Trans-Pacific Passage - West to East

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Revision as of 03:24, 23 February 2009 (view source) Delatbabel (Talk | contribs) (→Departure Points) ← Older edit		Revision as of 03:47, 23 February 2009 (view source) Delatbabel (Talk | contribs) (→Passage - Australia to the Americas) Newer edit →
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	===Charts===		===Charts===
-	List the charts required for this passage.	+
-	*	+	Charts will be the same as for the [[East to West Passage|Passage_12]] but read them backwards. :)
-	*	+
-	*	+
	===Weather Windows===		===Weather Windows===
-	(best time/s for this passage)	+
		+	It is universally accepted that there is no good weather window for doing this passage.  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.  This will enable you to get some good northing into your passage before bashing endlessly into the trade winds.
	===Climate & Weather Information===		===Climate & Weather Information===
-	Expected climatic conditions & sources of weather information for the Pacific.	+
		+	Climate and weather conditions will be the same as for the [[East to West Passage|Passage_12]].
	===Radio Nets===		===Radio Nets===

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Revision as of 03:47, 23 February 2009

Contents 1 Passage - Australia to the Americas 1.1 Departure Points 1.2 Route 1.3 Charts 1.4 Weather Windows 1.5 Climate & Weather Information 1.6 Radio Nets 1.7 References 1.8 CruiserLog Forum discussions 1.9 External Links 1.10 Personal Experiences

Passage - Australia to the Americas

Trans-Pacific West to East

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The Pacific is the largest of the oceans of the world.

This section describes the passage across the Pacific Ocean - West to East.

Departure Points

Possible departures from:

• Sydney, Australia
• Brisbane, Australia
• Auckland, New Zealand
• New Caledonia
• Vanuatu
• Fiji

Route

(in sequence)

• Brisbane
• Panama

Charts

Charts will be the same as for the Passage_12 but read them backwards.  :)

Weather Windows

It is universally accepted that there is no good weather window for doing this passage. 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. This will enable you to get some good northing into your passage before bashing endlessly into the trade winds.

Climate & Weather Information

Climate and weather conditions will be the same as for the Passage_12.

Radio Nets

List radio Nets covering the Pacific.

References

Books, guides, etc.

CruiserLog Forum discussions

Note that there was quite a bit of discussion on the forum on this topic: http://www.cruiserlog.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11459 The general opinion is summed up in this fragment from JeanneP:

We have friends who left NZ to sail back to the East coast of the US, and their first leg was from NZ to Panama, nonstop and took 54 days, uncomfortable for most of it.

If you can get the Discovery Channel, and have watched "Deadliest Catch" you will have some idea of what sailing in the Southern Ocean is like. And if you don't go far enough south to find westerlies, you're trying to sail directly into the wind, a hard and exhausting way to sail. The South Pacific is big and you go for long distances between land.

It's not a nationality bias, you find most sailors, from wherever, following the the trade winds East to West and enjoying the ride. And yes, you find lots of boats that have crossed the Pacific put up for sale in New Caledonia, Australia, and New Zealand. There are lots of other places that have good old boats for sale, many in the US.

External Links

Links to relevant websites.

Personal Experiences

Personal experiences of this passage.