This year’s Panama Posse, a flotilla of power and sail boats that cruise from southern California to the Panama Canal and on to the Caribbean and Florida, is forming. Indeed, the posse will hold its kickoff events from October 20 to 28 in San Diego, Shelter Island and Chula Vista.
You don’t have to go the entire way; you can join the posse for a while and then set your own course. But if do want to stay for the entire journey, the itinerary includes Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Roca, Panama, the Panama Canal, Jamaica, Roatan, the Yucatan Peninsula, Cuba and Key West. What a trip!
The main idea behind the posse is safety in numbers, as well as continually updated, accurate cruising information. Each week participants from different spots send information about weather, anchorages and cruising conditions to other members of the group.
Along the way, you can go at your own pace if you want, or you can cruise with other members. Either way, you’ll stay connected via a 24/7 chat focusing on facts from boats ahead of you. There are weekly live group calls to go over weather, logistics and much more. You’ll also save money with discounts at more than 75 marinas along the route as well as for rental cars and some services. Accurate weather routing is available from Marine Weather Center and Chris Parker.
Communications available include VHF, marine SSB, HAM radio, sat phone, IridiumGo, Starlink, Garmin Tracker, and Inmarsat Fleet Broadband.
The Panama Posse was started in 2017 to promote safe cruising and to help boats navigate the Pacific Coast through the Panama Canal and up to Florida at the start of the cruising season. The first year the Posse attracted 83 boats. So far, 165 boats have registered for this year’s event.
Read more: http://panamaposse.com
