Voyagers’ climate shock

 
I have a feeling my family will be in for a climate shock after spending more than a year in the tropics. At the moment it is a very pleasant 81 F and feels a bit cool with a north breeze. However, we did find the tropical summer, or rainy season, was just too much.

Temperatures weren’t that high, only up to the low 90s usually, but with the constant humidity we were sweltering, particularly in Cartagena. We find the strong north breezes and lower humidity of the dry season is much more to our liking. That is what the snowbirds are trying to achieve–travel south at the right speed to stay with the most pleasant season.

We have done the ICW many times and the Annapolis boat show defines when we head south of the Chesapeake, but several times that has perfectly coincided with the change of seasons so we had an effect almost like perpetual fall weather all the way down to Georgia. Finally, in Florida things began to heat up more, but it makes for a nice trip. On the other hand, some years we left too late and we ended up with frost on the decks many mornings down into the Carolinas! Our old catamran’s foredeck was just like a ski slope under those conditions.

By Ocean Navigator