We're planning to cross the Atlantic in our 132 North Sea trawler the 2nd half of November to go to Cartagena Colombia. The shortest route would take us along the Azores, enter the Caribbean near St. Maarten and then on to Cartagena. Would that also be the fastest route? I understand a lot of yachts cross from the Canary Islands but I guess that's because they started in the Mediterrean, not in Northern Europe. We know we probably run into some bad weather coming out of the English Channel but there isn't really away around that so we might as well leave the suffering zone as soon as possible. Any suggestions and comments are welcome. Thorwald Westmaas