Hey Dave,

As far south as you are now, Bermuda might be pretty tough this time of the year, even a shot to the Virgins from there could turn out to be very close-winded all the way... Last December, on a delivery I did to the BVIs, once we got across the Stream abeam of Hatteras, turned into a beat into tradewind conditions virtually all the way, not much fun at all... We would have wound up in the DR or Puerto Rico, if the breeze hadn't finally moved back around to the NNE the last couple of days. And, that was on a very close-winded boat... So, if you're still headed that way, I'd consider Bermuda to be more of a bail-out option, or only likely to happen unless you luck out with a nice period of SW to NW winds...

When we spoke briefly in Annapolis, I was a bit surprised you were headed for the Virgins, if you were gonna be headed to Panama from there, without doing more of the Eastern Caribbean (if memory serves, and I understood you correctly) At this point, have you considered just heading down through the Bahamas instead? Frankly, I think that would be the more interesting route, anyway - I think the SE Bahamas is a very cool area, lots to explore through there, perhaps even a stop at a spot like Hogsty Reef on your way to the Windward Passage (one of my few disappointments on my trip through there a couple of years ago, it was blowing too hard when I went by Hogsty to consider stopping there) You could stop in Port Antonio in Jamaica if you needed to wait for a good window to head from Panama - I have mixed feelings about Jamaica, but Port Antonio was a pretty good spot...

Or, if you're not planning a return to the States anytime soon, you could consider putting into Santiago, Cuba... (grin)

Anyway, your original route sounded fine when you were up in the Chesapeake, but now that you're as far south as you are, you might consider the Bahamas, and it would certainly lessen some of those long passage times...

Good luck, and best regards,

Jon