We are about to buy a Catamaran from Fountaine Pajot for Jan-Feb delivery 2007. We are concerned that this time of year may be challenging to get out of La Rochelle, France. We live in British Columbia, Canada. Any thoughts on route back to BC?

Jan-Feb is certainly not the time to cross the Bay of Biscay in a new, untried cat… The route from the Med to BC is not easy… your best bet is to sail to Panama, transit the Canal, and then either slog your way up the west coast of Mexico and US (very very hard) or sail to Hawaii (before June), and then look over the N. Pacific High to BC – longer but easier.

The other alternative is to go eastabout, via Red Sea, N. Indian Ocean, Singapore, Japan and that way to BC.

All the various route options are described in my book World Cruising Routes (5th edition).

Good luck!

Jimmy Cornell, noonsite