Saga47swan Sailingvideo
The Long Route: Being on a schedule can give you a hard passage - Which route to the Caribbean
25 January 2026 · 5 min · 976 views · Marigot Bay, St. Martin
What this video covers
A Swan 47 S&S departs the Bahamas in the first week of January on the offshore route to St. Martin, covering what became 1,500 nautical miles over 10 days instead of the planned 1,000 — a direct consequence of sailing on a fixed schedule without a viable weather window.1:52 The offshore route strategy calls for making as much easting as possible along 25°N before turning south, ideally reaching the 65th meridian before heading for the Caribbean.1:11 The best window for this passage is November–December, when trade winds are moderate northeasterly; after January they strengthen and carry more east.1:29 Departing too early without that easting, the crew faced east-northeast headwinds from the start, sailing deep-reefed main and staysail on a port tack.3:14 A strong front from North America then pushed the trade winds south of the Virgin Islands, producing southeast headwinds that forced a tack down along Puerto Rico before northeasterlies finally allowed a run into Marigot Bay.3:41 The inshore route — the "thorny path" — is also outlined as an alternative: longer overall but with shorter legs and potentially less hard sailing.0:30 Sailing to a deadline, not a weather window, turned a 1,000-mile passage into a 1,500-mile beat.4:32
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