Cruising Central America

[sailnaway]

My wife and I are going to head south From the gulf of Mexico to Beliez and then on down to Costa Rica and through the Panama Canal and back up to Costa Rica. In Costa Rica she will teach school around Puerto Jimenez on the Osa Penisula. Any tips for going that way along the coast of Mexico to Yucatan and on around would be great. Any one been to Golfito I have only been to Puerto Jimenez and the Capitol and Aerinal.

[WHOOSH]

S:

Calder''s guide is now pretty outdated but his intro chapters on weather & passage planning remain totally current. Rauscher''s guide is the favored choice for the first part of your voyage but will peter out off the Hondorus/Nicaragua border. The Rains (husband/wife) have written a book that covers the entire span of your planned passage but I don''t think they''ve run it in smaller boats nor many sailboats; still there is at least some useful info in there.#

Pickings are slim the further S you go and the two best sources I know of are:
1. the SSCA CD covering the last 8 years of SSCA Bulletins (www.ssca.org, go to the store & select Publications); this is a great resource because you can search within the CD and also using Adobe''s more powerful search feature, cherry picking what you want to know more about.
2. Latitude 38''s many articles, usually in their Changes of Latitude column, written by sailors who - most often but not always - leave Calif. and therefore make a lot of tracks thru this part of the world. They may have some of these available on their website (www.latitude38.com) or perhaps you can buy back copies.

One final suggestion: consider posting a query on the SSCA BB with the hopes of making contact with others who''ve been there before you. An email ''pen pal'' or two would be a great resource for you.

Good luck; sail safe and be prudent when along the coast.

Jack

[Harper]

Did not see your inquiry, but Jack.s reply. A good book for Panama only, is the Ziegler book. I have been in Central America, Pacific side, for about a year (on a sailboat). If you have questions, I.d be happy to help. gypsea00@hotmail.com