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  #1  
Old 24 Aug 2011
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Boat from Cartagena to Panama?
Anybody out there looking to sail from Cartagena to anywhere in Panama? I just got to Cartagena yesterday and spent the day poking around the Nautical Club, and there seem to be two boats leaving on Thursday. One is Fritz the Cat and the dude wants $950 for me and the bike. It's a 4-night trip.

I'd vastly prefer to get on a boat that's going straight to Panama, without any futzing around in the San Blas islands. A friend of mine managed to find one of those a few months ago, but as it stands most folks down at the Nautical Club say that, nope, boats doing a direct 1-day trip to Panama are a rare bird, and chances are I'm not going to find one.

Anybody out there have any experience with this? Should I be looking elsewhere, or do the only boats taking bikes leave from the Nautical Club?

I popped in to the Pesca club down the street, and the hoity-toity dude there told me in no uncertain terms that no boat would be taking me to Panama from his marina.

Cheers,
JVM
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  #2  
Old 24 Aug 2011
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Location: Bellingham, WA, USA
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If you're in a hurry and don't want to hang in the San Blas, fly from Bogota. The price will be more or less the same (more or less). You might also check flights from Medellin,

I paid about $750 on the Stahlratte last year, and everyone complained how expensive it was. There must be a lesson here, somewhere.

Good luck.

Mark
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  #3  
Old 24 Aug 2011
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Location: UK but currently on the road RTW
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Crossing the Darien
Having sailed from Panama to Colombia aboard the Stahlratte back in January and having heard first hand some of the stories from fellow travelers aboard different vessels I can quite confidently say that the Stahlratte is by far the best way to go - http://www.stahlratte.de/
Take a look here to see how EVERYONE has hiked their prices up in recent years. Flying costs a whole lot more.

HUBB - Crossing the Darien - How much is too much?

Why do you want to skip the San Blas? Time/bee before? It was the best part of the crossing for me.

Good luck finding a boat.

Adam
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  #4  
Old 24 Aug 2011
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Last I checked the price for flying was about a thousand US: bike plus one person. More heading south: about $1300 bike plus one person.

The reports of $1500 bike shipments were contradicted by direct report of others shipping bikes at the time....but who knows? The story played out more completely on ADVrider.com if anyone's interested.

There is no market whatsoever for people who want to travel by boat with their motorbikes but not stop in the San Blas. People who are in a hurry fly; people with vehicles or other large cargo use containers and fly or take San Blas boats; people with more time than money sometimes take the coastal routes and save a few bucks. Note that people with bikes are a distinct minority and don't really get to determine much of anything, including prices.

The basic advice is to check the alternatives personally, not taking anyone's word for anything--including #3 saying "flying costs a whole lot more" and me saying "the price will be more or less the same." Good luck.

Mark
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