Eric & Sherrell
These guidebooks were written either by us or groups of people and are offered here for free. If you want to contribute to one of these books or want to add a book contact us about it. You're on the wrong page if you are looking for our guide books on Central America.
The information is compiled by a group effort and is not reviewed for accuracy and only the guide to Colombia was written exclusively by us.
June 2010
Writen by many cruisers who have spent time in the Estuary in Bahia del Sol. The information covers local services including nearby towns and Sansalvador. Various versions of this guide exist, you can find the word version on Yahoo SouthBound Group El Salvador Files.
October 2015
We are happy to share with you Jacaranda's waypoint list for Las Perlas Islands. This is an extensive list based on their tour of the island group and they carefully charted and tested these waypoints. Use them at your own risk, remember you're the captain, not the GPS. Also check out their blog with photos of the trip.
Great shopping in Panama is not limited to boat parts! Gourmet foods, nice clothes, great food and more can all be found in the big city of Panama (known to the locals as just "Panama").
These cruiser guides will help you find some of the things you are looking for:
Panama City Guide 2014 Compact and detailed
Older City Guide With Lists by Products
City Guide to David in Northern Panama
If you are looking for more information try Yahoo Southbound Group Panama Files
Due to increased policing of both the FARC and narcotraficers the Pacific Coast of Colombia has improved its security greatly. Sarana and Nakia traveled this coast in late 2008 and since then a number of cruisers have reported good experiences from Bahia Salano, Nuqui, Isla Malpelo, Tumaco, and Isla Gorgona.
I spent several years studying Colombia and the situation there. I also interviewed dozens of local boat captains and military men while we traveled in Colombian waters. All of this information is distilled into our free guide. Cruising Pacific Coast of Colombia - The Lesser Known Coast
Also we received some correspondance from the Colombian Naval Fleet commander which was helpful for locating safe anchorages Colombia Naval Recommendations
This is a very large PDF book (300MB!) that is published by the Colombian Tourism board. A majority of this book focuses on the Carribbean side of Colombia. Much of the Pacific Coast navigational information was provided by us (Eric & Sherrell on Sarana) however some of the citations are incorrect in the book. Sadly they also did not provide readers a link to our website for our Pacific Colombia guide. If you are just curious I beg you to NOT download this book because it costs money to support the bandwidth (or you can donate a little something for your download).
The book does contain detailed navigation charts and useful information. It is also filled with a lot of tourism information and pretty pictures which make the filesize hard to distribute. For those who *really* need this information you can download a copy of "Cruising Guide To Colombia" directly from us.
Oct 2013
There is a lot of information out there about Ecuador and the Galapagos. Here are some starting points for you.
Ecuador, Peru and Galapagos Information
Waypoints and charts for the approach to Bahia de Caraquez
City guide to Bahia de Caraquez
City guide to La Libertad
How to extend your Ecuadorian Visa
City guide to Galapagos
Here's a random list of resources you might find useful.
Crew List Form in Spanish
Information on Crossing the ITCZ from Don Anderson
How El Nino or La Nina effects sailors