CARIBBEAN LAP REPORT SV JUBEL
SV JUBEL'S CARIBBEAN LAP
SV JUBEL just finished their 1 year lap around the Caribbean. BRAVO ZULU! Here they share their story:
We are currently in progress building an HH44 Catamaran in Cebu, Philippines, which will be completed in January 2026. It's our plan to cross the Pacific to meet the boat so we can move aboard directly from JUBEL. But we didn’t come all this way from Vancouver island to skip the Caribbean. Having crossed the (Panama) Canal in September 2023, we spent some time in Bocas del Toro, the San Blas, Panama, and Cartagena, Columbia. Knowing we wanted to see the Caribbean, we decided to do a speed loop of the Windward and Leeward Islands.
The trip started from Cartagena, Colombia and we set off for Puerto Rico, or maybe the DR, on March 26th, 2024. We didn’t know where we would end up. We had heard this passage was notoriously bad, and that we may have to divert westward. So loaded with 8 extra jerry cans of diesel, we set off, along with our friends on SV VIA, a Caliber 40LRC (that holds 400+ gallons of diesel!) This trip was exactly what they say it was. We motored for 700 miles, into the wind and the waves. At times doing 3 knots. We broke our davits due to the constant slamming into the waves. We also had some flat calm days. Overall, we sailed about 10 hours out of the entire 6 days.
We ended up in Boquerón, Puerto Rico. We spent time cruising Puerto Rico for a month along the southern side of Puerto Rico, and flew home in (to Canada) in May. Our highlights are Isla Caja De Muertos, where you can hike up to the top of an abandoned lighthouse, and Isla Culebra for its snorkeling and coral farms, and of course, Costco in San Juan.
With our boat loaded with a years worth of Costco supplies in Puerto Rico we made our way to the USVI’s where it was a surprise that they drive on the opposite side of the road. We spent a few days in St. Thomas, of course, stopping at the pizza boat where we attended a massive memorial day party hosted on a catamaran while we floated in the water.
A few days on the northern side of St. Johns before making our way to the BVIs. We have a dog on board so this was pretty difficult to sort out, as you have to have a lot of paperwork and health check proofs. We met the vet in Soper’s hole where he had to inspect Ricky, our dog, in person. Once that was dealt with we made our way to pussers for a rum! This was the first island we considered “the Caribbean”, and we made it!
We spent three weeks bouncing around the BVIs including Norman Island (and the infamous Willy Ts, where we floated behind it in our Sunchill, met friends, and had beers thrown into our pool!
Anchoring at the Baths, (where our engine died coming into the anchorage, that turned out to be ricky leaning on the shutoff button!), and spending time in Virgin Gorda was also great. Our favorite anchorages were Savannah bay, and the north side of Prickly Pear Island. Having the Rum Runner bring us blended cocktails right to our boat was (also) a highlight, along with visits to Saba Rock.
From The BVIs we checked out and headed to St. Martin, stopping at the French side first. The beaches here were phenomenal. While a little run down, its very pretty, and the French food supply is amazing. We had FKG rigging come out to the boat by dinghy to give us an estimate for the standing rigging replacement that we needed. They gave us a very, very reasonable estimate and we headed over to their dock on the dutch side to have the work done. A week later, everything was brand new. Highly recommend them! We also had a new generator motor shipped here and replaced that, as our previous one had water ingress due to a manufacturing defect. St. Maarten is an amazing location for boat work and supply, especially since its all tax free. There are also great restaurants here, where we met up with some other Young Cruisers and talked shop, so we will definitely come back at some point. St. Maarten is a hit on our list!
Our next stop was Guadeloupe. It was here that we rode out hurricane Beryl. On the west side of the island behind the mountain, we set out a 10-1 scope in 20 feet of water. Luckily (for us, certainly not the islands south of us) it headed south. We were hit with 35 knots of wind and a ton of rain, but otherwise, unscathed. After the weather cleared, the view was beautiful.
We worked our way down Guadeloupe, and anchored in some very rolly anchorages - There is not much for protection on this side of the island. We stopped in several hot springs and enjoyed the natural hot water that comes out all over the island. After an absolutely brutal sail crossing from Guadeloupe to Terre-de-Haut, a group of small islands south of Guadeloupe, we went to explore and island and old fort. There is a really cute little town (but not much for food available) that you can explore.
From there we made our way to the jewel of the Caribbean, Dominica. I can not say enough about this place. It is, by far, our favourite locale in the caribbean. Absolutely untouched and unspoiled. There were no tourists, the locals were the friendliest people we have ever met, and would do anything for you. The natural beauty of this island is absolutely stunning.Waterfalls, valleys, hot springs, gorges - It has it all.
What it doesn’t have are services, restaurants, fuel docks, or supply shops. You are on your own. So bring what you need, and stay as long as you can. We grabbed a mooring ball in Portsmouth bay for $10 a night, where the PAY (Portsmouth Association of Yacht Services) will come out to the boat and give you anything you need, and help you check in. We rented a car from a local company (that we had to swap out three times because they were not in great shape - Old cars imported from Japan), they also drive on the British side of the road (in Dominica). Its like driving in the game “crazy taxi”. We drove all over the island over 5 days.
We went to visit Titou gorge where they filmed parts of the Pirates of the Caribbean
Overall, Dominica gets a 10/10 for us. We will be back to this island before our cruising career is over. Its got so much to offer, and so much that we haven’t seen, for a small island. Our provisions were running low so it was time to carry on. We made our way to Martinique from here, where we knew we could provision. And provision we did. Wine, cheese, butter, oh my. The French have food nailed down. We were here during a summer festival and I have never seen so many boats on the move, ever.
Martinique was the busiest place we’d ever been. The bays were full, with hundreds if not thousands of boats. It was way too busy for us. And they’re very not dog friendly. So after we provisioned, we carried on down to Grenada. We skipped St. Lucia for safety concerns, and therefore had to skip St. Vincent and the Grenadines due to our dog and rabies rules. That, and its been hit hard by Beryl at this point.
Grenada became our home for about a month and a half while we waited for hurricane season to subside slightly. The next stop after this was Bonaire, so hurricanes weren’t a big concern. We met up with friends, enjoyed copious wing nights, went snorkeling, and hauled out because we had won a free haul out from Spice Island Marine at the Young Cruisers Association Cruisers Awards. We were here for Carnival which was amazing.
We had tried out all the anchorages and there was a weather window coming. It was September at this point, so it was time to carry on to Bonaire. After a sporty 3 day sail downwind (oh how nice it was to go downwind finally, after beating our way east all the way to Dominica), we arrived in Bonaire. The water clarity blew our minds.
However, the lack of Starlink was frustrating after having it for so long. So back to a cell phone data plan we went, we spent our days snorkeling and swimming. We rented a car and drove around the whole island, stopping to feed the roadside donkeys apples and carrots.
Bonaire was definitely another highlight. The freediving and snorkeling is amazing. Its everything its cracked up to be.
We skipped Curacao and headed to Aruba to meet friends and for my parents to fly in. We loved Aruba - Dove on a shipwreck, swam with turtles, went out to fantastic restaurants, played some slot machines, had some pool days at the Hyatt pool, and even found a Canadian bar that had Poutine and took Canadian money!
Now here we are in Cartagena once again, having crossed our track when we left 8 months ago, so very happy we traveled where we did and saw what we saw. The experiences will stick with us forever, and we hope to go back to some of the islands once again in the future. Now, its time to go back to San Blas one more time before we prepare for our grand adventure across the Pacific!
SY JUBEL 🇨🇦 Leah & Kyle - Gulfstar 44'
THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR HIGHLIGHTS FROM YOUR 8 MONTH CARIBBEAN LOOP
PANAMA CANAL
Seven Wonders of the Modern World
The earth and rubble removed between Colon and Balboa was enough to bury Manhattan to a depth of 12 feet. It connects the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean across the Isthmus of Panama, via 6 locks facilitating international maritime trade. The maximum vessel dimensions are:
15.2 m /49.8 ft draft
51.25 m / 168 ft width
366 m / 1201 ft length
57.91 m / 190 ft height ( 205′ possible at MLW )
FEES
Transit Tolls. $1,935.00 up to 64.99ft (As of January 1st, 2024)
$2,130.00 up to 64.99ft (As of January 1st, 2025)
Transit inspection $120.00
Transit Security fee $165.00
Canal EDCS $75.00
Fenders & lines rental $125.00
Bank charges $90.00 3% Visa/Mastercard
Agent service Fee $450.00 up to 65ft
$75.00 General Discount
STEPS
1) CONTACT AGENT TO GET ADDED TO THE SYSTEM AND SUBMIT VIRTUAL MEASUREMENTS ( or do it your self with cash with the Panama Canal Authority )
2) PAY THE FEES TO AGENT
3) SUBMIT MEASUREMENT ( submit virtually )
4) GET YOUR DATE
5) VOLUNTEER AS A LINE HANDLER ON ANOTHER YACHT
6) PLAN OUT YOUR TRANSIT NEEDS 4 LINE HANDLERS / FENDERS AND LINES / FOOD / WATER ETC ( watch video )
7) ON THE DAY OF TRANSIT BE READY AND TAKE ON THE ADVISOR AT THE DESIGNATED LOCATION ( usually near a buoy )
8) TRANSIT
9) DROP OFF ADVISOR
10) DROP OF LINE HANDLERS
11) RETURN LINES AND FENDERS
PANAMA POSSE CANAL AGENTS
To arrange for transit with the Panama Canal Authority please contact our dedicated Panama Canal agents and sponsors of the Panama Posse and the Pacific Posse
CENTENARIO CONSULTING
Erick Gálvez
info@centenarioconsulting.com
www.centenarioconsulting.com
Cellphone +507 6676-1376
WhatsApp +507 6676-1376
WAYPOINT YACHT SERVICES
www.waypointyacht.com
The Panama Canal—Atlantic Approach
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The Atlantic Entrance to the Panama Canal leads from the Caribbean Sea, close N of the Cristobal breakwater entrance, passing through the length of Bahia Limon, which is protected by two breakwaters known as East Breakwater and West Breakwater, extending across its N end. This entrance has been recently (2016) widened to 520m and lies in the middle of the bay between the seaward ends of the breakwaters, marked by 6 buoys. Winds—Weather.—The climatological year in the canal area is customarily divided into a wet season (April through December) and a dry season (December through April). Average rainfall during the dry season is about 110mm, whereas that of the wet season is about 1,690mm, with the maximum precipitation occurring during daylight hours in both seasons. Uniformly high temperature and humidity make the climate oppressive. Regulations.—An IMO-approved TSS has been established in the approaches to Puerto Cristobal. The TSS, best seen on the chart in the outer approaches to Puerto Cristobal, is composed of the traffic separation scheme, several inshore traffic zones, and a precautionary area.
Puerto Cristobal 09° 21’N 079° 55’W Tides—Currents.—The greatest variation in range is 0.6m. The range is frequently more affected by the direction of the wind than by any other factor. Fresh NW winds may cause some current setting SE in Bahia Limon. An E set across the channel outside the entrance is normally encountered. Shallow water effect frequently causes vessels to respond adversely
Depths—Limitations
From the 20m curve N of the breakwater entrance, the depths gradually decrease to about 16m between the breakwaters, 16.5m in the charted channel, and 16.2m between a 40m standoff from the W breakwater coastline and a standoff distance from the E breakwater coastline, and to a least depth in the dredged entrance channel of 13m. The S part of Bahia Limon is shallow; this area is also used as a spoil area. A shoal area here uncovers. Several wrecks lie in this part of the bay. The harbor has depths of 7.9 to 11.3m.
Pilotage
Pilotage is compulsory for the Panama Canal, including Puerto Cristobal. Pilots board either on arriving inside the breakwaters or at the anchorage. Pilots leave outbound vessels after passing the lighted beacon W of Muelle Cristobal and when the vessel is steadied on its course; however, pilots will accompany vessels to a position just inside the breakwater entrance if desired. An ETA is required to be sent at least 96 hours in advance. Vessels approaching the canal from the Atlantic must report 12 hours before arrival at Puerto Cristobal any change of 1 hour or more in their ETA on VHF channel 12. Pilots do not operate outside the breakwater. For Panama Canal Pilot Contact Information, see table titled Panama Canal Pilots—Contact Information, in paragraph Regulations.—All vessels must hoist their designator signals during daylight when approaching and entering Bahia Limon. Vessels must call the signal station on VHF channel 12. Vessels shall, until a pilot boards, maintain a continuous watch on VHF channels 12 and 16. Vessels approaching the Panama Canal shall communicate by radio with the Navigation Division not less than 48 hours in advance of arrival. No vessel may approach within 1 mile of the breakwater entrance until it has identified itself. Anchorage.— At all times large deep-draft vessels and/or any vessel so directed may anchor outside the breakwater in the approved area. Vessels will be given a definite time to enter the breakwater, where the vessel will be met by transit pilots and boarding officials. Anchorage Area F at Puerto Cristobal has been resurveyed. Depths are approximately 1.3m less than charted. Anchorage is prohibited in or near the axis of the dredged channel.
Caution.—A submarine telephone cable, which may best be seen on the chart, lies W of the approved anchorage areas. Mariners anchoring W of the approved anchorages should keep clear of this cable. Battery Pratt is no longer available and Cristobal Signal Station VHF channel 12 provides no additional information. Vessels required to remain underway outside Bahia Limon are cautioned to keep N of the breakwaters until it is clear to enter before departing the lower chamber. Pilots board in position 9°24.5’N, 79°53.8’W. Regulations.—The Panama Canal Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS) covers the approaches to Colon and its terminals.
Contact Information
National Port Authority
Telephone +507-510-5106 +507-510-5227
E-mail dpuertos@amp.gob.pa
Web site http://www.amp.gob.pa
Port Authority Telephone +507-430-9500
The Panama Canal
The Panama Canal, a lock-type canal traversing the Isthmus of Panama in a SSE direction for approximately 43 miles, connects Bahia Limon on the Atlantic side with Panama Bay on the Pacific side. The ports of entry for the canal are Cristobal, on the Atlantic side, and Balboa, on the Pacific side. All ships should be familiar with the Panama Canal Authority home page, especially the Maritime Services tab where there are Maritime Regulations. These regulations can be accessed from the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) home page provided below. Vessels should also be familiar with the Notices to Shipping section from the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) home page, most notably the Panama Canal Harbor Operations Requirements and the Panama Canal Vessel Requirements. Vessels should consult these regulations prior to transiting. A brief discussion of some of these regulations and requirements are provided for reference in this paragraph. These regulations apply to all navigable waters in the Atlantic entrance and the Atlantic anchorage areas, the port of Cristobal, and through the canal itself. The Panama Canal is largely made possible by the Gatun Lake watershed, which has a maximum operating level of 27.1m above sea level, and can vary according to the season of the year, or due to prolonged periods of no rainfall, and the Rio Chagres, which lies about in the middle of the Isthmus of Panama. Gatun Lake is reached through three sets of locks, which are arranged in duplicate on either side of the most elevated part of the canal, or through the new Atlantic and Pacific side expansion locks. The canal has recently completed (2016) a multi-year extensive expansion project to accommodate vessels that exceed the old Panamax dimensions. The expansion project has included the following improvements: 1. Widening and deepening of the Gatun Lake navigational channel, 2. Construction of a third set of locks on the Pacific (Cocoli Locks) and Atlantic (Agua Clara Locks) sides. 3. Raising the maximum operational level of Gatun Lake. 4. Widening of channel reaches and the turns in Gatun Lake. 5. Construction of a new Pacific Access channel that will bypass Miraflores Lake and the Miraflores Locks, connecting the new Pacific locks with the Culebra Cut. 6. Deepening of the Culebra Cut. The original Canal lock gates and valves are electrically operated from a central control station. The entire operation is directed by a lock master on the center wall. All of the canal lock chambers are similar in dimensions and method of operation. In transiting the canal, a vessel is raised in three steps, or lockages; first to the level of Gatun Lake through the Gatun Locks, then is subsequently lowered in three steps to sea level on the other side of the isthmus. The flights of locks are in duplicate, enabling vessels to pass in opposite directions simultaneously. Although two-way transit is possible, traffic typically transits the canal in shifts of northbound traffic or southbound traffic, running both channels in the same direction simultaneously. The average canal transit time is 12 hours. Fo Small vessel it may take up to 2 days The Panama Canal Expansion project has added two new sets of locks; one on the Atlantic Ocean side (Agua Clara Locks) and one on the Pacific Ocean side (Cocoli Locks). The new Atlantic side lock complex is situated E of the existing Gatun Locks and the new Pacific side lock complex is located SW of the existing Miraflores Locks.
The actual transit time is advised over VHF channel 12.
All vessels underway in the canal will maintain a continuous watch on VHF channel 13.
Bridge to bridge communications between vessels in the canal will be carried out on VHF channel 13 as well.
During the time when the Canal pilot is on board, VHF channel 13 may only be used by the pilot or at his direction, solely for navigational communications.
All communications between the Signal Station and vessels should be in English.
If any of the following events occur during canal transit, a report must be made to the Marine Traffic Control Unit:
1. Any accident or other incident which may cause delay or require assistance.
2. Discovery of any defect that may interfere with safe navigation.
3. Anchoring or mooring when visibility falls below 305m including during heavy squalls
PANAMA CANAL OVERVIEW
DETAILS
WARNING !!!
09° 21 33.56' N 079° 56.1133' W
Two boats have reported running aground in the area near Shelter Bay Marina, despite charted depths over 4m
(reported depths under 2m). In each case their advisor directed them over the shallows. Caution advised!
PANAMA CANAL CHARTS
DOWNLOAD REFERENCE CHARTS
- PANAMA CANAL Chart 21602 »
- PANAMA CANAL Chart 21604 »
- PANAMA CANAL CHART 26068 >>
- PANAMA CANAL CHART 21603 >>
