Depending on the sailboat, the route that is taken, the wind, and the current it can take anywhere between 22 and 40 days.When I crossed from Panama to the Marquesas (sans Galapagos Islands) it took us 26 days. While the dreadful grind of the ice pack in the Far North and the towering graybeards of the Southern Ocean have their devotees, most sailing fantasies turn toward the seductive strum of the ukulele, the swaying palms and the white-sand beaches of the exotic South Pacific. We dont ask for money, but if youd like to find out how you can help the site in more organic ways, click the button below. Albeit increasingly expensive, cruising permits are normally obtainable upon arrival, but check the cruising websites and forums for current and accurate information. A big advantage to having two, three, or more, people crewing a Pacific crossing is the night watches. Read the Cook Islands Backpacking Guide HERE! Food is fuel and a happy gut makes for a happy mind. Road tripping around New Zealand is bloody dreamy: the hiking and the mountains are off the charts, and the people are just so friendly! Keeping up your health and sanity when youre halfway between nowhere and nowhere is a far bigger hurdle in my opinion.If you can heave-to during a storm, know how to fix the worst of what can break, and eat plenty of citrus you should be on the right track! Copyright 2022 Northstar Travel Media, LLC. But every mammoth task is made up of smaller puzzle pieces that come together. Plus, the diving is pretty great. For those on the southern route, the four- to five-day passage to Aitutaki or Rarotonga offers a predictable beam-to-broad reach right on the rhumb line. There are sweet Australian road trips, and working opportunities abound for the boat bum. Essentially, being prepared is about organisation and organisation is about lists. As an admittedly stubborn form of protest, I sailed right by them on two different occasions. But scattered across this great blue spectacular, are various incarnations of paradise on Earth.Oh, the Pacific Islands! Preparing systems and the backup systems to backup systems is all part of your preparation. You crossed an ocean. Cruising World may receive financial compensation for products purchased through this site. The crushed peach sunsets and clear, stargazing nights will reward you tenfold. Those first stopping in Fatu Hiva have met with mixed results, ranging from spot fines to official clearance. West Coast sailors may depart from as far north as the Strait of Juan de Fuca, near Seattle, or dally south to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, while awaiting the passage season. You can rent one of over 30,000 boats. Even going on to travel Southeast Asia, or India, are not out of the question for the brave circumnavigator. I reckon you could get lost in the Tuamotus for a lifetime as long as the freshwater doesnt run out. But we do it because we love it we love providing epic and free content. Bureaucrats love the pomp and splendor of shiny paper, and your precious original boat documents can stay safely on the vessel. Find the pack that suits YOU. What kind of person puts thousands of nautical miles between them and the nearest semblance of land? You can set off from Mexico or Ecuador, for example. Thus, the usual advice is to fall off the southeast trades and make some westing in anticipation of that southwest-to-northwest change. So, to crew or not to crew? Still, good fishing, chatty locals, and picturesque islands make it worth sailing through. The worlds best scuba diving, spearfishing, and lazy hammock days are your juicy reward for crossing the worlds greatest ocean! Yes with several caveats. It tends to shift to the northeast in El Nio years and southwest in the La Nia phase. There is only one shoal area along the route, which is well-charted (8 degrees 5 minutes N and 139 degrees 35 minutes W), and the islands are high and easily sighted from afar. If all else fails, high protein and high sugar snacks like peanut butter make the night watches go quicker! Sailboat life is essentially vanlife without the ability to go for a hike and ignore your partner for a while. If early in the season, all are worth visiting. If there were ever a sticky place to tempt my wandering feet to settle down, itd be New Zealand. A veteran voyager shares route information and tips for sailing across the Pacific Ocean. Its worth remembering that your boat is probably stronger than you. Sure, you can be prepared and sure, the beaches will be nice. Does a westward passage commit one to a circumnavigation, or are there strategic exit points? Its a whole different kettle of fish down under, mate. Avast and fair winds, fellow sailors. Youre completely unplugged so no damn Instagram! Far less dangerous than driving a car or riding a motorbike. It is universally accepted that there is no good weather window for doing the Direct Route. Or, yknow you can stick to ziplock bags. In Tahiti, the Milk Run divides into myriad possibilities. Another who pickled their own foods. Be prepared for what life throws at you. In addition you could stop at any of these points along one of the 3 routes that you have chosen: List links to discussion threads on partnering forums. As anchoring depths are prohibitive, deep moorings are available. What might lines do next? What might be an over-the-counter medication in one country can be highly prohibitedin another. As you straighten course toward your chosen port of entry in the Marquesas, you should begin experiencing your best noon-to-noon runs because you will still have a southerly component in the trades. With this in mind, the best time to sail across the Pacific Ocean becomes clearer. The cost and conditions of a stay in the Galpagos are forever changing. We bring you epic FREE content!Find out how YOU can help support us.

A popular alternative is to pass south to a good cyclone hole on the Australian coast, such as Cairns or Port Douglas, and backtrack up to the Torres Strait at the beginning of the next safe season. They are all lush, high and ringed by azure seas. And now, as only a seasoned mariner can, you truly understand why they call it the Big Blue.

If you want MORE top-tier Broke Backpacker content like this, then sign up for our weekly newsletter below to get the latest and greatest! Next is the paper chase. Required fields are marked *. Nevertheless, those planning to sail directly through Torres Strait into the Indian Ocean cannot afford to dally. But before one gets into the minutia of details, they should first step back and consider the bigger picture of sailing across the Pacific. Theres also a pristine and sparsely populated coastline good for nothing but surfing and sailing! I once sailed a direct course for the Marquesas Islands that passed over the northern edge of the Galpagos. There are people that want you home in one piece. Ascertain if the year of passage has been deemed an El Nio or La Nia year because these phenomena can affect the above. First, ensure that every crewmembers passport is as current as possible. The anchorages tend to be open roadsteads, so anti-roll tactics and equipment come in handy. Some sailors choose to sell their boats here. When on land you notice that they chew with their mouth open and sometimes like to rant about how the world is going to end in the next ten years. From the outset of their voyage, some have planned to sell their yacht in New Zealand or Australia rather than carry on with a circumnavigation or a very lengthy sail back to the United States, especially if they are East Coast residents. Its a comfort knowing theres someone else out there also afraid of the sea monsters! The 3,000-mile passage from the Galpagos to the Marquesas will probably be the longest of your sailing career. ). You have absorbed the exotic cultures of Central Americans, Polynesians, Micronesians and Melanesians. If the intention is to reach all the way to Cape Horn, then the route can be attempted in early summer or before -- perhaps as early as September. Danger is a relative concept. The trade wind belt runs across the main body of the Pacific Ocean between about 25 degrees north and 25 south, and the prevailing winds will be either north easterly or south easterly, depending on which hemisphere you are travelling in. Generally speaking, this lends itself to an east to west crossing. But anyone with a little preparation and a bit of know-how can leave themselves a margin of escape. If this section does not apply remove it. The Milky Way is so clear, you feel like if you just reached your hand a little further you might just touch the stars.

The definitions and delineations of a sea versus an ocean are complex, contested and best left to the learned geographers to debate.

To break up the 1,200-nautical-mile haul to American Samoa from the Society Islands, the northern fleet usually takes a break in the remote and uninhabited atoll of Suwarrow, also known as Suvorov. You also need a crew that is in tip-top shape and mentally prepared for the long passage ahead. All rights reserved. If the early Polynesian navigators can do it, though, so can you and your tin can. The very size of the Pacific presents unique challenges, but so too do its strong currents, powerful storms, hazardous coral outcrops and remote low-lying islands. Every boat Ive been on has had its own take on the one-pot curry. The Pacific Ocean has been singing a siren song promising palm trees, balmy weather, and peaceful winds for centuries. It is essentially a conglomeration of several routes, each of which has many possibilities. Even when on night watch, you need something to keep you occupied. Things go wrong on the road ALL THE TIME.

The best time to attempt the Roaring Forties route is at the end of the southern hemisphere summer -- in March or April. If I ever end up on the run, dont go looking for me (or my mermaid look-alike) in the Cook Islands! People always ask me how bad the weather was at sea. Theres not a lot of balmy weather down there, mate. But if you can hunt around for the right latitude, its downwind sailing (yay)! We welcome users' contributions to the Wiki. This will enable you to get some good northing into your passage before bashing endlessly into the trade winds. On one side is the Americas, and somewhere over there is Australia and New Zealand. One can only hope to draw a thin line through this scattered nation. Your friend might be a perfectly competent sailor. Because of course, they did. Also, the point of cruising the Pacific is usually balmy weather. For example, departing New Zealand this route can be used to reach the Cook Islands or French Polynesia instead of a complete Trans-Pacific passage if that is your intention. Again, thank you! And then let the shenanigans begin.

All prices USD. Glad you asked cause weve got the answers! It is both Polynesian and Melanesian, and it is also home to a large Indian diaspora. What is the One Item Every Traveller NEEDS??? A storm holds a captivating spot in our psyche and for good reason. Thus, with 90 days in pocket, you can divide your time between the Marquesas, Tuamotus and Societies more evenly than in years past. Fiji is a bit of a crossroads within the Pacific. Just you in your tiny boat-universe traversing the sea and the stars. Vessels head out to the east from as far south as Tauranga hoping to catch the northerly limits of the westerlies until they fetch the longitude of the Austral Islands, then turn north for Tahiti. There is no way for me to write a succinct list of all the tools you need to sail across the Pacific Ocean. What is this forgotten essential of the backpacker-life? And there is no better way to travel the Pacific than by sailboat. Keeping in touch via the radio is also a useful and fun way of getting weather and gossip. This passage can take anywhere from 23 to 40+ days in a sailboat. So when is it best to sail across the Pacific Ocean? Maybe its called getting old or one too many close calls but having insurance kind of puts your rational mind at ease. A pretty epic continent is bound to get under your skin. It can be hard to sleep at the best of times on a boat, but it can be done.Might just be me, but the sea monsters are kinda scarier when you sail alone too. Nothing is ever impossible, but youve got to have some patience with the winds to sail across the Pacific Ocean from west to east. But if push came to shove, you would learn real fast to mend your sail. Whats important is that you keep your mind occupied. document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); And for transparencys sake, please know that some of the links in our content are affiliate links. Yachts can clear in at Hiva Oa, Ua Pou or Nuku Hiva. On another Pacific passage, I chose to head south for Bahia de Caraquez in Ecuador. The South Pacific convergence zone drifts with some seasonal predictability (more to the north from December to May and the south from June to November), but is also influenced by larger weather anomalies. So do your stem to stern inspection, steel your nerves, and cast off to sail across the Pacific Ocean. Join the Tribe, Home Blog Sailing Across The Pacific: The ULTIMATE Sailboat Adventure! If you can focus on the journey instead of the destination, it might also be the most memorable. The principal difference between an adventurer and a suicide is that the adventurer leaves himself a margin of escape. Tom Robbins. She can always be found somewhere between the ocean and the land, lifting her laptop skyward for a WiFi signal Australia-born and New Zealand-based, Indigo preens The Broke Backpacker's destination guides, updating the old, bringing the new, and tagging that alongside scoops from the life of an aquatic traveller. If you are considering this route, you need a boat that will be good upwind, and also be prepared to face large oncoming seas for most of the journey. There are variations on this Coconut Milk Run. Many modern sailors tend to fill the Pacific void with a frenetic schedule of radio nets, emails and obsessive navigational updates. Its not the most hardcore jump-in-the-deep-end training for your Pacific passage, but having a taste of the boat life is probably a good idea! Sailing Routes Across the Pacific(and how long they take), Oh, the Places Youll Go (during your Pacific passage), When to Jump the Pacific Puddle (so you dont die), What You Will Need to Cross the Pacific Ocean by Sailboat, Final Thoughts on Sailing Across the Pacific. They dont ask about keeping healthy while travelling, breakdowns at sea, or navigation nearly as often. This is Serious Writer Business. Entrances to the main ports are open and well-marked, thus safely approached, a blessing for a fatigued crew. Others soak up the rare opportunity to commune deeply with nature, and experience a rare solitude and reaffirming self-reliance, which I believe to be the core virtues of bluewater sailing. You cant expect to know this series of islands intimately in just one visit. That pun didnt really work in the third person, but were rolling with it. Sailing is the ultimate slow travel. This route takes you up through South East Asia and into the North Pacific. This is all good when you can leave the bar and have a break from them. This route can be fast, but also tiring and damaging to both boat and crew. Encompassing an area larger than Western Europe, the Tuamotus are the longest chain of atolls in the world. All good boat plans are written in the sand at high tide, so of course, there are some deviations from the popular route.

Here's how to add a credit card surcharge, A Floriade river cruise grows in the Netherlands, Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection, Papeete, Society Islands, French Polynesia, Royal Caribbean Group scraps Covid testing requirement for short cruises, Busy cruise pier in Skagway closes due to rockslide risk, FAA proposes long-awaited rule requiring second cockpit door on new planes. So by the time you get to Palermston Atoll, you can throw your watch overboard! Rather than see food as a cumbersome challenge, think of it as a means for innovation. Crossing the Pacific Ocean can be dangerous, but you can mitigate those risks. CL example: This page was last modified on 22 August 2018, at 10:17. The Roaring Forties has broken stronger sailors than me. For European and East Coast sailors, the Pacific launching point is obviously the Panama Canal. Crossing the Pacific Ocean in a Sailboat WHY? What kind of maniac dreams of sailing across the Pacific? Basically, this is several smaller passages up through the Coral Sea, through Southeast Asia and Japan, and then across the Northern Pacific. Leaving it until June allows only six months to transit up to 9,000 nautical miles before being forced to exit the cyclone belt at the western edge of the Pacific. The other advantage of this route is that it can be taken as a partial passage. You, your crew and your splendid craft have spanned the mightiest body of water on Earth. Theres also the added dynamic of captain vs crew. Any destination north of 10 degrees south latitude will keep you out of harms way, albeit without the steady assist of those lovely trade winds. The cultures throughout Polynesia have long been an allure to sailors, and many are reluctant to leave at seasons end. Charts will be the same as for the East to West passage but read them backwards. There are some great books and resources made by far better fishermen than me on this matter. But, when youre in a small sailboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, you may not want to hear about the apocalypse for the twelfth time in as many days while watching food entirely miss their mouth. You might not leave port knowing how to sew anything more than a button to your pants. So lets get into it lets get you ready to cross the Pacific Ocean by sailboat! This is how I remember sailing across the Pacific Ocean. You will also avoid the cyclone season of the Caribbean. With good communication, sailing across the ocean with your partner can create an unshakable bond that transforms and solidifies your partnership. Even with the best of modern navigational equipment and weather forecasting, they demand the mariners absolute vigilance regarding watchkeeping, entry and exit from atoll passes, and anchoring techniques. The biggest hurdle to solo sailing is standing watches. Because the intertropical convergence zone (better known as the doldrums) is widest in the eastern Pacific, it is best crossed at the least oblique angle reasonable. It is something quite spectacular to crack a beer on the other side of the Pacific knowing that those nautical miles were earned. Contributing editor, Alvah Simon, and his wife, Diana, are presently sailing New Zealand waters on their cutter Roger Henry, with occasional voyages to the South Pacific islands. Increasingly, foreign marinas demand third-party liability insurance. Please click on Comments to view other users' comments, add your own personal experiences or recommend any changes to this page following your visit. Close. Copyright 2022 Cruising World. That fortunate discrepancy you will notice between your speed on the log (i.e., through the water) versus the GPS speed (over the bottom) is compliments of the South Equatorial Current, which fortifies with the steadier trades. Use the Transpacific cruise schedule calendar below to find a Transpacific cruise sailing by departure port, cruise line, or ship. Some will stop in and travel the Galapagos, others will charge on through. Is the dream and determination shared equally, or will the plan unravel with the first gale? I guess you have to have a certain cognitive dissonance to cast off and not see land for over a month! Not only was the cruise down the Ecuadorian coast fascinating, the passage to the Galpagos from Salinas provided steadier winds than had we departed directly from the canal. A look at what went into Scenic Group's planning and execution of the sailings that include a visit to the Floriade flower show Summer reading assignment: Autobiographies by Chris Blackwell and J. Robert Harris reveal as much about the world as any travel Like the rest of Europe, Portugal is baking right now. I like to remember that a day spent preparing in the dock is worth a week at sea. An odyssey of mythical proportions lies ahead of the intrepid sailor who takes on such a crossing. But as you proceed west-southwest toward 6 degrees south latitude and 100 degrees west longitude, they should increase in both strength and consistency. No one can take away the fact that you did it. Add in the challenges of cooking underway and fatigue and you are primed to get creative in the galley! However you made it, and whatever customs form you had to fill out to prove it, you arrived in Australia the famed Land Down Under. I think I powered through close to forty books in the first Pacific passage I was on. Dammit New Zealand, youre pretty freaking sweet! Leaving as early as late January might technically put one out into the Pacific during the official cyclone season, but the statistical chances of a storm developing this far to the east are slim. To sail across the Pacific, youre going to need food obviously! The three main options for sailing from west to east are: Ok, I lied I would love to do the Roaring Forties passage! Tribal Bali: The Best Coworking Hostel in the World Has Opened Its Doors. An EPIC bucket list adventure if I ever dreamed of one! There are countless incredible adventures to be had in Australia! In a 2014 passage I found that I needed to go as far as 48 degrees south in order to find reliable westerlies. Packing cubes for the globetrotters and compression sacks for thereal adventurers these babies are a travellers best kept secret. Favorable winds mean speed, and the extra distance in search of them is usually well rewarded. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Note that there was quite a bit of discussion on forum on this topic. You marvellous little delights full of genuine offbeat travel!

Knowing how to use both charts and electronic navigation is useful. I reckon the reason you dont see too many Australian sailors around the world is that they see no reason to leave their beautiful home. The town is a port of entry, with three marinas.

If you are leaving Australia and heading east across the Pacific then you may as well leave in the southern hemisphere winter when the prevailing winds up the Australian east coast will be southerly and the EAC (south running current) is at its weakest. Generally, it is an area of enhanced convection resulting in a frustrating mix of cloud cover, line squalls and calms. In addition, you need to be competent to undertake any repairs along the way, and then confident enough to be able to undertake them in a rolling sea. There is one item every traveller NEEDS. Ferdinand Magellan may have been a bit optimistic when he named a body of water that encompasses nearly one-third of Earth Mar Pacifico (peaceful ocean), for, like all oceans, it depends. The pass is challenging, as is the anchoring. Keep in mind that an east-to-west circumnavigation does not demand a route through the Torres. Whatever your plan from here, through a combination of wind and will, you have done it. However, an early exit has many advantages.

As you continue your westward sailing across the Pacific, you will probably make a stopover and stay in Fiji.



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