I'm planning a long distance cruise this spring from the eastern
Caribbean over to the western side of Mexico and would appreciate any
recommendations for trip planning software, as well any anchorages along
the way.

Does anyone have a favorite tool for determining the best routes and
potential way points & anchorages. I'd like to be able to research as
much of this as possible in advance (on land) in order to estimate the
duration of our cruise, reasonable fuel usage, food requirements, etc.

Thanks

Rick,

For planning and waypoint/route-listing I use Visual Passage Planner
2.0.
This program helps you decide your route supported by historical data
(per month of the year) regarding windspeed and -direction, waveheight,
currents, etc. You can download a free demo at digwave.com.

My top 3 sources for anchorages:

1) I use read the ssca-bulletins at ssca.org in which cruisers tell
stories with a lot of info. They describe anchorages, sources of
provisioning, fuel, boatyards and tell you about relevant experiences
they've had there. When you are a member you can dl the pdf-files. Also
you can search the bulletins fi using the term "mexico". Not all of the
authors deserve an award for writing capabilities but it sure is a
sound info-source.

2) I always like to read other cruisers weblogs for lat/lons of
anchorages.
Take a look fi at
http://www.bumfuzzle.com/Pages/Misce...Anchorages.htm
Would be nice to have a database like that maintained by the ssca based
on all the cruisers-reports.... I even asked the ssca if they see any
advantage in that... no answer yet.
Oh well, maybe things would become too simple...

3) of course GoogleEarth is a help in determining nice anchorages.

Fair winds, Len.



AMPowers schreef:

I'm planning a long distance cruise this spring from the eastern
Caribbean over to the western side of Mexico and would appreciate any
recommendations for trip planning software, as well any anchorages along
the way.

Does anyone have a favorite tool for determining the best routes and
potential way points & anchorages. I'd like to be able to research as
much of this as possible in advance (on land) in order to estimate the
duration of our cruise, reasonable fuel usage, food requirements, etc.

Thanks

My web site, www.GeoffSchultz.org, has almost daily logs and photos of my
trek through the area. Check out 2001/2002.

-- Geoff

AMPowers wrote in news:Kt9dh.26095$wP1.16318
@newssvr14.news.prodigy.net:

I'm planning a long distance cruise this spring from the eastern
Caribbean over to the western side of Mexico and would appreciate any
recommendations for trip planning software, as well any anchorages along
the way.

Does anyone have a favorite tool for determining the best routes and
potential way points & anchorages. I'd like to be able to research as
much of this as possible in advance (on land) in order to estimate the
duration of our cruise, reasonable fuel usage, food requirements, etc.

Thanks