USA to Aus

[SeasAphrodisiac]

Has anyone sailed from West coast USA to the Whitsundays or somewhere in Queensland?

Roughly how long would it take, just the sailing part not including the stop inns?

What would be the best time to leave?

For this journey what would be the ideal yacht for 2 people i.e.
Ketch or Sloop

Thanks alot for your help
xo

[Weyalan]

Not wishing to sound discouraging, but if you have to ask those sort of questions, you are not ready to take on that sort of trip. Having said that:

San Francisco, Cali to Sydney is about 6500 Nautical miles. Assuming an average sailing speed of, say, 4 knots, that works out at around 68 days of sailing, not including stops (and assuming that you are travelling in a stright line). Whether 4 knots is a realistic speed would depend on the boat and the skill of the sailors (and the vagaries of the weather gods). There is no "ideal yacht". You could do it in anything from a 20' monohul to a 100 foot multihull, provided you have the skill and, for a bigger boat, the cash to put in the fancy gear to manage the loads. Also, if you are a less than experienced bluewater sailor, allow 10-20 years getting sufficient experience prior to commencing your trip

[dana-tenacity]

Short answer three months sailing time, I did Panama to NZ in a bit less once when I was in a hurry.

But I like Weyalans answer. Interesting I was once asked what would be needed to learn enough to go offshore. My answer was a fairly intensive three year programme (excluding learning radio, medical stuff etc) Started with a season racing a laser to learn to sail, then move up to bigger boats, crewing, then skippering, at least one offshore passage over 1000 miles as crew, can't remember the rest but you get the idea.

[dana-tenacity]

And remember 90% of boats that are lost are lost due to nav error, simply buying a gps doesn't teach you anything.

[OceanBound]

A few good books that you will need.

Jimmy Cornell: world crusinging routes
And Another good one is

Ocean passages for the world.

[Ashoreschool]

Wish you the best of luck, There is a pretty good book. Chasing Sunsets, a practicing devout cowards circumnavigation with this wife and son. by Lawrence Pane. In the first part of his book, he describes their travels from California to Brisbane AU. Would be a pretty good guide if your just starting the planning process.

[Hurricane Harry]

Start with a shorter leap, to see if it fits you. Sailing can be a grueling business./ Harry

[Factor]

Or just do it. Plenty of people have successfully done it without spending "5 years afore the mast round the horn". One of my favourites is the crew on Slapdash - a gemini 105 cat. Not the boat I would have chosen, but they seem to manage. Having said all that - get a few offshore racing passages in if you can. They teach you a bit. But hey you may already know that. Slapdash Blog

[rusky]

I thought about it recently when a friend was looking at a boat in San Diego.
I felt the trip could be staged to California to Hawaii; Hawaii to Kiribati; Kiribati to Noumea; Noumea to Qld.

The boat would have to be good.

[DtM]

....and the way the dollar is going at the moment it may be more attractive to buy in the US and sail the boat here.