Balboa to Seattle, Late Spring- Early Summer

[BrenntheNavigtr]

Hello all, this is my first post here. I have searched the archives and found a few things of relative importance, but nothing quite for the trip I have in mind.
I will be sailing my Islander 36 from New Orleans (leaving in early April) through Panama and then back up to Seattle. She is offshore ready and has all the necessary gear. I do not want to put the strain of a month long (or longer) beat on the old girl however, so pushing up the coast is something I would rather avoid. It looks like my best bet (according to the Admiralty Sailing Directions) is to leave Balboa, loop around the south of the Galapagos then head roughly northwest paralleling the West coast (albeit with about 1000 miles of offing) and then turning for Juan de Fuca at about San Francisco's latitude.

Any thoughts on the above trip? Has anyone done this? Can anyone give me some insight on what to expect, especially winds and weather? I have NO Pacific sailing experience, only Gulf and Atlantic. All answers are appreciated.

Cheers,
Brennan

[skipmac]

Disclaimer. I haven't done this either.

Not sure about rounding south of the Galapagos but all the reading I've done on this route does recommend heading west then circling north of the Pacific High.

So why south of the Galapagos? Off the top of my head I would just head west and gradually bear NW until I made enough westing to turn north.

It's a really long trip so I would probably make for Hawaii to catch my breath.