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Jamaica to Panama: Five Days / 590 NM
Port Antonio proved to be a practical and easy place to complete all our business, not to
mention indulge ourselves in some fun. Still, we did feel like the odd man out again. In the
southeast United States, everyone seemed headed for the Bahamas; here, the cruisers were
all staying within a triangle formed by Jamaica, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. Some-
times, forging your own path can mean a struggle with creeping doubts, but every sailor
has to heed their own ambitions, time frame, and interests. Ours stood up to the test and
pointed us steadfastly south.
After five short days in Jamaica, a fair weather window offered the promising opportunity
to reach Panama in relatively comfortable conditions. Our previous passages were only
stepping stones to this decisive leg across the central Caribbean. It was still early December
and we hoped the statistics would bear themselves out in our favor: according to pilot
charts, the wind and waves would build significantly over the coming weeks as the trade
winds started to fill in, but by then we should be in Panama - or so we hoped!
Namani
rounded the east end of Jamaica on an easy beam reach, but the rest of our
600-mile trip to Panama was a broad reach under foresail alone. We enjoyed steady north-
east or east-northeast winds the entire way, with only a gradually building cross-swell to
put on a short “complaints” list. The lightest winds came on our first full day out of Ja-
maica, giving us a chance to fly our new Parasailor with satisfying results.
Namani's
roll
evened out thanks to the lifting force of the sail's “wing,” and we made good time while
keeping the shallows of Morant Cay safely to port.
Our friend Bill had flown in to join us in Jamaica, hoping for some memorable offshore
sailing. Having a third watch-keeper aboard brought us a curious new phenomenon: free
time. On the first two legs of our trip, I was either standing watch or sleeping: there was no
in-between. On this passage, I would go off watch and straight to my bunk out of habit,
only to find that I wasn't actually sleep deprived. Now what? I quickly re-discovered the
pleasant pastimes of reading, playing games, and working on home schooling with Nicky.
Soon, we had all settled in to the new rhythm, hiding under the shade of the bimini by day
and reveling in the stars at night. For a time, we ran downwind with our twin genoa (two
symmetrical headsails sewn onto one luff tape) opened wing-on-wing. Later, with a grow-
ing swell on the beam, we poled both parts of the genoa out to one side and gybed from one
broad reach to another for a somewhat more comfortable motion. The main excitement of
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