Weather - Passage Planning

     I have reached my budget on what I'm wanting to spend on the boat. As far as extra equipment goes, we are slowing. Other than paying for it, I have to get it from Germany to Portugal, which is becoming unmanagable. We are now focusing on route planning. We have decided on two different routes and have verified the first 3/4 of the route until we get to Australia, where we can decide to go up north or cross Africa at the south end of things.

    We are choosing our leave time in December from Porto, Portugal. This will put us in the Carribbean Shortly in the new year, which gives us just a few months to get out of the way before hurricane season. We should be in or around panama before or towards the end of March at the latest.
   
Moving across to the Galapagos we will catch up by not spending as long in areas where say the WorldArc Would cruise around for a while. The best time being April to October to cruise the Pacific Islands we will try to be through to Australia by then.

    Our reference guides are Pilot Charts and World Cruising by Jimmy Cornell. Will update with further information.

Useful Passage Planning Links

http://www.offshoreblue.com/navigation/pilot-charts.php

http://www.accidentalcruiser.com/features/weatherRouting.html

Not to exclude what most reference as a must read for cirumnavigating and trade winds cruising is Jimmy Cornell's World Cruising Routes .  I will pick up a copy of this as well; but you can see our plan as of today is to get across the Panama Canal by April.

picture from weather.mailasail.com