Colony by boat - fascinating!
-- Basically all of the Central Caribbean, which I would define as including the S Coast of Hispaniola (don''t miss Ile a Vache''; yes, I know it''s in Haiti...), Jamaica (you, the fisherman, and few others), Grand Cayman (''the'' First World stop in the Caribbean, but North Sound is a wonderfully comfy stop, and your daughter can feed the rays at her feet), and the Honduran Bay Is. (each one different).
-- the Rio Dulce, tho'' again the check-in and marina costs need to be anticipated.
-- We did the Belize Boogie due to time pressure, but I think most folks would expect me to add Belize to the list; inexpensive, many anchorages, and remote offshore atolls that are unique in the Americas

A combo of charter fleets, much yachtie traffic these days up & down the Chain, some islands with only deep anchorages and therefore mooring fields - in fact, mooring fields in many places! - all left us underwhelmed by some of the Eastern Chain...but there were also exceptions that made island hopping painless.

Good luck with those leaks!

Jack